“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time is now.”
Chinese proverb
During my years as a long-distance runner, there have been many early mornings when the shrill sound of the alarm clock only brought life to many rationalizations.
“Ugh, I really need to sleep right now.”
“That rest would help my fitness.”
“I will sleep in and run later today.”
“Tomorrow feels like a better choice.”
“What does it matter if I miss one training run?”
Trust me, at 6 A.M. you can talk yourself out of anything. But to get myself out of bed, I have always come back to the image of a brick wall.
No brick is by itself important. You need each individual brick to be in place to have a fully formed and cohesive whole. Likewise, each individual run, day at work, soccer practice, or deep conversation with a spouse is by itself not noticeably important. But as part of a strong, stable, and meaningful whole, each one is vitally important. And a lone missing brick is strikingly apparent and weakens the integrity of the wall over time.
Like long-distance running, the most important part of planning a secure financial future is designing a long-term plan and consistently following it. It must be followed day to day, month to month, and year to year. Be aware that in planning for your financial future, there will be many perceived challenges to your long-term plan. Presidential elections, down years in the market, job changes, college tuition payments, tax liability changes, recessions, and rising healthcare costs might all create stresses and distractions. And that noise will always try to be a catalyst to sway a long-term investor from his long-term financial plan.
However loud the daily economic ups and downs that CNBC chronicles are, we must always remember the most important goal of your financial plan: long-term financial independence. Like a wall that is built brick by brick, the results will not happen in a day or a decade. Reaching your financial goals does not happen quickly; it comes from investing regularly and following your plan on a consistent basis, one dollar at a time, over many years.
True financial peace of mind is not attained from flashy new financial products, brilliant short-term stock trading, or a focus on whether the portfolio beat a market benchmark last quarter or last year. The exact investment products that you choose is much less important over time than the fact that you consistently invested according to your plan, and you kept your investing behavior aligned with that long-term financial plan.
In forty years, you will not remember how the market performed last year, how tax laws constantly changed over the years, or what the Federal Reserve worried about in 2018. What you will remember is that you consistently executed your financial plan, brick by brick, and the solace and security that consistent progress over time gave you and your family.
You will remember that diligently following your financial plan gave you the time, energy, and security to spend time with loved ones, contribute in valuable ways to your favorite charity or cause, and pursue your passions and hobbies. And you will remember that steering yourself clear of the minute-to-minute gyrations in the financial markets gave you time to focus on the true joys in your life.
If you have not started building your financial brick wall yet? That is fine. Start today with a long-term plan and with one brick. No single brick in a wall is noticeable or seems important. Unless it is missing.
