December 30, 2024 • 21 mins
As another year comes to a close, join hosts Bradley Smith and Tim Borody in a thought-provoking episode of Your Life and Money. In this special end-of-year conversation, Brad and Tim reflect on 2024’s surprises, lessons, and successes, while setting the stage for an optimistic 2025.
Financial planning is not just about numbers—it’s about aligning your money with your values. This year-end wrap-up explores how individuals and families have weathered economic uncertainties and adjusted their financial strategies to stay on track.
What you’ll discover in this episode:
- 2024 Predictions vs. Reality: How financial forecasts missed the mark and what we can learn.
- The Mortgage Landscape: Why dire predictions didn’t materialize and what trends to watch for in 2025.
- Adapting to Inflation: How people have shown resilience and creativity in managing rising costs.
- The Importance of Cash Flow Planning: Why revisiting budgeting basics is more relevant than ever.
- A Glimpse Into 2025: Exciting developments and new beginnings on the horizon for the hosts and their clients.
Through heartfelt stories and practical advice, Brad and Tim offer inspiration and guidance for making meaningful financial decisions.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to your life and money,
where we believe that financial planningis not just about numbers.
It's about your life.
I'm Brad Smith, joined always by TimBorody and each episode
will be sharing stories from real peoplewho have used life centered
planning to achieve their goalsand dreams and advice.
First, we believe that the keyto financial success is aligning
(00:20):
your moneywith your values and your priorities.
And we're here to help you do just that.
So sit back, relax,and let's get started on the journey
to a life centered plan.
you back in the studio.
Here at the end of 2024.
I can't believe it's been another year.
(00:40):
And, and we're going to, to kind ofwrap up a little bit.
It's crazyto think how quickly the year goes.
And they sayas you get older, it accelerates.
So I think that's true, actually,the year went very, very quickly.
And here we are at the end of 2024.
And looking ahead to 2025.
And I mean in your defensethere has been a lot going on this year.
(01:03):
Who do you guys sell plays.
Getting ready for a wedding,with your son.
Next. Next.
Yeah.
Next year.
So, I mean, it's understandable.
There's a lot going onand a lot of changes going.
Got, But, I mean, I can completely echoyour, your thoughts there.
(01:26):
Watching, my kids get another year older,
starting kind of some schoolingthis year, doing homeschool, but,
my oldest,
Alex, is starting to work on his writing
and is reading, and so, yeah, it's it's unbelievable.
That is five over five years old, right?
(01:50):
How quickly it goes.
And yeah, that we've been at our housefor almost five years
and, yeah, it's,
it definitely speeds up, that's for sure.
Yeah.
Your son's five and my son's 25,
and before you know it,your son will be 25.
Right.
(02:11):
Yeah.
I can easilyremember when my son was five years old.
So, so for today, it's been a while
since you and I have actually been ableto record something together.
Yeah.
And since this will be going outright at the end of the year here,
I kind of thought we would domaybe a little bit of a year
(02:33):
and review a year in perspective,a little bit on,
what we've learned this yearand then some of the things,
that we've done and,and maybe we'll, we'll hint
at a little bit of what we'relooking forward to for, for 2025 as well.
I know our first episode in Januaryis going to be kind of
(02:55):
some of the new thingsthat we've got going on
and some of the thingsthat we're really looking forward to,
here and, and vice versa.
But, yeah, I thought it would be niceto take a little bit of
time to reflect on 2024 and,
yeah,
some ofthe things that we've learned and, and,
and so maybe I'll letyou kick things off here and, Yeah.
(03:19):
Give me your thoughts.
Yeah.
I was I was trying to think about whatI would say in answer to that question of,
you know, what did you learn in 2024?
What I did was I kind of thought backto kind of this time last year.
So like thinking December of 2023 or
even into January of 2024,and it's interesting
(03:43):
to think about all the predictionsthat people made about this year
and how they were so wrong.
And I think that's the pointthat I want to make
is that the future is truly unknowable.
Right.
And I thinkwe always have to remind ourselves,
we think we know what things are goingto happen, but we really actually don't.
