THE FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHER

Begin With Hope (But Do Not Dwell There)

"The past and present are only our means; the future is always our end. Thus we never really live, but only hope to live." ~ Blaise Pascal

I recall my wonderful and late mother-in-law would always begin each year with the same proclomation, "This will be the year of change!" However, if she were alive today, I know she would agree, in honest reflection, that her annual New Year's message was really one of hope, not one of change.

My message to you today, dear reader, is that hope and change are competing interests; hope can be a beginning but it is not a means to an end, the change. When you say or think that change will come, you are attaching a positive and hopeful meaning to the thought.  However, you have not taken any meaningful steps toward change; hope is not a plan or a means of moving you toward the destination.

"It is indeed beautiful to see a person put out to sea with the fair wind of hope; one may utilize the chance to let oneself be towed along; but one ought never have it on board one's craft, least of all as pilot, for it is an untrustworthy ship-master." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Hope, like money, can be a great tool to help you move along the way of your life travels when it is needed most.  However, both hope and material wealth can potentially cover your authenticity and thus paradoxically minimize the chances of arriving at that which you had hoped for -- to live a life of meaning and purpose.

Now go back to the featured Pascal quote at the top of this post. If the future is always your end, you never really live but only hope to live. Said differently, if you dwell in hope you do not dwell in reality; you are always Becoming but never Being; and thus you are not living; you are dying.

"Do I want the present moment to be my friend or enemy?  The present moment is inseparable from life, so you are really deciding what kind of relationship you want to have with life.  Once you have decided you want the present moment to be your friend, it is up to you to make the first move:  Become friendly toward it, welcome it no matter in what disguise it comes, and soon you will see the results." ~ Eckhart Tolle

To bring about positive change, the focus is not on past or future but on the present. Start taking steps now toward the things you had only hoped for in the past; notice what is happening around you and begin to really appreciate it; recognize what is not you and allow the authentic Self to emerge; stop making plans and begin living life now.  This is not the year of hope; it is the year of presence; and thus it is the year of positive change.

I wish you all the best in this New Year and I look forward to bringing you more perspectives for mastery of life, in the form of my first book, in 2013!

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Related:

The Goal is Not the Driving Force

Life Planning Part II: The Search for Meaning

10 Potentially Perilous Paradoxes on Planning & Life

WWJD? More Than You Think

"No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house." ~ Jesus Christ

This post speaks universal truths, which is why it certainly falls under this blog's central theme of "meaning before money, purpose before planning." 

Also, at a time of national tragedy, we need to dig deeper within ourselves, to move beyond the superficial lights and gifts, to connect and reconnect to the spirit of others, and to reflect on life's meaning and purpose.  This reflection is more than a question of what to do but one of how to be...

For example, when people ask, "What would Jesus do?", what are they really asking?  More importantly, what is the answer? This question is so famous it has its own acronymn (WWJD?).  But in the opinion and observations of your humble author, most people completely miss the underlying message, which may be the most powerful and life-changing for the individual and for the world, regardless of religious orientation.

In my forthcoming book, to be published early 2013, I address the same question at length. Here's an excerpt from the chapter on life-purpose:

Consider the popular Christian creed, "What Would Jesus Do?" It is too common, that by focusing on the word do in this question, that some may overlook a greater guiding purpose. There is nothing wrong with virtue and morality, what some call good deeds. However, if one is to really do as Jesus did, they will not focus first on life-actions but on life-purpose. To do as Jesus did, one’s life-purpose will be a guiding force for all actions: Purpose leads, actions follow.

If you act virtuous just for the sake of being virtuous—religious for the sake of being religious—you may overlook your purpose for living on earth because you focus too much on how you exist and too little on why you exist. You may find redemption but lose yourself along the way—a paradox.

