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Month: June 2021
The “Stuff” of Wealth
Spring cleaning has given way to garage sale season in many communities. What a thrill for the senses! Whole rooms, stages of life, and past eras get arranged outside for our neighbors to consider.
I myself lean more minimalist, in general. Less stuff means less to manage. But having moved a few times in a few years, I’m thinking more about our relationship to the stuff our lives—and what it might highlight about our wealth more generally.
Maybe you’ve read about or seen the Netflix show from Marie Kondo: she’s a Japanese “tidying expert.” In her method, people have to confront their relationship with things they keep.
Does each item spark something in you? Does each item have a home?
The spark is typically joy or energy, but it could be a basic appreciation. (I wouldn’t say my toilet brush “sparks joy,” but hey, I’m glad enough I own one for when I need it!)
There are no formulas about what fraction of your wealth you devote to the stuff of your life, from furnishings and clothes to gadgets and books and fine art and gardening tools and… whatever it might be. You might, however, think about whether there’s a fit between what you have and the life you’re living. Does anything feel like it doesn’t fit? Do you get the sense something’s missing?
Our stuff is not the most important part of our financial planning, but it can certainly be part of it. As you look around at the things of your life, we hope that you see them as a reflection of and tool toward your goals—as part of a happier, healthier, and more sustainable financial future.
Think of it from the other direction: if you’ve got stuff around that’s not really part of your life, you’re paying for it to live rent-free with you! (How’s that for crystalizing the financial cost of keeping stuff around?)
Clients, no judgments from us: when you’re ready to talk about how we can help realign your money with your life, write or call.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
The Stuff of Wealth – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
What a Nice Problem to Have!
Money isn’t just money. This is one of the unspoken understandings that drives our work at 228 Main.
(Green paper folding money is actually pretty gross, when you think about it. We exchange germ-ridden linen for goods and services? It’s weird.)
For many people we know, money represents work. It’s sweat and time and livelihood.
For some, money means travel, through time and chapters of our lives.
It’s supporting children and parents and ourselves and our communities.
It moves around among us and makes new things.
However, money can be a top stressor for many Americans. We’d like to offer a little reframe: money can be a wonderful problem to have.
In recent months, fresh flows of cash have been springing up in many households as the pandemic kept us less mobile and less active. Others have discovered more flexibility after paying down debt across the last year. And those stimulus checks arrived whether we needed them or not!
We’ve been hearing from some of you about those big financial questions of life, too, as some are wondering about whether a financial legacy takes the form of an inheritance for later or gifts splashed around to children or loved ones now.
Generational wealth is a powerful tool and privilege. It also highlights the tensions we feel around money: what is the utility of money, in our lives? What can it get us and others? What can it do for us and other?
How do you best use your money? There isn’t one answer—and we certainly aren’t here to tell you your answer—but oh my, what a nice problem to have!
Clients, may your wealth bring you only the best of dilemmas. We’ll be here to try to help you along your way.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
What a Nice Problem to Have! – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
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