Often financial planning will lead you to a fork in the road.  You will start by laying out multiple options for different financial objectives.  Through a process of elimination, you will narrow your options down to this or that.   

Sometimes one option will create a “better” financial outcome, but your preferences will lead you to go the other route.  This can be a conflicting exercise and cause some investors stress.  Why? Because they only measure what they can put in a calculator.   

Here’s the first question I want you to ask yourself – will this decision make or break my financial plan?  Most likely, the answer is no.  This means that you can choose either path. You absolutely don’t need to always lean towards maximization.   

Don’t stop here. 

Press further into where that preference you expressed comes from – pull on that thread.  This exercise will usually help you to learn more about what’s most important to you.  For some people, they’ve always aspired to be debt-free, so they choose that fork in the road.  Having multiple years of expenses in cash brings them an elevated peace for some people, so they choose that fork in the road.  For others, expressing their values and beliefs based on the way they invest outweighs chasing the highest possible returns, so they choose that fork in the road.   

Links mentioned in this episode:

• http://thoughtsonmoney.com