The primary reason I joined MCS was because its culture and philosophy emphasize not only responsible asset management and long-term planning, but equally the freedom to enjoy spending. That’s right, to enjoy spending.
Earing, accumulating, and preserving principal are noble and necessary steps, but once the “game has been won” we often see clients exhibiting an irrational reluctance to spend their money. Although people may logically understand they have a solid financial plan and enough money to last their lifetime, it is still very difficult for some to use it to their benefit.
Each person’s psychology of money is rooted in how they were raised in relation to money. There is no outside determinant describing monetary success; the real determinant is in the hearts and minds of each of us. Early childhood memories and family “mantras” about money are powerful drivers that shape the way we understand and relate to it. The size of a portfolio often has little or nothing to do with the feelings, beliefs and behaviors associated with that portfolio. It is not unusual for people with millions, or even tens of millions, to struggle to spend those dollars.
On a purely logical plane, all of us seem to understand that our time on this planet is finite, that it’s something that is dwindling by the minute, and yet often the spending habits of those with significant means are at odds with rational behavior. It’s as if there were an injunction against joy, or a fear that regardless of the empirical evidence, “there is never enough.” The power of the Great Depression and the subsequent rationing in the years surrounding World War II were powerful agents in the hearts and minds of many Americans. The recollections and fears of those times, passed from parents to their children, often live on in the hearts and psyches of adults in 2008 who now have a substantial nest egg to enjoy.
We encourage you to be ever conscious of your limited time on this planet. Take time to enjoy and enrich yours or someone else’s life, be it a vacation, a dinner, a donation to a favorite charity, or a simple gift for yourself, a family member, or a friend. In the words of Francis Bacon, “Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread.”
It is our sincere desire at MCS Financial Advisors to help you in any way we can to make that step from worrying about money to using it as a resource for fulfillment.