Helmet Fire
So many variables, so little time…
Once upon a time, when I was younger and my worldview was massively biased toward optimism and possibility, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. This dream took hold of me sometime in high school and didn’t let go until my second application into the Air Force Officer Candidate School (OCS) was declined. Needless to say, they had better options. You know, like people who had flying experience or went through the Air Force academy’s rigorous curriculum. Even so, I did not pursue this end-goal halfheartedly. In fact, I threw all the energy I could muster at it to no avail. I even read the book by Robert Gandt called Bogies and Bandits to find out the secret to becoming an elite pilot. Any sensible person would have read this and walked away with the conclusion that this work is better left to the Übermenschen. To make it into the cockpit of one of our nation’s multi-billion-dollar aircraft, you need to be the cream of the crop. Almost natural born into that exact role, like Neo in the Matrix as the One. Robert calls the screening process to find these pilots a “fine mesh”, and even went through the process himself as a decorated retired Navy fighter pilot which he found was no easy task. I walked away from this experience both humbled and with a greater appreciation for the individuals that can manage the process.
One of the biggest takeaways from my personal experience and Mr. Gandt’s book is the concept of helmet fire. If you’ve ever seen the inside of an F-18 cockpit, you can begin to appreciate the number of variables that are juggling around in the pilot’s mind as they are required to make time-sensitive decisions, many of which are quite fateful. Helmet fire is what happens when these elite brains are overwhelmed with input decisions and experience the computational equivalent of a system freeze. Pilots are trained to “re-boot” by going through a process to reassess, which entails a step-by-step brain exercise designed to simplify the situational data and determine the appropriate behavior. Only then is the logjam broken up and SNAFU becomes voilà, I’m sure to the relief of the man or woman in the hot seat.
As my flight to reality landed and I settled into the far less exciting, but in many ways more interesting world of financial services, I realized that helmet fire exists here too. While economists, analysists, and portfolio managers do not wear helmets (although some should given the amount of brick wall head banging they do), they juggle more quantitative and qualitative variables than even the busiest fighter pilot. The consequences of helmet fire may not be lethal in financial services, but they are heavy. It has become apparent to me in recent months that we have reached epidemic proportions of the brain-freezing condition, and this is being picked up on by the public. Too many variables seem to be changing too fast and we don’t know which buttons to press to preserve our financial lives. So, we look to the “experts” to tell us what to do and many, looking to be the next financial Nostradamus with a million Twitter followers, give us complicated solutions that sound smart. I have pulled on many of these threads to see where they end and most of them end in stupefying arguments that make as much sense as a person with a million fingers. Many times, I’m left wondering if the solutions are nonsense or I’m just too stupid to understand them.
But, like the fighter pilots that reliably use a process to reboot in the midst of helmet fire, we too have a protocol. Sometimes we need to acknowledge that we have been overwhelmed by the data and are locked in indecision, which is a terminal condition if not addressed. Fortunately, the simple formula popularized by Dave Ramsey below is an exercise we can follow to alleviate our own financial helmet fire.
1. Save $1,000 for your starter emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt except the house, using the debt snowball method
3. Save 3 – 6 months of expenses in a liquid savings account
4. Invest 15% of your household gross income for retirement
5. Save for your children’s education
6. Pay off your mortgage early
7. Build wealth and give to others
Not sure how to save or what to save in? Don’t worry, stay subscribed or shoot us a call or text at (513)438-0095. Investing for your future doesn’t need to be complicated.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
Securities offered through LPL Financial LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered by National Wealth Management Group LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisory and separate entity from LPL Financial LLC.