Personal Finance: Why money isn’t the end goal of a fulfilled life

0:007-0-2, week in breakfast, personal finance with bald rule officer. I told about the money at 25, 26 minutes past 7 o'clock on your 7-0-2, week in breakfast. Time for us to talk personal finance. And this week we're asking the question, is it all about the money? Is it about what money can do for you? And so we're joined on the line by a resident certified financial advisor, Paul Rulosa. Paul, a very good morning to you. Good morning, Gugu. And just great to talk about the sealates. It's a reflection point, I think, in personal finance, where we spend a lot of time putting together a sound financial plan, protecting our assets, protecting our families,

1:00making a decision to provide for us in the future. But I guess along the way we might very well lose the actual meaning of it. It's all about the money, yes, I suppose it is, but it's not just the money alone. It's what the money translates into, what the money becomes. Money is basically a means to an end, or it should be. I think just listening to the stories that you brought up earlier before the session, reading through those cases in the press, there's a lot of money that's involved in all those cases and that corruption and whatever else. The question is really, what is enough? Is it just the money? Or how do we then translate to a point where we say we have enough? And at this point, we are manifest outcomes in terms of what the money can provide.

2:03And there are many, many pathways into this conversation, I know, and I fully understand it. But my point is really, how do we get distracted so easily into just focusing on money? And not really what it means in terms of a final end. And so then, I guess the end would be different for each person. So for one person, the end might be, you know, I want my kids to go to good schools. I want to pay off my debts. For someone else, it might be, I want to retire early, so retire before the age of 55. The end could be a different thing for different people. But most certainly, and you know, there are different courses, different lifestyles, different objectives. But I think the real for me, the common ground that any situation should meet is really finding the peace of mind. The peace of mind that whatever my plans are, whatever my objectives I set out to meet. When I sleep well at night, when I'm sitting around, you know, with my family and friends,

3:08I'm not worrying about money, I'm actually in a position where I've got this peace of mind that says, I can maintain the lifestyle quite comfortably that I've set out to achieve. Where it goes wrong, I think, is where we set those targets unrealistically. We chase higher bars, we lift the standards of our living. And the bottom line there is that the more that you aim for, the more pressure you're going to put on yourself in terms of making the right adequate provisions to maintain that lifestyle, which turns the question around again to how much is enough, Google? Yeah, and then I guess there's also the idea of, you know, do you aim for enough or do you aim for excess? And what does enough look like? Well, that's the question you see. And that's the heart to heart question you have with yourself and your family. The more you stretch up, the more you have to provide.

4:09You know, you go to, there is a point, obviously, we don't all see it. And there is a point where this extremely wealthy carry on, don't they? I mean, if you go to Elon Musk, for example, and he's got billions and billions of dollars. And at what point does he turn around and say, well, I've got enough? Maybe I should not change course, maybe I should not find a new direction. It doesn't land that way. There's something beyond, you know, that extreme wealth where wealthy people just carry on. But I think we talk to the average household here. Don't be disillusioned, not all of us are going to want to be an Elon Musk. We want to just get through our lives comfortably with the real things that matter. And invariably, it's a family that come to the fore. And how can I maintain that lifestyle that nice, comfortable, realistic lifestyle without putting extra pressure points? And those pressure points will also take away and rob us of the real special things

5:13that families need to have. And they are destructive. So the point, I think, is you've got to have this conversation with yourself and your family to say, well, come and choose enough. Is that house, you know, on the hill, that worth it that much more than the one we've already got? Is the car that we driving at the moment enough? Or do we need that extra, you know, vehicle that's just come onto the market right now? That's going to put pressure on our bank account again. And I guess that also requires a difficult conversation that many people don't want to have. And it's a conversation about, so what happens when you die? Because not only do you need to take care of your family while you're alive, you probably need to take care of your family even more. If you, as the breadwinner, someone who contributes to the income, if you were to pass away and so it requires that you have a very difficult conversation, or very awkward, most people rather not have that conversation. Well, that's a super point in another realistic life-changing event that does impact on our financial planning. And death, you know, it's all, again, we'll look at the money.

6:15It's going to come down to an amount in the bank account for a beneficiary. And then it extends the question, you know, you've worked all your life very hard to build up a legacy for your children. Are they going to continue with that same attitude? Or do they have a different direction? And invariably, and I've seen some very sad cases where parents have built up quite a nice estate, handed it over to children. And the children just don't respect it as much as the parents did. And the money goes back, goes back into the system very easily. It gets spent very easily. And it's not as contained with the same attitude and intention for their children. So, you know, it's horses for courses, and I'm certainly not pointing figures. I'm just bringing up the reality of what money means to people. And it's a tough conversation when you really look at it. Money, if you look at money, all your life, at the end of your life, all you're going to have is money. So what did you do with it along the way as the big question? And how meaningful can I actually create, you know, the outcomes that I really deserve and want to do?

7:19Rather than just looking at a bank account and seeing if I can get more of it. Paul, as always, a great pleasure having you on the show. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks, Greg. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. You too. That's our resident certified financial advisor, Paul Rulosa. There's a personal finance question you'd like for us to deal with. Send it through to us on 31702 or 072702 1702. Coming up, we look at World Zero Waste Day, which is happening tomorrow. We speak to Dr. Liz Barclaym. She's seen electric and future studies and systems thinking at Sail and Bosch Business School to talk to us about how we can deal with our issues of food waste, which is the theme for this year's International Day of Zero Waste. But first, lots to check in with. And your latest eyewitness news board with Anthony to Shader.