At age 90, my mom finally got a cell phone with texting capability. She decided to get a cell phone because she heard this technology would allow her to connect with her grandkids and great-grandkids directly.
I was with her when she got the phone. She asked my opinion on which phone to get, so we went to the phone store, and the rest is history. Now, five years later, she is constantly sending her grandkids and great-grandkids texts and pictures. She has successfully connected with them. Plus, she gets to share pictures of the grandkids and the newest great grandbaby with all of her friends.
It wasn’t always like this. When she got the phone, she spent the first two hours playing with it and had a very frustrating time. She told me she would never “get” this or understand how any of it worked. It was a struggle, and she wanted to go back to older technology.
Her feelings about technology are common. Buying into the newest technology — whether it’s a smartphone, the latest model car, or the newest airplane — always comes with challenges, no matter if you’re a business owner or just a regular consumer. Advancements in technology come with growing pains.
Is this pain worth the return? As we know, there is always new technology coming out all the time. By the time you buy the latest phone or car, that technology is already outdated. But without advancements in technology, we would stagnate.
I bring this up because new technology and new information sources are always emerging in terms of the markets. Things are going to move positive or negative faster now more than ever. We see this all the time. If there’s a natural gas pipeline explosion in Alaska at 10 a.m., it’s already old news worldwide by 10:30 a.m.
This kind of rapid pace can only create more, not less, volatility when it comes to investments and global information. The way we’ve structured Mattson Financial Services addresses these rapid movements and maintains proper asset allocations for our clients. We stay updated on the way we process business.
Our goal has always been two-fold — making sure your portfolio has the proper return you need while we minimize risk. We’re very happy to state that our portfolio managers are fully on board with us in working toward this end. We’re already well into the 21st century, but when it comes to investing, we have to be prepared for the 22nd century.
But to do that, we have to invest heavily in infrastructure as well as the proper technology, all while we protect our clients’ information. This will always be our goal. Within this, our secondary goal is to make this as cost-efficient for our clients and to continue looking for ways to reduce these costs.
Now, go out and buy the latest $1,000 iPhone! Happy texting!
-Gary Mattson
P.S. Dear President Trump: A little less tweeting would be nice.