by Maryann Keith, CFP®, CIMA®, CDFA®
Recently over lunch with a client, my client asked, “How do we stack up against our peers in terms of our earnings and how much we’ve saved?” The first words out of my mouth were the old adage: comparison is the thief of joy. We had a good laugh and dove further into the topic. Before I tell you what I ultimately said, I’d like to recount a journey I’ve been on that past two years.
The truth is, we’re always comparing ourselves to others and it simply isn’t productive. Last year, I took up the sport of triathlon. I’ve been practicing yoga for over 15 years, but I wouldn’t call myself athletic; my sport in high school was marching band. Last year, I focused on the sprint triathlon distance, trained on my own, and didn’t really think much about my peers. This year, however, I joined a triathlon team with a coach and became painfully aware of race cutoff times, the incredible athletic talent of some of my teammates, and the fact that there are triathlons much longer than the one I was training for. It’s hard to admit this on the world wide web, but in preparation for each race, I found myself crunching numbers to see if I’d make the cutoff time and looking up results from the prior year’s race to see how I stacked up in comparison to my peers. In that moment, I realized I was falling into the same trap as my client by comparing my journey to others’ achievements instead of staying focused on my own goals.
Fortunately, wisdom always has a way of kicking in. I refocused on my goal of preparing for these races in a manner that would get me across the finish line in my own time. For me to succeed, it didn’t make sense to train at the same pace as the first-place finisher. Their goals, objectives, and abilities are completely different from mine. While I may not be lightning fast, my path is just as valid as anyone else’s and fortunately I had many people in my life to remind me of this throughout the year.
My journey with triathlon has given me a lot of perspective in my work as a financial planner. I often get questions from clients about how they compare to others. As I did with my client at lunch, I don’t lead with comparing. Instead, I focus on their goals, budget, timeline, along with any other relevant factors and compare it with the amount of risk they can tolerate to create long-term cash flow projections. This gives me insight into their chances of reaching their financial finish line. Everyone’s formula of financial success is different; growth is the primary objective for some, whereas predictability is a priority for others. In financial planning, it’s you versus you, but you don’t have to go on this journey alone. My team at Beden Wealth and I are ready and waiting to assist you on your personalized journey to financial success.
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