Discovering True Wealth: Defining "Enough" in Your Financial Journey
About the Guest(s):
Amy Irvine is the CEO and founder of Rooted Planning Group, a financial planning firm dedicated to fostering authentic money conversations that align with clients' personal goals. Amy has built a career around helping individuals define and achieve their concept of "true wealth," emphasizing financial literacy, personal insight, and strategic planning tailored uniquely to each client. Her collaboration with Money Quotient has further solidified her expertise in creating meaningful financial strategies.
Episode Summary:
In this enlightening episode of Money Roots, Amy Irvine delves into the concept of "true wealth" and challenges the common perception of wealth being synonymous with material riches. Through her experiences, particularly a personal revelation during a hiking trip in the Adirondacks, Amy illustrates how determining what "enough" means is crucial for financial and personal well-being. She emphasizes the importance of identifying one's own tree line, the point where personal satisfaction equates to true wealth beyond the accumulation of material possessions.
Amy further explores the obstacles to financial freedom, citing incorrect money messages and lack of financial literacy as major hindrances. The episode underscores the significance of understanding personal money beliefs—often rooted in childhood experiences and societal influences—and encourages listeners to seek proper financial education. Amy suggests practical exercises and resources that can help listeners gain deeper personal insights and improve financial literacy. The episode also touches on the role of financial security in offering life options, stressing that real wealth is in aligning financial resources with personal values and life goals.
Key Takeaways:
- Defining True Wealth: True wealth is about recognizing and appreciating when you have enough, not merely the accumulation of more.
- Money Quotient Partnership: Rooted Planning Group uses tools from Money Quotient to help clients align financial strategies with personal values.
- Financial Freedom Obstacles: Identifying and overcoming common roadblocks such as misleading money beliefs and a lack of financial education is essential.
- Influences on Money Beliefs: Personal financial values are heavily influenced by childhood experiences and societal norms.
- Financial Literacy Exercises: Engaging in thought-provoking exercises can provide valuable personal insights and enhance financial knowledge.
Notable Quotes:
- "Everybody has that moment that they're like, yeah, this is enough. I don't need any more."
- "Our culture has it at its core, the idea that more is better. Yet the underlying qualities that truly affect happiness are not advanced one wit by having more material things."
- "True wealth is you've realized when your time is where you want it to be, your energy is where you want it to be, and the money that is needed towards reaching those goals is enough for you."
- "Listening to the wrong money messages and lack of financial literacy are the two main obstacles to financial freedom."
- "Money can buy options, and that's something that's really important."
Resources:
Listeners are encouraged to dive into the full episode for more in-depth discussions and insights into defining personal wealth. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes that will further explore key financial topics, including a profound discourse on defining personal purpose.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:This is Money Roots, the podcast where Amy Irvine and her team keep Money Conversations real, relatable, and rooted in your goals.
Speaker A:Let's grow together.
Speaker A:Hello, Money Root listeners.
Speaker A:This is Amy Irvine, CEO and founder of Rooted Planning Group, back at the podcast where we are talking today about true wealth.
Speaker A:What does that mean when I say true wealth?
Speaker A:Well, if you've heard me talk before, we have a strong partnership with a company called Money Quotient.
Speaker A:We use this a lot with many of our clients and some of the tools that they've developed over the years.
Speaker A:And one of the things that I loved about this company and why we decided to partner with them is because this is a key component of some of the terminology that they use.
Speaker A:Everybody has a different definition of wealth, of true wealth.
Speaker A:So when you think about wealth in your head for just a moment, if you're listening to this, just hit pause after I ask the question.
Speaker A:But what does actual wealth mean to you?
Speaker A:It's a question that we like to ask all of our clients because it's so different.
Speaker A:There's such a different definition.
Speaker A:Do you desire to be rich when you retire?
Speaker A:What's the definition of rich?
Speaker A:The word rich can be defined as possessing great material wealth, and it can also be defined as abundant, meaningful, and significant.
