Living A Sustainable Lifestyle
By: Jean-Luc Tahou, MBA, CFP

I would like to extend an invitation today. An invitation to shift your way of thinking so that life becomes more pleasant and enjoyable as opposed to the rat race we all feel caught up in. For some of you, your days consist of the same script replaying over and over again.  Implementing this shift is not an easy task to accomplish as we are conditioned to believe that the right life is one of material success, one where we constantly compare ourselves to a somewhat unattainable ideal of having made it. We should instead focus on living a sustainable lifestyle, one in which we run our own race and where we make decisions based on what we can afford for the long run, not just based on our current conditions.

The first thing I will say is this: we need to find real purpose in life and achieve satisfaction that goes well beyond buying the latest gadget. Many of my clients display these feelings of inadequacy when on the surface they seem to have more than most. I am not a psychologist but it seems like they cannot see the forest from the trees. There is a difference between struggling and struggling to keep up. Individuals and families who are really struggling long for the necessities of life on a daily basis: a warm meal, a decent place to live or clothes on their back. If you are complaining about anything other than those basic issues, you are simply struggling to keep up. People in this category worry about Not being able to eat out as often as they’d like, Not being able to afford the condo they’re dreaming about or Not being able to afford designer labels. The problem is they already have enough and this is the thing they are overlooking. When you stop buying into the TV lifestyle society is selling to you, you can learn to appreciate what you have and alleviate the stress that comes with keeping up scores. I can assure you, the first step in getting out of the rat race is to adopt a different mentality towards material possessions. Indeed having a nice lifestyle is great and its pursuit is a commendable effort. However, it is a bonus that not all of us will get to enjoy. The only thing we are entitled to is a decent lifestyle.

The next step is to look at wealth as a whole, not only in a monetary sense. Your health, your family life as well as your personal fulfillment are things that more often than not, money cannot buy. Investing in those areas of your life should be managed with the same vigor as your retirement account and not taken lightly. After all, what good is a fat bank account if there is no one to share it with? Again, we get so consumed with the need to make it that we neglect to eat right, to exercise as often as we should, to nurture our family bonds or even to do what we truly enjoy doing. If you take care of your body, it will take care of you.  The same goes for family. Taking good care of yourself and being happy is another intangible aspect of wealth that very few people take the time to master. There is something to be said about the quantifiable long-term financial savings resulting from such an investment: reduced medical expenses, minimal amounts spent on therapy or couples counseling.  By expanding your vision of what wealth means to you, you can bring things back in perspective and realize what a diverse portfolio you possess. It becomes apparent that lack in certain areas is compensated by excess in others. When you address the wealth management issues in your life in a comprehensive manner, not just financially, you get to enjoy the journey and appreciate your unique condition.

Finally, and this is a more practical and applicable advice, we should strive for a positive cash flow. The main reason people run into financial difficulties is not because they don’t have enough, but because they spend based of the lifestyle they’d like to have. Reigning in expenses to a reasonable level goes without saying in such cases. A sustainable lifestyle entails an equation where income always exceeds spending. The opposite simply doesn’t work and it eventually catches up with you. This is one of the reasons why I strongly advocate for most people to cultivate multiple streams of income. I come from a family where this has been going on from generations: from my grand-mother who was a school teacher moonlighting as a candy stand owner, to my attorney mother who flips real estate and cars, and even my younger brother who is a construction engineer by day and a website designer by night. I am sure all of you have talents that you can parlay into side businesses (consulting, public speaking, writing, baking, etc.), even if you are already successful at what you do. This is all the more important since a lot of our financial commitments last several years. Not depending on a single source of income will help you accumulate wealth faster and reduce the impact of setbacks along the way.

We tend to say that life is short. Life is also a long journey. Living with a renewed purpose towards an appreciation for what we already have, a broadening of our vision of what true wealth means to us as well as a dedication to positive cash flow all contribute to creating a sustainable lifestyle.