Look at the money I've saved by not saving. If I'd had some, I might have bought other stocks. I'm ahead of the game.
~ David O. Selznick ~
We spent the morning meeting with a financial planner for the first time. He looks to be about 12 and I believe his first name is “Doogie”, but several friends attest to his abilities. Our hodgepodge of investments that make up a patchwork portfolio is probably no worse than many others, but his mouth did get a smiley twitch when we explained that we’d like to be able to retire before our mid-60s. *And* put the kids through college without forcing enormous amounts of debt down their baby-bird gullets. *And* maybe buy a second house soon that could be a vacation home for now and a retirement place for then. That caused a strangled chortle which we chose to ignore. Oh, and don’t forget the whomping big expense we may have to tear off the outside of our current house and replace it with a new, one-can-only-pray better exterior.

He asked if, other than the 401ks we’ve been contributing to for years, we are spenders or savers. It was my turn to laugh when he suggested we may want to think about saving a bit more aggressively. Surely that excludes the Tom-Tom for my car (so that I don’t get lost and waste precious gas), the Aeron chair for my study (to prevent expensive and debilitating back problems), the XM radio also for my car (my husband has one in his, so this is to forestall marriage counseling), the Photoshop software and class for me (feed the spirit and such), the new iPod to replace my aging one (I can’t even imagine a way that this saves money), or the plasma TV to replace the ancient one in our bedroom all 200 lbs of which someone managed to drop on the floor, cracking the case, and causing all the colors to merge into a bluish-gold palette (reducing the need for extravagant Lasik surgery)?

We should hear back from him in a week or so with the framework of a plan. I’d just better see that plasma TV on the list of investments or it’s lights out for Doogie.