What Is Financial Life Planning & What Makes It Different?

Financial life planning is a transformative way to approach your financial plan. It connects your time, values and money to lead your ideal life.

Financial life planning structures a plan to support your unique vision. Money isn’t a safety net. It’s part of a grander approach that includes the people, places, and things that are most important to you.

How can financial life planning affect your personal and financial journey? Let’s find out. 

The difference between financial life planning and traditional financial planning

Traditional financial planning is all about the numbers - budgets, insurance, retirement savings, taxes, investments, etc. Financial life planning brings meaning to those numbers by merging them with your personal goals.

Traditional financial planning serves a fundamental purpose. Life planning combines all the technical sophistication with a personal, goal-oriented lens. It’s all about balance.

Money is a tool, not a goal

Money is one of the many tools to help build your ideal life— not the driving force behind it. At Paradigm, we like to talk about money in three ways. In a pyramid fashion, your values sit at the top, your time is the middle building block, and then your money is at the base. 

Think of it this way: What’s the most important part of a 1,000 piece puzzle? Most people would say the corner or edge pieces, but it’s actually the picture on the box. After all, the picture is the ultimate goal, the corner or edge pieces help you achieve it. It’s our job to help people hone in on the big picture goal instead of sifting through all the pieces.

It’s your life, values, and goals that bring personality, focus, and drive to your financial plan. There is little value in money if there’s no plan attached to it. You can have 10 people with the same balance sheet, but their lives and goals are vastly different. It’s how you use your money that ultimately matters. 

Don’t put off happiness

We don’t know how long life will last, so there is no point in putting your happiness on hold. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s not to take any moment, no matter how small, for granted. Live your personal and financial lives with intention and find the joys and passion in each day.

Financial life planning puts things into a clearer perspective. Are you counting down the years, days, hours, or seconds until you can leave corporate America? Are you itching to start the adventure you’ve always dreamed of?

Financial life planning turns your dreams into reality. We encourage you to figure out what’s most significant to you and take intentional steps each day to get there. 

Don’t wait 1, 5, or 10 years to start living the life you want. Make one change now, another tomorrow, and keep trying to be 1% better each day. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

We are passionate about helping you live your dream life

At Paradigm Advisors, our ultimate goal is to watch you live out the life you always dreamt of. Our lead advisor, Michelle Underwood Gass, is a Registered Life Planner. She specializes in the integration of life planning and financial planning. Other team members are also following in her footsteps to receive this designation! This level of expertise guides how we serve our clients. 

Life planning is life-changing. Are you ready to take the next step towards a brighter financial future? Give our team a call today.

Paradigm Advisors is a fee-only financial planning firm based in Dallas, Texas and Fayetteville, Arkansas. Paradigm Advisors provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management services to help clients organize, grow and protect their wealth throughout life’s journey. Paradigm specializes in advising young professionals and entrepreneurs in the early stages of life and well-established career executives through financial planning and investment management. As a fee-only fiduciary and independent financial advisor, Paradigm never receives commission of any kind. Paradigm is legally bound by certification to provide unbiased and trustworthy financial advice.