Some say being a travel advisor is a tough job. I, on the other hand, would never want to be a weather reporter or an economist. I’m sure you can understand my first choice and why being a weatherman is a thankless job after this winter. The upside is you don’t have to always get it right.
Being an economist is another challenging profession. When the dollar is strong, oil prices go down. When jobs increase, stocks go down. What is the ideal economic balance? I must have been dozing off in school when they covered these topics. From what little I know, I can tell you that financial institutions are pulling a new string to motivate you to do business with consumers. They are already used to managing big bank accounts and big returns, where it’s all about money, money, money — the more you have, the better you would feel. Now, however, they are taking a step further and abandoning “the guy with the biggest toys wins” attitude for enrichment, memories and relationships.
As I write this column, I am on a train heading into Manhattan and am looking at an advertisement of a bank that shows an extended family with grandchildren on the beach, and it reads “Your Family, Your Legacy.” Wall Street has got this right and it wasn’t taught in my economics class. Travel will motivate savings and will also become the trigger for spending. A prime example of this can be seen in Virtuoso’s recent partnership with Merrill Lynch, where the former helps the latter’s clients spend the money the company made them on travel. So enjoy the financial community's free advertising motivating consumers to save and spend on travel. Here's a tip: You could partner with your local financial advisors; I know you will get this one right!