Week One – Plan the Work. Work the Plan

By Nathan Green
Contributing Writer

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French writer, poet and aviator was quoted saying, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

The largest step you can take in any journey is to decide to take the first one - where are you going? The second largest is answering - how do I get there?

Up until recently, we knew how to play the game of life and were well served by following the conventional wisdom. Our parent’s conventional wisdom included the following; buy a home, save 10% of your income in mutual funds, rely on pensions and Social Security to take care of the rest.

How’s that working out for them? Ask your parents and your friend’s parents. I’ll wait.

What did they say? Not so good? Have they have lost value in their home? Are they overcharged in fees on their mutual funds? Did they chase “hot stock tips” only to lose money? How many would have started saving a few years earlier if they could do it over? Are they worried about that pension or the amount they will receive from Social Security? Will they be able to retire or will they have to keep working a few more years to make up for lost time?

I’m not trying to scare you here. What I do want the youth of today is to realize that the typical advice of our parents’ generation and the lax attitude of our generation (I’m 32) is long over due for a reality check. We now know that the tried and true methods to retirement bliss are forever changed and we too must change with it. But where to start?

My wife and I have had many talks about where we are going. Some involve finances, but most are discussions about having children, where our careers are going, and our next vacation (check out my article last week). If we, together, do not decide to take a vacation, we will never will. Next, out come the work calendars to debate when we both can get away. Then we check out how much vacation time we have left. Now the real debate begins. Go to the lake to relax or to the Twin Cities for a concert? We debate, both giving a rousing defense that our vision for our ideal vacation is correct. Without the decisions to take a vacation and a shared vision of where we want to go, we would never, ever get the lake for a relaxing weekend (fingers-crossed).

So, where do you want to go? Have you had that conversation with yourself or with your partner? Is it a shared or opposing vision? Did you know how to answer? This is the first step toward financial security. You need to ask yourself or your partner to write down and discuss three topics.

Starting very broad, the first are your values; do you value a big paycheck or a life of charity, how about living abroad or staying near family, to parent-or-not-to-parent, you get the idea. What are the unflappable beliefs you have?

Second, write down your goals. These are quantifiable and could include paying off credit cards, going back to school, donating to charity, starting a business, or traveling around the world. Whatever gets you excited and what you want to accomplish in life.

Third, discuss your immediate priorities. What is important to tackle in the next three months that will get you closer to your goals? Save to fix the car? Pay down those medical bills? Buy that Chewbacca mask you’ve been eyeing?

Now the hard part. Sit down with your partner (or if your single, have a close friend or family member review these with you) and discuss. What are the commonalities? What are the differences? Do you have combined visions, goals, and priorities for your future? The point is not to match up perfectly with someone else or to even know all the answers, but this discussion, if you do it, will frame all subsequent discussions and decisions and make them much easier.

You will debate these points. You will argue. You will also be closer to knowing that you have a shared first step and a vision of success.

And, if you’re lucky, you may even get that quiet weekend at the lake if you give up that Chewbacca mask.

Nathan Green is a Registered Investment Adviser and owner of BestLife Financial Planning, a fee-only financial planning service in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Check out BestLifeFP.com for resources and worksheets pertaining to this article.

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[HPR will be bringing you financial articles from Nathan Green from BestLife Financial Planning. This is one in a five part series focusing on personal finance. Readers can email their personal finance questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and he will do our best to answer your questions.]