I humbly submit to you this: To serve God is to fulfill one’s life-purpose, not just to fill one’s life with good deeds. As Jesus said, "No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house." Your purpose is the lamp; and it is only the authentic Self that can produce the light, whereas many act as if the light produces the lamp; the action is placing the lamp well. Again, purpose leads; actions follow. 

Ask the question a different way: What would Jesus not do? He would not tell you to ask another person what they would do and then plan life accordingly; instead Christ, or any other great leader, might tell you today: "Find your purpose and fulfill it; this is what I did; this is why I was successful; and this is what you can also do."

Christ's message is universal; it is spiritual, not just religious.  His example is a shining light that benefits anyone and everyone, regardless of religion or life philosophy.  Define things for yourself and stop leading your life by abstract meanings, social conventions, and financial pursuits. 

Be your own light. Focus first on be; then the do will take care of itself...

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and best of anything and everything you celebrate.  2013 will be the year you shine your light brighter on the world.

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image by Shannon

Related Posts:

The Goal is Not the Driving Force

Self-Actualization is Success in Life and Money

Be Unconventional: Live Life Now

"It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Conventional wisdom is an oxymoron. What is wise about conventions? 

Consider the conventional idea of retirement: More than half of one's life is used as a kind of sacrifice to save enough money to replace the income needed to pay for living 10 to 15 years in the life one had only dreamt of during their younger years.  By the time the individual is able to afford so-called financial freedom, their idea of happiness or the capacity to achieve it has either changed or diminished, respectively.

I see this as a tragedy. 

To provide full disclosure: The idea and application of life planning, as opposed to conventional retirement planning, is at the forefront of my mind this week because my family and I are in the midst of moving to another city (which explains the lighter writing schedule lately).  The reason for moving is not for financial or career reasons, which would be conventional, but for life reasons; we enjoy our current house and city but we feel strongly that our new city will provide greater quality of life in almost every way.

I will admit that our move is made possible because my work as a self-employed investment advisor and freelance writer creates more mobility than (sorry, I have to say it again) the conventional career.  This is not to arrogantly say that one must be self-employed to be free.  However, it does say that sacrificing life now for financial wealth later is a form of slavery and that freedom does not often come without significant risk.

"What is important in life is life, and not the result of life." ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I will provide details soon on the move and the new city.  For now, feel free to get a primer with these life planning blog posts (with excerpts following the links to the posts):

The Goal is Not the Driving Force: You are the driver--the helmsman of your journey, your life.  You choose the craft, the destination and the journey.  However, none are more important than being your own driving force.

10 Potentially Perilous Paradoxes:We sacrifice life now -- we sacrifice meaningful pursuits and diminish the value of life now and work in a job we hate for decades; we delay "gratification" for a day when we will obtain an undefined "financial freedom," which will presumably buy the time needed to finally be ourselves; we kill ourselves to live;  and thus life is made a tool for money, whereas money should be a tool for life...

The Non-Financial Cost of 'Retirement': If so many people who are actually in retirement have discovered that a happy retirement consists of working in a job that is self-fulfilling, shouldn't retirement planning therefore consist primarily of career planning or, even better, of life planning?

I look forward to sharing more soon...

The Goal is Not the Driving Force

"People are accustomed to consider the goal (purposes, vocations, etc.) as the driving force, in keeping with a very ancient error; but it is merely the directing force -- one has mistaken the helmsman for the steam.  And not even always the helmsman, the directing force." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Goals are created to inspire; inspiration is sought for the sake of inspiration; but nothing is accomplished.  This is regressive, outside-in behavior; it is useless energy--entropy. 

The saying, life is about the journey--not the destination, is true but many people distort the wisdom and choose only a journey.  Or, an equal and opposite mistake, they choose only a pleasing destination and use it as inspiration to continue an unsatisfying journey.  In both cases, the inspiration becomes the motivation, the purpose to plan, the goal.

