How much money is enough?

It’s a question most of us ask at one time or another, and it’s certainly a question we hear a lot from our clients.

“How much money is enough?”

It’s a question that comes with an answer most people find surprising,  but it’s one we love to discuss. That’s why we recently partnered with Lifestyle Financial Planning expert Paul Armson, author of “Enough? How much money do you need for the rest of your life?” to write the forward for this incredible book that tackles that very question.

We all want enough to live a happy, financially comfortable life, but how many of us can put a figure on what enough to do that would look like? Without knowing what we want to do, it’s impossible to determine how much we need to do it.

So how much is enough? Is it even measured in currency? Or is it measured in something else? You may have heard of the parable of the Mexican fisherman before but if not, it goes something like this:

An investment banker was taking a much-needed holiday in a small, coastal village in Mexico, when, during a mid-morning stroll, he came upon a fisherman at the pier. Looking into the fisherman’s small boat, he saw several large, yellowfin tuna and complimenting the fisherman on the size and quality of them, he asked, “how long did that lot take to catch?” to which the fisherman replied, “not very long.” Upon hearing this, the bemused banker asked him why he didn’t stay out longer and catch even more. The fisherman answered that he already had enough to support his family’s needs. The banker then enquired, “but how will you spend the rest of your day?”

The Mexican fisherman answered, “I’ll relax, play with my children a little, take a siesta with my wife and then stroll into the village to drink wine and play the guitar with my friends.”

The banker scoffed. “I can help you lead a much fuller life. All you need to do is spend more time fishing, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds, then buy a small fleet of boats with the proceeds from all the fish you would catch with the bigger boat. Eventually, you could sell your tuna directly to the distributor! You could move to the big city to run your enterprise and then, in as little as 15 years, you could sell your fishing company and make millions!”

The Mexican paused for a minute and asked, “and then what would I do?”

The banker answered, “Then you would retire. You would be able to move to a small, coastal village and spend your days relaxing, playing with your children, taking siestas with your wife and in the evenings, you could stroll into the village to drink wine and play the guitar with your friends.”

Sometimes it’s not about how much we want, but how much we need.

We recommend that all of our clients read ‘Enough? How much money do you need for the rest of your life?” as, like the parable of the Mexican fisherman, it will help you realise what really matters to you. Once you know that, we can help you with the rest.

We specialise in lifestyle financial planning to help you determine what you want for your future and then put a plan in place to help you get there. To speak to us about getting in the best future position for what you need, please get in touch.

This article does not constitute financial advice and should not be construed as such.