Life comes at us fast. The decisions we make today have lasting effects well into the future. Society constantly hits us with a desire for more, bigger, better. Our advice most often is the exact opposite. Embrace the simple. Slower, not faster. Simplicity and flexibility are paramount during these uncertain and volatile times. There's beauty and benefit of getting and staying small…

A core value we provide is helping you articulate the purpose of money in your life.

Your Why.

Money provides for different benefits (and burdens) at different times in your life. Family, health and our career play larger parts at different periods. Later in life, we have more time (and money) to help others and spend more on experiences. The answers we hear most often as it relates to the purpose of money are:

Freedom, flexibility, and security.

Thoreau famously said,

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

We agree.

When we add more to our plates, to our spending and to our lives, it fetters away our freedom and flexibility.

Let’s break down how this happens. How to be aware if it’s happening to you.

And ultimately... how to fix it.

Our Finances & Stuff

One of the biggest ways we lose flexibility and choice in our lives is by accumulating too much stuff. This happens gradually over time and then seems to hit all at once when we are surrounded by shit we don’t need or no longer use.

It can come in the form of clothes, toys, household items and even cars.

The biggest and by far the most expensive thing we have is our home (or homes).

All stuff has a cost.

Many are obvious, but many are not. Especially when it comes to real estate.

It's not only in money spent that could be used for something else, but also the maintenance and life cost. Life costs are your time and the responsibility of maintaining.

Household items need replacing.

Cars require maintenance, taxes and insurance.

A house is a massive commitment of time, maintenance... and cash flow. While a house can provide a big life benefit, it's likely the biggest single cost in most of our lives.

It is estimated that the annual cost of a home just to live in it (excluding utilities and principle payment) is 5% a year. So, for a $500,000 home, that's $25,000 a year just to live there.

Buying stuff is often done on credit or with leverage.

Why do banks love real estate so much? With a $500,000 house purchased with a 20% down payment and a 30 year loan, a bank will make $500,000 in interest from money it created out of thin air. Essentially 5 to 10 years of your career were dedicated to paying interest. This doesn’t even get into the maintenance cost incurred while owning the home over that time frame.

Is all this to say don’t buy a house? No, of course not, but be sure the financial commitment comes with a compensatory life enrichment, not with a financial goal in mind as that will likely be substantially less than you realize.

There are countless stories of people who take perfectly healthy financial lives and accumulate so much stuff and additional debt that they become trapped by their possessions thus losing all flexibility and choice.

When making a purchase or deciding to maintain what you have, it's critical to weigh not only the cost today, but the ongoing financial cost as well as life cost.

Everything has a trade off.

It's imperative to look at what else you could be doing with your time...and money.

Is the $1mil vacation home justified by the negative $100,000 in annual cash flows and time, maintenance to keep it versus freeing up that time and cash flow for something else?

Our measure for a decision like this is a simple one…

The Price of Anything is the Amount of Life You Exchange for it.

This is true when it comes to our experiences, our investments... and our stuff.

Making our money work for us sounds easy, but we see people each and every day who invest in ways that are unnecessarily complex and require extensive debt, work, time and additional responsibilities.

It's crucial to allow yourself built in flexibility (and margin of safety) to adjust for when life throws you curveballs.

True wealth is freedom and no matter how much money you have you're not truly wealthy if you create a life where you're strapped with debt, possessions and unwanted responsibilities.

The goal is to spend our money, our time, and our life, intentionally.

We only have a limited amount of time on this earth.

Use it wisely.

Investments and "stuff" that require time, effort, massive capital, leverage or certain expertise many times don't provide us the payoff or the return (whether it be financial or life return) that we might be able to get elsewhere or doing something else. As Warren Buffet said,

If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.

Our advice when it comes to your stuff and your investments.

Know what you value and keep it simple.

Our Time & Commitments

Just like with our stuff, when it comes to commitments, our mouths often write checks our bodies (and schedule) can’t cash.

There never seems to be enough time.

We’re constantly haunted by feeling like we should get more done.

We’re inundated with choices and the sheer number of outside influences.

Cramming more and more activities into our already overly scheduled lives.

This comes in a variety of ways whether it be family, kids activities, social functions or even certain types of travel. They sound great at the time, but are not really things we want to do.

The secret to happiness starts with identifying not just what is important, but what is truly essential.

Are you investing in activities that support your life, relationships, and time?

It’s not about identifying how to get more things done, but getting the right things done.

Our guidance here, like with your investments is to keep it simple.

Identify your core values, what's important... and what’s truly essential.

Then make the tough choice to say no more than yes.

It’s either a hell yes or a no.

That’s it.

This is why it’s so important to be aware of what you value. In order to live intentionally, make decisions and spend your time in ways that are in line with those values.

These values change over time which is why financial life management and meeting with us is so crucial to help you keep the goalposts in line with what you value and help you design and live the life you desire.

An intentional schedule is much better than a busy one.