By Nic Abelow

Start today with purpose. Where do you want to be? What does the path look like that gets you there? If this is a new path make sure you know where you will be starting from. Are you prepared for the journey? What are your potential challenges? Did you bring your warm layer?

Our goals often have a financial and emotional component. Those can be seen or remain unseen, we can be overcome with emotion immediately and other times it is delayed. Opportunity cost is our inability to be more than one place at a time and that can have a profound effect on our decision-making process.

Nic Abelow

The best place to start depends on where you are coming from and understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses.  “Work up to something”, “baby steps”, “gain confidence” these phrases ring true because they are. Our highest peaks locally can teach us valuable lessons in savings. If you have ever climbed Freel Peak from the Horse Meadow trailhead, then you know what it takes to reach the top. The top is deep sand that can feel like life sometimes, two steps up and one back. Perseverance is required to get to the top.

The struggle for most is real and working through life’s web of ongoing choices is what gives life its color. It is important to consider the big picture and build habits that help you make better financial choices, leading to better financial health. Change your path if you feel held back from your previous reliance on borrowing. This does not mean you need to stop enjoying your life. It is a reminder to live within your means and be diligent about adjusting any spending habits that have contributed to the situation you are in today. Borrowing takes from the future, the price will not only be paid today but also tomorrow.

Being mindful along the way you will notice your goals backed with action have the power to reinforce powerful thought. What used to seem like a wall of resistance becomes one that holds you up. You know where you have come from. You know how hard it is to see the other side. By remaining focused on your target you have a much cleaner picture of the road ahead.

Even when you are on the path forward, the sense of achievement may be delayed. You feel the impact of forgoing income today for a dream of a vacation, mountain bike, car or home purchase, and retirement is really similar feeling as not having a cushion. You can see you have the savings. However, it is already spoken for similarly to a liability, although this is an obligation to yourself. Personal accountability is rewarded by your sense of achievement and positive growth

Planning for the unexpected should be expected. It is not enough to just be saving for your goals. It can be very difficult to know what to plan for specifically, life happens quickly, (that’s why we all have sweat shirts in our cars). Only by being honest with yourself and remaining disciplined by having true short-term reserves can you protect your dreams and climb those mountains.

Robustness is your ability to keep at it, to fight, to get to the top.

Nic Abelow is a LPL financial advisor with Abelow, Pratt & Associates Financial Advisors and Wealth Management in Lake Tahoe.