(04:05):
So a couple examples that,as I think back over this year,
one thing coming into this year,I think a lot of people were thinking
was that we would see a lot more, like mortgage defaults or people
walking away from their homesor having a lot of stress around, like,
I mean, a lot of stress around, their mortgage payments
(04:25):
tripling or quadrupling from,from 4 or 5 years ago
when they renewed themat really low rates.
But we didn't really see a lot of default
a rise in defaultsat all this year in 2024.
I'm not saying that peopleare not under any stress.
There is stress out there.
What I'm suggesting,and it is not nearly as bad
(04:47):
as people were predictingcoming into 2024.
Now there's still mortgagesto be renewed over
the next couple of years, 2025 and 2026.
But we're now we're in a point where
we've got interest rates coming downpretty aggressively in Canada.
And, you know, the prediction isthat interest rates will be kind of
in that 2.5% range here, the bank rateat least, sometime next year in 2025.
(05:13):
And that takes a lot of pressureoff these mortgage renewals.
So I guess that means that's guaranteednot to happen.
I guess, though it'll be even lower.
Right now.
But yeah,I, I as we've been meeting with people
this year and talking to people,I'm it's been the same.
(05:35):
There's beenalthough it's added again for some people.
Yeah.
It's out of some stressor some uncertainty or we've maybe
had to make some tweaks to cash flow plansor savings plans, but it's not blown up.
Anybody's financial planner or again,put somebody in dire straits.
They needed to completely changekind of the direction they were having.
(05:57):
And I'd agree there was a lot of like,we were getting asked a lot
during the end of 2023
and earlier this yearon what was going to happen with rates.
And I've got to read you.What am I going to do?
But yeah, I mean, I think for the mostpart people have been able to make
good decisions.
They may have renewed,maybe the last term.
(06:18):
So maybe people were taking
two and three year mortgagesversus traditionally the five years.
But again, people have been able to adjustand make adjustments.
And I mean, I'd argue the other one waslike in high inflation still kind of was
people were still feelingthat and I'd say, are still feeling.
(06:39):
And even though we just had inflationnumbers come out today
that it's back kind of some 2%as of the last, reporting rate.
But people are still feeling that, but areare making adjustments that they can do.
And I think that speaks to the kindof the resiliency that people have. And,
that they'll do what they have to do to,to make sure things get paid and,
(07:02):
make sure that their familiesare provided for.
Yeah.
And, and I think the lesson learnedthere is for us to be reminded
that cash flowplanning is really, really important.
And, ifI think back, even over the last 20 years
when we had interestrates really low for 20 years
(07:22):
back to 2001,really interest rates were on,
we had a 40 year decline in interest ratesin Canada, let's put it that way.
Right.
So people aren't as worried about cashflow planning,
budgeting and hate to use that.
You know that that the B-word. Right.
But it's it's it's years like 2024
that remind usthat those things are really important.
(07:45):
And people who have a longer term
perspective make wiser decisions.
And I think that's wherewhat I would want to kind of share
with everybody is, look,the future is unknown.
It's unpredictable.
And you want to have a longer termperspective
so that you can make wise decisions today
(08:07):
that are in relation to the future needs.
Instead of looking at today's desires,looking at more of a longer term
perspective will helpyou make wise decisions,
which impacts your cashflow, your budget, and all that process.
That kind of
leads into one of the thingsthat I was thinking of for this podcast.
(08:28):
And again, it kind of comes backto the idea of cash flow planning,
but it's that idea of creating marginin your planner, right?
So it's it's having that flexibility.
And I completely understandfor some people that can be difficult.
But by being disciplinedand having that plan, you can kind of
build that margin into your cashflow budget, into your plan.
(08:51):
So that when the unexpected happens,
you can make adjustments, you can shift
priorities,you can move things around without, again,
jeopardizing that a longer term approach.
And again,make adjustments in the short term
by using some of that, cash flow margin.
And I know that's something that you and Italk to clients all the time about.
(09:15):
And it's one of the things that I knowwe're going to talk about early
in the new yearis that idea of kind of having
a really good understandingof where your money is going,
and how it's being allocatedso that you can, again,
adjust, you can make changes, you can,
(09:36):
have more
confidencewhen those uncertain events happen,
that you can deal with it
and that you can get through itwithout again having to make
major sacrifices hereor there or something like that as well.
