Lack of Imagination

If you are like me, you spend your days struggling to maintain balance in your life.  Balance between work and family, exercise and relaxation, eating healthy and then not-so-much.

Recently I was at a multi-day conference with Raymond James in Philly.  When I am at home, I probably only change-out my bathroom towel once each week (I can feel you judging me…..it’s OK).  But by the end of the 2-day conference, I had strewn about 7 towels on the floor of my hotel room.  Strange, right?  There’s no balance there.

As a financial planner, I help clients who are all over the map with their spending and saving habits.  And yes, over-spending can be a really big problem.  How many “where are they now?” stories have you seen about professional athletes blowing millions of dollars in their 20’s, only to be left with nothing?

But you might be surprised how many people are over-savers.  Folks in this group are so afraid to do anything but save every penny for some far away goal that they forget to also have some fun along the way. 

A few years ago, one of my clients died at the age of 90 with over $5 million in savings.  Having no children, he left the bulk of his money to a handful of friends, and a charity which provides guide dogs for the blind.  The friends were shocked.  When he was alive, almost everyone who knew him thought he was perpetually bankrupt.  This guy was really unhappy and frustrated with his life.  His home was slowly crumbling due to all the deferred maintenance.  He bought second-hand clothes.  Never turned on the A/C in the summer, even when it was sweltering.  Missed about half of his doctor appointments because his old beater car would break down on the way.  I spent a number of years trying to convince him that yes, he could spend.  But instead of spending some of his savings, he actually saved about 50% of each of his social security checks.  Finally, as we distributed his large estate to his friends, they all said something like “I wish he had just enjoyed some of this money when he was alive.”

Oscar Wilde once quipped “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”

And Will Rogers said “The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.”

Somewhere in between those 2 sentiments is the balance. Keep working to find it, and make sure you enjoy the entirety of your life.

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