Last week, we dropped our first twin son off to college in South Carolina.
Starting and funding a 529 plan before birth removed all concerns about the upcoming bills.
A college savings plan doesn’t pay for everything.
It won’t remove the heartache of the last goodbye.
Eighteen-year breakups are never easy.
No amount of money fills the enormous void in our household. It can’t lighten a heavy heart.
Money can’t turn back the clock and give us a do-over raising him. That stage is gone forever. Even a seven-figure portfolio won’t stand in the way of the changes to come.
Things are irreparably altered. Money or no money.
The emotional bill is due, and it’s completely unaffordable – even for billionaires.
Grief possesses the highest interest rate of any liability on life’s balance sheet.
Doing the right thing doesn’t occur in a vacuum, including giving your children a chance for a bright future in a world filled with uncertainty.
We have one more to send off next week. We’re not looking forward to it even knowing it’s for the best.
Reality has never been more real.
True wealth is understanding what money can’t buy and planning your life accordingly.
Beating the S&P 500 isn’t part of the equation.
Money is a way of keeping score, but some games are unwinnable.
Knowing your financial limitations is the only index that matters.
There are many situations where a fat wallet means nothing.
Is money the antidote to the following?
Bringing back your youth
Creating character and dignity
Breaking the endless loop of the hedonic treadmill
Purchasing class
Eliminating past traumatic stress
Generating empathy towards fellow human beings
Curing an incurable disease
Raising loved ones from the grave
Straightening out a spoiled child
Alleviating closed-mindedness and prejudice of family and friends.
Fixing a loveless marriage
Deflating an expanding ego
Instilling an attitude of generosity.
Transforming impermanence into permanence.
The quicker you realize this, the wealthier you become.
It’s more important to understand what money can’t do rather than what it can.
Money is important. Nobody disputes that.
My colleague, Ben Carlson, nails it.
“Up to a certain point, everyone needs money to survive. Money can solve many problems in life, but it can also create others once you have enough of it. Once you get beyond the necessities of life, it’s up to you in terms of how useful money can be.”
The problem arises when it becomes an artificial substitute for the things that really matter.
Thinking it cures sorrow and preserves happiness is a one-way ticket to disappointment.
A poet once said.
“Ever since happiness heard our name, it’s running through the streets trying to find you.”
Money isn’t the pursuer.
It can only do so much.
Keep this in mind.
Life is short.
Treasure the present moments.
One day you’ll realize how important they are.
Sometimes money doesn’t matter at all.
No matter how much you possess.
Plan accordingly.
