Just recently, there was a piece on Straits Times on how Singaporeans are splashing on out travel and expensive meals – on just how much more Singaporeans are spending than 10 years ago. Reading the article, I felt somewhat conflicted. It makes me wonder if this is a good, bad or neutral trend. It makes me wonder if there is a social complication to it, if it is a ‘problem’ that needs to be addressed. In the end, I decided that maybe it is not all that important.
Like some of the interviewees, I will not pull back my dollars spent on vacation because it is something that I enjoy. And life is simply too short for us to not enjoy. The above statement may seem odd coming from a financial consultant but what I really do mean is this: Live life to your heart’s desires, now and always. This means that our action today must not jeopardise our (or others’) life tomorrow. If you can spend & travel to your heart’s content and still be responsible for your own future, then by all means, go ahead.
All in all, the more important question we need to ask is: Is our action today jeopardising (or still supporting) our life tomorrow?
Drawing the same parallel, I think that planning for our finance (or rather, life) is just like planning for a vacation; we would do our best to ensure that the various aspects of the vacation are taken of – flights, itinerary, accommodation, health & medical etc. We keep emergency cash with us & purchase our travel insurance so we are able to face any unexpected events. More importantly, we try as much as possible to enjoy every single day of that vacation. To ensure that happen, most would spend hours and days planning for the big vacation. We would research options, read reviews, compare prices, consider the cost v.s benefits, consult our friends and travel agencies and then take action on it.
Life is the same. Most of us would like to ensure that we have a roof over our heads. We want to have access to the relevant medical treatment if we so require it. And ideally, we want to enjoy each day of our lives like how we would want to enjoy each day of our vacation.
But the difference and problem is that few of us spend as much time planning for our future as we do for our vacation. In fact, the time spent on planning for our lifetime happiness is generally much lesser than the time spent on planning for our short-term enjoyment. And that, my friends, is the big issue.
So to all from my #YOLO generation, as we enjoy and live life to our hearts’ desires, ask ourself the next important question: Are we spending enough time planning for our future too?
CFP, representing Financial Alliance 
