In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading down to the second best county in Ireland (Kerry!) for a couple of days with my parents and my children. It is something we have done for the last eight years, and it has been one the best decisions we have made as a family. Why? Because the time you spend with both your parents and children is shorter than you think. 

As we come to the tail end of this Summer it is a welcome reminder that we're not living in a never-ending now. Time marches on, and it waits for no one. While the days can feel long, the years are indeed short.  

What is Wealth? 

Wealth comes is different forms:

• Monetary – having the money to live the life you want to live
• Physical – good health
• Time – having control over your time 

One simplistic definition of wealth is the amount of money you have access to. This unfortunately traps many people into spending their finite time to accumulate as much money as they can.  

We know that money has value, and wasting it seems silly. But we all throw away something far more valuable every day: time. One of the few truly finite resources, the amount of time we get is uncertain, but we know it's limited. 

Those who attain monetary wealth realise, sometimes too late, that real wealth is the ability to spend money to buy time. We find meaning in being able to spend time on our terms, doing things we love and that bring us joy. 

One of the few benefits of the 2020 pandemic is that it forced most of us to spend time very differently from how we used to. It’s given us a valuable opportunity to recalibrate how we view the trade-off between time and money. Time is an abstract concept, difficult to get our heads around at times. One exercise that brings it to life is to consider how many specific events or seasons you may have left. 

How many books will you realistically still be able to read? How many holidays do you have left to enjoy with your parents or children? How many good Summers do you have to look forward to, ones you are healthy enough to enjoy? We rarely reflect on how much quality time we have left, mostly caught up in the hustle and bustle of life.  

Time Enough 
Whilst the time we have is limited, there is enough of it to live a meaningful life if we use it wisely and are conscious of how much we have left.  

The Roman philosopher Seneca wisely said: 

"It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested."

A more holistic approach to your own financial planning may, therefore, involve resolving not only how you will invest your money, but also your time, energy, and talents. Given that we find ourselves nearing the end of another Summer, being intentional with our time is a challenge we can all rise to.