In our first two installments, we discussed how your Ghosts of Money Past can affect how you deal with it on a day-to-day basis today. Also, we saw how the Ghosts of Money Present can prevent you from feeling comfortable with your current financial situation. However, the Ghosts of Money Future can also affect how you are handling your money today as well as prevent you from going where you want to go in life.
In A Christmas Carol and Scrooged, the Ghost of Christmas Future show the hero what would happen if they continue down their current path and don’t make changes as to how they treat others around them. In Scrooged, Frank Cross dies young and alone. It is meant to scare Cross into changing how he treats others to live a longer, happier life. He needs to change what he is currently doing, today, so that he can rehabilitate his image with others to rebuild his life and career. With your money, you might need to do the same thing.
Now is as good a time as any to invest time to peer into your Money Future and see what might lie ahead if you continue on your current path. What changes might you need to make to be where you want to be in five years? How likely are you to be there? How have you defined it? What happens if markets crash? Given current uncertainties about taxes and Social Security, are you setting yourself up for being ready to handle what might lie ahead? What Ghosts do you know are there: paying for college, caring for newborns, buying a house, retirement? What Ghosts can’t you see: inheritances, medical bills, caring for parents in old age, forced moves for work?
The Ghosts of Money Future are all around us. We know some of them; we don’t know many others or if and how they’ll strike. But planning for the possibilities is important. So what is it that you don’t know? Do you believe it’s worth a conversation to find out how you’re prepared for them? If you think it is, reach out and set up a conversation to get your New Year off right and chase some of the ghosts away. Happy Holidays and see you with a new blog in 2018.