What Are You Thankful For?

It’s a beautiful custom in many families to go around the Thanksgiving dinner table and name one thing we are thankful for. The hardest part is usually naming just one! With Thanksgiving here again, let’s take a minute to reflect on the financial version of this question – How does money make you thankful?

Money plays many roles in our lives. Its most fundamental purpose is as a medium of exchange, letting us convert value in one form into value in another. For instance, the farmer turns crops into money, and then money into fuel, equipment and clothing. The babysitter turns time and kindness into money, and then money into savings for future tuition payments. Money allows transactions that could never be accomplished by barter or other means.

Let us count the ways

Money also makes our lives better and easier in less tangible ways. Based on our own experiences and our interactions with clients, here are a few ways that money can change lives for the better:

• Comfort: Peace of mind that you have the resources you need
• Security: Confidence about your family’s financial future
• Empowerment: Ability to spend a little more in areas that matter most to you – both personal and business
• Flexibility: Freedom to consider spur of the moment expenditures
• Generosity: The opportunity to give back to your community and support causes that make a difference
• Family: Ability to help loved ones live comfortably and achieve their goals
• Choice: Not being bound by other people’s priorities, agenda and schedules
• Time: Freedom to spend time as you choose while your money works for you

Experiences over things

Thanksgiving is a great time to remember how the true wealth in life is not measured in portfolios and possessions, but in experiences – from once-in-a-lifetime travel adventures to the simple pleasures of spending time with friends and families. As you make your thankful list this year and think about goals for the future, be sure to give experiences the priority they deserve.

Please accept our warmest wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

– John & Max