Financial Plans Are Useless
Why would a financial planner who specializes in retirement planning be telling you that financial plans are useless?
This quote from President Eisenhower is not only insightful but accurate. He found the process of creating a plan to be more valuable than the plan itself!
The traditional approach to the financial planning process is usually a tedious and miserable experience that’s focused on numbers, risk profiles, and maybe taxes. A process that just doesn’t work!
The typical financial planning process ends up with a plan or to do list aimed at reaching (and keeping) your goals. And shortly thereafter, life happens. Some one gets sick. A family member needs some financial help. An unexpected home repair or maybe an opportunity for the trip of a lifetime comes up.
Financial plans, quickly become useless when the unexpected happens. But the planning process becomes invaluable.
I think Eisenhower had it right: When your plans run into obstacles, modify them. All is not lost.
Even if you have a written financial plan, don’t forget, things will never go according to plan. Life has a way of throwing you a curve ball once in a while.
When that happens, it’s much easier to update and modify an existing plan, instead of working with no plan at all. Parts of your original plan become useless, but the planning becomes invaluable.
It’s the process, not the plan that allows you to experience an Incredible Retirement – Doing what you want, when you want, where you want. So don’t treat it like a one time event. It really should be an ongoing process.
