Transformational Personal Financial Life Planning: Money 101 Good(s) & Service(s)

Transformational Personal Financial Life Planning:

Money 101 Good(s) & Service(s)

Transform= change, alter, renovate, make over

          Money (the current currency) is goods and services.

          However, money (goods and services) cascades to other representational values sequentially and or concurrently as follows:

• Survival requiring goods and services
• Not being dependent on others for goods and services (so called ‘independence’)
• Not taking crap (‘FUability) by having goods and services
• Not compromising principles therefore choice by having goods and services)

But money – and the amount therefore may also represent

• Comparative net worth – net worthiness – status- versus others (be it relative to one’s dastardly brother in law, neighbor or Fortune 500) by having MORE  goods and services
• A goods or services palliative creating altered (not altar-ed) states to divert, avoid, fill in one’s life
• Goods and services enabling making a difference – whether for show relative to others (see comparative net worthiness above) and or one’s sense of elevated self (of modest stature or not)

But money – and the goods and services it converts to the underlying ‘value(s)’ – has the potential to become ‘transformational’

• A means to enable the manifestation of meaning IN one’s life
• A means to materialize the spiritual IN one’s life and others’ lives anonymously in deference to the will of the higher power one believes & has faith in

99%+ of Personal Financial Planning -even Personal Financial Life Planning (1)- regardless of assertions otherwise and irrespective of compensation method (yes, my ‘fee only’ colleagues) has catered to the Yetzer Hara inclination of MORE . This “personal financial planning” has genuflected to ‘not being dependent (fear), FUability, and or comparative net worthiness (without monetizing the client’s own adaptability and resourcefulness proven in difficult periods) – accented with comparison to external indexes (Dow Jones etc for More) though with a wink and a nod to goals. This ‘personal financial planning’ (reinforced by asset under management compensation) is systemically about managing assets (asset management) NOT managing goals – as behavior (compensation) is a function of its consequences. This personal financial planning is just a Trojan Horse for asset management and allocation.

And yes, while there is for estate and tax planning purposes engagement in charitable discussions and trusts  which may ‘coincidentally’ continue the renumeration of the planner (indirectly or directly through an affiliated Trust company) while appealing to named (vanity) recognition.

Yes, due to the primary fear of extinction (which is identified with the physical body) man’s foremost strategy against the inevitable is acquisition be it delusional or just palliation which inherently leads to the tactic and pursuit of MORE MORE MORE.

And yes, this underlying fear gives rise to the overriding personal financial terror and trepidation of outliving one’s money (goods and services – taking crap, being dependent, not having choice)

But there is a second concern that increases in frequency and severity especially for those getting up there in years. No longer believing in their invulnerability of the younger years, given their rotational ‘this’ and that’s,’ and those more frequent (when not awakened by age related conditions at 2 am in the morning) 2 AM eyes open staring at the ceiling increased ‘wonderings’: ‘is that all there is’ (before going back to sleep) waking up and increasing the dosage of their palliations and diversions.

Yes, goods and services may divert and palliate (the 50 year old male with a perm & the face life) with increase reoccurrence the hole in the soul manifests and presents itself in different ways as enunciated as:

• making a difference (without busting a gut in 20 minutes at a level that it took 20 years in their vocational activities)
• ‘the next chapter’
• ‘something’s missing’

The aforementioned  ‘the hole in the soul’ is the lack of meaning IN one’s life or as Victor Frankel wrote ‘the will to meaning’ is devoid.

          Transformational Personal Financial Planning be it the approach I’ve suggested in different evolutions from ENOUGH to now ENOUGH: Jewish Personal Financial Life Planning™(2) or another process – aligns personal resources with life values and goals towards and yes, funding to enable ‘meaning IN one’s’ life for transcendence – transformation…for one’s good and one’s service.

Some things should stay as they are (conform), some reformed, others chloroformed, but the alchemy of personal financial planning requires transformation

"Just A Man of Dog"

          Otherwise, stick to the MORE, MORE, MORE – what are we all MORE ticians (e.e. cummings) remembering more, better, now which has a habit of becoming less, worse, later and MORE MORE MORE is just MOREphine for MOREons. Something to ponder during those 2 AM enlarged prostate callings and staring at the ceiling

 (1)    Today’s personal financial life planning seems to be ‘yakety yak’ (I’m your best friend) to retain asset under management compensation of 1% rather than to empirically concretely get to align the assets (financial and otherwise) with the client’s mission, meaning IN his or her life (especially given the planner hasn’t figured it out for himself or herself to be their own message).

(2)    ENOUGH: Jewish Personal Financial Life Planning™: healing personal financial anxiety, puttin’ money in its place, to connect to elevate and transcend to one’s significance & assignment: what one is meant to do and meant to be with ENOUGH to live on for ENOUGH to live on…