A Financial Plan as a Living Document
Financial advisors believe strongly in the utilization of a financial plan and what it can do for your future. It is a powerful tool that helps to simplify dozens of variables down to an output that is manageable and quite useful in making life altering decisions. However, the industry has, in many ways, failed to articulate exactly what a financial plan is and, more importantly, what it can do for a motivated individual. We make our financial plans the center of our client relationship because it is the road map to our clients achieving a work optional lifestyle. When clients incorporate their life dreams into the equation, it can be the roadmap to happiness.
Think Big and Think Creatively
The goal planning phase is always one of the first things discussed when starting a plan. It tends to coalesce around monthly income, health care costs and potential long-term care needs. It goes without saying that these items are imperative in any well constructed financial plan. Just as important, however, are the lesser thought of dream-based goals. We strongly encourage our clients to think creatively about the things that they have always wanted in life, especially things that are not necessarily thought of in financial terms. Have you always wanted a huge, professionally designed garden or a finished garage with flat screen TVs and a sound system for football Saturdays? How about working a job simply for the enjoyment of the job and not because you need the paycheck, such as mowing fairways on a golf course or cutting flowers in a gift shop? These are exactly the kind of goals that round out a well built financial plan. Many people would be much happier in life if they could stop working 50-hour, pressure packed weeks for a job that simply brought them enjoyment and fulfillment. The question is how do you get there?
Flexible Choices and Flexible Results
We have the ability to incorporate many different ideas, goals, wishes, dreams, and even some pipe dreams into a financial plan. We can model out what a satisfying part-time job for the last 5 years of your working life would look like. We can carve out a lump-sum of money to be allocated to a “crazy thought” that might just bring you decades of enjoyment. We enjoy that level of planning because it is truly where dreams can be achieved. As we all know, tomorrow is promised to no one. While that doesn’t mean we should throw caution to the wind and only live for today, it does mean we should strive for things that we maybe didn’t think were possible. Many of our clients have worked and saved for the future. Together, let’s see if that future contains something you didn’t think was financially possible.