June marked a milestone for me. My 50th birthday was June 16th. Actually, it isn’t too bad. It still feels like I’m in a building phase. It also feels like the middle of a teeter totter. A teeter totter is all about balance. In life we balance a lot, most notably saving and spending as well as work and life. I remember playing on a teeter totter when younger by walking to the middle and then trying to balance with both feet on either side of the middle while both ends are off the ground, then running down the other side. Are they too dangerous for playgrounds these days?
As we move through life, here are the key items I think are pertinent when it comes to balancing saving/spending and work/life.
Living Within Our Means. In our 20s and 30s saving for the future seemed like a daunting task. However, working hard to save during these years pays off generously in the future. Keys to this success involve living within our means while avoiding debt and saving a consistent percentage of our income. I love my convertible now, but our son Stryker can remember my hubcap flying off the wheel of the gold Camry with 215,000 miles because I was trying to make the car last as long as possible to save for the next car and avoid a car loan.
The Snowball is Real. In our 30s and 40s we start to see the results of the earlier sacrifices. The most difficult milestones in saving are $1,000, $10,000 and $100,000 early on. However, once these levels are reached, the next milestones become easier and easier. I can’t emphasize enough how much debt makes building the financial snowball more difficult. But, with a well laid out personal balance sheet we can work together to balance the teeter totter of saving while lowering debt and tilting balance further and further toward wealth.
Honesty and Integrity is Wealth. In our 40’s and 50’s we recognize more than ever what it means to treat others with honesty and integrity and value business and personal relationships with people we enjoy and trust. There is no substitute for a good night’s sleep.
I’ll have to get back to you on what the 50s, 60s and beyond mean to me. If I had to guess right now, I would say that Health is Wealth. On the teeter totter of life I may be transitioning toward the downhill slope, but I’d like to stay right here in the middle for quite a while, continuing to help others balance saving and spending as well as work and play while building a business that helps clients for years to come.
I’m not going to deny there have been some midlife crisis moments as I reach this milestone. What does a midlife crisis look like for me? I think it’s about looking back on the hard work we’ve done to get here and realizing there is limited time to enjoy the benefits. COVID also contributed to some of these YOLO (you only live once) moments. It’s enjoying the convertible while I can still pull myself out of the driver seat (it’s admittedly a little more difficult on some days). It’s taking active vacations with our children before they are working full time and have limited vacation and more commitments
Looking at my clients at various ages, there is a lot life has to offer at very stage and it is pretty good right now.
- Schenkelberg Investments has built to a very nice size of $45 million in assets under management with clients I genuinely enjoy working with.
- Amy has been a wonderful addition to help balance offering quality financial planning/investment management services and enjoying life with family and friends.
As a financial advisor, I believe it is very important to help my clients save for their financially secure future. As well, it is also very important to help clients recognize when it is time to enjoy the rewards of this saving and help them map out what their desires are and how to get there. And when they get there, it’s encouraging the use of these resources to balance maintaining enough savings for the future and using some of this savings to enjoy life.