I have spent much of my working life helping people build wealth. Naturally, I’ve been doing the same for
myself and my family.
Insurance. Savings. Investments. Property.
And I’m not done. Yet.
If I were to leave this world today, my family would not be poor. They would be well provided for financially. But would they have as many choices as I would like them to have?
I would say no.
That matters more to me today than perhaps it did when I was younger. As I’ve matured in my career and in life, I’ve increasingly come to see freedom as having choices.
It wasn’t always something I thought about this way. But I do know that I want to give my family more choices than they have today.
And that means I want to keep building.
Looking Further Ahead
Earlier this year, I found myself looking further ahead. The vast majority of my existing life insurance coverage ends when I turn 65.
That got me thinking.
I will still have my savings, investments and property. And I intend to keep building them. Hopefully, they will be worth considerably more by then.
Hopefully.
There is nothing wrong with that word.
Markets rise and fall. Property values change. That comes with investing, and I accept it. More than that, I value it. I take investment risk because it gives me the opportunity to grow what I have.
But I didn’t want everything I eventually leave my family to depend on what those assets happen to be worth then.
So I asked myself: Does everything have to be variable?
For me, the answer was no.
Earlier this year, I added a legacy term for my family. It doesn’t replace what I’m already building. I still want my investments and other assets to grow.
I simply wanted a substantial part of my life coverage to still be there much later in life, without depending on what the markets or property values happen to be then. And if circumstances allow, I would like to add more in future.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised I wasn’t choosing one over the other. I want both.
I want the opportunity that comes from investing and building assets whose values will change. And I want a part of what I leave my family to be less dependent on those changes.
Both have value to me.
More Choices, More Freedom
Because ultimately, what I’m trying to build isn’t just a bigger number. It is more choices. And increasingly, that is what freedom means to me.
Perhaps that is also why enough has never quite captured what I want for my family. I’m not chasing more simply because more is better. I want to keep building because more can give the people I love more choices.
I’m 17 years into this profession, and my thinking is still evolving. Maybe years from now, I’ll see some of this differently again. I hope I do. It would mean I haven’t stopped learning.
But this is where I’ve arrived today.
I still want to build more. The question I find myself asking more often now is not simply:
How much more can I build?
But:
What am I building it for?
My answer today is simple: More choices. More freedom.
