The other day I my spoke to my old accountant and friend who is based in Toronto. We haven't talked for 13 years! I knew Mark back in the day when I was a young entrepreneur earning mega money in Toronto. We belonged to the same weekly business networking group. That was the height of my earning - I was 22 years old.
It's incredible just how much I've changed. At the time, I was doing what most people did in Toronto - I measured my success by how much money I made and which neighbourhood I lived in and how nice my house and car were.
Then I went on my first big trip overseas. Three months backpacking through Europe on my own changed my entire perspective on life and what I felt was important. When I returned to Canada I just could not seem to settle back into that money making routine. My priorities shifted. The only thing that seemed important was living life... material "stuff" just didn't give me the same satisfaction.
12 years later I moved to New Zealand where life is viewed VERY differently. It makes more sense to me. You can get a job if you have the right personality, not the right qualifications. Houses are smaller, you spend more time in the garden. You own less "stuff". It's okay to have one television... they're expensive!
But the biggest difference is the fact that people seem to worry less about their future. The Kiwi Saver plans are slowly taking off but I think in general there is a very different take on money here than back in North America.
Until I had that conversation with my accountant, I was thinking that my life was pretty damn amazing. I live in a really cute cottage near one of the best beaches in the world. I don't have to worry about paying rates or taxes and if anything goes wrong, my landlord happily comes to fix it. If I want to save some money, I rent a room out to travelers. If I want to travel, I find someone else to move in while I'm off galavanting around. I work from my back garden and I make enough to comfortably pay my bills. I don't own a car but I drive a really sweet scooter - pink of course - which costs $8 to fill with premium petrol (and that's at $1.88/litre). I take care of myself mentally and physically by going to the gym (yoga class mainly) about 6 times each week. I volunteer whenever I can - which is often - for charities that feed my soul. I have a massive garden where I grow fruits and vegetables year round (pumpkin has become my favourite veg).
I don't have a lot as far as assets go but I also don't have any debt. If I lost everything in a fire or a tsunami or whatever, I know I'd be fine. I'm sensible, I have insurance. I have some money saved - not a lot - but plenty enough and I continue to save. I think I'm better off than most people I know.
BUT... that's not at all how I felt after talking to my accountant. He told me he was worried about me. Am I making enough money? Do I have a plan for my retirement? I felt inadequate because I don't have any assets. What happens if I can't work?
Don't worry, I have a plan! If everything turns to custard, I am going to move to Cambodia (or Thailand or Bali) and live in a hut and work with orphans! My accountant was horrified.
My friend Jen was over the other day for lunch. She has recently bought a lifestyle block (a small farm) with her husband. They were once big city people from the UK but always wanted a big piece of land to live their dream. She is working in a honey factory down the road... a honey FACTORY! She can't believe it herself. She is a little embarrassed to tell her friends back in the UK that she's a factory girl but she admits that she's happier than she's ever been. She has no workplace stress, she enjoys her job and it's 5 minutes from home. She is living the simple life. She doesn't have to worry about what she wears or how she looks. It just doesn't matter. She has more time at home and more time for herself. Isn't that all we really want? For some reason we think that we're meant to work hard now, save lots and lots of money so that we can take time off to retire... but why not just work in the honey factory a few hours a week?
Then I hear about people who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, have exorbitant mortgages and car payments on ridiculously impractical vehicles, live WAY beyond their means and actually OWE more money than they are worth. I just don't get that. How does someone let that happen? But it does... more than a lot of us realize. The price that is often paid to be wealthy is the lifestyle that you have to maintain once you have it.
Recently I was talking to a male friend of mine who has met this amazing girl. The trouble is, they live in different countries - but he's never met anyone like her. I know he likes this girl a lot, so I asked him, "Can you see a future with her?" His response was, "How could I possibly know that?" Haven't you thought about it?
Yet we live in a world where we're expected to put our money into a retirement fund. We're supposed to be planning for a future that isn't even guaranteed. It's easier for us to think of money than it is to think about investing wisely into our future with a person who awakens feelings in our heart. Now don't think that money doesn't provoke feelings... just ask someone who has won heaps of it or who has lost heaps of it or who needs some of it. Money has become more important than love.
People say you can't live on love. Oh I believe you can. What good is it to be stuck alone with bucket loads of money? When you're in love, it doesn't matter where you go or what you do, all that matters is being together.
What if I don't live to 65? Boy, I'll be really ticked off knowing I could have traveled more while I had my health.
If I'm still alone and I have no money in savings at 65 I'll be living with my friend Jen on her lifestyle block working at the honey factory down the road... unless something really terrible happens... then I'll be working with orphans.
But that's assuming I'm going to be an old maid! I hardly think that's possible. I'm gonna be JUST FINE. I just have to not worry.
