Air Traffic Control Put My Plane in a Holding Pattern. Here’s What It Taught Me About Big Money Decisions.

After my annual Padua High School football alumni golf outing at Ridgewood Golf Course in Parma, I drove to Cleveland Hopkins Airport and hopped on a Frontier flight to Florida. A few days of scalloping and offshore fishing with two of my sons, Jacob and Jack, plus some time to mess around at the house before heading back to Ohio.

Now, I have a lifelong fear of flying. Because of that, I’ve made a habit of knowing the sounds, dings, movements, staff routines, turns, turbulence, etc. It helps me fly with little or no fear.

So as we got close to Tampa, about 30 to 45 minutes from landing, I noticed the plane taking a series of turns where it literally circled back and backtracked. That was very unfamiliar to me! These turns were new, especially more than 100 miles from our destination. I was a little concerned!

The pilot finally came over the speaker and explained. There was a storm over Tampa, and air traffic control had put our plane into a holding pattern. We literally circled for quite a long time. The next day, I looked up the flight on FlightAware.com, and sure enough, it showed our route and the circular pattern before we reached Tampa.

Pausing Is Normal

In life, there are times when we too need to go into a holding pattern. This can happen for numerous reasons: our health or a family member’s health, the needs of our family, our businesses or professions, or even our financial situations. Pausing is normal and, many times, necessary.

When it comes to our finances, there are times when folks don’t pause even though they absolutely should, and it costs them either money or time in the long run. Air traffic control made a better-safe-than-sorry decision to delay our arrival and keep our plane safely away from the storm until the danger had passed. We need to do the same at times.

I often try to get my well-off clients to spend and enjoy their money. BUT there are also times when I try to talk clients down. I try to slow them down when they are considering things I don’t feel they are in a position to do, like buying a new car, buying or building a new house, or even retiring!

There are times when some folks shouldn’t buy, build, retire, travel, loan money, gift money to their kids, start a business, invest in a risky stock, etc., because at that particular time they simply aren’t in the ideal position to do so. Sometimes they take my advice. Other times they ignore it. Of course, I always hope they do well, and time will tell whether it was a good decision or whether it disrupted their long-term goals and objectives.

Listen to Me on This

Don’t be afraid to take a deep breath, slow things down, or delay a bit if things don’t feel quite right, or if certain professionals advise against it. I said professionals, not friends or family! Friends or family, you can ignore. Everyone has opinions; take those with a grain of salt.

If you’re weighing one of those big decisions right now and you’re not a client yet, why not? What’s holding you back?