Financial planning lives at the corner of Money Street and Life Choices Way. Planning helps illustrate the intersections and interactions between a family’s or an individual’s goals and their resources. Financial planning is not a product, but a process of thoughtful reflection on stewarding our three most valuable resources: time, money, and energy. During the planning process, decisions about goals get clarified.
One of life’s difficulties is that typically only two of the three of our most valuable resources are pronounced at a given life stage. The chart below highlights that children have excess time and energy, with little money, while a retiree would have money and time on their hands, but limited energy.
The challenge for most adults is putting off some life goals, like that bucket list trip, because of time constraints at work. Financial planning can help overcome these challenges by demonstrating your time horizon and life goals with their corresponding opportunity costs and trade-offs.
Using some familiar song lyrics, let’s briefly explore how financial planning can motivate us to internationalize or bring balance to our stewardship of money, energy, and time throughout different stages of life.
Money
Making money, it isn’t easy
And it sure won’t make you happy
So I think it’s funny
We’re so concerned with making money – Making Money by Ben Rector
We all have a script that plays in our heads about money – mindsets of scarcity or abundance and insecurity or contentedness. Sometimes our mindsets shift over our lifetimes. Planning can help you identify and break money’s hold over your fears and concerns. Planning can also empower decisions about money that help you prepare for life’s contingencies and your or your family’s future.
The meaning of money varies by who you ask, but there is universal agreement that money is necessary for life. Money is the fuel that powers savings, investment, retirement, and life goals.
Energy
“When you comin home, Dad?”
I don’t know when,
But we’ll get together then,
You know we’ll have a good time then. – Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
Cats in the Cradle is a haunting song that accentuates our need to direct our energy and focus on life’s most important things. Energy is often an overlooked factor in planning for our futures. Energy levels fluctuate throughout life, but taper over time. One tension revolves around travel – do I go now or wait until I retire? Go while you have the energy; don’t wait! Energy needs to be focused purposefully. Work can creep into personal life and undermine our family goals or health.
Financial planning can help focus your energy on the decisions you want to pre-commit yourself to that accomplish life goals – schedule your annual trips by booking the flights, buying the concert or ballgame tickets, and build margins for workouts into the daily routine.
Pursuing career goals can often consume all our energy. An empty energy tank can cause people to miss the greatness of ordinary moments – sitting down for a family meal, playing or watching a game with your children. An empty tank can also cause people to miss some extraordinary travel adventures as well. Plan now, don’t miss it!
Time
The bells begin to chime
time, she says,
“there’s no turning back,
keep your eyes on the tracks” – Time will Tell by Gregory Alan Isakov
Each day offers us 24 hours and about 80–90% of all the 1,440 minutes in a day are spent doing paid work, housework, leisure, eating, and sleeping. Financial planning can help you intentionalize how you spend your time. Time is in short supply in this life. Financial planning helps to make decisions about the unpleasant, but predictable realities of life. Planning can show you the need for wills, trusts, powers of attorney, life insurance, pre-planned funerals, as well as long-term care strategies.
Balancing
“In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life” – Awake My Soul by Mumford & Sons
Devoting your time to the people you love and the experiences that bring joy, and approaching them with passion and energy, becomes the most meaningful investment of your life. Don’t let these investments pass you by! Your opportunity is limited so get planning because “ Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” We invite you to travel the financial planning road as you think about stewarding your resources: time, money, energy.
Ready to get intentional about your time, money, and energy? Call us (601-500-7925) to schedule your consultation and start building a balanced plan tailored to your goals.
Jason Branning is a fee-only, fiduciary advisor with Asset Dedication LLC, DBA Branning Wealth Management. He provides hands-on, practical financial advice for retirees and pre-retirees.
Sources:
1. https://workingholiday.au/why-gap-year/
2. Source: Musixmatch. Songwriters: Benjamin Rector. Making Money lyrics © Ben Rector Music. 2013.
3. Source: Musixmatch. Songwriters: Harry F. Chapin / Sandy Chapin. Cat’s in the Cradle lyrics © Story Songs Ltd., Story Songs, Ltd. 1974.
4. Source: Musixmatch. Songwriters: Gregory Alan Isakov. 2013.
6. This statement should not be taken as investment advice. Readers should complete a financial plan to determine if and the amount of any insurance, long-term care, or pre-planning strategies to employ.
7. Source: Musixmatch. Songwriters: Edward James Milton Dwane / Winston Aubrey Aladar Marshall / Benjamin Walter David Lovett / Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford. Awake My Soul lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Ltd. 2009.
8. Søren Kierkegaard. Journals and Papers. 1843.
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