Angela & Jon - Executive Case Study
The importance of pausing and reflecting on your dreams.
It’s common to focus on short term plans as these tend to be more achievable – plus you get to see the results quicker. But, do our short term plans give us our ultimate goals? Rarely.
Here’s how a review of a family’s finances resulted in bigger and better plans for an even brighter future.
I was approached by a couple who had concerns about a falling pension. They also wanted to talk through plans of possibly borrowing funds for a loft conversion which would give them, and their two young children, the extra room they needed. Moving home was not in their thoughts.
As usual their initial query was product related, they’d identified an area of their finances which needed addressing and wished to talk through a financial commitment with regard to expanding their current home.
But, they hadn’t done one thing. They hadn’t actually taken the time to think or talk about what they really wanted! Life had understandably got in the way, but were they dreaming big enough?
I tasked the couple to think about – really think about - what they want their next 5 to 10 years to look like before our second meeting. I also asked them to consider what purpose they wanted their money to serve. These questions were game changers.
Between the first and second meeting, the family went on holiday. The perfect time and place to pause and reflect on the future.
They realised that yes, whilst they would like a bigger house, their actual dream was to look at moving out of the area, ideally somewhere close to the countryside in the next few years. Spending a substantial amount of money on a loft conversion could potentially scupper these life-changing plans.
Visualising a bigger house in the countryside was the trigger needed for the couple to think about their lives. When they dug deep, they also realised that they both fancied working less in the future to make the most of ‘beach-life’.
The life they really wanted was all achievable with a financial plan. Here’s a flavour of some of the actions we are working on together which is helping to keep them on the right path to achieving their dreams:
Sustaining their pension contributions for a few more years puts them in a strong financial position giving options about reducing work in the future.
The pensions are now invested correctly in a simpler portfolio.
They now have financial resilience with a suitable emergency fund and insurances.
They have a spending, saving and investment plan that they are sticking to.
We created a financial model to see what a reduction of income would look like allowing them to visualise the future.
They have implemented an aggressive plan to repay their current debt which will then allow them to plan for funding for their next house move.
They now have a clear purpose for their money and what their dreams are.
Next steps
Excited about the future, the couple are also considering starting up a new business or perhaps a side hustle to support their plans even further.
Even more commitment
I’m delighted that the couple married in Las Vegas since the financial plan was put in place and have fully embraced the ‘do what’s important in life’ approach.
Now, I’m not saying our meetings entirely persuaded them to tie the knot earlier than planned, but they did send me a copy of their wedding video … just sayin’!