One Year on the PortfolioMinder Team

Claire Giordano wrote a great post about habits and getting back in the habit of writing blog entries. I know I really want to start writing regularly again. My excuse is that I have been incredibly busy at work. At first I wrote "I’ve been busy at the new job" but I can’t really say that any more. I’ve been at Intuit a year now. It has been one of the busiest if not the busiest year of my working life. When I look at our progress on a day to day basis it seems slow. But when I look back over the past year the PortfolioMinder team has accomplished a lot. We  launched PortfolioMinder and are supporting automatic downloads from Schwab and TD Ameritrade.  We are building a customer base and most importantly we are learning a lot about the financial adviser market.

I am especially proud of the customer care team and the support we are providing. Since I am the Customer Care Manager for PortfolioMinder I may be biased but I think the support team we have created for PortfolioMinder is awesome. The team is a virtual team who are mainly financial planners and are located all over the U.S.  The expertise we are developing and the understanding the team has of the needs of advisers is very special. I really enjoy working with this team of great people.

I often think about what it takes to develop habits. In addition to getting back in the blogging habit I would like to get in the habit of lifting weights and exercising daily. I have been in this habit in the past but I let it slip. I really need to focus again on what is important. Exercising must certainly be on that list. I don’t understand why it is so difficult.

Ronni Bennett wrote about habits today in her Time Goes By Blog. She recently moved and says that moving spurs you to change your habits. I wonder what else is a catalyst to changing habits and what catalyst I can use.

A Fitness Trend?

I wonder if the over 70 market is a growing market for fitness clubs? I was surprised and inspired to see the number of 70+ people working out when I  accompanied my Mom to her gym the last few days. The gym, Personally Fit, in Rancho Bernardo also provides physical therapy.  They have lots of bicycles, treadmills and weight machines and most of them were in use  by older people when I was there.

I wish I had taken my camera so I could show you a picture of my Mom (I won’t reveal her age but she is over 70) working out on the weight machines.  Exactly a year ago Mom had a small stroke. After she got home she had balance problems and had real difficulties being up and around. Her neighbor recommended the trainer at her gum and Mom started going. The change is amazing. Mom has gone out for a walk every day we have been here and at Shannon’s recent graduation she maneuvered steps and sat in the bleachers. The improvement in her mobility is inspiring.

Claudia, Mom’s personal trainer  is great. She has her doing cardio vascular, strength, and balance training. Mom says that Claudia has several clients over 90. 

Escondido

I am in Escondido right now visiting my Mother while my Dad is in Canada on his annual fishing trip Mylies Place at Lake of the Woods.   I talked to him yesterday and he had already caught a 24 inch 4 pound  walleye. He is having a good time!

I arrived here on Saturday night. The plane was supposed to land in San Diego about 9:30. About 10 minutes out the pilot came on and said the weather was clear and warm,. About 5 minutes out he came on again and said the fog had come in and they were changing runways. Then 10 minute later he came on a third time and said that the visibility was so bad that we couldn’t land and were on our way to the Ontario airport which, for those to don’t know southern California, is in the LA area.

Southwest Airlines was very efficient. Within an hour they had us on a bus headed to San Diego (a 2 hour drive). We got to the airport there at about 1am. On the way we went right by my parent’s house! Mom and  Allison were at the airport to meet us and we finally got to the house about 1:45. Since then we have been relaxing, enjoying the peace and quiet, shopping, cooking, gardening and taking Mom to the gym. It is a nice vacation.

In Atlanta

I’m in Atlanta on business. I flew out Sunday and will be flying home tomorrow night. A group of us are getting some training on PortfolioMinder reports which has been incredibly useful. There are so many different ways to look at investments and the return that is being achieved that it has been really good to spend some time focused on the canned reports that come with the product.
Unfortunately there was no time for site seeing. I have been out to Atlanta once before on business but I have yet to see anything but the freeways of Atlanta. The weather has been absolutely perfect. Maybe next time I’ll get to see Atlanta.

Tech Challenge

Yesterday we went to the Tech Challenge at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. My daughter Allison and her friend Travis coached a team from San Antonio Elementary school in San Jose. I believe they were the only team from Alum Rock School District. This is the third year that Allison has coached a team. These kids did a great job and learned a lot about filling sand bags, team work and the creative process. They didn’t have the parental support that a lot of the other teams had which makes their accomplishment all that much better. Congratulations to the DeFlooders!