Speaker A:Financial security is an important goal for, for you and in your retirement years, for sure.
Speaker A:But what is enough?
Speaker A:And if you've heard me recently, if you're a client and you've heard me talk about enoughism recently, this has been a big topic I've been talk to a lot of people about.
Speaker A:I want to give you an example of something that recently happened to me because I think it puts it in real perspective.
Speaker A:Brett and I were on vacation.
Speaker A:We were hiking in the Adirondacks.
Speaker A:I set a goal to, to get 46 peaks done.
Speaker A:They called the 46ers.
Speaker A:So you hike the top 46 peaks, and unless you can spend quite a bit of time there, you know, you usually spread it out over a couple of years.
Speaker A:So we did four peaks while we were out there recently, but one, one of the peaks, what I realized when I got to what I call the tree line.
Speaker A:So the tree line is where the oxygen isn't strong enough for the trees to grow anymore.
Speaker A:And it's, you know, very much rock and stone and that from that point forward, well, I turned around and we were sitting there just.
Speaker A:Well, I turned around and I looked, and then we walked back up and I thought, oh, man, that's so beautiful.
Speaker A:And we walked up to the Peak.
Speaker A:And at the peak, it was windy, and I had to brace myself for some of the funny pictures that we were taking.
Speaker A:I mean, literally, the wind was so strong that I had to, like, take a wide stance.
Speaker A:So it's not someplace that I wanted to stay.
Speaker A:In fact, we took our pictures.
Speaker A:We sat there for just a breath.
Speaker A:I had to sit on the rock, and I ordered not the gust of wind to be knocking me over.
Speaker A:And then we headed back down.
Speaker A:And when we headed back down, we stopped just above the tree line and ate our lunch.
Speaker A:And as we were sitting there, it just.
Speaker A:It was so beautiful.
Speaker A:Like, I could see all of the surrounding mountains.
Speaker A:I could see the beautiful trees ahead of us.
Speaker A:We were watching people come out of the trees and.
Speaker A:And just like, oh, wow, this is an amazing.
Speaker A:Like, okay, we've made it.
Speaker A:No, you have to go a little further.
Speaker A:But to me, as I was sitting there, what came to mind was, like, this is enough.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was neat to go up to the peak, but I wouldn't want to stay there forever because it's not sustainable.
Speaker A:But coming down and being right in that tree line, that's the point of beauty.
Speaker A:That was abundance.
Speaker A:That was significant to me.
Speaker A:And it just clicked in my head, like, this is the place I want to be.
Speaker A:Like, you know, physically that day, yes.
Speaker A:But even financially and emotionally, I want to feel like I did right then, that that was my good life moment.
Speaker A:As I.
Speaker A:Well, everybody has that tree line.
Speaker A:Everybody has that moment that they're like, yeah, this is enough.
Speaker A:I don't need any more.
Speaker A:I've got enough.
Speaker A:And that, to me, is what true wealth is.
Speaker A:I've got enough.
Speaker A:I could have more, sure, but at what cost?
Speaker A:This is enough.
Speaker A:I guess another way of saying it is in order to, like, prosper, you know, to flourish, to become successful, to do well, we have to figure out where.
Speaker A:Where do we need to go?
Speaker A:What's our map?
Speaker A:But once we get there, how do we realize that we've actually been successful?
Speaker A:To me, true wealth is you've realized when your time is where you want it to be, your energy is where you want it to be, and the money that is needed towards reaching those goals is enough for you.
Speaker A:Now you can continue to grow and develop in all other facets of life, but this is enough.
Speaker A:Karen Ramsey, in a book called everything you know about money is wrong.
Speaker A: It's a book that came out in: Speaker A:Many of us design our lives around this belief and yet the underlying qualities that truly affect happiness are not advanced.
Speaker A:One wit.
Speaker A:By having more material things, more peace of mind is gained.
Speaker A:By allowing ourselves to be satisfied with what we already have, more joy is not bought.
Speaker A:It's found in our hearts.
