A year ago I asked in these updates, “Have you noticed that time is slipping by and it slips by quicker than we realise?” Well, here we are a year later and, to me, 2018 has flown by. Has last year gone by quickly for you as well?
In the three decades I’ve been in the business of financial planning, I have benefited from a lot of experiences. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the 7,000 or so meetings I’ve had with people from every conceivable background is that, indeed, “Life Is Not A Rehearsal”. Time is ticking away.
Our heads are either in the past or in the future and we rarely notice the now. We don’t seem to be conscious of the present moment we’re experiencing. Time seems to slip by.
You will have picked up from these updates that our purpose at GL Integrity – our “Why” if you will – is to help people live the lifestyle they want in the time they have left available no matter what happens to them or their family.
So, what do you want? Maybe you’re like most people. I’ve found at first that many people don’t know exactly what they do want. Therefore, they don’t know exactly how much money it will take for them to be financially free and remain so. They haven’t thought about it. The day to day busyness of life somehow gets in the way. That’s no problem; we can help clarify this.
In the meantime, what everybody does know is what they DON’T want – and that’s less than what they have now. So, you can start here with your current lifestyle.
So how do you find that out? You could put together a list of all the things you want to spend money on now and in retirement which would define your lifestyle and the income you need dropping into your bank account to cover it.
Alternatively, a simple way to work this out is to realise that there are only four areas where we spend money:
- Owe – i.e. debt and taxes
- Grow – i.e. what we save
- Give – i.e. charities, church, gifts
- Live – i.e. the rest!
Take your income and subtract the first three; what’s left is the rest – bills, food, leisure. To answer the Big Question, we need to get a bit more detailed, but it’s a good start. The Big Question is:
- How much is ENOUGH?
And the ‘children’ to this ‘parent’ question:
- Will I have enough?
(I need to know my ‘number’) - Will I have more than enough?
(So can I spend more now? Give more? Legacy planning?) - Have I got enough now, but don’t know it?
(So can I start doing more of what I love sooner? Am I working longer than I need to? Can I retire now? Can I reduce ‘risk’ in my portfolio? Am I cutting back and missing out unnecessarily? Am I feeling guilty about spending when I don’t need to? etc)
So, to sum up, we believe in inspiring you to do the things that inspire you. To live the lifestyle that you find worthwhile. To find out what ‘your enough’ is and keep it. And the best way we can support you in that is through purpose-driven, lifestyle financial planning.
If you share that belief, we can do our best work for you and we would love to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you on this journey.
If you’re client reading this, we’re delighted to be accompanying you on your journey.
There is more to life than simply increasing its speed. ― Mahatma Gandhi
Live well.
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.
