We all remember hearing the final bell ring, don’t we? “School’s out for summer!” isn’t just a popular song. Do you remember as a child seeing an ocean of time and adventures ahead? As soon as the sun was shining, I would hit the road on my bike – without a plan – but filled with the hope of new discoveries. Maybe the same for you?
Our summers with friends were punctuated by family holidays, leaving arms and faces glowing. I remember our family holidays in Brixham, Devon staying in our usual B&B with Mrs Collier. In the back seat of Dad’s green Mk 1, Ford Cortina driving down to Devon seemed like going to a foreign land. Back then, as you crossed over into Devon, the motorway even changed colour from Black Tarmac to Terracotta Concrete – it was a sign we were on our way (“Are we nearly there yet!”).
The sun shone for the whole fortnight every year we went – a bit like this year’s summer. My brother and I loved those holidays – the Dartmouth Steam Railway, fishing in the rock pools of Shoal stone beach and playing cricket on the red Goodrington Sands. And when we got home we knew the grass would be three feet tall without two weeks of mowing – or so it seemed to us as eight and six-year-olds.
Sometimes, holidays were a “stay-cation”, which meant staying at home and heading out on day trips – also fun, with a bit less sun.
Then as night follows day, the shops started to fill up with school uniforms and stationery and we sensed that our holiday was coming to an end, heralding a new protractor, a new term, maybe a new school and new friends.
Sat in our classroom, looking out the window in mid-September, I longed for those summer days, thinking I wish I’d done more with the days either side of our holiday instead of squandering them complaining about being bored. Next summer would be THE ONE.
That was then. We can still make every day count.
Perhaps you were the stay at home family who loved what they had and also would have loved to travel further and perhaps see more countries? Well, with some simple planning steps, we can help you experience your dream holiday.
Perhaps just having a new bike would have been a real blessing. By adjusting
daily behaviours we can help you give your children more of what you didn’t have.
When we make the right choices today, we can make each summer a summer to remember, better than the heatwave of ‘76, or the one we’re currently experiencing! Time spent with family seems to fly past, almost as fast as those six weeks of childhood summers. Think about it: doesn’t 2023 seem like a long time away? Yet, what were you doing in the summer of 2013? Where did those five years go – didn’t they go by quickly?
I’ve said it before – the Real Truth About Money is this: Life Is Not a Rehearsal. Whatever you’re doing this summer, make sure you can keep having those experiences, maybe even bigger and better; purposeful behaviours will enable you to lengthen and enhance future vacations.
You can see how “F.I.T. for Purpose” you are here, by taking our short questionnaire over on the Home Page and with our GL Integrity team, we can help plan your adventure by getting the right things in order.
During your break start talking about what next summer would be like if you had the time, money and opportunity in 2019. Share that with someone and commit to it.
How about the ‘holiday’ called The Rest of Your Life and contemplate this question to frame your priorities:
I want you to imagine that you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. The question is…how would you live your life? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back on your dreams.
Describe a life that is complete, that is richly yours.
Then build the financial architecture to make it happen. Let your investment portfolio be more than a bucket of shares; let it have purpose. Let it have an end. Let it be in the service of a financial plan and your plan shaped by the life you want. For some that’s about stuff; for others – indeed almost all of us when we really think about it – it’s about experiences; doing what’s worth doing with those worth doing it with.
Give us shout if you need a little help with where to start – at GL Integrity we value spending time with those who in turn value spending time on things and with those who matter most. That’s where and with whom we do our best work.
“Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” – Corrie ten Boom
Kind Regards
Andrew Stinchcomb
Lead Navigator
Certified Financial Planner™ professional
Chartered Wealth Manager™
Investors should remember that the value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up. This update has been produced for information purposes only and isn’t intended to constitute financial advice; investments referred to may not be suitable for everyone.
