Have you ever taken the time to visualize your future and what you want it to look and feel like?
What would you like to be doing every day and who do you want to spend time with?
If you don’t take the time to think about the most important things in your life, you’ll likely defer your dreams and passions and start heading down the road of regret.
There’s a great book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departed. According to author Bronnie Ware, the five most common regrets expressed by people in their final days are below:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Are you seeing a pattern?
Fortunately, you have time to address these and other things that may be preventing you from living a more fulfilling life. Wouldn’t it be great to have no regrets when you sit down to write your memoirs, or just take stock of your life in your golden years?
Having a life of purpose—free of regret– pertains to our finances as well. I know what you’re thinking: “more easily said than done.” But, having a clear picture of where you are now with your finances and where you want to go, will enable you to live the life you’ve always dreamed of.
Many people come to see me when they’re at a financial crossroads in life. Usually they start asking me what they should be investing in or how much to put into stocks. Before we go down that path, however, I urge them to get their ready-cash situation squared away.
I recommend having a good chunk of your money in safe, liquid areas that you can tap at a moment’s notice. I know many successful people who have significant net worth, but they’re actually “cash poor.” That’s because all their money is tied up in investments that aren’t very liquid—i.e. they can’t get their money out quickly.
Why you need two kinds of ready cash
You really want two types of ready cash available: One type is for emergencies and one is for opportunities. The emergency fund should have 6 months of living expenses available at all times. It can be used for unexpected medical expenses, car repairs and major household repairs, etc. The opportunity fund can be used to take advantage of opportunities that land in your lap unexpectedly—say a limited partnership, a privately held business or a classic car comes up for sale. But if you don’t have liquid cash at the ready, you can’t take advantage of those opportunities.
The best place I’ve found to store cash is in a participating cash value whole life insurance policy. Imagine earning three to four times what banks typically pay, plus it’s tax-deferred (tax-free if accessed properly), with guaranteed cash value build-up, a tax-free death benefit, and access to the funds with no questions asked? Cash value whole life is the optimal place to store safe money for both emergencies and opportunities until needed. In times like today with a lot of certainty, there are bound to be opportunities for those who are prepared.
In my next post, I will discuss the power of diversification. Hint: You may not be as diversified as you think, even if you have a lot of holdings.
