Around this time of year there will be an almost infinite amount of blog posts, articles, headlines, etc. on how to save more, spend less and get a hold on your financial life in 2019. I am going to go out on a limb and say that most of these posts are worth reading, however, in an attempt to mix it up I’m going to take a different approach. In 2019 I’m going to encourage you to try and think differently than you have in the past when considering your financial life, consider the following examples:
1. Instead of simply saving more and spending less now in favour of spending more in retirement, what if you saved in a manner that would be more tax efficient in retirement allowing you to spend more now and in retirement?
2. Instead of looking to save 10% on your fees by scouring the market to find the lowest cost investment option what if you could save 50% on your fees by simply restructuring the investments you currently own to make your fees tax-deductible?
3. Instead of chasing the highest rate of return possible each year no matter what the risk, consider determining what your needs will be in retirement, how much you can save until retirement and then back-calculating what rate of return you actually need to attain. Once you know this number you will have a good idea as to whether:
a. You’re saving too much
b. You’re not saving enough
c. Your investments are too aggressive
d. Your investments are too conservative
These are just a few of my thoughts so take them for what they’re worth. If you take anything out of this post I hope that you take a second and think of a few ways you could view your financial life through a different lens in 2019.