Although all of us know that working out is good for us and most of us need to work out, very few of us get around to doing it. One of the reasons is, the benefits of work out are realized in the “long term” while the “benefits” of not working out are realized immediately (like the extra 30 minutes of nap or having one more doughnut which we “plan” to work out the next day).
Making a financial plan is far more complex, we need to grapple with questions about the future. What should I save for the kids’ college or what is the life style I want after retirement, when should I retire, do I really want to retire – we may not have clear answers to most of the questions.
Even if we have the answers, the choices that we need to make are mind boggling. Should I invest in real-estate, mutual funds, equities etc.. What if I make a mistake in selecting the products, maybe I should spend time understanding my options – I will do this “tomorrow” when….
Well, this is a familiar story that plays out for most of us. Many of us continue to be not invested or invested in poor products because it is complicated. We need to take action to get out of the bad product and then face the choices for identifying the new one!!!
Albeit, there is a silver lining to the financial planning – if we get out of our inertia and make some prudent choices, then our inertia will keep us going (remember its more painful to make a change). Once we put some prudent investment plans in place, we can review it every 3 years (unless there is a major event/change impacting the financial plan). With this, we can be reasonably sure of being on track to meet our financial goals. So shake off the slumber, read up or ask your financial advisor and take some action – then you are set for the next 3 years.
Once in 3 years!!! – don’t we wish working out was this easy…..