Yeah.
And I, I think those are all great pointsand I think they're great reminders.
The future is unknown.
(09:56):
You've got a built in cash flow marginbecause things can change on a dime
relatively quickly.
You need to know where your money'sgoing.
So and where your so thereforethe B word budget is super important.
And then the last component of that
that I will addin is the concept of generosity.
And that's I think that's another thingthat I've kind of seen this year
(10:19):
in 2024, is that,
clients or people in general,
their generosity stayed fairly high,even amongst all the higher
cash flow, cost of living and uncertaintyabout the future and all that.
People's generosity stayed high.
And what what I'm reminded there,the principle that I'm reminded
(10:40):
there is that generosity breaksthe power of money.
Because when you when you give money away,when you're generous.
And I don't
necessarily mean to a charity or whatever,but you could just be helping
a neighbor or a friend, right?
That's also generosity.
But when you do that, you're recognizingthat I don't need everything that I have.
(11:01):
For me, there is margin, as you just
said, or there's room in that cash flowthat allows me
to give money somewhere else,and it breaks that power
that money can have over usto think that I need it all right?
In fact, I need more than I have. Right.
Which means I need to go borrow more.
Which gets into that trap of of not,you know, in our the,
(11:25):
the trap in our mindthat says I'm never going to have enough.
Right.
And so I think even in this environmentof, you know, higher cost of living,
it's still kind of, you know,even though the headlines are telling me
inflation's down, well, that doesn't meanwe have negative inflation.
Yeah.It means right. There's no deflation.
It's just that prices are not acceleratingas quickly as they were.
(11:47):
Right.
They're still high right.
Are the gas station are all those thingsthat you feel every single day?
But that that generosity piece helpsyou break that
power of money that you needevery single dime in order to live off of.
And I think that's another componentthat I've learned this year
or been reminded of this year.
(12:08):
Yeah, I go hand in hand with,
again, kind of one of the other aspects,
myself personally, I've gone and again,a couple episodes ago
I did, I had a conversationabout this topic, but it is not
that idea of being contentsand being grateful for what you have.
(12:29):
Right? Yeah.
And I think when you gointo kind of the idea of generosity
with the perspective of contentment,I'm, I'm content with what I have.
I'm grateful for what I have.
And then I thinknow I can share what I have with others.
I think those really go hand in hand.
And again that's another
(12:51):
I don't know, a
lot of learning experiencehas been the best, the best word.
But it's been I kind of a simple thingI guess on my life this year
is is again that idea of contentmentand gratitude and,
I'm just trying to focus more on those,
perspectives around life.
(13:12):
And, and again, part of it is, again,it's not always monetary like that.
Right?
All the time I get to spend with my kidsas they're right,
the ages of five and threeand getting to watch them experiencing,
discover new thingsor figure out new things and,
and yeah, it's beenI've been really focused on trying
(13:33):
to be grateful for those types of moments,
not necessarily just the financial aspectof things as well.
And I think that really goes hand in handwith, again, our our idea,
the life is not a rehearsal, right?
Yeah.
To enjoy what we've got,not just financially but,
everything about our life and
(13:57):
and make the best use ofour time, our treasure. And,
our, our,the resources that we've got available.
Yeah.
I think the,
all these things that we're talking aboutare just kind of tied together.
Right.
Like if you,if you have a good understanding of your,
your cash flow in your budget,if you have margin built in to that
(14:20):
for the under known or the unpredictable,
if you have generosity built into that,
then that allows you toto break that power of money.
And if you have a long term perspective,
it helps you to prioritize the future
over some of the immediate needsor desires that you have or the fears
(14:41):
even that you have in the immediateby saying, you know what?
I can set that aside and not worryabout it, or I don't need that.
And I because I have a longer perspective,I'm going to make more wise decisions
going forward. Right.
And that longer perspective also helps
to eliminate those.
I mean, I hate using the term, but those
(15:04):
that they'remissing out and what am I like
I have when you take that longterm approach, you can help eliminate
that again, because if the first wordis fear that you just mentioned.
Yeah.
And and again, taking that perspectivejust again can help
you make so much better decisions thanoh my goodness I missed it on this.
(15:25):
So I've got to do thisor I've got to do this.
