Posted: 03 May 2008 03:26 AM CDT
Recently, I have been under more stress than normal surprisingly not at work but at home due to my daughter coming into my and my spouse’s lives. This has made the difference. There is now a very human dimension to the financial decisions that come into my journey towards financially freedom.
As I was drafting out some of the key components of my will, I realised that my daughter will inherit a significant amount of assets should her old man kick the bucket one day. Now that she is in my life, I am still afraid of dying but not so much because at least I know what I have worked so hard to achieve can be bequeathed to her to some extent.
My daughter’s arrival means that financial freedom takes on a different dimension. Her needs, especially future needs in education and where she is to be brought up is now more important than my spouse and mine’s wishes. I realise that what some people talk about financial freedom is true, i.e. once you have children, it becomes more difficult to retire early and to retire young.
I guess one advantage of achieving some small measure of financial freedom, at least from the perspective of housing debt is that I am in a better position to offer my daughter the better things in life, e.g. pampers new born at $16.20 a pack of 36 without breaking my bank account. Also her formula costs more than stuff I drink which is the cheap cafe21 coffee that accompanies my simple rolled oats breakfast most working days.
What is the point of this post on a weekend? The point is that life is unpredictable and whilst we can plan and plan for financial freedom, there is this degree of unpredictability that will turn the plans of mice and men awry. I have learnt to enjoy the ride more and to reflect more about the path we take.
Will there be mistakes and mis-steps in this journey towards financial freedom! Of course, there will be. We are not machines programmed to function without errors or omissions. On the contrary, mistakes (unless catastrophic) are the ways that human beings learn. I learn everyday to become less concerned about myself and more concerned about my daughter. To be honest, some days her crying drives me insane… But, in 20 years time, all this will be worth it.
Be well and prosper.