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By Jamie Bosse

The Bean is Not Green is a children’s book written by Mitch Anthony, who is a global leader in educating consumers and professionals about the importance of fiscal responsibility.  I have heard him speak at conferences on several occasions and really enjoyed his messaging and presentation style.

This story is about a misguided farmer named Rick, who is trying to plant and grow a meaningful crop.  He plants a bean in hopes that it will grow and flourish.  He waits several days and nothing seems to be happening, so he talks to his friends, reads “bean magazines,” and watches the “bean” channel to get some advice.  A few days later, the bean still has not sprouted, so he digs up the bean and plants it in sand instead.  He ends up moving the bean around, over-watering it and sabotaging its growth time and time again.

He is pretty bummed, then catches wind that corn is the most profitable crop, so he starts planting corn.  Then he reads that squash is the way to go, so he tries to grow squash.  He is very impatient and does not wait for the crops to grow before digging them up to check on them.  At the end of the season, he has no crops and winter is coming.

A wise old farmer had been observing Rick and says that impatience is his problem.  He advises Rick to plant his crops, stop watching the “bean” channel and reading “corn” news.  Just mind the crop and stay the course, ignoring comments from friends and acquaintances.  Rick plants several crops and lets them grow.  The next year, he had a very robust and diverse garden of vegetables.

The Bean is Not Green simply and effectively delivers the message about how to be a successful investor.  There is a lot of “noise” out there that, if you get too caught up in, might steer you off course and cause you to lose your crop.  You should plant the crops that are appropriate for your individual situation, keep the weeds out of your garden, tune out the noise, and don’t expect results overnight.  Working with a financial planner will help you customize the “crop” that is in line with your goals, objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon.  Plus, they can help you objectively evaluate the information that you are bombarded with on a daily basis from the news, your co-workers, and investment “gurus” on TV, podcasts, and seminars.  Find a planner you trust and work with them to create and implement to make sure that your “bean” is as “green” as possible.

For help building a financial plan that is customized for you, schedule a meeting by clicking below, contact Jamie Bosse –jbosse@makinglifecount.com, or call (913) 345-1881.

Photo credit: cookbookman17 / Foter / CC BY