Financially Lucky [Video]

With talk of St. Patrick’s Day are you feeling lucky?  What about financially lucky?  I want to share two recent stories that have shaped some new thinking and understanding for how I think people view financial planning.

The Taxi Driver:

A while ago I was at a conference in Washington D.C. and took a taxi to my hotel.  As I was talking with the driver I shared why I was in town. He started to ask me, “What’s the secret?  What can I do to be like everyone else who has a lot of money?” He was asking me for quick tips or the one stock to invest in to end up rich.

The Careful Financial Client:

A month later we were working with a client.  We were working through what may seem like small details to fine tune any tax planning opportunities applicable to them.  One item we found was that they would be just a little short of fully funding their 401(k) account for the year. Now they were close to contributing the maximum amount of $24,000; but still a few hundred dollars short.  Many people would think they’ve done a pretty good job so don’t worry about that small amount you could still contribute. But our client was actually concerned they hadn’t completed something they could.

What I shared with our client was that the behavior they showed in wanting to do every little bit they could is what has gotten them to where they are today!  If they didn’t care about what seem like little details then they might have taken other shortcuts along the way.

So as a reminder around St. Patrick’s Day sometimes you can get financially lucky with timing.  For the successful clients to reach their financial independence it’s because they have made the big and small decisions throughout the years.  They won’t be worried about getting financially lucky to make their plan work.