Thursday, August 22, 2019

Money Can Only Buy “Stuff”




When is the last time you stopped to assess your life?  I wonder if your thoughts are the same as mine.  I look around now and am simply grateful.  My possessions might not be glamourous, my clothing stylish, nor my vehicle extravagant, but I feel content. Maybe contentment comes with age, travelling down life’s bumpy trails, or simply with gratitude.   I don’t know the secret prescription to this peaceful contentment drug but I know its importance. From a financial viewpoint, before we kick-start the financial planning process -- the “I want” stuff -- we may be wise to kick-back and evaluate what we have.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Money has never made man happy, nor will it; there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness.  The more of it one has the more one wants.”   



The first step in the financial planning process is to set our objectives and rarely have we ever discussed the things money can’t buy.  Now I begin to believe we should. The list below compiles essential items we often overlook when striving to achieve financial success. Without a doubt, our financial goals are important.  The true objective is to strike a balance.  Getting to the end of our lives and having lost sight of these vital elements to a life well-lived and well-loved would be tragic. 




Recently, I stumbled upon a new perspective.  The material items we consider valuable today will end up in a heap of trash in the future.  We can easily trap ourselves into buying the new refrigerator with a single ice maker from Lowe’s, a gaming laptop from Best Buy, or a reclining leather home theatre sofa from Wayfair.  Enjoying a comfortable lifestyle needs to be weighed with building ourselves and creating meaningful relationships.



Can you see how easily we get caught up in the busyness of “doing” and forget the pleasure of “enjoying”?  We get absorbed in the having more “material stuff” and we lose sight of obtaining the “priceless stuff”.   As these relaxing months of summer come to a close and a new season of goal-setting and achievements pops up, let’s ensure our priorities include the “invaluable stuff”.


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