My husband, Jason, and I felt a sense of relief after making the decision to get help with our finances. The sense of “we got this, just follow the plan!” – Jason and I now have a taste of what good financial planning is. We are looking forward to solidifying the next steps.
I have been surrounded by a very talented team of CPA’s and CFP’s for almost five years. They get their “geek on” on a regular basis and I like to think that some of their savviness has rubbed off on me. I have had a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips but unfortunately, I never acted on it.
Jason and I finally sat down to share our financial picture this past year. You may ask, “Why did it take you so long? Quite honestly, we procrastinated. Time just went by. I wish we hadn’t waited. Jason and I are both firstborns with typical firstborn traits; one trait being, we like to have a plan for just about everything. We have managed to do OK and remain relatively unscathed thus far; marriage, buying a house, having children, establishing careers and all the stuff in between. Although my uber-detailed husband still balances our checkbook to the penny and established a bucket system for paying bills, at the end of the day we don’t know what we don’t know.
One could argue that there are so many resources out there that we could manage things on our own. Google, Yahoo, Morningstar, etc. have the answers to everything! However, what Google and other on-line reference tools don’t have is Tom Brady watching our back. Did I get your attention?! Having a financial planner is like a quarterback ensuring that all the components of your “team” (Cash Flow Planning, Investment Planning, Tax Planning, Insurance and Risk Planning, Education Planning, Retirement Planning and Estate Planning/Legal matters) are working together and making sure that balls are not dropped and no key financial “plays” are missed. Having one financial planning firm oversee everything certainly helps us sleep better at night. We can leverage many years of experience and credentials as well as the collective knowledge and experience of our financial planning team. I cannot emphasize enough that the benefit of financial planning goes far beyond knowing how to allocate your money.
After sitting down with Bob (Tom Brady in this story, we finally took him up on his offer!) to discuss our goals, we had new insight into how important it is to look beyond the everyday details, so we can plan “for life”. These days, weeks are jam-packed with work, the girls’ activities and time with family and friends. Knowing that we have a plan and our finances are in order will get us out of the weeds. Instead of questioning – “can we really afford to take a vacation next year with the girls and also keep our retirement and education savings in line?” we will work it into the plan, so we can enjoy time away as a family and not worry about the rest. This is emotionally freeing for us. Knowing that our current finances are in check and we have a sound game plan for our future gives us peace of mind so that we can enjoy today so much more. If you have been putting it off, I encourage you to start your planning with the planner you feel comfortable quarterbacking your plan. My hope is that you too can, as we say at BFA, “Live your Life on Purpose!”