And and then again,things can easily snowball,
especially when there'sa lot of that uncertainty out there.
And I don't think uncertainty is goinganywhere.
Right.
You know, livingtoday isn't becoming any more
by any stretch of the imagination.
Yeah. Yeah.
So, you know, live within your means,set long term goals, build for margin.
(15:50):
All of those things I think are greatlessons for us as we wrap up this year
and head into another one. Yeah.
And so as we maybe we take a little bitof a peek and, into 2025,
yeah.
What are someof the things that you're looking forward
to or that you're maybe watching for?
As we now again,get ready to start, another new year.
(16:14):
Here at
well, there's always,
lots of things that I,
have rolling around in my mind,but not always that end up
actually happening right away.
And so that's why maybe I'm pausing herejust slightly, but,
I think one of the thingsthat I'm looking forward to in
(16:35):
2025 is really,
going deeper with our clients,
in, in our, not just our relationship,
but just helping them to get the best lifethey can.
That is part of the rolethat I really enjoy.
So we're going to kind of unpacksome of that next year
as we go through some of these episodesof of what that looks like to have,
(16:59):
you know, the kind of perspectivethat we would hope for our clients
that they would have going forward,and that is to get the best life.
They can be much more generous,but building into the next generation,
preparing the next steward, all of those types of things,
I think we'll be
looking at unpacking a bit more next yearand some of the tools that we've got
(17:20):
that we can, explore a little bitmore in a little more in depth
to, to help people kind of flesh that outas to what that means for them.
Yeah.
And I think for myself, it's similar.
And it's we've had a very successful year.
We've got to meet a lot of people
and kind of get this message outa little bit more.
(17:42):
But I want to get it out even more.
Right.
And so, again,most of the people that we that we meet
and talk withhaven't had these types of conversations,
haven't had these types of discussionsor created these types of plans.
And it's kind of getting that outto more people and again, meeting
more people and helping new people,is really, again, one of the biggest,
(18:06):
I think rewarding parts of our jobis, is when when we come across
some of these people in these situationsthat we're able to speak
into some of these things that,they haven't necessarily
heard this type of messengeror this type of approach before.
And, and yeah, looking forward to again,continuing to, to
(18:27):
get this out there and
and yeah, just share our perspectiveswith people around the idea of planning
and, and again,that idea of getting that best life
and not just gettingthat perspective out there,
but when I think about relationships
with people, it'sasking the right questions, right.
That kind of
(18:48):
pulls back the layers of the
onion to get a little bit deeper, too.
Okay, now I know what I'm doing.
Back to my point earlierabout having that long term perspective.
Now I know what I'm doingand why I'm doing it and where where
I'm going to where I'm going to be.
By doing that, I think you said it earlierin one of the, previous episodes.
(19:10):
If you don't know where you're going,any road will get you there.
Right.
And so this is kind of mapping outthat road to help clients get from,
you know, from here to there.
But what does that look like
and what is what is therethat I'm trying to accomplish.
Right.
What is there that actually doesgive me the best life I can?
And it's not necessarily about travelor buying things.
(19:31):
A lot of times it's creating those momentsthat you just talked about a few moments
ago of, of, of just being in a positionto be able to watch my kids
grow at five and threeand enjoy those moments with them,
that those are more valuablethan anything you could purchase.
Right. And so it's creating those types.
It's helping clientsto create those types of in events
(19:54):
or moments in their life, to give them the freedom to do that.
Awesome.
Well, I mean, I think this has beena great wrap to the year.
And, and again,as we look out into 2025,
so again,I guess happy, happy New Year to you.
Yeah.
Looking forwardto another really successful year. It's
(20:18):
Thanks for tuning in to your lifeand money.
We hope you found this episodeinformative and inspiring.
If you have any questions or feedback,please don't hesitate
to reach out to us and advice for versa.
Remember, financial planningis about more than just money.
It's about living the life you want.
To take some time to reflect on your goalsand priorities, and let us help
(20:40):
you create a plan that alignswith your vision for the future.
We'll be back with more stories,insights, and strategies
to help you get the most out of your moneyand new life.
Until then, take care and keep planningfor the life you deserve.