Speaker A:And that particular quote really resonates with me at this point in time, at least in my life, and I think in a lot of the clients that we're working with in their lives, too.
Speaker A:So as you design your life, both pre retirement and post retirement, it's important to consider what money can and can't do to bring those plans to reality.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm going to pause for a second now.
Speaker A:I want you to rethink what I just asked you originally when I started this podcast.
Speaker A:What if you were to define true wealth?
Speaker A:What would it look like for you?
Speaker A:There's a lot of truth in the old adage, money can't buy happiness.
Speaker A:However, that money can buy options, right?
Speaker A:That's something that's really important.
Speaker A:And I think that's why security comes when we know that we have those options.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's important for us to know what options we're actually looking like.
Speaker A:And we want to make sure that we don't make the wrong decisions and end up where we're limiting ourselves because we're in poverty.
Speaker A:That will limit the number of choices you have.
Speaker A:It limits the how we feel in life because, you know, we feel like we can't do anything.
Speaker A:It will narrow the health insurance and the health care costs, will also limit how you can assist either your children if you have them, or aging parents.
Speaker A:The examples can be endless, is what I'm using here.
Speaker A:On the other hand, wealth, if you have enough or more than you need, puts you sort of in the driver's seat of your life.
Speaker A:You get to pick the lifestyle you want, whether your choice is a luxurious apartment in some city that you've never traveled to, or a modest from home someplace in rural America.
Speaker A:I guess simple living for some people is what they want, or it could be traveling or gardening or whatever it is that you want to do, like what is important to you.
Speaker A:So defining wealth is really important, and defining your wealth is really important.
Speaker A:What do you want to do?
Speaker A:In some cases, people that are near retirement, it's about freedom.
Speaker A:Freedom to do the things that they want to do, where they want to be, where they want to go, how they want to interact with their community.
Speaker A:And I say that like pre retirement and retirement, but in reality, isn't that something that we really want?
Speaker A:Early on, I've been asking a lot of our clients lately, and this is something I've been working on too.
Speaker A:But I've been asking a lot of our clients lately, you know, what, what is their ideal week and not what their current week is.
Speaker A:But if they could define their ideal week, if they could sit down and say, this is what I'd love to be spending my time doing, that is a great way to start thinking about how, you know, the way that your life is defined.
Speaker A:And, and then look at, well, this is how I'm actually spending my time.
Speaker A:Where's the disconnect?
Speaker A:How do we actually define the balance?
Speaker A:And I use that word really lightly because I when people say, you know, I'm trying to search for balance in my life, I think there's times where we have to focus on work and there's times where we have to focus on family.
Speaker A:And yes, we have to sort of figure out a way to not, you know, to put our attention, I guess that's the right word, put our attention in those particular directions.
Speaker A:But when we think about obstacles to financial freedom, to many of those, managing money and building financial security is a nagging concern that's in the back of our head.
Speaker A:We know we should be making greater strides and taking control of our financial lives, but nothing changes.
Speaker A:What keeps us from achieving the money life we desire is always a question that clicks.
Speaker A:Some of the clients that we are talking to, you know, initially think, oh, I could never do that.
Speaker A:We're like, well, why not?
Speaker A:And we start digging a little bit deeper.
Speaker A:It might be making some adjustments for sure, but I think a key component is there's two main obstacles to financial freedom.
Speaker A:Listening to the wrong money messages and lack of financial literacy.
Speaker A:That's actually the two obstacles to financial freedom.
Speaker A:We get a lot of wrong, in my opinion, a lot of wrong money messages.
Speaker A:And this is something that I try not to, to generalize things when I'm answering questions because the answer really truly is it depends.
Speaker A:It's really important that we dig into the nitty gritty of each client's question or each person's question because you might have a neighbor that looks to be exactly like your financial life is, but they there are very different underlying circumstances that would get have me give different recommendations to each of you.
Speaker A:So the money messages though go a little bit deeper.
Speaker A:There are attitudes and belief about money.
Speaker A:Many of them have roots and value laden message.
