Whenever my
family goes to the Jersey shore for summer vacation, two things always
happen. First, when we arrive I always
say, I wish we had a beach house. I
always say maybe someday we'll get a place at the shore -- maybe once all the
kids are off to college. Second and without
fail, after we’re there for a week, as much as I’ve enjoyed it, I can’t wait to
go home and my kids all howl with laughter because I say, I don’t need to have
a beach house. It’s become the running
joke of our family vacations.
The point of this story is that there are so many times we are tempted to make financially impulsive decisions without thinking them through. My family, especially my wife, knows that I am particularly susceptible to wanting a beach house. Our family rule is that for any major purchase, we hold off for a period of time, usually about 20-30 days, which we call the “cool off period.”
Our
family actually keeps a goal sheet of things that we do and do not want to do
as a family financially. We use that
goal sheet to help guide us through decisions on major purchases.
Have
you ever made an impulsive buy? I’m sure we all have at one time or another. It's
one thing to think about a purchase for years and do copious amounts of
research, but it's another story when we purchase something on impulse, and
more than likely, grow to regret it.
My
challenge to you is to consider a strategy for major purchases, especially if
you tend to be an impulse buyer. We have
a running joke in our family that I am very frugal and the product of
grandparents who went through the Great Depression. However, not everyone
shares that mindset.
I’m
a big believer in deferred gratification. Deferred gratification is the concept
of either facing the pain and discipline of saying no today, or facing the pain
of regret down the road. Every day, I
see people that regret spending their money too quickly in retirement and/or
not saving enough while working. This isn’t to say should go through life
pinching every penny if you don't have to. But at the same time, there is something to
be said about deferred gratification.
Creating a strategy for making financial sound
decisions on major purchases will put you on a path to financial wellness and
enable you to live the retirement of your wishes. We at Kemp Harvest Financial can help you
through this process and encourage you to call us for all of your retirement
planning needs.
For more topics like this, check out our radio show
“Retirement Plain and Simple” every Saturday morning at 8 on WNPV 1440 AM and like
us on
Facebook!
If we at Kemp
Harvest Financial Group can help you in any way with
regard to your financial planning needs, please feel free to contact us.
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Author: Mark Kemp, President and CEO, CFP®,
AIF®
Mark
Kemp is the founder of Kemp Harvest Financial Group and has over twenty-five
years of experience in the financial services industry. Mark is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER
professional, completing the program in Financial Planning at the New York
University School of Continuing and Professional Studies in Finance, Law and
Taxation. Mark holds FINRA Series 6, 7,
24 and 63 licenses. Mark enjoys using
his knowledge and experience to educate and help his clients identify their
financial goals.
