Spring: Take Control

Here in Maryland, we are comforted by the annual rebirth of the cherry blossoms. We can almost always count on them to lift our spirits. The bloom is so familiar and anticipated and yet somehow always surprising in how beautiful it all is, every year. It is always too short-lived, and even as the moment passes the fallen petals light like weightless snowfall all around and are a natural gift to see while they last.

There are some years that weather’s pretense of an early spring coaxes the blooms out prematurely and then delivers a ruinous frost, but thankfully that is not the case this year.

While we can be happy that the cherry blossoms arrived as expected to cheer us on into the season of renewal, these blossoms have arrived at an unexpectedly troubling time for many in our state and our region. Due to recent drastic cuts in the federal employment ranks, thousands of Maryland public servants will be looking for work this spring, and many will be faced with serious financial challenges. The circumstances and the rationale for many of the workers being let go were based on judgments outside of their control.

Isn’t it ironic that the only thing you can always count on is the unexpected. The one thing you know for sure is that you can’t know what is coming next. There are so many things outside of our control, fake spring, late frost, economic upheaval, and so few that we can command.

At MarylandSaves we provide Marylanders the opportunity to take control of their financial future. Most Marylanders aren’t saving enough for their retirement, and for many it is because they feel they need to focus on funding today’s challenges. But the only way to control your finances and prepare for the unexpected is to think about tomorrow today.

The MarylandSaves program provides an easy way for workers to set a small part of their paycheck aside every pay period for their future. The program also helps savers create their own $1000 emergency fund for those seemingly unavoidable unexpected events.

Whether its with MarylandSaves, or any other retirement savings plan, it is time to take control of our finances whatever surprise the future has in store for us.

Author’s Edit: Following the completion of this blog, Maryland experienced an unexpected frost event, and a biotechnology company has claimed it has produced 3 dire wolves, an extinct species made famous by the Game of Thrones television series, and they are named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. Who knows what’s next? Time to take control of what you can.