Speaker A:We have picked up on life's journey and our money messages are not only clothed in the words of others, but in their behavior.
Speaker A:As well.
Speaker A:So we always like to dig down to the roots of your money attitudes and actions or inactions in some cases.
Speaker A:And we start often with like.
Speaker A:Let's look first at your childhood experiences in your home.
Speaker A:Was there an atmosphere of plenty or scarcity?
Speaker A:How did your parents and grandparents treat money?
Speaker A:Was your money the source of conflict between your parents and between generations?
Speaker A:Was money a taboo subject or matter of family discussion and planning?
Speaker A:Was money used?
Speaker A:Was.
Speaker A:Was money used as a reward or as a penalty?
Speaker A:Did the adults in your life demonstrate reasonable or irreasonable money management behavior?
Speaker A:Those are all things that we have to dig and reflect on and then also have to look at the relationship with, like how we gauge ourselves against our peers.
Speaker A:As children approach their preteen and teenage years, the options, opinions and behaviors often reflect others their own age and they become more influential.
Speaker A:Like, you know, why did you do that?
Speaker A:Well, because my friends did.
Speaker A:And you know, the old adage, well, if your friends jumped off a roof, would you jump off a roof too?
Speaker A:It's not a true statement necessarily, but it does become more impactful in those preteens and teenage years is that they don't want to stand out in any particular way in a lot of cases.
Speaker A:So what was the financial status of your closest friends?
Speaker A:When you're thinking about your own story story, did your closest friends have after school or summer jobs?
Speaker A:Did they squander their money or did they carefully plan their expenditures?
Speaker A:Did their parents give them money for anything that that they did versus what you had to do?
Speaker A:Did they save money?
Speaker A:Did they spend money?
Speaker A:Did they ever try to buy friendship?
Speaker A:Do you feel rejection from your peers because of your financial status?
Speaker A:It's a big peer, you know, don't live like the Joneses is what we always say.
Speaker A:But peer influence is huge.
Speaker A:And then the next thing I mentioned was financial literacy, financial knowledge.
Speaker A:It not only gives us the facts and the framework we need for making financial decisions, that also counteracts that money message that sabotages our financial success.
Speaker A:Because financial literacy is rarely acquired in school or at home, the responsibility is ours to seek out financial education opportunities.
Speaker A:You can look for classes offered by local organizations.
Speaker A:Of course, we're trying to provide financial literacy as much as we can.
Speaker A:In addition, maybe your employer offers financial education classes in the workforce.
Speaker A:A tremendous number of books, videos and websites are available in today's world.
Speaker A:And we actually have an exercise that will provide to you.
Speaker A:And part of the show notes.
Speaker A:There's actually going to be a couple of different exercises.
Speaker A:One is going to be personal insights about money.
Speaker A:So we're going to provide that link where maybe can walk you through some of the questions and do some soul searching with regards to those personal insights.
Speaker A:And then we're also going to provide some money memory, a link to money memories so that you can maybe dig into a little bit about that.
Speaker A:And also I have a great checkbox that's called Financial Literacy Learning Activity that can walk you through some, you know, just questions.
Speaker A:They're very short, very easy worksheets that you can walk through, but they take a little bit of time to complete because they're thought provoking.
Speaker A:We hope you have enjoyed this podcast Again, we are trying to provide as much financial literacy as we can.
Speaker A:We're hoping that you find great use in some of these worksheets that we're providing to you.
Speaker A:Stay tuned for another upcoming podcast where we start digging into defining Purpose.
Speaker A:So that's going to be coming out in a couple of weeks and we would love to hear if there's anything else that you'd like to hear about, any other suggestions you'd have for this podcast and topics that you'd like me to come like me to cover.
Speaker A:Thanks everyone for listening.
Speaker A:We appreciate it.
Speaker A:And don't forget to share this with friends if you find that this is very helpful.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening to Money Roots.
Speaker A:Until next time, keep your finances grounded and your future growing sa.