All comments are of a general
nature and should not be relied uponas individual advice.
(21:01):
The views and opinionsexpressed in this commentary
may not necessarily reflectthose of Harbourfront wealth management.
While every attempt is made to ensureaccuracy, facts
and figures are not guaranteed,the content is not intended
to be a substitutefor professional investing or tax advice.
Please seek advice from your accountantregarding anything
raised in the content of the podcastregarding your individual tax situation.
(21:24):
Always seekthe advice of your financial advisor
or other qualifiedfinancial service provider
with any questions you may have regardingyour investment planning.
Welcome to your life and money,
where we believe that financial planningis not just about numbers.
It's about your life.
I'm Brad Smith, joined always by TimBorody and each episode
will be sharing stories from real peoplewho have used life centered
planning to achieve their goalsand dreams and advice.
First, we believe that the keyto financial success is aligning
(00:20):
your moneywith your values and your priorities.
And we're here to help you do just that.
So sit back, relax,and let's get started on the journey
to a life centered plan.
you back in the studio.
Here at the end of 2024.
I can't believe it's been another year.
(00:40):
And, and we're going to, to kind ofwrap up a little bit.
It's crazyto think how quickly the year goes.
And they sayas you get older, it accelerates.
So I think that's true, actually,the year went very, very quickly.
And here we are at the end of 2024.
And looking ahead to 2025.
And I mean in your defensethere has been a lot going on this year.
(01:03):
Who do you guys sell plays.
Getting ready for a wedding,with your son.
Next. Next.
Yeah.
Next year.
So, I mean, it's understandable.
There's a lot going onand a lot of changes going.
Got, But, I mean, I can completely echoyour, your thoughts there.
(01:26):
Watching, my kids get another year older,
starting kind of some schoolingthis year, doing homeschool, but,
my oldest,
Alex, is starting to work on his writing
and is reading, and so, yeah, it's it's unbelievable.
That is five over five years old, right?
(01:50):
How quickly it goes.
And yeah, that we've been at our housefor almost five years
and, yeah, it's,
it definitely speeds up, that's for sure.
Yeah.
Your son's five and my son's 25,
and before you know it,your son will be 25.
Right.
(02:11):
Yeah.
I can easilyremember when my son was five years old.
So, so for today, it's been a while
since you and I have actually been ableto record something together.
Yeah.
And since this will be going outright at the end of the year here,
I kind of thought we would domaybe a little bit of a year
(02:33):
and review a year in perspective,a little bit on,
what we've learned this yearand then some of the things,
that we've done and,and maybe we'll, we'll hint
at a little bit of what we'relooking forward to for, for 2025 as well.
I know our first episode in Januaryis going to be kind of
(02:55):
some of the new thingsthat we've got going on
and some of the thingsthat we're really looking forward to,
here and, and vice versa.
But, yeah, I thought it would be niceto take a little bit of
time to reflect on 2024 and,
yeah,
some ofthe things that we've learned and, and,
and so maybe I'll letyou kick things off here and, Yeah.
(03:19):
Give me your thoughts.
Yeah.
I was I was trying to think about whatI would say in answer to that question of,
you know, what did you learn in 2024?
What I did was I kind of thought backto kind of this time last year.
So like thinking December of 2023 or
even into January of 2024,and it's interesting
(03:43):
to think about all the predictionsthat people made about this year
and how they were so wrong.
And I think that's the pointthat I want to make
is that the future is truly unknowable.
Right.
And I thinkwe always have to remind ourselves,
we think we know what things are goingto happen, but we really actually don't.
(04:05):
So a couple examples that,as I think back over this year,
one thing coming into this year,I think a lot of people were thinking
was that we would see a lot more, like mortgage defaults or people
walking away from their homesor having a lot of stress around, like,
I mean, a lot of stress around, their mortgage payments
(04:25):
tripling or quadrupling from,from 4 or 5 years ago
when they renewed themat really low rates.
But we didn't really see a lot of default
a rise in defaultsat all this year in 2024.
I'm not saying that peopleare not under any stress.
There is stress out there.
What I'm suggesting,and it is not nearly as bad
(04:47):
as people were predictingcoming into 2024.
Now there's still mortgagesto be renewed over
the next couple of years, 2025 and 2026.
