Opinion: The Road Goes on Forever.....
05/11/2023
The road goes on forever... And the party never ends...
With all deference and acknowledgement to Robert Earl Keen’s signature contribution to the music world, his lyrics aptly recognize the workings of the American government bureaucracy and its ever-present quest to manage, manipulate and otherwise control the economy. In doing so, society and our standard of living, our culture, our ability to function as a free-market economy and to control our destinies are being slowly degraded.
I’m reminded of the frog in the boiling water story. No need to restate it here. I think everyone reading this knows the analogy.
All this I say to continue to push hard for the message of self-reliance, and of getting our financial affairs in order and manage for the long-haul. Our financial future and fortune are dependent, not on government involvement and intrusion in our lives and in our business affairs, but on our own determination to do the things we need to do to build resilience and independence.
We are constantly bombarded, in print and in speeches ad nauseum, about getting and keeping wealth. That’s all well and good. A million ways to do it. Keep reading and listening if you’d like. You will get something from it.
But how many actually focus on it and do it? How many succeed, at not just building wealth, but at having the resolve, the knowledge, and the will to keep it and to use it for good and proper purposes over multiple generations?
Teaching people of all ages and stages of life the basic fundamental aspect of personal finance is the foundation of building and managing wealth. As we start and grow our businesses, taking finance to the next stages is paramount to building a successful enterprise.
We’ve become too dependent, in my view, on getting and using government actions as an attempt to make life easier for us. In the end, we just get manipulated financial results that mask true measures of profitability and long-term viability. Be it getting favorable tax treatment on depreciation schedules, exemptions and exclusions of every kind and sort, and cash-basis accounting, and many other tax loopholes for special interests, meaningful financial accounting standards and statement analysis are given little to no importance.
Beginning with basic, good-old-fashioned double entry bookkeeping, working up through comprehensive accounting statements using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and developing meaningful analytical methods integrating production and financial results to measure progress is the only real way to know if one is truly and actually profitable and viable.
How else can one have the information to make long term decisions assuring the business will remain a going concern and to make long term decisions impacting family and business succession? Take the same mindset to the next generation. Estate planning requires the same complete statements.
Stop going from one crisis to the next, because you lack the financial reserves and the resilience to persevere through the next black swan event. We mustn’t let economy-wrecking events put us at the mercy of anyone else.
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This article is the opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of other ASAC Members. ASAC as an organization does not advocate positions on issues.
= = = ==
Pete Weisenberger
Weisenberger Agricultural Services, LLC
pete.weis0956@gmail.com
Posted by Don Tyler; ASAC Board Member
Tyler & Associates
The road goes on forever... And the party never ends...
With all deference and acknowledgement to Robert Earl Keen’s signature contribution to the music world, his lyrics aptly recognize the workings of the American government bureaucracy and its ever-present quest to manage, manipulate and otherwise control the economy. In doing so, society and our standard of living, our culture, our ability to function as a free-market economy and to control our destinies are being slowly degraded.
I’m reminded of the frog in the boiling water story. No need to restate it here. I think everyone reading this knows the analogy.
All this I say to continue to push hard for the message of self-reliance, and of getting our financial affairs in order and manage for the long-haul. Our financial future and fortune are dependent, not on government involvement and intrusion in our lives and in our business affairs, but on our own determination to do the things we need to do to build resilience and independence.
We are constantly bombarded, in print and in speeches ad nauseum, about getting and keeping wealth. That’s all well and good. A million ways to do it. Keep reading and listening if you’d like. You will get something from it.
But how many actually focus on it and do it? How many succeed, at not just building wealth, but at having the resolve, the knowledge, and the will to keep it and to use it for good and proper purposes over multiple generations?
Teaching people of all ages and stages of life the basic fundamental aspect of personal finance is the foundation of building and managing wealth. As we start and grow our businesses, taking finance to the next stages is paramount to building a successful enterprise.
We’ve become too dependent, in my view, on getting and using government actions as an attempt to make life easier for us. In the end, we just get manipulated financial results that mask true measures of profitability and long-term viability. Be it getting favorable tax treatment on depreciation schedules, exemptions and exclusions of every kind and sort, and cash-basis accounting, and many other tax loopholes for special interests, meaningful financial accounting standards and statement analysis are given little to no importance.
Beginning with basic, good-old-fashioned double entry bookkeeping, working up through comprehensive accounting statements using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and developing meaningful analytical methods integrating production and financial results to measure progress is the only real way to know if one is truly and actually profitable and viable.
How else can one have the information to make long term decisions assuring the business will remain a going concern and to make long term decisions impacting family and business succession? Take the same mindset to the next generation. Estate planning requires the same complete statements.
Stop going from one crisis to the next, because you lack the financial reserves and the resilience to persevere through the next black swan event. We mustn’t let economy-wrecking events put us at the mercy of anyone else.
= = = = =
This article is the opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of other ASAC Members. ASAC as an organization does not advocate positions on issues.
= = = ==
Pete Weisenberger
Weisenberger Agricultural Services, LLC
pete.weis0956@gmail.com
Posted by Don Tyler; ASAC Board Member
Tyler & Associates
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