Spin Cycle

 

Prior to March of 2020 when both my gym and favorite restaurants locked down, Peloton was a brand that I had only fleeting contact with and knowledge of.

Yes, I knew they made absurdly expensive stationary bikes and featured impossibly fit instructors on their interactive site, but other than that very little.

Until my better half decided that since the gym was in lockdown, she was going to purchase one. Reluctantly I agreed. So, four figures later, the bike arrived not with one installer but rather two. Each was outfitted more like an electrician ready to rewire my entire house than your standard delivery person who hands you an invoice and tells you to sign.

They needed the WiFi code as to connect with their exercise link. I later learned that they even have their own streaming cable station, which of course she quickly became a subscriber as well.

It seems we were hardly the only family with that idea.

I heard that sales of their products (which I again learned later included a treadmill series with a decidedly non-economy price tag of $5,000) went through the roof during the pandemic and yet another missed stock opportunity for yours truly.

However not all has been rosy at the New York-based company.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Had someone told me at the time of my high school graduation that one day I would have a retirement savings in excess of $1 million and a house worth nearly that, I most likely would have envisioned myself becoming a titan of industry or at the very least, a fortunate beneficiary of some unknown ultra-rich uncle.

For those keeping score at home, sadly neither of those two scenarios came to pass.

However, on a brighter note, I have put away more than I ever could have envisioned back then, although as most of you know $1 million ain’t what it used to be. So, retirement in a warmer climate and endless games of pickleball will have to wait a while longer.

Along those lines, I recently read where the number of 401(k) accounts carrying balances of at least $1 million at Fidelity Investments ballooned 84 percent year over year to some 412,000 while IRAs with a comparable seven-figure balance spiked 64 percent to 341,000.

Overall, the average balance of 401(k)s grew 24 percent from the year-ago period to $129,000, while IRAs showcased a 21 percent gain to $139,000.

There you go again! And again!

 

The summer between my senior year in high school and freshman year in college my father impressed upon me a single mandate for that two-month stretch: Find a job!

Back then, it was far easier said than done.

It seemed no one was hiring – even the local quick-service food outlets were fully staffed. I interviewed for several positions including supermarket checkout, stock boy, store maintenance, but no luck.

But that was then, and this is now.

Today it’s difficult NOT to see an establishment with a “help wanted” sign. I wondered perhaps I was born 40 years too early. I mean where was this labor shortage when I desperately needed to stockpile some savings for my collegiate spending (read: drinking funds).

But I digress.

And anyone who owns and operates a CPA firm knows full well that the profession mirrors the overall job market in terms of seeking help. Each week, I hear horror stories from clients seeking to staff up, only often, no one is miraculously showing up in their lobby, CPA designation in hand to ease their labor shortage and succession problem.

And yet hope springs eternal. Often to the point of fantasy.

Customer Service or Servicing the Customer?

 

With my oldest daughter’s wedding rapidly encroaching, this weekend my better half and I went shopping for a new suit. The event itself will be black tie optional, but I later learned that only the groomsman were mandated to wear a tux. Dark suits for the other male guests were strongly encouraged.

So, we went to a custom tailor nearby and were waited on hand and foot, shoulder, leg, and waist - literally. The sales rep took the requisite measurements, gave us the choice of everything from fabric patches for the suit, buttons, lining and even an optional monogram on the inside pocket. For those keeping score at home I took it.

Everything was fed into his iPad and seconds later the finished product was imaged for our inspection. Of course, the actual suit would take several weeks to complete, but we both were non-plussed by the customer service.

Now we’ve all heard testimonials of companies that consistently get high marks when it comes to customer service, which in my humble opinion is rapidly becoming a lost art. Like Nordstrom of Seattle, which legend has it, allowed someone to return a car tire even though the company does not retail automotive parts. Or a restaurant company whose name escapes me at the moment, sent one of the servers to a nearby McDonald’s when a child guest complained that there was nothing on the menu they liked.

Saving, Not Spending for a Rainy Day

 

 

I try and work out every day. I rarely eat dessert and often am in bed by 10 pm.