But we're now we're in a point where
we've got interest rates coming downpretty aggressively in Canada.
And, you know, the prediction isthat interest rates will be kind of
in that 2.5% range here, the bank rateat least, sometime next year in 2025.
(05:13):
And that takes a lot of pressureoff these mortgage renewals.
So I guess that means that's guaranteednot to happen.
I guess, though it'll be even lower.
Right now.
But yeah,I, I as we've been meeting with people
this year and talking to people,I'm it's been the same.
(05:35):
There's beenalthough it's added again for some people.
Yeah.
It's out of some stressor some uncertainty or we've maybe
had to make some tweaks to cash flow plansor savings plans, but it's not blown up.
Anybody's financial planner or again,put somebody in dire straits.
They needed to completely changekind of the direction they were having.
(05:57):
And I'd agree there was a lot of like,we were getting asked a lot
during the end of 2023
and earlier this yearon what was going to happen with rates.
And I've got to read you.What am I going to do?
But yeah, I mean, I think for the mostpart people have been able to make
good decisions.
They may have renewed,maybe the last term.
(06:18):
So maybe people were taking
two and three year mortgagesversus traditionally the five years.
But again, people have been able to adjustand make adjustments.
And I mean, I'd argue the other one waslike in high inflation still kind of was
people were still feelingthat and I'd say, are still feeling.
(06:39):
And even though we just had inflationnumbers come out today
that it's back kind of some 2%as of the last, reporting rate.
But people are still feeling that, but areare making adjustments that they can do.
And I think that speaks to the kindof the resiliency that people have. And,
that they'll do what they have to do to,to make sure things get paid and,
(07:02):
make sure that their familiesare provided for.
Yeah.
And, and I think the lesson learnedthere is for us to be reminded
that cash flowplanning is really, really important.
And, ifI think back, even over the last 20 years
when we had interestrates really low for 20 years
(07:22):
back to 2001,really interest rates were on,
we had a 40 year decline in interest ratesin Canada, let's put it that way.
Right.
So people aren't as worried about cashflow planning,
budgeting and hate to use that.
You know that that the B-word. Right.
But it's it's it's years like 2024
that remind usthat those things are really important.
(07:45):
And people who have a longer term
perspective make wiser decisions.
And I think that's wherewhat I would want to kind of share
with everybody is, look,the future is unknown.
It's unpredictable.
And you want to have a longer termperspective
so that you can make wise decisions today
(08:07):
that are in relation to the future needs.
Instead of looking at today's desires,looking at more of a longer term
perspective will helpyou make wise decisions,
which impacts your cashflow, your budget, and all that process.
That kind of
leads into one of the thingsthat I was thinking of for this podcast.
(08:28):
And again, it kind of comes backto the idea of cash flow planning,
but it's that idea of creating marginin your planner, right?
So it's it's having that flexibility.
And I completely understandfor some people that can be difficult.
But by being disciplinedand having that plan, you can kind of
build that margin into your cashflow budget, into your plan.
(08:51):
So that when the unexpected happens,
you can make adjustments, you can shift
priorities,you can move things around without, again,
jeopardizing that a longer term approach.
And again,make adjustments in the short term
by using some of that, cash flow margin.
And I know that's something that you and Italk to clients all the time about.
(09:15):
And it's one of the things that I knowwe're going to talk about early
in the new yearis that idea of kind of having
a really good understandingof where your money is going,
and how it's being allocatedso that you can, again,
adjust, you can make changes, you can,
(09:36):
have more
confidencewhen those uncertain events happen,
that you can deal with it
and that you can get through itwithout again having to make
major sacrifices hereor there or something like that as well.
Yeah.
And I, I think those are all great pointsand I think they're great reminders.
The future is unknown.
(09:56):
You've got a built in cash flow marginbecause things can change on a dime
relatively quickly.
You need to know where your money'sgoing.
So and where your so thereforethe B word budget is super important.
And then the last component of that
that I will addin is the concept of generosity.
And that's I think that's another thingthat I've kind of seen this year
(10:19):
in 2024, is that,
clients or people in general,
their generosity stayed fairly high,even amongst all the higher
cash flow, cost of living and uncertaintyabout the future and all that.