This brings to mind the so-called self-motivation movement.  How can anything self-motivating come from outside sources?  Think of this quote from George Carlin: "I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose."  This is simultaneously funny, sad, true and too common.  People spend their time looking at maps, dreaming about destinations, drifting aimlessly or failing to ever leave the shore.

"It is indeed beautiful to see a person put out to sea with the fair wind of hope; one may utilize the chance to let oneself be towed along; but one ought never have it on board one's craft, least of all as pilot, for it is an untrustworthy ship-master." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

The solution to this aimless activity is simply to observe it for yourself--within yourself.  Ask yourself reflective and introspective questions:

• Why do I live?  What is my purpose?
• Is what I do aligned with who I am?
• Am I the greatest influence on my journey or is it just hope and inspiration?
• Are financial goals created for financial purposes or for life purposes?

There is a redeeming quality in aimlessness; discovery may not occur if the course is too rigid; and drifting with your hands off the wheel can be both rewarding and necessary at times.  However, even if hope and inspiration can push your craft along, the purpose of the journey is not to fill the sails with wind. 

You are the driver--the helmsman of your journey, your life.  You choose the craft, the destination and the journey.  However, none are more important that being your own driving force.

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Related:

Life Planning Part I: Are You a Tool?

Life Planning Part II: The Search for Meaning

Life Planning Part III: Creating the Plan

Why 'Retiring' At 80 is Good

"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society." ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

I recently read a MarketWatch article, Retirees are confident, but workers can't retire, which essentially states that many of today's retirees will financially survive the Great Recession but "fears were palpable" among today's workers and non-retired people that they won't be able to retire until the age of 80.

This article is a case in point that the conventional idea of retirement is exactly the opposite of a healthy perspective.  At a minimum the sentiment of the article, assuming it matches that of today's workers and non-retired people, is a reminder that the conventional idea of retirement essentially means "not working anymore."  It also underscores the unhealthy conventional thinking that working in a job or succession of jobs you don't like (or even hate) for most of your life is a fact of life to be accepted, is a tragedy.

This thinking further supports the notion that retirement is considered a kind of escape from reality and may only be enabled by financial means:  If you save well, you can get out of the rat race and live out your golden years relaxing, travelling and playing golf; however if you don't save well or you have been victimized by a terribly timed recession, you'll have to sacrifice another 10 or 15 years of your life to reach the Holy Grail of personal finance--retirement.

"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy." ~ Lau-tzu

I can certainly see how "fears are palpable" for workers who are generally unhappy with their existence and the ultimate and hopefully permanent escape from this existence will occur at age 80--a long, long time from their current age.  However, if younger people today--those significantly under the conventional retirement age of 65--want to find the means of early retirement they will consider career planning as an important aspect of retirement planning.  In different words, find work that you enjoy and you won't want to "retire" by conventional means; you'll want to live a long life and keep doing things that are meaningful and rewarding.

This way, if retirement means "not working anymore," one would not want to hasten the conventional retirement age--health would become the highest priority (above money) and "working" until age 80 would be a blessing.

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"Rat Race" Image by Polyp

Related Posts:

The Non-Financial Cost of Retirement

Man's (Career) Search for Meaning

Speak to the Past, Listen to the Future

"Have you ever looked back and thought, 'If I had done this or that five years ago I'd be better off now?' But the opportunity was there; why didn't you see it? Are you sure that you are not closing your eyes at this moment to one which you will see later in retrospect?" ~ Dorothea Brande

The saying, "Hindsight is 20/20," with regard to personal reflection, is a thinly veiled excuse to justify laziness.  It's most often used in the place of this:  "I made a mistake and I can't do anything about it now."  Why not?  The value of the past is often dismissed because it is already behind us; but recognizing missed opportunities, for example, is a valuable lesson in humility.  Hindsight may be 20/20 but foresight need not be blind.

Follow me closely here:  Do you ever speak to your past self?  If not, why don't you?  If you could speak to your past self, what would you say?  "Go ahead and make plans but you probably won't succeed at any of them."  This is what you say or think, isn't it?

