By Brandon Miller, CFP–
For this month’s column, I’d like to share something that’s an essential part of me—because I think it may benefit you, too.
What I’m talking about is gratitude and the role it plays in who you are.
Once turkeys begin filling grocery store meat cases, many people start preparing their “what I’m grateful for” speech for Thanksgiving dinner. While I love that tradition, I don’t limit my thanks giving to just one day. In fact, it’s something I consciously practice each and every day, in all aspects of my life.
I count my blessings before going to sleep each night. Gratitude is a value that I’m working hard to instill in my young twins. And it’s something I’ve woven into the company that I helped to found, Brio Financial Group. In fact, as corny as it may sound, our team starts off every Monday sitting around the conference table, listing to what we’re grateful for.
By now you may be thinking, wait, isn’t this a column about money? What does being grateful have to do with finances?
Call me an eternal optimist, but I genuinely believe that being grateful for what you have can make you richer—not necessarily in dollars-and-cents wealth, but in how you feel about your life, which is so much more important.
Here in the Bay Area, it’s easy to feel poor financially. Watching 20-somethings pay cash for multi-million-dollar homes after winning the start-up lottery can evoke that green-eyed monster. Or you might feel jealous of friends who can afford to retire years before they’re eligible for Medicare, or those who can send their kids to the best schools.
But if you’re going to compare yourself to other people, maybe it would be smart to think about populations outside of our insular Bay Area. Look at what you have versus the rest of the country—or better yet, the rest of the world. Could you raise a family on two minimum-wage salaries? Would you want to trade places with someone in Florida or the Carolinas who lost everything to natural disasters and doesn’t have insurance or adequate savings to replace losses? Aren’t you much, much better off than those forced to flee their homeland because of violence or climate conditions?
My point here is that when looking at other people’s lives, you’re always going to find those who are better off than you are, as well as those who are worse off. So, instead of measuring what you possess versus someone else, why not focus on the many things in your life that you have to be grateful for?
You can start by being thankful that you’re able to live in or near this culturally rich city with fabulous weather and world-class cuisine. It’s a place where opportunities abound for your favorite outdoor activities, whether that’s surfing the waves, skiing the slopes or just sunbathing in the buff. And you benefit from the Bay Area’s pioneering politics, which often show the rest of the country, sometimes even the world, a better way forward.
What’s more, if you can afford to live here—and are reading a column called “Money Matters”—it’s not likely that you’re poor. So, ask yourself this: how much do you really need to accomplish what you want in life?
If you’re on track, stop worrying about things that might never come to pass and trap you into thinking that you need even more money. There’s no need to gamble on riskier investments for potentially higher pay-offs if lower-risk investments can deliver returns that meet your needs. Realizing that you have enough in the grand scheme of things can make you more appreciative.
If you’re not yet on track, figure out what’s realistic and make a plan to get there. Knowing that you’re working to meet your goals can be way more satisfying than just pursuing money for its own sake. Plus, you’re likely to feel more thankful for what you have when you measure your money by how it moves you closer to your goals versus looking at where someone else stands in their life.
By putting things in context, you’ll likely discover that you’re richer than you think. Now that’s something to be grateful for.
Brandon Miller, CFP® is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals.
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