Good Financial Reads: Financial Wellness

There is always room for change or improvement when it comes to your finances. But what you really should be asking yourself is this: Am I looking to optimize my current situation, or am I looking for tremendous improvement? 

The vast majority of what passes for financial advice is directed at optimization instead of drastic improvement. Any tip, hint, or singular transaction is just a tweak on your financial situation and should be treated as such.

There is always room for change or improvement when it comes to your finances. But what you really should be asking yourself is this: Am I looking to optimize my current situation, or am I looking for tremendous improvement? 

The type of fulfillment I want to talk about today is financial fulfillment. Why? Because this, in essence, is when you are able to live your best financial life. And I’m here to tell you how you can achieve this too.

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Among the most common tips you read in personal finance are rules of thumb. The 4% spending rule, the 80% retirement income rule, the snowball debt repayment rule, the 10% saving rule, the 50/20/30 budgeting rule, and the list goes on. Do they work? Well, what do you think?

Let me answer with an example. You may have heard to eat lots of pasta the day before a running or cycling race. But what if you are gluten intolerant? How do you think that would work out for you?

One of my favorite authors is Matthew Kelly.  He writes about many topics, including happiness and life satisfaction, and has written a short book with the title “The Long View.” The book is so good that I always keep copies for my clients. 

Kelly describes the long view as a brand of wisdom that takes into account the effect that today’s actions will have not only in the present, but also far into the future, including your long term goals and life pursuits.  This concept resonates with me because in economics, we formalize it and apply it to the study of investment decisions, and at DESMO we put it to practice for our clients. 

When it comes to making financial decisions, most of us want to get things exactly correct. We want the RIGHT answers; we think the choices that will bring us to the most wealth are the best ones.

And this makes sense. It’s your money, after all, and you probably don’t want to screw it up!

But aiming for perfection can actually hamstring your progress—and even lead you AWAY from the best financial choices for your goals and the life you would most enjoy experiencing.