Beck BodeWhat's Going on in August?
With less than two weeks left, August sees the official end of summer vacation, for the kids at least. If you’re wrapping up summer where you are, we hope you are making it count! We were certainly making August count, with attendance at industry conferences and quality time with family and loved ones. We even have some photos to share.
If you have used any downtime this summer to think of a dream for the future, please let us know. We would love to support you in taking steps to get closer to it.
In this issue:
Beck Bode Team Represented at LPL Focus 2024
LPL Focus, LPL Financial’s flagship conference delivers dynamic days of learning, networking and thriving for financial professionals and institutions every year. This year, co-Managing Partner, Jim Bode, was invited to deliver an inspirational talk to the financial advisor community.
His talk, Reconnect with your Mojo: Energize your practice and your life!” was received enthusiastically by the fully-packed room.
Team members Josh Plosker (Dedham), Tammy Stoerkel and Beth Price (both from our Traverse City team) were also in attendance at the conference – to learn, to network, and to cheer on Jim.
Here are some photos from the event.
Appreciation for the "Original" GPS (and the Internet!)
Contributed by Meg Curry, CFP®
Director of Financial Planning - Dedham, MA
On a recent vacation, I realized how my vacationing life has changed thanks to this invaluable tool and the internet. I was in an area of southwestern Vermont where I’d never been, and thanks to my GPS, I was able to safely travel around, find places to eat, and get information on hiking trails and water spots.
It’s easy to take technological innovations for granted. People of my generation we were accustomed to relying mostly on travel agents when it came to planning long trips. If you wanted to go on a road trip, you might have gone to your local AAA office to get something called a “triptik” (not sure they exist anymore), which was basically a long map printed out and bound in a booklet to help you get from one point to another. You would need to ask the staff at the local accommodations for suggestions for places to eat, explore, etc.
Thanks to the internet, we can do a lot of research on our own now, well in advance of our trip. Access to this information led me to enjoy breakfast at a cute little breakfast and lunch spot that I learned had suffered severe damage during one of Vermont’s major floods a few years ago... and the town rallied around them so they could reopen. I loved learning this about their history and it is what prompted me to check out this spot.
As a solo traveler, I do need to be cautious about where I go and what I do. This is where All Trails, a hiking app I like comes into play. I can read people’s reviews online and if I learn a trail isn’t well marked, I find one that is. (Or maybe it’s muddy or buggy, and since the bugs love me too much, I steer clear.) I can download the trail map in advance* since a stable internet connection is rarely available when hiking. This is where the GPS becomes invaluable. With the downloaded map, it does track where I am going and will alert me if I’ve gone off the trail. VERY HANDY! This was a huge benefit when hiking at Joshua Tree National Park a few years ago – they don’t have trees like we do, so following the trail is a bit of challenge. Had it not been for my All Trails app, I might have become a statistic! 😉
When I was out on my paddleboard on this beautiful Somerset Reservoir in Southern Vermont, as I was heading back, I realized there were more inlets than I’d been aware. So, I stopped several times to be sure I wasn’t putting on any extra miles, particularly since I was paddling into a strong headwind. I had this beautiful water spot to myself! There are no houses on it since it’s owned by a hydro power company, and there were more obvious landmarks to help me find my way back. Again, thanks to the internet and to the power of GPS, I was able to find my way.
There is more to my appreciation for the GPS. My bachelor's degree is in Computer Science, which I earned in the mid-80’s. I was in school when the first IBM Personal Computer (PC) was introduced, so have a different perspective on how far technology has advanced. I took a computer graphics class in one of my last semesters. We had a semester-long project to create an image that we were required to incorporate 3-4 shapes, movement, and color of course. An entire semester to do something that can be performed with two or three clicks today! So, you can imagine my deeper understanding and appreciation for the fact that today, in the palm of my hand, I have a mini-computer that provides me with instantaneous images and gives me real time updates of my location.
Team Member Spotlight: Roxanne O'Donoghue
Roxanne O'Donoghue
Operations Support - Portsmouth, NH
Roxanne O’Donoghue joined our team when Compass Rose Private Investment Management merged with Beck Bode in 2021. In her operations support role, Roxanne impacts the smooth running of our Portsmouth, New Hampshire location in many ways. She is best known, however, for nurturing heartfelt connections with our clients.
The role Roxanne fills today started out with a desire to acknowledge important events in our client’s lives: happy events like birthdays, the arrival of a child, weddings, graduations, and retirements. There were also the more challenging aspects of life, such as illness, loss, and grief.
Roxanne says,“My job is to show our clients we care about them, every single day.” And that is exactly what she does!
