Looking Past the Numbers

Recently, I was speaking with a very successful professional who had recently lost his job. He had a successful career as an executive at numerous companies and was, of course, forlorn about his new situation. The funny thing is that, financially, it made no difference to his financial situation whether or not he worked. He was already reasonably financially secure and could have retired a year or two prior to this event occurring without affecting his ability to maintain his lifestyle. As we discussed this, this bit of news seemed to provide a little bit of comfort. But, the forlorn tone of the conversation picked up for only a second, only to be brought down again by the inevitable question of “now what?”

From a financial perspective, this made no difference to this person’s situation. However, as this story evidences, our jobs are often much more than just a source of income. And, this is true of all financial aspects of one’s life. There is a certain amount of emotion and psychology tied to financial issues which sometimes makes our perception skewed. That is why it is sometime helpful to have an objective party to help you recognize this and see the entire picture.

Trying to separate the emotions tied to your financial situation from the base reality is often difficult to do. In making your own financial decisions, even if something seems completely logical to do, such as saving for retirement or maintaining a budget so that you can live within your means, there is something else that may keep you from actually doing it. Recognizing the issues that keep us from taking actions to improve our financial situation is a good step in the right direction. Working with someone who can help you recognize and work through these issues is an even bigger step in the right direction.

M