Financing the life you really want!

Bringing it together now the excuses are out of the way

So you have the beginning of what you think the next 10 years could look like. You have gaps but over the next few months you’ll dedicate a few hours a week to exploring those blanks and finding out a few new things about what life you really want.

For those with kids, you’ve both sat down and ignoring the “this is so lame, cant I go outside…” cries from them, you listened to what they had to say. Lots of long silences, but you were smart- YOU didn’t fill them up with suggestions or stuff. No doubt what they wanted may not have been easy for them to say or even know, but like you it was a healthy check-up.

Now, this is all well and fine but we can’t all live on air or risk all what we have built to this point for a dream. No you should not. Dreams are different. They lack a roadmap for getting there and check-points along the way. They lack basic practical thoughts on what things you need to wind down, what to increase in effort and what new things that will be required.

And money… oh yes that thing called money.

There is a straight forward way to work out what you need now, what’s needed as a buffer and how this will need to develop over the years ahead. A stock-take on where you are and any gap in the two figures, where the income will come from and so on, all builds to ascertain:

1. How much personal exertion income to be earned now

2. How this will go up/down over time

3. Any capital expenses probably required in next 15 years

4. The amount of passive income you’ll need to generate

5. The time lines this will take depending on amounts, resources at hand and age

6. The risk/returns equation we each need to answer for ourselves

Now, readers should know I’ve done this myself- made the change and mucked it up along the way too. I’m still building it out and probably always will be as the year’s progress. I listen to, and watch others experiences along the way. I stay curious. My head start was understanding wealth - it was my career after all.

My big gap was in trying to find what it was that I really wanted to do, even though I knew what I wanted to achieve. I’ve learnt what to do/not do and it provided the inspiration behind creating www.changinglifeandwealth.com in the first place. A community created to help people work this stuff through, then help them keep it that way. And importantly with no bias or divided loyalties.

6 Tips that’s essential to know:

Tip 1: Your path is probably going to be different from that of friends, colleagues and other family members. That’s ok. But get used to a bit of negativity, ridicule or warnings. You have to live it not them.

Tip 2: Our actions come from our behaviours that come from our attitudes that come from our beliefs! Want to adapt new actions or ways of looking at things. Want to let go of others? Start with your beliefs and work your way down. Address or at least understand your beliefs and how they were formed is key to change.

Tip 3: The only good return on an investment is one that gets you a step closer to where you want to go and the risks you took to get it. No one else’s investment returns matter. Investment benchmarks are both overly and poorly used- avoid them mostly. Comparing mainly leads to FOMO (Fear of missing Out and envy). Neither is particularly useful and are often distracting. They can lead you to comparing things over the wrong time-frames and to the wrong things.

Tip 4: All advisers of shares, real estate, lending, trading, etc have a bias. They are human and all play within a set of rules they mostly aren’t consciously aware of. This means even the ‘nice- ones’ can say and do things that aren’t in your best interests. The system is what corrupts- it’s what the Australian Royal Commission was all about. You should know as a result, little real change will occur. So beware. If using one be clear on what these biases are and how to spot them.

Tip 5: Understand the impact of TIME. It’s the least regarded most misunderstood driver in investment success and building wealth. 99% of the professional investment industry don’t think to regard all its impact either. Again, learn and beware.

Tip 6: Let go of biases around what you invest in how you invest in them. This will make things less risky and much easier. Most people’s views have a bias and not for useful reasons.

‘Not all those that wander are lost’ and a ‘road less travelled’ are the pathways you are likely to encounter. Done with the right financial preparations, it’s fun, interesting and will lead you to experiences you haven’t imagined. Yes, it can be scary. Taking the plunge- when prepared is still a bit scary. Letting go of some things isn’t always easy either. One thing to know, for the scores of people I’ve met whom have done so, none have ever regretted it.

Living in the West in the countries we do has placed us in the top 1% of the worlds people in terms of privilege, health, awareness and opportunity.

Courage and imagination are the only real limitations we each face. A lot of people choose not to seek out their real life because it’s confronting. It upsets comfort and certainty for a while. These aren’t natural conditions we humans like. The rewards are bountiful for those that dare.

My why.......

My dad was orphaned. Dad suffered abuse and severe malnutrition- Rickets resulted. He was illegally adopted; taken to the other side of the world by ship, and at 12 sent to work in a coal mine. Dad escaped by climbing over the Alps on foot and would’ve died if it were not for rabbit trappers he came across. He fought in WW II in Greece, Egypt and Libya. He saw horrible things. Suffered a heart attack and was beaten up by the shore patrol who thought he was drunk. His adopted grandfather made sure he never got to ever reunite with his siblings- cruel to the very last. All this was just one generation ago.

He suffered unimaginable hardships through life. He didn’t get an education but was a voracious reader. He was a pacifist at heart. ‘Brownie’ died in great pain after many years with 3 terminal conditions all at once. He died financially poor. I was 17. I recall him telling me on his bed one day soon before he passed. “Son- when you end up lying here, make sure you did everything you could in life- don’t do it half-arsed. “

If you’re under 65; you are part of the first generations in history to have been afforded this opportunity. Don’t squander this magnificent privilege nor die wondering at what could have been……..

Some inspiring reads: Sell up, Pack up and Take off (Stephen Wyatt) The 4 hour Work Week (Tim Ferris ) You Unlimited (Christopher Lyons) The Subtle art of Not Giving a fuck (Mark Hanson).