As Halloween rolled around I was thinking about what my weakness was for candy and the like (it is M&Ms I am a huge fan). For whatever reason that got me to thinking about what my biggest financial weakness is.
On this blog I have talked about my biggest financial mistakes. However, I have never discussed my continued weaknesses. And I think that we all have them. That weakness could be wanting to buy nicer items, instead of serviceable ones that you can actually afford. It might be going out to eat all the time. Your weakness could be traveling and staying at the nicest place possible, even though you don’t need to because you might spend no time in the hotel.
When I really started to think about it I think my financial weakness has nothing to do with spending, but it is constantly thinking about a long-term vision.
I have mentioned before that I play monetary mental gymnastics with myself all the time. There are all kinds of thoughts that run across my mind, but the one that is a constant is thinking about that long-term financial vision. On a daily basis, I think about what I can do to get closer to financial independence quicker. Or I will pull out an investment calculator and run the numbers of how long it will take to get to a certain point with investments, even though I know the basic answer. It is almost like I have a small obsessive compulsive complex.
Don’t get me wrong, planning is a good thing. I think everyone should have a financial plan. However, I take it to the nth degree. Now I don’t have all kinds of spreadsheets and amortization schedules for loans and stuff (maybe I should do that). I guess my problem is that I am constantly checking and re-checking this long-term vision even though I know the numbers.
Part of the problem might be that there are other things in our lives that are in flux. The big thing is the family thing. We are still trying to create a family with children and until that gets settled I might not be able to get into the rhythm of just living life. That might be part of it.
But a larger part is that I am a worrier. I am a constant worst case scenario person. I want to hope for the best and plan for the worse. And when I don’t have complete control of that long-term vision (primarily because we aren’t FI).
The function of constantly thinking about this long-term vision is that I think it might impede me from living life a little bit. At the end of the year I plan on doing a blog post reflecting on this past year and professionally it has been pretty darn good, but the financial stuff still seems a bit up in the air and with me constantly thinking about a long-term vision I lose sight of the short-term successes and failures that we have.
I guess I am in need of my own financial reality check. And I know intellectually that is where I should be, but it is hard for me to stop thinking about that long-term vision. That is, in many respects, why Mrs. ROB is so valuable to my life because she is a much more live in the now person. I want to become more of that person.
That doesn’t mean I go hog wild with purchases in the like, but instead of constantly thinking about 10 years down the road I want to be planning for some more life in the next year or two.
That is hampered, in part, with this whole adoption process, but I have to start somewhere.
So constantly thinking about my long-term vision is my biggest financial weakness. What is yours? Leave your comments below.