In my humble opinion I think I have preserved pretty well for a man encroaching on collecting Social Security, but in full disclosure, I still wince when a clerk automatically gives me the senior discount at the supermarket checkout. In the not-too-distant future, retirement will be a fact of life and hopefully I will have enough saved to remain ensconced in a reasonably comfortable lifestyle.

In that same vein, this weekend I came across an article that detailed several ways that retirees foolishly fritter away their savings.

Some of them surprised me a bit, others seem like common sense. So, in the spirit of preserving your retirement savings for a long as possible here goes:

1.       Ignoring senior discounts. I know it might offend some age sensitive people (like yours truly), but the fact is that many retailers offer discounts that may hit as high as 20 percent.

2.       Purchasing unneeded insurance products. Disability Insurance when you are no longer working and even life insurance in some cases is at the top of the list.

3.       Continuing to support grown children. This sadly, is an all-too-common scenario. My kids are still on my mobile phone plan but that’s as far as it goes. There are a number of other ways you can help your offspring without emptying your wallet or portfolio.

4.       Having two cars. Multiple vehicles are a necessity when both spouses work, but when both throw in the towel, it often makes sense to get by with one vehicle. Otherwise, repairs, gas, state inspections and registrations add up.

5.       Not downsizing. This scenario hits close to home if you’ll pardon the bad pun. There’s a long-retired couple down in my neighborhood who continue to live in a spacious 10-room house. Their children moved out years ago and now they must continue to meet the requisite financial obligations that a home that size requires. In fact, a recent study conducted by Merrill Lynch revealed that nearly 33 percent of retirees actually upsize to a larger home to accommodate family members who visit. Go figure.

6.       Donating to multiple charities. Again, this is familiar territory as I receive at least 3-4 pieces of mail asking for donations on a weekly basis never mind the relentless telemarking calls which are often scams. Retirees tend to be more generous in their golden years but as I can attest, it can get out of hand. 

Want To Earn Less? Stay Home!

 

It’s been nine and a half years since I officially became a remote worker. After a quarter-century toiling in various offices throughout New York City, I would be less than forthcoming if I said it didn’t take some getting used to.

I immediately missed the camaraderie of colleagues, as my contact with the outside world was often limited to emails and phone calls and the frequency of talking to myself increased exponentially.

The flip side to that was that I rarely lost an argument. And still don’t.

But I digress.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic juxtaposed the typical working dynamic almost immediately. Offices were shuttered and those companies fortunate to have state of the art technology made the change from on-premises to remote without too many speedbumps.

Now that many businesses, including of course, CPA firms large and small, have eased their guidelines and reopened, an interesting trend, has surfaced.

Many workers who have worked remotely over the past 18 months or so, like it so much they’re willing to take a cut in pay to remain that way. An online survey by Breeze, an insurance company, found that 65 percent of those polled and whose positions could be done remotely said they would be willing to accept a cut in compensation up to 15 percent to remain homebound.

Long Division – The Sequel?

 

Some 20-plus years ago I attended my first-ever AICPA conference, the fall meeting of Council at the cavernous Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, which had just made its debut on the Strip the year before.

I was sort of feeling my way around as I was new to covering the profession when a curious thing happened. My colleague and I were invited to one of the official dinners, which had reserved a table for each of the state council representatives. Trouble was, that none of the conference organizers had bothered to account for the spouses of attendees. So, when people began lining up against the walls with no place to sit, a small panic ensued, and the hotel housemen were forced to sardine in at least 10 extra tables to accommodate the overflow.

When I returned to the office, I penned a column titled “Long Division,” which basically pointed out that all those folks had to do was get a true headcount and divide by 10 to determine the correct number of tables. I also questioned as to why scores of CPAs, accustomed to far more difficult financial calculations, were unable to do just that.

As one might imagine that op-ed didn’t win many friends at the institute and for 12 years, I had an uneasy relationship with the powers that be.

But that was then, and this is now. Or was it?