"When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself." ~ Plato

Speaking to your past self can provide the foundation of a dialogue with your future self.  For example, your present self might say to your past self, "Don't make rigid plans for your future because you will not be able to predict or control what happens.  Therefore, be mindful of unforeseen opportunities and be ready to recognize them and turn them into greater realities than your original plans could have achieved."  This same advice is essentially what your future self would say to you now.  In other words, from the perspective of your past self, your present self is the future self.  Therefore listen to your own advice!  Here are some sage words my "future self" is telling me now:

• Extreme hardships are easier to overcome than you are currently imagining.  As Winston Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."  
• Stop killing the present by wishing for the future.
• Money, material wealth and social status are wonderful things but they are only things.  Health is your greatest asset.
• Don't be afraid to take more risk.
• Listen to the inner voice; it's usually correct.
• The smallest of pleasures are the greatest of joys.
• Surprise yourself every day; push beyond your comfort zones (mental, spiritual, emotional and physical).
• Listen intently to people when they speak.  Catch yourself wanting to inject your feedback, opinion or solution and wait until they have finished speaking.
• Don't be the person that says, "Here I am!" when entering a room; be the person that says, "There you are!"
• Money isn't nearly as important as the world projects it to be.

What is your future self saying to you now?  Are you listening?  Are you following the advice?

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Related:

The Greatest Source of 'New You Can Use'

The Knowing-Doing Gap

How to Break Your Own Will to Fail

5 Lessons I've Learned in 5 Years

"I do nothing but going about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine that corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person." ~ Socrates

Five years ago today I stopped "workin' for the man" and started my own investment advisory firm.  I've learned many lessons along the way, none of which I would have predicted.  Here are five of those lessons:

1. Plans Are Useless, Planning is Essential: This lesson, with words borrowed from Dwight Eisenhower, speaks to the nature of life itself.  Life is constantly evolving; unforeseen obstacles and opportunities will continue to arise. Plans may account for the unforeseen but it is impossible to predict the timing or intensity of unforeseen events.  I'm a CFP and an MBA.  You'd think I'm as good of a planner one might find (I even received an 'A' in my graduate entrepreneurial business course for my business plan).  My business plan did not foresee The Great Recession of 2008 and it did not foresee my creation of The Financial Philosopher.  However, with that said, the planning process, whether it is financial or otherwise, often brings to the surface information, thoughts or feelings that may not have been recognized if not for engaging in planning.  Create the plan for the purpose of engaging in the planning process but file away the plan and form a new one within a year to 18 months.

2. Wisdom is More Powerful Than Knowledge: As Sir Francis Bacon profoundly stated, "Knowledge is power."  However the only knowledge that is truly empowering is self-knowledge.  Certainly, knowledge of external things (i.e. money, material and social matters) can aid in acquiring external wealth but the lack of self-knowledge has the potential to destroy the self along with the acquired external wealth.  For example, throughout the credit crisis and ensuing recession, I've witnessed clever but criminal behavior (i.e. Bernie Madoff) destroy financial wealth and the lives of many people--all because of knowledge in the absence of wisdom.  In my personal and professional life, I've minimized the pursuit of external knowledge (I stopped my subscription to all magazines and newspapers and I no longer use financial planning software) and noticed my judgment has become much more clear, confident and prudent.

3. True Wealth is Not Measured by Financial Means:   From the beginning of this five-year journey, I set out to follow the wise advice of my then 4-year old son: "I'd rather have my Daddy than money."  Think about all you wish to accomplish with money:  Do any of these accomplishments align with your highest priorities?  You may find that your financial pursuits, no matter how good your intentions, are eroding at your most valuable possessions.  What is more important than your health, personal relationships and connection with the present moment?

