The Cost of Doing Business: Advice
to the Class of 2000
Ronald E. Hauenstein,
CLU, ChFC
This spring I sat through
three commencement ceremonies and read the advice offered by speakers at several
more. Very few people seemed to dispense the type of wisdom I have to offer.
It's essentially an accumulation of old adages and advice that's been passed
on to me through the years, as well as the result of reading and personal
observation. In the interests of preserving humanity I offer these thoughts
to the college graduates of the class of 2000. The list isn't long and the
order is random, implying no hierarchy of importance:
- Life is like dismantling
land mines. Step carefully or something is likely to blow up in your face.
- Learn to expect the
unexpected. Life is not like an alarm clock where everything goes off as
planned. Life is as uncertain as a grapefruit's squirt.
- Consider the advice
of the American Automobile Association: Drive with care. Life has no spare.
- Work hard. The job
you save may be your own.
- Life is like a loaf
of bread. The yeast of hard work raises the dough.
- Heed this warning from
a compliance officer speaking at an LUTCF conferment: "Life started
as a cell and, if justice is done, some agents will end up there."
- Footnote to above:
Live your life so your autograph is wanted more than your fingerprints.
- Notice the motive of
92-year-old Barbara Hazelaar of Fairbanks, Alaska, who was lifted from her
wheelchair June 25 for a 20-minute ride in an ultralight: "What do
I have to lose?"
- Be certain that even
if you have plenty to live on, you also have something to live for.
- Brain cells come and
go, but fat cells live forever.
- From a CPA: Keep your
head up and your overhead down.
- Remember, too, that
when you finally save enough for a rainy day, some of your relatives will
start sending in bad weather reports.
- A fool and his money
will be lucky to get together in the first place.
- From a psychologist:
If you burn the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think.
- If life looks a little
cloudy, maybe the window of your soul needs washing.
- You don't stop laughing
because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing.
- Who you are speaks
so loudly I can't hear what you are saying.
- Another tip from the
AAA: The highway of life has more toll roads than freeways.
- People are like tea
bags-you have to put them in hot water before you find out how strong they
are.
- From a general agent:
Suit up, show up, shut up and listen.
- Love is like an hourglass,
with the heart filling up as the brain empties.
- If more husbands had
self-starters, fewer wives would have to be cranks.
- Adopt these ten letters
as a financial blueprint for the rest of your life: GTP. STP. LOTR. Give
10%. Save 10%. Live On The Rest.
- Nothing lasts as long
as a necktie you don't want.
These may not be the most
profound thoughts formulated for the benefit of humankind, nor perhaps the
most brilliantly expressed, but they all relate to survival. Ignore them at
your peril. It doesn't matter how clever you are, you still need to be alive
and comparatively healthy to have a reason to get up in the morning. u
A veteran producer, Ron
Hauenstein represents New York Life in the Spokane, Wash., area. Comments
on his column may be addressed to Mr. Hauenstein at 818 W. Riverside, Suite
500, Spokane, WA 99201, or rhauenstein@ft.newyorklige.com.
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