From Martin Siesta's Inside Money Blog:

Much of what I have been hearing and reading from planners is around questions like "What did I miss?" "What if this is different?" It is surrounded by fear and shame. Let's step back.

I want to start off by saying, I believe that this crisis is "different" and it has been coming for a while. While the cost of the "bailout" has been in the headlines, it pales compared to the other debts that will come due all too soon:

• 12 trillion dollars to support the current and future beneficiaries of social security
• $140 trillion to fund Medicare as it is currently legislated
• $170 trillion to fund Medicaid (this is a difficult number to evaluate as it is a combination of Fed and State).

By 2082, the above would total a staggering 32% of GDP. Compare that to the 1.2 trillion dollar bailout. It seems a bit like Argentina.

Since the 1950's we have been living by consuming more then we produce. We have pursued a foreign policy based on a perception that our way of life is nonnegotiable and an entitlement. It has maintenance of a dysfunctional lifestyle as an objective

While pumping liquidity into the market at this point will bring down short term rates and, perhaps, spur consumer spending, it is pushing off a significant crisis. It is clear that all the King's horses and all the King's men can't put Humpty together again. Political leaders are not telling the truth. Our responsibility as citizens and as planners is to have these discussions. These are the conversations that matter. This is different than anything we have seen before. We can come at this from fear or centering based on values that matter.
New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote:

Perceiving a situation seems, at first glimpse, like a remarkably simple operation. You just look and see what's around. But the operation that seems most simple is actually the most complex; it's just that most of the action takes place below the level of awareness. Looking at and perceiving the world is an active process of meaning-making that shapes and biases the rest of the decision-making chain.

We missed much of this for a number of reasons. The "profile" of those we serve is very limited. They do not represent most of the country or most of the world. In the past few years, I have become more deeply involved and aware of a much broader community. And as a profession, most of the conversation that we have in the international area is limited to the importance of having "CFP" credentials. Wow. Tell that to someone in Haiti or Zimbabwe.

If our education/awareness has been limited to "industry" sponsored conferences, the topics have been around products or around a deterministic model that gives an illusion of order and control. What's forty years worth of data really worth in the lifespan of the universe? When we come together, there is often more about self-promotion rather than knowledge. Even in our "Naz group" the tone has often been "We need to show the way." "We are the wise ones." Well, we may have a broader view, but there are a lot of blind spots that we will never see if we don't go outside of our field and client profile. We need to bring a sense of humility and curiosity.

In the communities that I have been working with lately, the systems have been strained or falling apart for years. None of this is a surprise. They are health care systems, educational systems and mental health systems where both care givers and consumers are in incredible pain and strain.

For me, what I am noticing is the importance of letting go of the fear and just listening. Something is dying and something is being born. Letting go and letting it come. We may be redefining wealth. A precept of Chaotic Theory is that creativity is the "edge" between chaos and order. What would sustainable wealth look like? Can we listen to our fear to see what is really going on? Can we have conversations with our clients about what is wealth? What is money? Can we become part of a much broader group of people who can co-create communities that can have conversations that matter?

I believe that one thing that may be dying is a "planning" model that is based on asset allocation and using the old tools. Maybe part of it in the future is being a community organizer and builder. These are extraordinary times. We are building a bridge as we are walking on it. It's a struggle but maybe we need to listen deeply to the chaos and recognize the patterns that are likely to emerge. We need to be warriors of the heart.

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© 2008 Martin Siesta, CFP®.  Reprinted with permission