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Capry Cainz's avatar

How do you balance spiritual values with financial success?

You’re doing what you love, helping others, and pouring your heart into your work. But when it comes to setting prices, asking for payments, or promoting your services, it feels…off. Almost like you’re betraying your purpose.

So how does one Balance -

10 Effective Steps - Follow This >

1 - Begin your day by embracing a meditation focused on abundance. Be Patient and a good Listener. It gives you a new perspective to Life as we know and perceive it.

2 - Picture your ideal client enthusiastically saying “YES” to your offerings.

3- Harness the power of affirmations to transform your money mindset.

4- Center yourself through gratitude practices that nourish your spirit.

5- View financial challenges as valuable opportunities for growth and development.

6 - Take the time to celebrate small victories…

7 - They act act building blocks that create significant momentum in your journey.

8 - it’s important to exercise caution to prevent overspending that can undermine your financial stability and long-term plans.

9 - It’s crucial to distinguish between what you genuinely need and what you merely want.

10 - MOST IMPORTANT - Generosity: Wealth can be a tool for supporting others, from helping the less fortunate to uplifting communities.

“Spiritual values often emphasize living within your means and finding joy beyond material possessions.

Understanding these principles can serve as a foundation for creating a financial plan that reflects your faith.”

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Robert Puelz's avatar

Interesting perspective......But, I don't see spiritual values and financial success as a trade-off.

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Ellen Forrest's avatar

I found your approach to economics-based financial planning refreshing, especially the focus on living standard optimization. How do you suggest households adjust their plans in response to unexpected financial shocks like job loss or medical emergencies?

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Robert Puelz's avatar

Awesome! Thank you for your comments. Classically, it is dedicating assets or savings to be in an otherwise untouchable reserve. There will be tradeoffs. First, reserve funds need to be invested in safe assets. If a household worries about shock risk, it would be inconsistent to take investment risk with reserve funds. Second, money thrown into a reserve decreases the annual living standard. My approach is to build a menu. For a given reserve fund target there will be an associated living standard….Have a few potential targets and living standard pairs, then choose one. Make sense?

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Ellen Forrest's avatar

Thank you for such a thoughtful answer! Building a menu to assess the tradeoffs of each option is a great idea.

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Robert Puelz's avatar

Pleased that resonates with you! Have you found my essays on this topic?

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Ellen Forrest's avatar

I just did, thank you for pointing me in the right direction!

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Taylor Nelsen's avatar

I like this menu idea!

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George III's avatar

Have you looked at Pralana's Retirement Planning tool? It is the best high-fidelity tool I have encountered. I, too, have used MGP & Fidelity's tools as cross-checks but they lack the granularity required for a high-confidence plan. Your comments?

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Robert Puelz's avatar

I am intrigued @George III ! Thank you for sharing. I see they have the capability for economics-based retirement planning, and I have reached out to them.

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Taylor Nelsen's avatar

What would you say are the biggest limits to this approach and the MaxiFi software? I've been using both Right Capital and MaxiFi recently and have my own thoughts but I would love to hear yours!

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Robert Puelz's avatar

Hi Taylor! Right Capital doesn’t support economics-based planning, unless something has changed. A year ago, maybe longer, I want on a call with Right Capital and the consultant I was working with did not have a clue about economic methods.

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Taylor Nelsen's avatar

RC is definitely not using economics-based planning. It's such an industry-standard in the financial planning community I have wanted to understand what it is doing... I'm still figuring it out, though. The one thing I have been able to do that Maxifi can't do is show the effect of continuing to spend at a level above the annual spending cap, which, unfortunately, many people are doing.

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Robert Puelz's avatar

Hey there @Taylor Nelsen. I wouldn’t rely on RC or other conventional planning tools to try to make a good money decision. MaxiFi can handle your other question, though.

Run MaxiFi and get the annual spend. To the extent actual spending is higher than the cap and you want to keep it that way, set up a special expense and run it for a lifetime.

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Russ Thornton's avatar

Interesting article.

Would love hear your thoughts about using risk-based guardrails to calculate and adjust a person's or family's achievable spending using a tool like https://incomelaboratory.com/#

Here's more on how this approach works in practice: https://www.kitces.com/blog/risk-based-monte-carlo-probability-of-success-guardrails-retirement-distribution-hatchet/

Thanks

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Robert Puelz's avatar

It is not apparent this tool optimizes the lifetime living standard while building trajectories linked to investment uncertainty….If you learn something otherwise, please share.

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