Set Realistic Attainable Goals – The Sky is The Limit
If management can be defined as doing things right and leadership is defined as doing the right thing perhaps we can all gain something from keeping perspective on just why we set out on the mission of better wealth accumulation in the first place. One thing we may all have in common are the five great goals of life. As we continue to recognize, establish, maintain and build upon these foundations of sound financial goal setting it aids us in securely staying on the highway of genuine prosperity and avoiding the pitfalls that may otherwise rob us of our rewards for faithfully stewarding our finances.
- The endowment of a long, comfortable, and totally worry-free retirement, with no compromise in lifestyle and no real concern about ever running out of money.
- The need/desire to intervene meaningfully in the financial lives of ones children, during ones lifetime and/or in the form of legacies.
- The ability to fund, in whole or large part, the education of one’s grandchildren.
- The capability to provide quality care to one’s parents in their later years.
- The ability to make a meaningful legacy to a much-loved school, church, charity or other institution.
As you are well aware the market, as fickle as it can be, seemingly defies all logic and soars sometimes daily to all time highs then drops precipitously prior to recovering. Keeping in mind these five great goals allows them to act as binding principles and helps stave off market anxieties, fears, as well as the tendency to unbound acquisitiveness. Just when the market is going to postpone going up and turn into a bloodbath you: (1) don’t know; and (2) don’t care. That’s why we’re here to help guide and protect your wealth beyond the major pitfalls and that’s precisely why you seek to have your portfolio positioned in a risk averse manner.
“The only real wealth in this world is children”
—Michael Corleone,
in Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather, Part III
TAKE AIM AT COMPLETE SUCCESS
SUCCESS: is the progressive realization of a worthy goal. Success is not a reward to be enjoyed, but a trust to be continually administered.
The true measure of success is not the size of your net worth but the size of the quality of your life. Our goal is to help you build and protect your net worth while enabling you to enjoy an incredible quality of life. We believe that success can be divided into five categories.
| Financial health. If your parents, ancestors, employer or best friend were to stumble across your personal financial records, would they be impressed or would they be reminded of the story of the cobbler’s children without shoes. Money is one measure. | |
| Physical health. Interestingly enough money is the least important area of health, in fact it is only important to the extent to which it can help us in the areas that are truly important…such as our physical health. Clearly the two are related and that’s one of the reasons you want a great financial plan so that you have more time and energy to focus on your physical health. | |
| Relationship health. In the long run, for most people, their relationships are a lot more important than their money. These are also related to money. Perhaps the reason we strive to improve and protect our financial affairs and have more time is because of the positive impact time and money will have on the relationships you care about…your family, your friends, your charitable endeavors…whatever’s important to you. | |
| Mental health. Maybe the biggest benefit of sound financial planning is on your psyche and self esteem. There is tremendous pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment when you know you are allowed to operate at peak levels in the important categories of life. This tends to produce less stress… more confidence. | |
| Spiritual health. Sooner or later we all have the opportunity to deal with our mortality. Not what will happens to your family or your assets, but what will happen to you, your soul…regardless of ones religious beliefs, your sense of connection to the universe and how you fit in…the ability to come to a sense of peace with your human existence. |
As life’s fears are eliminated, confidence occupies the place where fear once resided. When your financial planning is orchestrated towards genuine success, the work, stress or worry that once occupied your time and life can be replaced by things that are more important and feelings that are more satisfying…like physical health, relationship health, mental health and spiritual health. It’s important to remember that the primary reason you work with a professional financial advisor has less to do with money and much more to do with how it feels to maximize the qualitative issues of life. Of course you are better off financially but that’s not the real point. Long term meaningful financial guidance is indispensable if we are serious about experiencing a high degree of real or complete success. So, aim high, think big, have fun and stay focused on what’s important.