Here are what several of our team members shared about Roxanne:
“Roxanne brings energy and fun to our Portsmouth, New Hampshire location. And, sometimes she brings her golden retriever, Maggie, for even more fun! Roxanne’s always finding creative ways to acknowledge our clients’ major life events. She is enthusiastic about tackling new challenges, learning new things, and pitching in on team projects.”
“Roxanne is a sheer delight to have in the office, always with a smile and very cheerful. (No wonder she was known as the “Gratitude Officer” at Compass Rose.) She is eager to help, to learn, and doesn’t hesitate to reach out to ask questions to be sure she understands something. I’m not in Portsmouth often, but I always look forward to seeing her if I can manage to be there on one of her days in the office.”
Thank you, Roxanne, for the great energy you bring to our team!
Archer George Costanza Turns 12 This Month
It was Christmas of 2012 when Angel rescued 5-month-old kitty Archer from the North Kingstown (RI) Animal Shelter. He has been her companion ever since. Angel’s now-husband Nick asked to meet Archer right away when they started dating as he knew it would be the most important test he’d need to pass. Lucky for Nick, Archer approved and now Nick might just be his favorite.
Archer has a super loving personality; he comes when you call him and is a big head-butter. He doesn’t like it when Angel goes into the office and isn’t home. He is shy when it comes to other people and only shows up on Beck Bode meetings occasionally. Happy Birthday Archer!
Contributed by Angel Costanza
Chief Operating Officer - Dedham, MA
This Month's Recipe: Detroit-style Pizza
Contributed by Christie Markham
Client Service, Team Lead - Dedham, MA
This month’s recipe comes from Christie, more accurately from her husband, Bill.
Christie shares a little background:
“This is my husband’s Detroit-style pizza recipe, one of my favorites! I will go ahead and brag on Bill being a great chef and that I’m so lucky to have a husband who makes most of the meals in our home 😊. Since I’ve known him, he has always made homemade pizza dough and has experimented with making many kinds of pizza. This one is by far my favorite, with crispy cheese and crust. Enjoy!”
Pizza Dough Ingredients
- 2 Cups Bread Flour
- 1 tablespoon diamond crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup (minus 1 Tablespoon) lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 28 oz San Marzano crushed tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil to cook garlic in
- Salt and pepper to taste
Topping Ingredients
- Brick mozzarella cheese (we order from Widmer’s) 350-400 grams around 12-14 oz.
- A little grated parmesan to cover around pizza
- We use smaller pepperonis that come in log (not pre-cut)
Instructions
- To make the dough, mix all dry ingredients in food processor 30 seconds. Add the water to the dry mixed ingredients and blend for another 30 seconds. Wait a minute then blend for another 30 seconds so one ball is formed.
- Remove dough food processor and put in Detroit style baking pan. This is the one we use.
- Cover dough tightly w plastic wrap for 2 hours at room temp, NOT in fridge or cold area.
- After 2 hours put 1 tablespoon olive oil on dough mix all over and push down as far as possible to stretch to the edges of the baking pan. It won’t get there quite yet. So, cover it back up with plastic wrap and let rest for another 30 min then spread out to the edges again.
- To make the sauce, sauté the garlic in olive oil, add the crushed tomatoes and the seasonings and herbs, and adjust to your taste.
- Heat oven as high as it will go (550 F if you can) and put a pizza stone on bottom rack.
- Spread sauce in 2 or 3 lines whatever you're feeling on the dough in the pan. Add the cheese especially around edges that'll make the crust a nice crisp dark edge which looks burnt but isn't. Cover with super thinly sliced pepperoni this will allow them to crisp up kind of forming that bowl shape which is nice. I also used pickled serrano peppers but use whatever you like for other ingredients.
I cook for 13-17 minutes (every oven cooks differently). Make sure cook on bottom rack so bottom gets crispy. Using the pizza stone is critical.
Enjoy!
Featured Blog: Lessons From the Cockpit: The Importance of a Financial Planning Checklist
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As a Beck Bode client, you already know that discipline and focus are key to achieving financial success on your terms. Yet even the most disciplined investor may need the occasional reminder as to why they are “in it” in the first place. There are dangers to flying “without a plan.” Read Ben’s blog, Lessons from the Cockpit.
That wraps up our August issue of The Long View. Until the next time, take a look at more of the latest articles on our blog.
Thanks for reading, and for following us. If any part of this month’s topics suggests a question or concern you may have, or if you need anything else, please call or write — we look forward to speaking with you!
From all of us at Beck Bode.