MONEY matters

I have read so many good quotes lately that I am not sure where the one above came from, but it certainly speaks volumes.

Twice a month, beginning in mid-February, I've been attending Zoom meetings with other financial planning colleagues from around the country.

Imagine you just left your job/business/practice for the last time after an illustrious career of 42 years. Today was your last official day of working for money and tomorrow, as the saying goes, is the first day of the rest of your life.

A week has gone by since your last day of work. You’ve been super busy, you’re still waking up at 6:30 a.m., still following a tight to-do schedule, so the sense that you’re no longer working hasn’t really sunk in yet.

You’ve made it to the ‘finish line’. You’re financially independent and retirement beckons. You’ve diligently saved for decades, and now retirement is no longer a fantasy -  it’s as real as it gets.

Now, instead of adding to your savings, you enter the phase of your life where you begin withdrawing from your savings. You keep telling yourself you have enough money saved up to live the retirement lifestyle you imagined.

According to the AARP, 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every single day, and this is expected to continue into the 2030s. This means that nearly seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute.”

If you’re a few years away from retirement, the day will soon come, when after a lifetime of squirreling away money and delaying gratification, the ‘distribution phase’ of your financial life will begin.

When you think about financial independence (FI), what comes to mind? What do you imagine your life would look like if working for money was purely optional?

This is a question that many of my clients have pondered deeply and thoughtfully and continue to evaluate and review. Not needing to work for money and wondering what to do with your life once you’re FI is, as they say, a ‘gold plated’ problem we should all be fortunate enough to have.

But with so many possibilities, so many shades of financial independence to explore and discover, such a new dynamic and reality to accept and embrace - the choice of how you design your life plan truly matters. And it matters just as much whether you reach FI in your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s or 70’s.

Whether you earned, saved, lived within or below your means and invested well on the road to financial independence OR you received a windfall from real estate appreciation like many of my Bay Area clients are experiencing, especially those living in Berkeley or Silicon Valley OR you inherited your FI, the road ahead remains full of exciting possibilities. So which path do you choose? What now becomes your life purpose, your dharma?