Wise Money: Six Summers Left

Quote to Ponder

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."

Recommended Links

• • • • • The Tail End​ - Tim Urban, Essay
        • ​The Time Billionaire: A Concept That Changed My Life​ - Sahil Bloom, Podcast & Article
        • ​He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier. Now He's a Millionaire.​ - The Wall Street Journal
        • ​The Tax Market Strategy for People Suffering From Stock Market Success​ - The Wall Street Journal
        • ​I Made Millions in Real Estate... It Wasn't Worth It.​ - Graham Stephan, YouTube Video
        • ​Secrets of the Trillion Dollar Index Kings of Chicago​ - Barron's
        • ​Why 'Just Buy the S&P 500' is Riskier Than You Think​ - The Evidence-Based Investor, YouTube Video
        • ​Study Reveals 5% Value From Working With a Financial Advisor​ - Forbes

A note from KYLE MOORE, CFP®

I have a spreadsheet that's a little embarrassing.

A friend likes to make fun of me for it because it makes me seem so unspontaneous. She's probably right.

What's even more embarrassing is how often I open it.

It doesn't track our investments. It doesn't show our net worth. It doesn't even show our spending.

Across the top are the names of my family members. Down the side are the years. Each cell is simply our age that year.

That's it.

No fancy formulas. No charts. No conditional formatting. Nothing a fourth grader couldn't build in ten minutes. And it's the most useful financial document I own.

A financial plan shows you one thing at a time. Your portfolio. Your tax bracket. Your withdrawal rate. There are some things a spreadsheet can’t solve, but I still tried.

When you see your ages, and your kids' ages, and your parents' ages by year, you notice something. The years your kids are old enough to appreciate a real trip when your parents are still healthy enough to come along aren't spread evenly across your life.

They're bunched into a narrow band. And perhaps you're standing in the middle of it right now.

That band is why we went to Italy with my parents this summer instead of someday. Someday isn't a row on the spreadsheet.

Next to many of those years, I've written experiences I hope we'll have together. As time passes, those hopes become memories.

Disney World to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, because we couldn't stomach leaving the kids behind.

Our annual summer road trip out West to see Madeline’s sister and her family.

A bucket list trip to Italy with my parents.

But the rows that always stop me are farther down the page.

2032. The year my daughter goes to college.

2035. The year my son goes to college.

Time is running out. Not in a depressing way. Well, maybe a little. But more so in a clarifying way. Because between now and 2032, I can clearly see that there are likely six summers left with my daughter at home.

Six! One of which is already half over.

When you lay it all out on one page, you realize life isn't measured in decades. It's measured in seasons. In summers. You only get so many.

You only get so many years where your parents can still hop on a plane without thinking twice.

You only get so many years with grown children before they marry and start families of their own.

Those windows close faster than we expect.

Squeezing the most out of life requires a bit of intentional forethought. And a lot of these experiences require money.

If you want to start being more proactive, it all starts with one question:

"What do you want to be financially prepared for?"

That's one of the first things we ask every new client.

Most people have spent years preparing financially for the future. Far fewer have spent an hour deciding what they actually want that future to look like.

That's what my spreadsheet is really about.

It's making sure I don't accidentally drift through the future.

Our financial plans map out every year through age 95. We estimate investment returns, taxes, retirement income, healthcare costs, and spending.

I believe in all of it. Precision is a form of respect for someone's life savings. We'll model your 2049 required minimum distribution down to the dollar.

But almost nobody stops to model which is the last summer their family is still all under one roof.

One of my favorite essays is Tim Urban's The Tail End. His observation is simple: life contains a surprisingly finite number of meaningful experiences.

One day you'll carry your child on your shoulders for the last time.

One day you'll take your last family vacation with everyone under the same roof.

One day you'll ski your last run.

The sad part isn't that those moments end. It's that we almost never realize they're the last while we're living them.

Eventually, almost all of us cross an invisible line.

We spend less of our lives looking forward and more of them looking back. When that day comes, your investment account won't be your greatest source of fulfillment.

Your memories will.

And mine will be sitting in a spreadsheet. One row per year, and next to each one, what we did with it.

Today I open that file to decide what's coming. Someday I'll open it to remember what came.

This material is intended for educational purposes only. You should always consult a financial, tax, or legal professional familiar with your unique circumstances before making any financial decisions. Nothing contained in the material constitutes a recommendation for purchase or sale of any security, investment advisory services or tax advice. The information and opinions expressed in the linked articles are from third parties, and while they are deemed reliable, we cannot guarantee their accuracy