When we talk about building wealth, we almost exclusively talk about money. We track our investment returns, our property values, and our retirement accounts. We measure our success by the size of our balance sheets. But perhaps true wealth cannot be measured by a single metric. We could potentially consider three distinct types of capital: […]
Continue readingLong-term plans need short-term protection
Imagine you have been diligently saving for a milestone family holiday. You have carved out the time, set aside the capital, and prioritised your “Return on Memories.” But out of nowhere, a severe storm damages your roof, or a burst geyser floods your kitchen. It’s not nice to think about, but… it could happen. When […]
Continue readingThe new retirementality
For decades, many of us have been sold a very specific version of retirement. We are culturally conditioned to believe that at a certain age, we should step away from our careers, retreat from the world, and live out a permanent, quiet holiday. But as medical treatment improves and lifestyles become more intentional, this traditional […]
Continue readingThe freedom of an open hand
When there are bills to pay, and income feels like it’s not quite enough to cover the monthly expenses, it’s easy to hold back on generosity. Sometimes, we might even treat generosity as a financial finish line. We tell ourselves that once we hit a certain net worth, or once we finally retire, then we […]
Continue readingCreating a single view for your wealth
There is a common belief that when it comes to our wealth, we should never put all our eggs in one basket. It’s easy to extend this logic to our financial advice. We often assume that having multiple advisers is the safest approach. We might have one for our retirement fund, one for our stock […]
Continue readingThe invisible scripts
Did you know that, according to cognitive scientists, the average person processes over 6,000 distinct thoughts every single day. That’s around six to ten thoughts per minute. It is an overwhelming amount of mental data flowing through our minds from the moment we wake up. But have you ever paused to ask what is actually […]
Continue readingThe value of a financial thinking partner
When we think about working with a financial planner, we often assume the value lies entirely in the numbers or the brokering of a financial product or contract. We naturally expect them to pick the right investments, optimise our tax, and help us generate a better yield. Those technical elements are certainly important. But true […]
Continue readingThe real purpose of short-term insurance
It is perhaps the ultimate grudge purchase. Every single month, we watch the premium leave our bank accounts. We pay to insure our cars, our homes, and our household contents, often wondering if it is simply money down the drain. Because if we have a quiet year with no claims, it can easily feel like […]
Continue readingAm I going to be okay?
Am I going to be okay? This is one of the most commonly asked questions. Research in financial therapy shows that we don’t buy products; we buy peace of mind. Underneath every question about fee structures or historical returns, we are actually asking a much simpler, deeply human question: ‘Am I going to be okay?’ […]
Continue readingWhat’s running the show?
We invent tools to make our lives easier, more efficient, and more comfortable. But there is a strange phenomenon that happens when we aren’t paying attention. Sometimes, the tool quietly becomes the master. Money is perhaps the greatest example of this. At its core, wealth is simply a utility. It is meant to be a […]
Continue readingFinancially stronger
There is a powerful reminder that often surfaces when life feels overwhelming: You have survived your worst days, and you are stronger than you think. A.A. Milne put it like this: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” When we apply this simple truth to our financial […]
Continue reading50 to 80 might be our most productive years
We have been culturally conditioned to view retirement as a hard finish line. For most of our lives, the narrative suggests that the moment we reach our late fifties or sixties, we are supposed to quietly wind down. We are taught to view this era as a long, uninterrupted retreat from the world. But what […]
Continue readingYour balance sheet isn’t a life purpose
It’s not uncommon to speak with someone who believes that we spend decades of our lives looking forward to the day we can finally stop working. We build our financial plans, calculate our retirement numbers, and dream of a life with no alarm clocks or urgent meetings. This is a common cultural assumption. But what […]
Continue readingThe engine and the compass
Over the last few weeks, we’ve explored a completely different way to look at our wealth. We’ve considered an approach that looks at the mechanics of flourishing, rather than the inner workings of the stock market. We have stepped away from the spreadsheets and the investment graphs to ask what actually makes a human life […]
Continue readingFunding your healthspan
It’s completely natural to obsess over the numbers on our investment statements. We track the growth, review our asset allocation, and carefully project how long our capital will last. This is good practice and solid foundational planning, but it’s not the whole story. What if, in all our careful calculations, we are overlooking the most […]
Continue readingInvesting in social wealth
We often dedicate the best, most energetic years of our lives to building a fortress of financial security. We work long hours, take on additional responsibilities, and sometimes miss important family milestones, all in the name of providing for the people we love. It is a noble pursuit, driven by a deep sense of care […]
Continue readingFunding your life satisfaction
It’s so easy to look at our budgets, our financial planning and our risk products and ask questions about what we have and don’t have. But what if, in all this planning and evaluating, we miss a crucial question? What if we don’t simply ask what we have, but remember to ask what it’s all […]
Continue readingHolding up the mirror
The mirror of our bank statements: Aligning our wealth with our values Have you ever noticed how increased access can actually create more anxiety and worry? It’s wonderful to be able to text someone in our family and make sure they’ve arrived safely. But what happens when they don’t respond? The temptation to keep checking […]
Continue readingConversation, not isolation
We tend to model our lives, and our financial plans, as a straight, uninterrupted line moving upward and to the right. We assume that our income, our capacity, and our circumstances will remain relatively constant, simply growing steadily over time. But life is rarely linear. It is cyclical. It operates in seasons. An accurate graph […]
Continue readingHow strong is your financial plan?
Two key goals of a financial plan are to help you grow what you have, and help you protect what you have. This is why conversations about financial planning should pay attention to your short-term cover. Everyday insurance is a critical piece of your long-term wealth strategy and helps ensure the perimeter around everything you […]
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