Life is never a single stage or a single journey.
Where you are today is not where you’ll end up because life changes, opportunities arise, new doorways open. Perhaps you’re looking to your next adventure vacation, mid-term to your next home, or farther out to expand your life, leisure, and retirement goals. For better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness or health, this is YOU …and the life you are able to design and enjoy on your own terms.
OLDER AND WISER
Long ago, a wonderful woman we’ll name Trudy spoke to me with some regret in her voice: “if we had known how long we were going to live, we would have been better prepared.”
You don’t want to face a future with regrets …nor the past either. We are younger than Trudy was but her comment can speak to us today. What Trudy really meant to say was that we need to better align Life and Wealth so we can live happily at every step. This includes having money safely growing to provide the opportunities you seek.
WHEN THE DREAM FALLS SHORT
Over 75% of people feel they are failing to reach their financial and life goals. There are so many causes, and briefly let’s touch on these because knowledge is strength. Knowing what stopped others can give you the choice and the leverage to succeed.
- Failure to save. Saving $1/month tax-free with 6% growth becomes $166 in ten years, $1,015 in thirty years. Add some zeros on that and you’ll have a few million.
- Habitual spending. A 60-year-old engineer told me they had always lived the rich life …but now were losing their home with nothing saved for retirement.
- Critical Illness. We hear every day of people – any age – with cancer, heart disease, etc. So when costs rise and income gets threatened (or you’re emptying the piggy bank and savings accounts) where does this put your future?
- Sandwich Generation. I know people pinched in a vice-grip of supporting aging parents while carrying adult children who are getting a fresh start.
- Debt dragon. Debt offers many benefits but if you’re dragging a mortgage or consumer debt into your late-career or retirement years, let’s look at this.
- Lost money. Investment advertising and scams have defrauded and misinformed. Google your city’s name plus the word “fraud” and you’ll get what I mean. Then too there are honest failures in business or investing when people weren’t prepared to avoid or overcome risks.
LIFE HORIZONS – write your own story
Over thirty years and two careers I’ve been serving young and old. I assure you it’s pointless to see your life today or even in retirement as closed …limited, …”a treadmill and then we die.”
NO if that’s what you were feeling let’s broaden this vision, add colour and energy, bring life to it, even direct this like a big screen movie: YOUR LIFE. We can expand this for you at any age but today let’s look at this especially for “retirement”. Don’t accept some computer print-out showing your life as a straight line. Check the graph here: would you want the flat-line or the Life Horizons Line?
Your STORY, Your LIFE, Your MOVIE
We can help you write the story or movie of your life and future. This is a totally fun experience (ask me about “visioning”) and helps align your wealth and desired lifestyle. As we fit investment planning to the life seasons you want to enjoy, you need never run short. As we said above, in sickness and health, we provide for all that life brings. You are the captain and we’ll be your guide through regular reviews to ensure INCOME for LIFE.
NEXT…
Reach me — let’s discuss what this can mean to you. As a heads-up we can also touch what I call the FOURTH HORIZON …so I leave you with that intriguing thought. You’ll also enjoy learning about “life income mandates” which sounds fancy but really provides a way to keep your money working and growing for you.
Also before you go, can you share this page with someone? Many are afraid their money will disappear, pensions will fail, that travel and fun will be out of reach. Give us a chance to brighten the future for these people, will you?
Freely share this letter whenever it can help a neighbour or friend, and ease the concerns of someone you know. Introduce us — we love to help.
Yours in Financial Security for LIFE!
Brian Weatherdon, MA, CFP, CLU, CPCA. 905-637-3500
627 Guelph Line, Burlington, Ont. L7R 3M7. 1-877-937-3500
Brian@SovereignWealth.ca
Author: A Lifetime Of Wealth — And How Not To Lose It (2013). Protecting Life, Loved Ones, and Future Dreams (2013). Your Business, Your Retirement: Halton Retirement Study (2015).
** This monthly letter touches on key strategies in Canadian and global investing and financial planning. This letter is not an offer to sell any kind of security, insurance, or program. Historical returns and risk measures are not a valid guide to future performance. Returns are from publicly available sources and research from a variety of firms including but not limited to GLC, RBC, CIBC, Mackenzie, Franklin Templeton. Opinions reflected in this letter belong solely to the author and no other body is responsible for the content expressed here. We value opportunity to consult alongside your legal and accounting firms to advance your financial security and unique goals. We are grateful always to receive your comments and questions.