lifespan

To Be or Not To Be—and Everything in Between

“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”

In his famous line, Shakespeare’s Hamlet was talking about life and, well, its end. The play has many timeless themes, but we never want to mistake drama for wisdom. (Hamlet was a desperate man pushed to the edge, remember!)

Perhaps we could focus on how things happen between now and then. The idea of longevity can have a lot of layers. Consider these three:

  • Lifespan: how long you live.
  • Healthspan: how long you live independently.
  • Wealthspan: how long you live independently, where and how you want.

While we don’t get to dictate how life unfolds, our attitudes and habits can influence all of these things. Our access to health information and data is increasing every day. Many of us already know the decisions that will help us prevent heart disease, and diabetes, and cancer, and Alzheimer’s. That’s power.

For my part, I’m having a good time on this earth. I try to pay attention to ways I might stretch out my healthspan: I am a health hobbyist, you could say. Health is not a formal part of our business, however.

Instead, in our professional capacity, we work with you on your wealthspan—striving to grow your bucket and to connect your money to your life, in order to invest wisely and spend well.

It all goes together: the healthier we are, the longer we might live. The longer we live, the greater the opportunity to compound our wealth—and decide how to deploy it fruitfully.

We can’t know exactly what’s in store for each of us. But here in the present, we can make it more likely for the best things to happen. For many of us, that means living independently, where and how we want, for a long time: our wealthspan.

It’s a grand adventure we’re on, isn’t it?

Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

To Be or Not to Be – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

New Lifestyles, New Plans

© Can Stock Photo / photography33

It seems that life used to be plainly segmented. First we got educated, then we worked, then we retired.

Financial plans followed suit: first we accumulated during our working years, then we spent in retirement – hopefully, not running out of money before we died.

Increasingly in the 21st century, life is sliced and diced. Periods of education may happen at any age. People remake themselves to meet the needs of the marketplace, or their own preferences. Stretches of leisure may be mixed in with periodic bouts of consulting or other work in the golden years.

Some people choose to retire to volunteering or a new business venture or employment in a more enjoyable field, or seasonally, or part-time. There are a lot of ways to live life these days.

In addition to changing lifestyle patterns, people are living longer than ever before.

In this new environment, financial plans and planning need to be more flexible, and serve different purposes. The key theme: flexibility.

1. Investment products that tie your money up for years are less appropriate than before, as changing circumstances could mean an unforeseen need for liquidity.

2. The accumulation of funds in traditional retirement accounts still makes sense. Adequate funds make work optional in later years, or enable volunteer work or even a business start-up.

3. It may pay to pay more attention to tax brackets, as shifting circumstances could change tax status from year to year. Techniques to take advantage of low-bracket years may reduce lifetime total income taxes.

The key, of course, is not what the trends are or what many people are doing, but what YOU want to do. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.