Working Wealthy – You Are In Control

Our three-year-old son, Nate, is a cannon-baller. If you’re not familiar with that term, it just means that he’s a mini-lunatic when it comes to bodily safety and decision making.

For example, last weekend, as my daughter and I reclined on the floor reading a book together, Nate decided to run at us full speed and launch his little body into the air in an attempt to “dive bomb” us. His term, not mine.

Possessing zero accuracy, his small frame skimmed off our prone bodies like a pebble skipping across a pond and he landed a couple of feet away. Fortunately, his ear and chin broke his fall.

While I make light of his antics, it does remind me of the personal financial planning we do with our clients and how decision making is so critical to certain outcomes.

Think about retirement planning for a moment. Everyone has some degree of control over the three major elements we talk to BDF clients about all the time.

1. You Control Time – Most of us have the luxury of when we decide to retire, dial back at work or take on a different role. The timing associated with any of these decisions is crucial to the success of your financial plan.

Work with your BDF team to focus on exactly how many years of earning make a difference in your plan. Often times we will shock BDF clients with the overwhelmingly positive impact an extra year of work or part-time income will add to a financial plan.

While there is certainly an emotional and behavioral impact to working longer, I must acknowledge that doing something like this may not be comfortable or attractive to some. So, what else can you do?

2. You Control Savings – I have met very few people that get excited when they hear the word “budget”. In fact, most people cringe.

We don’t set budgets for BDF clients; we help them set goals. If we can help you set the appropriate savings goal on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, we can help you set sight on exactly what needs to go into your portfolio each year.

Knowing this goal, adding to it when times are good and hitting it each year puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to controlling your future. Even modest increases to annual savings goals have a huge impact.

3. You Control Spending – Our firm has helped clients for more than 30 years with spending in retirement. One universal truth that we’ve learned is that most people don’t work their entire lives hoping to spend less in retirement.

However, controlling spending during your work years and retirement is a crucial ingredient to your financial security and the longevity of your assets. Our financial planning for clients is only as good as the assumptions we make in our plans.

The control you exact over your spending gives you the financial autonomy we desire for all of our clients.

Don’t be a financial cannon-baller. Consider your decision making and set your goals with what will work for you and your family—and remember how much control you have over the financial outcomes you wish to see.