Imagine today is actually your last day on this planet we call Earth. What would you be leaving behind? Perhaps you have a decent life insurance policy which would at least provide, maybe not a silver lining but, a dollar/pound lining to the cloud of your passing to those left behind. Your friends and family members would have all those brilliant memories to reflect back on. And maybe your estate will provide financially for loved ones to have a certain security blanket for years to come.
And whatever you’d be leaving behind is great! Absolutely nothing wrong with that. As long as that’s what you want. As long as that’s the legacy you’ve wanted to create.
But what about that book you’ve always said is in you? What about that idea you had that never quite took hold? What about the financial freedom you’d ideally want to provide for your family so that they have the ability to truly chase their dreams rather than running from their fears. Whatever that legacy is, we at Enlightened Leadership Consulting (
https://enlightened-leadership.co/) are here to help devise a strategy to achieve it and provide encouragement for you to follow through on that plan.
Sometimes discussions about dreams are discouraged. Even more frequently discussions about money and finances are shied away from. When you think about it more, isn’t that a little strange? The thing (man-made, by the way!) that affords people options in life is usually one topic in life that doesn’t get openly discussed. How many people on this planet actually know your exact salary? How many people on this planet know ‘your number’ of how much is ‘enough’? What’s the magic number of a lottery (or Draft Kings) win that would allow you to walk away from certain things in your life and move toward the opportunities you want to pursue? While, by no means perfect, its because of this that we at Enlightened Leadership Consulting (
https://enlightened-leadership.co/) decided to include some of our own financial information as readily accessible in the End Game section of the website. If you go and look at that part of the website you’ll see that a unique offer is now available to any who are interested to make a positive change. ‘Offer ends soon’ as they say………
Back to the point……This month’s post isn’t going to change generational attitudes towards discussing money or dreams or whatever else. But we are going to try and shift your own perspective on the benefits of being more transparent.
Encouragement 1: Read this article about saving for retirement http://www.theminimalists.com/retirement/
While there may be some specifics you can argue with, the article shows the benefits of being transparent (you don’t know what you don’t know) and also comes from a source that isn’t trying to make money from you in the process of sharing that information.
Encouragement 2: Watch this YouTube video about the impact of ‘steady’ growth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
The video has broader implications but the main concept to take away is the ‘compound interest’ principal that the article in Encouragement 1 touched on. You’ve like heard the phrase ‘the sooner you start saving for retirement the better’ – this video may convince you to start getting investment vehicles in the names of any children in your life. Not only to take advantage of the compound interest but also the greater risk children can take on because of the number of years they have before they ‘need’ the money.
Encouragement 3: Become a ‘money mentor’ for someone important in your life.
The most obvious choice is your kids but certainly doesn’t have to be. Maybe you overheard a conversation at work ‘I still haven’t started saving for retirement’ or a friend or family member has a history of struggling with managing their money. First step in becoming that mentor? Be as open and transparent with your mentee as possible about your own current financial situation, your financial goals and the questions you don’t yet have answers to. Work together so that you both make progress.
This month’s encouragements have focused on financial legacies. Money isn’t everything but it’s one aspect of our lives that we absolutely have to deal with in order to survive. And it’s an aspect that, currently, could be working more in our favor as opposed to the banks who make piles of cash on synthetic instruments such as derivatives, options etc etc. Not to mention fractional reserve banking policies and other mechanisms that sound all too ‘Ponzi-esque’ if you ask me.
The other, non-financial, parts of your legacy that may not yet exist – those dreams, those ambitions – may, sadly, never materialize. Maybe the timing is never ‘right’ or forces appear to work against you. However, if that’s not the case and you decide to go after those other aspirations, we at Enlightened Leadership Consulting (
https://enlightened-leadership.co/) would be honored to help you
Create Your Legacy. (and don’t forget about that special offer!)
Our future blogs will be posted on 12/12, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 etc.
Contact us to discuss how we might be able to best address your needs