“Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth, money is time.” -George Gissing
The most central concept tackled in good financial planning is the precious resource of your time. Strip away all the excess, you’re left with how you spend your days, your hours, your minutes.
Financial planning does address:
– Retirement and income planning…..oh yeah.
– Investment process…..definitely.
– Education funding…..it should.
– Insurance protection…..of course.
– Tax planning…..annually.
– Estate planning…..for your family.
All important, but none are on the level of your life, your time. These items serve to support your plan. The plan is the proactive planning of time and resources. Don’t plan these financial items without addressing time first. This is a subtle, yet key distinction.
If you’re reading as a financial professional, we need to do a better job of putting this into practice. Stop spending too much of your client’s time on minutiae (performance reports, investment funds, risk/return discussions, product features, financial jargon and talk, etc.) Spend time on what matters, what endures; life. Use the 80/20 rule. 20% to give the financial stuff it’s proper due and respect. 80% to make a real impact on your client’s lives.
If you’re reading as a client, expect and judge planning service based on life metrics that matter (peace of mind, goal progress, growth, life improvement, etc.), not on trivial and relatively uncontrollable short-term measures.
If you’re reading as a prospective client of some financial planner, it’s okay to feel too busy, too chaotic, and too overwhelmed. Great financial plannings starts the process of gaining clarity. You don’t need to know or solve everything, but you do need to start. Action beats thinking.
