At a recent conference, one of the key note speakers was Carl Richards. You probably won't have heard of him (we hadn't), but he has a weekly column in The New York Times - it is titled 'The Sketch Guy'.
He used to be a financial planner, and found himself drawing this little sketches to explain basic concepts to clients. The New York Times picked up on this and got him to do his weekly column and he now works with financial advisers, sharing ideas and training them on running their financial planning businesses.
He is from the USA, but his family love New Zealand, and they have taken a year out and have been living in New Zealand (but apparently they love it so much they are going to extend their stay).
While Moneyworks don't work with Carl, he has generously permitted us to use some of his material and adapt it, as long as it is properly acknowledged. This email came into my inbox this morning, and I thought it was so brilliant that I thought I would share it with you.
Although this is written by Carl - I couldn't say it any better. So please - have a read of it, and get out your piece of paper and think about where things are at right now. Obviously, if you are Moneyworks investment client, then you will be able to answer 'because we went through a thorough process, and I know that my investments are continually researched and monitored by professionals.' But for our existing clients, this may be something that you could share with your friends who aren't working with us, to get them thinking about the WHY?
I have a question for you. Now, this will work best if you grab a piece of paper, and write out your answer. Here's the question: Why is your money invested the way it is?Before you go on, write down your answer on that paper.I've had a blast with this question over the last few years. I've asked it on planes and trains, in coffee shops, and over lunch, and the answers I get are crazy.Things like: "There was an article in the New York Times about it."Or "My buddy told me about it."Or "They talked about this investment on The Financial Pornography Network. Oops, I mean CNBC."But none of these answers are correct. There is — and indeed only ever will be — one right answer to the question."My money is invested in a way that gives me the greatest chance of meeting my goals."Of course, the hard part is pausing long enough in this crazy world to even hazard a guess at what your goals are in the future. I know, I know, ain't nobody got time for that! But I'd submit that without that, you can't invest at all (but you can speculate). Without a diagnosis, you can't get a prescription. There are other, fun "why" money questions:Why do you spend the way you do?
Why are you saving as much as you are?
Why do you think you need X before you do Y?
These are all useful questions, and they all have one thing in common: The answer that matters is yours! Not your buddy's. Not what you see on Insta-Twitter-Book. Just yours!So, back to your piece of paper. I suggest keeping it around to act like an annoying little reminder to get clear and stay clear, about the reason you're doing what you're doing with your money. - Carl
If you aren't a Moneyworks client at the moment and are ready to start looking at the answers to these questions, contact us by clicking here.
This is what we do 'we help people who care about their future by putting in place hassle free systems for them to be financially successful.'
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