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Today marks the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun crosses directly over the Earth’s equator, heading south. The equinox marks the official astronomical start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs tonight at 8:05 PM EDT. Days continue to grow shorter and the sun appears lower in the sky.
I wrote an article about the importance of four important astronomical days – the solstices and equinoxes – in my career as a spacecraft thermal engineer. That training has influenced my approach to personal financial planning. Basically, you design a plan and test it against worst case conditions. If you have a satisfactory margin of safety in the worst-case environments and conditions, you have a high probability of success. I still think along those lines, and will monitor our plan as environments and conditions change.
The autumnal equinox is about harvesting the crops we’ve sewn through the spring and summer. It’s about accumulating enough to survive the cold and dark of late fall and winter. It occurs to me that is a pretty good metaphor for retirement. Enjoy
Rick, this is a great metaphor, your methods can be employed by others to help ensure that a financial plan is sound.
I also enjoyed re-reading your prior article as well as the comments that it generated. It reminded me of the way that skills I acquired in earlier occupations helped me when my career went off in different directions.
Thanks for the reminder, Rick. You’re right, there are many good garden metaphors that teach us about finances, as well as other aspects of life. . As I work and plan my garden each year, I have a steady reminder of both the cyclic and linear nature of our lives.
Our family likes to mark the first days of the seasons with a favorite piece of music. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l6MXyi4_2knDhk98aEqoi0MF7jQ4eGYY4&playnext=1&index=1&ra=m
Rick, there’s a more sobering reading of your analogy too: the Autumnal Equinox of life might be closer to the point where you’re finding out whether you planted enough back in spring; there’s not much time left to add to the harvest now. But I much prefer your brighter interpretation. It’s more hopeful, and hope is worth more than a room full of regrets at this time in life.
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