People's generosity stayed high.
And what what I'm reminded there,the principle that I'm reminded
(10:40):
there is that generosity breaksthe power of money.
Because when you when you give money away,when you're generous.
And I don't
necessarily mean to a charity or whatever,but you could just be helping
a neighbor or a friend, right?
That's also generosity.
But when you do that, you're recognizingthat I don't need everything that I have.
(11:01):
For me, there is margin, as you just
said, or there's room in that cash flowthat allows me
to give money somewhere else,and it breaks that power
that money can have over usto think that I need it all right?
In fact, I need more than I have. Right.
Which means I need to go borrow more.
Which gets into that trap of of not,you know, in our the,
(11:25):
the trap in our mindthat says I'm never going to have enough.
Right.
And so I think even in this environmentof, you know, higher cost of living,
it's still kind of, you know,even though the headlines are telling me
inflation's down, well, that doesn't meanwe have negative inflation.
Yeah.It means right. There's no deflation.
It's just that prices are not acceleratingas quickly as they were.
(11:47):
Right.
They're still high right.
Are the gas station are all those thingsthat you feel every single day?
But that that generosity piece helpsyou break that
power of money that you needevery single dime in order to live off of.
And I think that's another componentthat I've learned this year
or been reminded of this year.
(12:08):
Yeah, I go hand in hand with,
again, kind of one of the other aspects,
myself personally, I've gone and again,a couple episodes ago
I did, I had a conversationabout this topic, but it is not
that idea of being contentsand being grateful for what you have.
(12:29):
Right? Yeah.
And I think when you gointo kind of the idea of generosity
with the perspective of contentment,I'm, I'm content with what I have.
I'm grateful for what I have.
And then I thinknow I can share what I have with others.
I think those really go hand in hand.
And again that's another
(12:51):
I don't know, a
lot of learning experiencehas been the best, the best word.
But it's been I kind of a simple thingI guess on my life this year
is is again that idea of contentmentand gratitude and,
I'm just trying to focus more on those,
perspectives around life.
(13:12):
And, and again, part of it is, again,it's not always monetary like that.
Right?
All the time I get to spend with my kidsas they're right,
the ages of five and threeand getting to watch them experiencing,
discover new thingsor figure out new things and,
and yeah, it's beenI've been really focused on trying
(13:33):
to be grateful for those types of moments,
not necessarily just the financial aspectof things as well.
And I think that really goes hand in handwith, again, our our idea,
the life is not a rehearsal, right?
Yeah.
To enjoy what we've got,not just financially but,
everything about our life and
(13:57):
and make the best use ofour time, our treasure. And,
our, our,the resources that we've got available.
Yeah.
I think the,
all these things that we're talking aboutare just kind of tied together.
Right.
Like if you,if you have a good understanding of your,
your cash flow in your budget,if you have margin built in to that
(14:20):
for the under known or the unpredictable,
if you have generosity built into that,
then that allows you toto break that power of money.
And if you have a long term perspective,
it helps you to prioritize the future
over some of the immediate needsor desires that you have or the fears
(14:41):
even that you have in the immediateby saying, you know what?
I can set that aside and not worryabout it, or I don't need that.
And I because I have a longer perspective,I'm going to make more wise decisions
going forward. Right.
And that longer perspective also helps
to eliminate those.
I mean, I hate using the term, but those
(15:04):
that they'remissing out and what am I like
I have when you take that longterm approach, you can help eliminate
that again, because if the first wordis fear that you just mentioned.
Yeah.
And and again, taking that perspectivejust again can help
you make so much better decisions thanoh my goodness I missed it on this.
(15:25):
So I've got to do thisor I've got to do this.
And and then again,things can easily snowball,
especially when there'sa lot of that uncertainty out there.
And I don't think uncertainty is goinganywhere.
Right.
You know, livingtoday isn't becoming any more
by any stretch of the imagination.
Yeah. Yeah.
So, you know, live within your means,set long term goals, build for margin.
(15:50):
All of those things I think are greatlessons for us as we wrap up this year
and head into another one. Yeah.
And so as we maybe we take a little bitof a peek and, into 2025,
yeah.
What are someof the things that you're looking forward
to or that you're maybe watching for?
