MMQH: Time – Our Most Valuable Asset

Monday Morning Quick Hits

I often tell my clients, especially those that are retired or in the later stages of their life, that time is their most valuable asset. This is not to diminish financial security in any way, it’s just that we can never get time “back”, in the same manner as we can short term, unrealized losses in our investments. Admittedly, up until last week, I had never truly 100% believed this to be true in my own life, given my age and current life situation.

That changed, however, when my beautiful, champion wife Sally and I welcomed our first born son, Michael (pictured above), into this world. In the months leading up to his birth, I had started to think about what his life was going to be like as he grew older. Admittedly, many of my questions were pretty surface level questions…

• Would there be 4 point shots in basketball?
• Would he ever need to obtain a driver’s license?
• Will space travel be available to the masses?
• Will he get to travel in flying cars (one of my favorite topics)?!
• Will he be more like his dad or his mom? (here’s to hoping he gets my height and hand-eye, and everything else from his mom)

These questions and more had been clogging my mind. But then he was born, and frankly, I haven’t thought about anything except the present and the time my wife and I get to spend with him. As I enter this new phase of life and fatherhood, while simultaneously witnessing the gradual deterioration of my own parent’s health, it has really gotten me thinking about the time I have left. He won’t live at home forever, and with each passing day, it’s one less day I get to spend with him.

Our job as financial advisors is to help our clients create and execute a succesful, lifelong financial plan. There are many moving parts to our personal financial success, and everyone’s situation, timeframe, and goals are different. But the one constant, in our opinion, is that the success we hope to create for our clients is at least somewhat determined by the extra time we can give them. For some that means less time worrying about their hard-earned money, and more time focusing on their career and current interests. For others that means an earlier retirement, spending more time with family and friends, or pursuing hobbies and other passions that they hadn’t previously been able to.

Financial success isn’t the only aspect in creating more time for ourselves, as good health, hard work, and an efficient lifestyle are also extremely important. In the end, though, these different parts of our life all play a part in maximizing the gains of our most valuable asset – Time.

If there is anything we can do for you, please give us a call. Thanks, and have a great day.

-John W. Gottschall, CFP®