If I had to choose a single reason that the Annual Renewal Meeting is important to you, I’d say: It forces you (and your partner) to set aside meaningful time to sit with, think about, and talk about your life and finances.
Left to our own devices, most of us won’t do that. Sure, we’ll low-key worry about our finances all the time, but we won’t have an actually helpful, organized conversation about it. Why would I do that nonsense? Amorphous anxiety makes me feel alive, alive I say!
Isn’t that a ringing endorsement of working with a financial planner? “Work with me! I’ll…schedule time on your calendar!”
But of course, you know how important that actually is sometimes. Having sat with enough clients in this way for years now, I find it kinda beautiful to observe what often comes out of this time and focus, especially with a third party (i.e., me, in case that wasn’t obvious) who really cares about you being happy and fulfilled.
But wait! There’s more!
You are more confident and comfortable, because now you know what’s actually going on across your entire financial life. How has your net worth changed, and why? How are your investments performing? Are you on track to max out your 401(k) by year’s end? How much cash do you have?
You now know what you need to change, instead of just stressing over what might need to change. Your life and finances change over the course of a year. Someone needs to figure out how you need to change your finances in response. That’s us. We’re the someone.
You know which top one or two priorities to focus on. You’d be overwhelmed if we just gave you an undifferentiated list of all the stuff you need to think about and do to improve your finances.
You can get excited about what comes next! Most of us get trapped into thinking about only the demands (and joys!) of the now. We neglect to look ahead to what we can build our lives into. The Annual Renewal Meeting is your chance to do that, along with someone who’s an expert not just in personal finance, but in your personal finance. (Again, me. That expert is me.)