As we now again,get ready to start, another new year.
(16:14):
Here at
well, there's always,
lots of things that I,
have rolling around in my mind,but not always that end up
actually happening right away.
And so that's why maybe I'm pausing herejust slightly, but,
I think one of the thingsthat I'm looking forward to in
(16:35):
2025 is really,
going deeper with our clients,
in, in our, not just our relationship,
but just helping them to get the best lifethey can.
That is part of the rolethat I really enjoy.
So we're going to kind of unpacksome of that next year
as we go through some of these episodesof of what that looks like to have,
(16:59):
you know, the kind of perspectivethat we would hope for our clients
that they would have going forward,and that is to get the best life.
They can be much more generous,but building into the next generation,
preparing the next steward, all of those types of things,
I think we'll be
looking at unpacking a bit more next yearand some of the tools that we've got
(17:20):
that we can, explore a little bitmore in a little more in depth
to, to help people kind of flesh that outas to what that means for them.
Yeah.
And I think for myself, it's similar.
And it's we've had a very successful year.
We've got to meet a lot of people
and kind of get this message outa little bit more.
(17:42):
But I want to get it out even more.
Right.
And so, again,most of the people that we that we meet
and talk withhaven't had these types of conversations,
haven't had these types of discussionsor created these types of plans.
And it's kind of getting that outto more people and again, meeting
more people and helping new people,is really, again, one of the biggest,
(18:06):
I think rewarding parts of our jobis, is when when we come across
some of these people in these situationsthat we're able to speak
into some of these things that,they haven't necessarily
heard this type of messengeror this type of approach before.
And, and yeah, looking forward to again,continuing to, to
(18:27):
get this out there and
and yeah, just share our perspectiveswith people around the idea of planning
and, and again,that idea of getting that best life
and not just gettingthat perspective out there,
but when I think about relationships
with people, it'sasking the right questions, right.
That kind of
(18:48):
pulls back the layers of the
onion to get a little bit deeper, too.
Okay, now I know what I'm doing.
Back to my point earlierabout having that long term perspective.
Now I know what I'm doingand why I'm doing it and where where
I'm going to where I'm going to be.
By doing that, I think you said it earlierin one of the, previous episodes.
(19:10):
If you don't know where you're going,any road will get you there.
Right.
And so this is kind of mapping outthat road to help clients get from,
you know, from here to there.
But what does that look like
and what is what is therethat I'm trying to accomplish.
Right.
What is there that actually doesgive me the best life I can?
And it's not necessarily about travelor buying things.
(19:31):
A lot of times it's creating those momentsthat you just talked about a few moments
ago of, of, of just being in a positionto be able to watch my kids
grow at five and threeand enjoy those moments with them,
that those are more valuablethan anything you could purchase.
Right. And so it's creating those types.
It's helping clientsto create those types of in events
(19:54):
or moments in their life, to give them the freedom to do that.
Awesome.
Well, I mean, I think this has beena great wrap to the year.
And, and again,as we look out into 2025,
so again,I guess happy, happy New Year to you.
Yeah.
Looking forwardto another really successful year. It's
(20:18):
Thanks for tuning in to your lifeand money.
We hope you found this episodeinformative and inspiring.
If you have any questions or feedback,please don't hesitate
to reach out to us and advice for versa.
Remember, financial planningis about more than just money.
It's about living the life you want.
To take some time to reflect on your goalsand priorities, and let us help
(20:40):
you create a plan that alignswith your vision for the future.
We'll be back with more stories,insights, and strategies
to help you get the most out of your moneyand new life.
Until then, take care and keep planningfor the life you deserve.
All comments are of a general
nature and should not be relied uponas individual advice.
(21:01):
The views and opinionsexpressed in this commentary
may not necessarily reflectthose of Harbourfront wealth management.
While every attempt is made to ensureaccuracy, facts
and figures are not guaranteed,the content is not intended
to be a substitutefor professional investing or tax advice.
Please seek advice from your accountantregarding anything
raised in the content of the podcastregarding your individual tax situation.
(21:24):
Always seekthe advice of your financial advisor
or other qualifiedfinancial service provider
with any questions you may have regardingyour investment planning.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!