By Byron R. Moore, CFP®
As published in The News-Star
April 9, 2006
Question: One reason I don't have a financial plan is that I don't know where to start. How much money do I need? What factors do I need to consider?
Answer: It was Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who said, "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity."
Most of us know that stuffing a few bucks in the cookie jar just won't cut it when it comes to long-range financial planning.
Intuitively, we know that it takes more than that. In fact, we begin to realize, it takes much more...
There are municipal bonds, corporate bonds, savings bonds, savings rates, interest rates, inflation rates, tax rates, insurance rates, car insurance, fire insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, flood insurance, flooded markets, stock markets, bonds markets...
Complexity.
Most of us stop this side of complexity, intimidated by the thought of having to try to figure it all out. We put off dealing with the reality of a complex world, day dreaming about a white knight that might save us from our troubles.
Plenty of us even buy lottery tickets, hoping we'll be the one-in-a-million person who realizes their dream.
However, more than a few dive into the muck and mire of our complex financial system, hoping to slog it out by tapping into the endless information resources available on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet.
Unfortunately, the complexity acts like quicksand, sucking you deeper and deeper. And it seems the harder you kick and scream, the faster you sink.
Until, finally, your nose is the only thing sticking out of the quicksand and you say to yourself, "I think I'll put off this financial planning stuff for another year."
Well, there is simplicity on the other side of the complexity.
My favorite author on the subject of things financial is Nick Murray, who coined the concept of the "Great Goals of Life".
Ultimately, financial planning is not about finances at all. Money can never be the goal.
Money can only be a vehicle to help you get what you want out of life.
When you think about planning, consider the following Great Goals of Life and see which of these (or any others you might add) light a fire for you:
1. The Capacity to be Financially Free. 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.
2. The Capacity to Educate. The ability to fund, in whole or in part, the education of your children and grandchildren.
3. The Capacity to Elevate. This is the need or desire to intervene meaningfully in the financial lives of one's children, both during your lifetime and in the form of legacies.
4. The Capacity to Care. Being able to provide quality care to one's parents in their later years.
5. The Capacity to Leave a Legacy. The ability to make a meaningful legacy to a much-loved church, school, charity or other institution.
Pretty simple, aren't they? And yet, beautiful when you take time to sit back and reflect of them.
Which of these dreams would you most like to plan into reality? Get some help. Take the first step.
Hey, it's your life...make the most of it!
Byron R. Moore, CFP® is managing director / planning group of Argent Advisors, Inc. Email him at bmoore@argentmoney.com, write to him at 500 East Reynolds Drive, Ruston, LA 71270 or call him at (318) 251-5858. The information contained in this column should not be construed as a substitute for personalized investment advice.
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