2804: The Definition of Financial Success is Not So Obvious by Craig Stephens of RetireBeforeDad on Money Goals

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[00:00:56] The definition of financial success is not so obvious by Craig Stephens of RetireBeforeDad.com The Star Wars Galaxy's Edge attraction recently opened at both Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

[00:01:17] Despite the long-awaited openings, Disney stock analysts were disappointed to see overall theme park attendance down 3% in the fiscal third quarter. Visitors to the planet Batuu meet face-to-face with the Millennium Falcon and a cadre of stormtroopers but do not face massive crowds and unbearable lines.

[00:01:38] Bob Chappik, chairman of Parks, Experiences and Products said, quote, The deep secret is that we don't intend to have lines. If you build in enough capacity, the rides don't go down and it operates at 99% efficiency. You shouldn't have 10-hour lines.

[00:01:55] So 10-hour lines are not a sign of success. It should be seen as a sign of, frankly, failure. End quote. Attendance numbers and the associated revenue, as it turns out, isn't how Disney measures the success of Galaxy's Edge.

[00:02:11] Disney defines success as delivering an unmatched customer experience without the waits. Customer surveys indicate that visitor satisfaction at Galaxy's Edge ranks among the highest of all the attractions at the Disney amusement parks. Success is not always what it's perceived to be. What is financial success?

[00:02:32] Defining success in any discipline depends on who is setting expectations. If I were to attempt to run a marathon, success would be to finish and not get injured.

[00:02:42] But a more experienced runner with a few races under his or her belt may set a goal to run a sub-4-hour marathon time. We could both accomplish our goals and consider ourselves successful. Success is not mutually exclusive. Financial success is the same.

[00:02:59] You and I have different goals and ways of defining financial success. But if I don't achieve the same level of wealth or income as you, that doesn't make me a failure. Maybe you worked your butt off in your 20s instead of seeking adventure as I did.

[00:03:13] Or perhaps you overspent. We tend to compare ourselves to others when it comes to career achievement and money, even though we have limited information about the financials of our peers. Comparing ourselves to others is a useless exercise rooted in envy. But we all do it.

[00:03:31] More money, earning, saving and spending it is not an accurate measurement of financial success. Money is just one part of financial success. The more critical aspect of financial success is how we utilize, conserve and compound the money we earn.

[00:03:47] People at various stages of life and wealth may pinpoint financial success on specific goals, such as eliminating debt, saving a fixed sum in the bank or paying for a child's college education. Those are all steps along the way.

[00:04:01] Real financial success is attained when the accumulation of wealth or achieved level of income is enough money to support your ideal life, hopefully for the rest of your life. Some might define it simply as financial independence. Financial success is a combination of wealth and wisdom.

[00:04:19] Someone earning a million dollars per year is not financially successful if the earnings are matched with a million dollars in annual spending. How the million dollars is utilized once attained is what determines financial success. Is it spent blindly or cherished and sashed away to solidify financial security?

[00:04:39] Does the income enable an ideal life? Financial success cannot be determined by visible wealth, such as a big house or a fancy sports car. Nor can it be defined by arbitrary numbers or percentages.

[00:04:52] It's not about one-upping your neighbor or business rival or earning an above-average salary for your zip code. It's about optimizing your finances in alignment with your values and what makes you the happiest. Define ideal life. Quote,

[00:05:09] Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been. David Bowie A good friend of mine was backpacking in Australia years ago and came across an abrasive fellow traveler in a hostile bar.

[00:05:24] He asked my friend his opinion on a nearby tourist excursion outside of the city. My friend responded with something like, Oh, it was cool. We had a fun day out there. Good tour. The arrogant vagabond leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and responded, Define cool.

[00:05:42] Stunned, my friend was speechless and went back to his beer. The phrase became a reoccurring joke during our road trip in Ireland. How can you put a definition to something as broad as an ideal life? Is there only one perfect life that someone can live? Of course not.

[00:05:58] So an ideal life is perhaps the life you're living today or some combination of being happy where you are now as a result of where you've been and improving upon that each day for the rest of your life. On average, factoring ups and downs.

[00:06:13] Financial success empowers you to live the ideal life, a happy life. But money alone doesn't make it happen. It's the wisdom you apply to the money you earn and keep. Too much money can even distract from living your best life if you do stupid things with it.

[00:06:28] Happiness is not a straight line. As popularized by the book, The Happiness Curve, Why Life Gets Better After 50 by John Rauch, happiness is more of a curved smile. An ideal life may very well follow this trajectory.

[00:06:43] The sooner one acknowledges the things like family, relationships, community, travel, good health, purpose, hard work, simple pleasures, etc. that bring happiness and fulfillment, the sooner life will naturally evolve to prioritize those things and eliminate distractions, accelerating the upswing. What does financial success mean to you?

[00:07:06] I interviewed for an internship at a small financial advisor firm for the summer before my college senior year. By the end of the interview, six different people had hotboxed me in a small conference room asking philosophical questions entirely unrelated to the position.

[00:07:21] The last question, the president of the company asked me, was what I wanted to get out of life. My response was, I just want to be happy. Wrong answer. They were hoping I'd declare that I wanted to use this internship as a launching pad

[00:07:35] for a wildly successful financial services career, one that would bring them whale-sized clients and make me rich in the process. My failure to read the situation and deliver the right answer solidified my destiny as an unpaid copier boy at Merrill Lynch that summer,

[00:07:50] where I learned I didn't want to become a financial advisor. But I remained true to myself with that answer as it remains true today. The interviewers wanted philosophical, so I unknowingly out-philosophized their lame questions and never entered that fee-sucking industry. Happiness is, ultimately, what I'm striving for today.

[00:08:11] But I admit, some days I feel the pull of the happiness curve, down from the peaks of childhood dreams and the independence of enduring travel to being broke and unemployed, to an unsatisfying job, to the weight of responsibility that comes with the unequal joys of marriage and parenthood,

[00:08:28] to now career satisfaction and attainable retirement achievement in my sights. I tend to overweigh financial goals because finance is my side business and hobby. Finance is fun and measurable to the penny, but it's the other side of financial success that I'm starting to focus on more,

[00:08:45] utilizing what I accumulate to prioritize what's important. You just listened to the post titled, The Definition of Financial Success Is Not So Obvious, by Craig Stevens of retirebeforedad.com, and I'll be right back with my commentary. For a lot of people, myself included,

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[00:10:22] I came across this quote from Anne Ran the other day that seems appropriate here. She said, quote, money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver, end quote.

[00:10:36] Many of us feel that more money would lead us to feel happier and successful, but that isn't necessarily the case. I think regardless of our financial situation, we still have to figure out what makes us tick.

[00:10:48] And financial stability simply allows us to open up the space for us to do that work. That's why it's possible for someone to appear financially successful, but on some levels, still be very unfulfilled. Also, it's hard to define what success means objectively

[00:11:05] because it isn't something you can see. It's much more of a state of mind. You may look at someone else with the big house, fancy job, and beautiful family and see them as successful, but does that person feel successful? I always wonder if they have peace of mind

[00:11:21] because this is what success means to me. I liked the sentiment in this article that financial success is about optimizing your finances in alignment with your values and what makes you the happiest. It demonstrates how personal personal finance actually is

[00:11:36] because you are really the only person who can make a determination on your values and what makes you happy. And that's something that is constantly evolving over the course of your life. And that will do it for today. Have a great day and start to your week.

[00:11:51] Thank you for listening, and I'll be back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.