Simon Sinek’s famous TED talk teaching us to ‘Start with Why’ has changed how millions of us think about our work. Indeed, his concept of the Golden Circle can be applied to virtually any area of your life, including your finances, to keep you on track with your goals.
But even with the best of intentions, it’s easy to let everyday life take over. Soon enough, you can find yourself in the weeds of your investment portfolio or retirement plan, wondering why everything seems so complicated.
When this happens, you might find that the best way forward is to take a step backwards and remember why you started in the first place.
Stop focusing on the products
The financial services industry is notoriously complex. With thousands of products available, there are countless different ways you could invest your wealth to generate significant returns, protect your family, or save for your retirement.
Not only that, but we are bombarded with news and updates on a daily basis about how each of those products is performing. For example, we know on any given day which stocks are going up or down, and we can look up what the impact of that is on the value of our portfolio.
That’s where things can get overcomplicated and stressful. These products are designed to be the tool that allow you to achieve your goals (the “what” of the Golden Circle in Sinek’s example), but somewhere along the line they became the only thing that matters.
Instead of overcomplicating things with equities, bonds, protection, pensions, and trusts, look back at that first conversation you had with your planner.
What’s your “why”?
When you first decided to work with a financial planner, the chances are you didn’t have a preference about which indexes you wanted to invest in or what risk profile to use.
You were probably more concerned about:
· Making sure your family will be OK in the future – if you’re ill or you pass away
· Realising your own goals and aspirations in life
· Establishing how much will be “enough” to see you through retirement
· Not being a burden on the state or your loved ones
· Not paying more tax than you need to
· Leaving a legacy to your children and grandchildren after you die.
Take away the jargon, the market updates, and the daily fluctuations in portfolio value, and this is what you’re left with: a very human, very simple statement of intent.
The reasons behind your need for financial planning is your port in a storm, and it should be the guiding light in everything you do.
So, when you’re feeling overwhelmed about granular details, forget about which stocks are going up and which are going down. Just ask yourself: “Am I on track to achieve my goals within the time frame I’ve decided on?”. Your financial planner will be able to take care of the rest.
Get in touch
Financial planning, particularly for expats, has become unnecessarily complicated. Here at Ascenta Wealth, we do things differently. We don’t sell financial products, instead we propose financial options that work for you, your lifestyle, and your unique goals.
If you’d like to talk about how to achieve your goals, we are here to help.
Either contact your financial planner directly, email us at hello@ascentawealth.com or fill in our online contact form to organise a meeting and we’ll get in touch.
