Honestly, a message that we can’t communicate enough: I promise, we’re not the NO FUN police.
Recently, we met with a couple Richard (42) and Monica (40), they live outside of Boston.
Rich is a tech salesman and Monica works as a consultant in financial services.
They both earn good money ($325k household) and are enjoying this stage of life as parents to a one-year-old. As they should, they enjoy doing fun things together and with friends: Traveling to Europe for a special Dave Matthews performance, along with a decent European vacation, visiting various destinations throughout the U.S., eating out regularly with friends and family—They’re living their best life.
At the beginning of our introductory conversation, you could tell they were hesitant.
They reluctantly explained that for the past few years they have been following our content, reading these newsletters, watching our videos, and have discussed meeting to finally get their financial ducks in a row and develop a financial plan.
So, what stopped them from calling?
“We haven’t called because we thought you’d strip the fun out of our lives.”
I smiled and quickly explained that a good financial plan strives to find a balance of enjoying today while planning to enjoy tomorrow.
Who am I to tell someone that they can’t go see Dave Matthews in concert?
Life is about choices.
We all have finite resources, and we must decide how we deploy to achieve both short-term and long-term goals.
For Rich and Monica, travel and entertainment at the moment is a short-term goal, but they also had longer-term goals (buy a weekend getaway home in Vermont, retire at 55, be close to family).
So given their income, what did financial independence look like?
They felt they could live comfortably on $12,000/month (in today’s dollars) and they would be financially independent by age 55.
Guess what? They were by and large, on track.
We had to make a few small changes to make sure they had more tax-efficient investments and they would potentially have more tax-free money throughout retirement.
As we continued to talk and develop the outline of a plan, you could feel the stress evaporating.
It wasn’t draconian: no vacations, no eating out, no fun. We simply discussed how they could continue to enjoy life today while planning for the future they dreamed of.
It was realistic.
If you’re reading this and, on the fence, please don’t let our most valuable resource; time continue to pass while you overthink and stress about the financial planning conversation.
If you or someone you’re close to could use help aligning their finances and establishing a financial plan, please reach out to us, we’re accepting new clients and eager to help.
Cheers, Nic
These are hypothetical situations based on real life examples. The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investments or strategies may be appropriate for you, consult your advisor prior to investing.
