Financial planning

One of the scariest aspects of leaving a job is the loss of a regular salary. I remember a time when I wrote a large cheque and almost emptied out my bank account. I was smug in the knowledge that on the first of the month, my salary would miraculously appear and fill up the vacuum. It is addictive; this dependence on a salary. Of course, it is well-deserved payment for a hard month of work.

Being on your own really pushes you over the edge. There are times when work flows in easily, the invoices get paid on time, the bank account looks healthy. But the tide also ebbs. As my former boss put it, it is feast or famine. And if you don’t have the stomach for it, don’t try it. It is nice to have a reasonable sum always available for putting food on the table and for emergencies. However, planning to make best use of the occasional unusual peaks in earnings is the best trick to managing the lows.

I make resolutions every year to invest my money in better ways, diversify my “holdings” so to speak, make it grow at a rate that beats inflation, blah,blah, blah. It is only this year that I got my act together and spent some time chatting with a financial planner on what alternatives I could consider to bolster my savings for the long term. I know I have enough insurance to cover my family’s needs when I am no longer around. But I wanted to make sure I was financially secure enough to consider retirement if I chose to do it sooner than the prescribed age. To travel, to write, to linger by the sunrise on a pristine beach, to walk in the rain, visit friends and fulfill all those undefined dreams.

I have made one move towards this goal. I hope I will be guided to take other steps in the same direction as the year progresses. I would like to enjoy my work and my life. As much as I love my work, it is not my whole life. And I would like to keep it that way.