Everyone deserves to be living a life they love.
Not only do you deserve it – you should be doing it.
These may sound like strange words coming from the mouth of a financial planner. Most people would expect me to say that you need to have the best job you can possibly get – so that you can save the most possible money. When I meet people and tell them what I do, they most often say – “Oh – so you help people get rich.”
They are often surprised when I tell them that what I really do is help people lead richer lives – now and for the rest of their lives.
I believe we are here for a purpose – and each of us should be living a life that is in support of that purpose – a life we love. I believe that if you are just living your life to make money, you are probably on the wrong track. I have found that no matter how much money you have, if you are not living a life you love, you will feel like you are missing something.
A good financial plan is not built without a foundation.
When you are buying a house, you don’t just wander around randomly hoping you’ll find something you like. A good realtor will help you narrow your search by asking you some really good questions before you ever look at houses. They will ask you how you will use your house and which freatures are the most important.
When you are building a house …. You don’t just have a bunch of lumber delivered and tell the builder to build a house. You work with a good architect – one who will ask you the right questions that will give him or her the information you need to build the house you really love. How do you live? How will you use your house? Do you love to cook, or almost never cook? …… the sanswers to these questios will allow the architect to design the house that will really support your ideal life style.
When you are building a financial financial life, You don’t just create numbers around a random set of goals. You find the goals that are most important to you. You define the life that is the life you want to live, and design a financial plan around that.
I frequently give workshops to various groups. A few weeks ago I was giving a workshop on investing. As part of it, I was talking about a financial life cylce that I believe most people follow and that explains the different stages of life. I explained a stage that many people enter when they are in their mid-50s, a stage where they are starting to think about doing what they really love. A young lady (about 25) said – “how sad – to wait until you are 55 to start doing what you love.” What an insight. She was right. The truth is – that we often get locked into careers that we don’t love and feel trapped by the demands our life is putting on us. The fact is, we are creating those traps our selves – by living at or beyond our means – rather than within our means. People change. The careers we are in were often chosen by an 18-year old (us). We change, we learn, life changes, we evolve. The life we love becomes different – but we feel powerless, locked into the struggle, entered into the rat-race.
As lily tomlin said – The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.
We owe it to ourselves to continually look at the life we live and the life we love – and make sure they are the same.
I love philosophical t-shirts. I found my favorite one in Hawaii a few years ago. It features the top 10 rules. My favorite philospher tee-shirt A wise philosopher, Kimo, said that “life is too short to dance with an ugly partner” – a metaphor for the things in your life that do not bring you joy.
Are you dancing with an ugly partner?
Yes – I help make people rich – but what I really like to do is help people lead richer lives. Are you leading a rich life?