Between two professional credentials that each need a lot of continuing education, plus family vacation time, you’ll find that Wendy works in weeks-long surges but is frequently out of the office in between. That’s okay, we’re planners, we’re good at this! Here’s what happens:
- Wendy is the only one who can create trade proposals if you need to buy or sell things – but Gary can help you fetch money from your account if you need it for something we’ve planned.
- Wendy is the only one who can review and finalize tax returns – but anyone in the office can get you a copy of a completed tax return or tell you the status of the tax return.
- Need a statement or a Blueleaf report? Gary does the Blueleaf reports, and either Gary or Jennifer can print and send you statements from the Custodian.
- Wendy is the only one who gives financial advice – but both Gary and Jennifer are able to give provisional, supervised advice in the form of, “here’s what I think the answer is, but Wendy will look at this when she gets back.”
- Wendy already doesn’t do the scheduling – that’s Jennifer; or the billing and renewals – that’s Gary; or the data gathering of your statements for reports or tax prep info – that’s Jennifer or Eliza or Sunny.
So, hurray, even though Wendy will be out of the office, we can keep everything running smoothly.
In 2021 Wendy’s vacations are scheduled to be:
- Each January, right after the big push to get year-end statements and organizers out, but before tax season hits, Wendy goes on a restorative vacation to get some sun and rest up before tax season hits. In ’21 COVID caused that to be another staycation, but in general expect her to be gone the Friday before MLK Day to the Friday after.
- Each April 15th, the moment tax season ends, Wendy gets a day off as comp for each week-end she worked in tax season. This is usually a staycation (split between Greenfield and Peaks Island) April 15th through April 27th. She won’t be off-grid if there’s an emergency, but we hope someone else can take a stab at helping people until she’s back at her desk in the last week of April.
- Wendy takes roughly a week off in June, July and August, each.
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- Each year she goes camping in Michigan with her dad – with very limited cell & internet service! This is a re-occurring trip: this year it’s scheduled for June 19-27.
- She does a summer trip in July – this year it’s to Peaks Island for July 4 -10.
- She does a summer trip in August – this year it’s to Peaks Island for August 16-20.
She doesn’t take any vacation weeks between the August and January vacations, but she does take the Wednesday and Friday off around Thanksgiving. We ARE open the week between Christmas and New Year for urgent last-minute tax planning and tax loss harvesting issues.
Conferences are scheduled for:
She is in a training program that meets in Toronto (COVID substitute is Peaks Island) four times a year. The 2021 dates are February 9, 2021, May 4, August 10.
May 5 to 7 is the NAPFA Engage Spring Conference. Probably virtual, probably at Peaks Island.
Sept 22-24, possibly in Boston: Financial Planning Association Conference
Oct 12 – 16: National Association of Personal Financial Advisors Conference Fall Conference, probably in Boston
October 25-28 (plus travel days): Alliance of Comprehensive Planners Annual Conference in Atlanta
Sometime in December or January there’ll be a two-day tax update course
Sometimes when people aren’t scheduled to be in the office, Wendy will spend time at Peaks Island on a “work retreats”, where she researches issues or learns new tools, or during COVID times attends virtual conferences. These are not vacations, but she can be hard to reach if she’s offline reading, writing, or in a conference. These dates are only a spare day here or there and she can be reached in an emergency. She’ll run regular email/trading block times during these location-independent work times; don’t feel bad for reaching her at Peaks if it’s not an actual vacation week!
In 2022, already spotted on the horizon:
In January ’22 she’s planning to go to Puerto Rico: tentative dates Are Friday before MLK Day to the Friday after.
Helping our people reach their goals has inspired us with some of the YOLO spirit, too! In 2022 Wendy and her husband are planning a summer trip to Europe, possibly biking through Tuscany and Florence, or maybe a river cruise with their daughter and husband. Much planning will go into this and we’ll let you know as soon as we know. It’ll displace vacation time on Peaks Island.