In just 11 days, we’ll be celebrating Christmas. Aside from the cute Hallmark films, it’s fun to see how the rest of the world celebrates the holiday.

Whether you celebrate a religious festival or something more secular—you probably have a few of your own rituals or customs that makes this time of year special.

We’ll start with something sparkly. Like the Philippines’ Giant Lantern Festival tradition. It’s held each year on the Saturday before Christmas Eve in San Fernando—the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines.”

It attracts people from all over the country and across the world. Eleven villages participate and the competition is fierce. Basically, everyone pitches in to build the most elaborate lantern.

Originally, the lanterns were simple. They only spanned around 3 feet in diameter and were made from origami paper and lit by a candle. Today is a different story. Some lanterns are made from a variety of materials and can be close to 20 feet in size!

The lanterns are illuminated by electric bulbs that sparkle in a beautiful mixture of patterns. It definitely brings smiles to the faces of all involved when those lanterns are lit.

At Money & Clarity, we also see a lot of smiles when we meet with our clients. Most of them walk through the door, feeling “in the dark” regarding their finances. And that’s okay because illuminating finances is what we do best.

No matter if you’re just starting to think about financial planning or in the market for a new advisor, we will spend time explaining what we do and how we can specifically help you.

Now is a great time to have a quick 15-minute conversation so we can start planning for 2021 and beyond. We may not welcome you with a 20-foot high lantern, but we will make sure we do our best to make things sparkle. Call us at 513-563-PLAN (7526) or book online.

Regards,
Nikki Earley, CFP®