EVOacademy

To wrap up our final holiday blog of 2023 we are going to pull in the classic world of Dickens. Let’s give the thread of “never enough” one last tug.

It’s been animated, it’s been turned into a musical, it’s featured Muppets…A Christmas Carol has captured the imagination of generation after generation since its first publication over 175 years ago. The wholesome nature of the story and the timelessness of the message still resonate today.

In this Holiday series, we have reviewed contemporary reminders of the important things in life, in the form of Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money. We have featured William Shakespeare. But no Holiday review would be complete without a reference to A Christmas Carol.

Undoubtedly, you’re going to encounter A Christmas Carol again this year on TV or through your favorite streaming service! But this year, we took the time to read the story again, which is well worth the time. The story doesn’t get old, and the signature Dickens flair and comedy is always welcome.

Upon this read, the line that stood out the most was this, delivered by Scrooge’s nephew Fred, when he is being chastised by Ebenezer for enjoying Christmas when it is a time from which he has never derived profit: “There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited.”

In a world in which profit is given top billing, we only have one life to live; let’s make the most of it! Profit is important; we need to earn a profit (defined here as “make more than we spend”) to reach financial independence. However, a lot of times, we can inadvertently generate MORE in profit than we need. This isn’t always done with ill intent; we just want to be extra sure that we will reach our goals! An important consideration here, though, is that we are never guaranteed tomorrow. To derive good today can be just as important as making sure that we have profit for tomorrow. It is a balancing act, a seasonal “see-saw” that can either be a source of joy or can be a source of pain and anxiety.

We try to help our clients make confident decisions today with peace of mind, knowing they will also be able to live the financial future they want. Going in to 2024, let’s make this the best year yet. The one where we not only set ourselves up for the financial future that we want, but we take the time to enjoy the present as well.