4. Happiness is Found Easier When Not Looking For It:  Happiness, by its own definition, is not something that can be created or manufactured--it "happens."  By virtue of finding contentment with all that you have now enables happiness to happen because you have effectively reduced the perceived benchmark for happiness to the present moment.  In different words, if you already have enough, all that you acquire from this moment is more, which brings higher levels of satisfaction.  It is not wrong to desire more; this is your nature.  However, it is unhealthy to desire more in absence of contentment.

5. The Fear of Death Does Not Come From a Love of Life: The combination of reading philosophy and losing people and animals I love (along with passing my own 40-year mark) has provoked a profound reflection on life. If one is to begin with the end in mind, the true end is not some destination reached in a financial plan, a career path or some other end. All ends in life are subordinate to the end of life; the plans we make—financial, career, and personal relationships—may be given meaning and purpose by holding close the thought of mortality: Death gives meaning to life—your life—and it enables the perspective that will allow you to form your own philosophy—your life philosophy—the meaning and purpose of your life and all that you do. To embrace death is to embrace life and all that it contains.

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Related: Thanks For Reading The Financial Philosopher

Ode to a Friend: On Life, Death & Perspective

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

My mother-in-law, my friend, died two days ago.  Suitable words are not coming to me at the moment but as I begin writing and thinking of what I might say today, it is striking me now that she, among many greater things, was one of the biggest fans of this blog. 

I recall a past blog post, Awakening to Your Dying, that elicited a profound response from her.  The final two sentences of the post were these questions: "Are you living or are you dying? Are you living the day or merely surviving it?"

In her response to me, she simply wrote, "I'm livin' it honey!"

I can't help but smile as I imagine her saying that in her wonderfully unique accent, which was equal parts Maryland and South Carolina. 

Her final year was often physically difficult for her and not always filled with optimism but she still managed to find the will and means to fulfill her most meaningful and rewarding activities, such as shopping at thrift stores to buy trinkets for her grandkids or to care for her ailing cats.

In reflection of her life, my thoughts remain flooded with memories of her, combined with the love, support and concern I am feeling for my wife, kids and extended family.  Therefore, I thought it appropriate to share some quotes that I imagine she might say at this moment, if she were able to send us a few lessons she learned before, during and after her passing:

To live in this world you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.
~ Mary Oliver, 'In Blackwater Woods'

To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable. ~ Erich Fromm

Stop acting as if you have 1,000 years to live. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage. ~ Seneca

Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself. ~ Samuel Butler

My life has been full of terrible misfortunes -- most of which have never happened. ~ Michel de Montaigne

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. ~ Aesop 

The family.  We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life   sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~ Erma Bombeck

I have nothing more to add, except to simply say, "Peace, love and thanks always..."

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Sadly, my cat Sunny passed away just a few hours after I wrote this post.  Rest in peace, little one...

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.  Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. ~ Irving Townsend

Balancing 'Life' and 'Planning'

"Don’t seek happiness. If you seek it, you won’t find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness." ~ Ekhart Tolle, A New Earth

Last week's post demonstrated how life planning is a contradiction of terms:  Life is now, planning is future.  Adding more challenges, life is not something that can be accurately predicted.  Did you know where you would be or know what your perspective of life would be today ten years ago?  Humans are great at thinking of the future but accurately predicting it or creating it is not one of our greatest attributes. 

As the great pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus famously said, "You cannot step into the same river twice."  Extending upon this metaphor, you cannot predict what the river will look like or where you'll step five, ten or twenty years from now.

"Although imagining happy futures may make us feel happy, it can also have some troubling consequences. Researchers have discovered that when people find it easy to imagine an event, they overestimate the likelihood that it will occur." ~ Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

If planning takes us away from life now, and humans are terrible at predicting the future, does this suggest we just float through life like a leaf in the wind?  As the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss.  Unless you were able to remove the frontal lobe of your brain (i.e. a frontal lobotamy) there is no stopping your anxiety about the unknown or your desire to predict and control future events.  Some people may find it easy to be the leaf in the wind but most people cannot.  To reconcile the futility of planning and the innate behavior to think about and plan for the future, there is a balance to be found.

