401(k), 403(b), 457, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Deferred Comp, SEP IRA, Simple IRA, HSA, Fixed Annuity, Fixed Indexed Annuity, Variable Annuity, Deferred Income Annuity, Mutual Fund, Exchange Traded Fund, Index Fund, Stock, Bond, Option, CD, Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, and on and on.
All you need to do is put just the right amount of money into the right combination of these investments and financial products and you’ll be all set. Never mind the need to pay for all of the other things in your life that are necessary and desired, all while managing a successful career and family. It’s as simple as that, really.
It’s a wonder that any of us manage to keep all of these plates spinning. The notion that we’re all so busy is both an understatement and a symptom of a much more nefarious disease from which we all suffer at one time or another. The disease is one of unclearpriorities. In other words, because most of us are really unsure of what we really want out of life, we say “yes” to too many things and bury ourselves in a lifetime of tasks that steal our most precious resource, time. We run around from place to place, without having stopped to think about what we’re really doing and why we’re doing it.
So what am I getting at here? Well, I think we’d be wise to stop and take a deep breath and ask ourselves, “Is what I’m doing today really what I want to be doing? Does it get me closer to my desired end goal?” And while this sounds simple to do, the biggest challenge we face is answering the question of what we really desire as our end goal. For without that, being busy will have to suffice. If, on the other hand, we know what future success truly looks like for ourselves, it’s easier to say no to things that don’t get us to our goal. If we don’t have a clear destination then we’re susceptible to any number of detractions in the form of busy tasks.
The world respects ‘busy’. To most people, “I’m super busy” equates to success. After all, to get lots of things done, one has to be busy, right? But what if we’re busy, busy, busy doing all the wrong things? Where has that gotten us?
Just like the list of investment options above, life has an endless stream of options available to us. To not know what we’re trying to accomplish in the first place, we’re highly unlikely to choose just the options that best suit us, and we end up with a smattering of stuff that doesn’t truly reflect who we are and where we’re going. We’ll help you sort out the financial morass; the rest of your life is waiting for you to shape it. Just like an art museum curator cuts away the fluff to include only the key pieces of art that best suit the exhibit, curating your life may require a lot of saying no to get to the very good stuff instead.
All the best,
Adam Cufr, RICP®
