Financial planners talk a lot about peak earning years. Financial independence, lifestyle upgrades, and so much more are on the table during your peak earning years.
We love those things, but I want to expand your view of what’s possible during your peak earning years–to Envizion More.
Your peak earning years are also often your peak influence years as well in many ways. Let’s dig into what that means.
Lowering the Barrier to Entry in Financial Dialogue
I like to use the phrase “de-escalate” when it comes to inviting family into financial conversations. Influence isn’t primarily about what you spend. It’s about what you invest relationally. Sometimes, money helps in that process.
Money is a tremendous proving ground for life’s most valuable lessons. That’s why your legacy isn’t what you leave to your family. It’s what you leave in them.
From financial literacy to business to strategic planning, you have the ability to lead by example.
Creating a Culture of Generosity
I’m grateful to say that we commonly see generosity increase as our clients’ incomes increase. It’s just the kind of people you are. When we talk about Envizioning More, the next step often looks like helping the generations following you catch the vision for charitable impact.
In many ways, this starts with being generous towards your kids and grandkids. Here are a few examples:
- Helping with down payments (housing costs are quite high)
- Investing in entrepreneurial dreams
- Jumpstarting 529 savings for grandkids
- Matching Roth IRA contributions to incentivize good stewardship
Take it to another level and invite them into the generous giving. Here are a few ideas:
- Set up and fund a Donor Advised Funds to support generations of giving
- Include your kids and grandkids in deciding what organizations you give to
- Encourage volunteering by matching their hours served with donations
Encouraging the Big Dreams
There’s one other area we want our clients to be focused on, one also near to my heart. I’ve always wanted my kids to have big dreams and the boldness to chase them. From business ideas to personal development, we’ve always tried to use our income as a family to help them get a running start.
Early on, this looked like paying them to read books. They’ve now read hundreds of the best authors of our day.
In later years, especially our peak earning years, we’ve spent money on professional coaching for each of them—unbelievably well-spent money. We’ve also invested in business ideas. My son Bryce was bold enough to suggest skipping college and going on an entrepreneurial path. He’s decades ahead of where I was at 18, largely because of the opportunity to invest in his growth side by side.
What’s Your Envizion More?
If you are in or approaching your peak earning years, I can’t encourage you enough to also see them as years of peak influence. Put your wealth to work creating a life and legacy that reaches far beyond you.
If this is an area of curiosity for you, it would be our highest honor to help you make it happen. This is financial planning at its best.