"Plans are worthless.  Planning is essential." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

I believe any type of planning can be good if it is a reflective exercise that enables an individual to identify and direct their energy to the highest priorities in life now.  More importantly, this reflection can end with a return back to life--back to the present moment.  This suggests a healthy form of life planning--the balance of life and planning--the kind of planning that always returns you back to where you are now--where life exists.

To add to the semantics study, the word planning is a dynamic verb, which implies that it is an ongoing process.  Once the plan is created, it is a static (motionless) piece of history--almost worthless for a life that evolves.  However, the process of planning can uncover and clarify your current direction and remove the human anxiety over the unknown; the plan continues to evolve along with your life and you've satisfied your desire for control.

"What is important in life is life, and not the result of life." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In summary, to balance life and planning, the goal of planning must not be the creation of a plan; the goal is the ongoing, reflective process of planning.  To use a metaphor, you look forward to view a mirror; however the image reflects back to you.  Life is the journey, not the destination.

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Related:

Balancing Responsibility and Adventure

Life Planning Part I: Are You a Tool?

Life Planning Part II: The Search for Meaning

Life Planning Part III: Creating the Plan

Life Planning: A Contradiction of Terms

"Always we hope
Someone else has the answer.
Some other place will be better,
Some other time it will turn out.
This is it. No one else has the answer,
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out."
~ Lau Tzu

Planning and thinking of the future is a part of being human, assuming the prefrontal cortex of your brain is working properly.  We can't help but imagine ourselves in some other place and time, beyond the present moment, improved and happier than we are now.  And so we apply our energy today toward the acquisition of power to make a better tomorrow.  We think this power is given by money--the tool that enables the future happiness.

"Whatever has being does not become; whatever becomes does not have being." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Philosophers call this obsession with the future Becoming.  Most of us are always trying to become someone or something else and on our way to somewhere else.  In fact, most of the products and services in the western world are formed around the idea of escaping from the present moment.  And because money is something that is perceived to buy what we have imagined (or what some media message has inspired us to imagine), we spend the largest portion of our energy and our lives seeking money. 

We don't want to just make money, we want to make more money; we want to make our money make more money.  And thus we are always Becoming and never Being--we are never present to ourselves--we are never in the present moment, where life exists.

'Life' and 'Planning' as Opposites

In my profession of financial planning, there is a rising movement toward the idea of life planning.  Instead of blindly making goals to acquire a certain amount of money for purposes of financial security, life planning asks its participants to imagine the life that they want and allow money to help them acquire this life.  In essence, life planning makes life the goal and money the tool; whereas traditional financial planning is both the goal and the tool.

In other words, life planning does partially succeed at making life a higher priority than money but it potentially fails at engaging the participant directly with life, which is happening now: The future aspect of the 'planning' negates the 'life' aspect.

"As long as you are unaware of Being, you will seek meaning only within the dimension of doing and of future, that is to say, the dimension of time. And what ever meaning or fulfillment you find will dissolve or turn out to have been a deception." ~ Eckhart Tolle

Perhaps I am being too literal or getting too far into semantics but life can only exist in the present moment; planning is for purposes of future time.  The term life planning, therefore, is like saying present future or today tomorrow. The words are opposites.  This returns us to the ideas of Being and Becoming: You cannot be here and somewhere else at the same time--if you are always becoming, you are never being.  If you are not engaged with the present moment, you are absent from yourself--absent from life.  Life planning, paradoxically, can be life crippling.

Next week's post will be a "part 2" to this one and will provide guidance on how to move beyond the contradiction of life planning and find a balance between 'life' and 'planning'...

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Related:

10 Potentially Perilous Paradoxes: On Investing, Planning & Life

The Experience-Stretching Hypothesis