Imagine you’re living in a tent on an open plain. One day, you plant a tree. For the next 40 years, you water it, protect it from harsh weather, and care for its growth. You never pick its fruit, rest in its shade, or use its wood to build something meaningful. You don’t go anywhere or do anything else because you’re solely focused on growing the tree bigger and bigger.
Then, one day, just after your 65th birthday, the tree stops growing. You look up at its enormous trunk and wide-spread of branches and ask yourself, “What was all that for?”
Many of us approach financial planning with this same mindset: focused on “growing the tree,” with little thought to why we’re growing it or how we’ll enjoy the fruits along the way. When retirement arrives, we can feel lost, wondering what comes next.
But what if you view your life through the lens of a 100-year journey? What if wealth was about enhancing your quality of life now and in the decades to come?
Reimagining Wealth for a 100-Year Life
With life expectancies stretching well into the 90s and beyond, planning your finances for a 100-year life opens a new perspective. With this long-term outlook, traditional wealth accumulation—focusing on growing your assets for retirement—may fall short. Instead, wealth becomes a tool to help you thrive over a century, supporting growth, joy, and purpose at every stage.
Holistic wealth management services can help bridge this gap, moving beyond numbers and returns to align your financial resources with a more expansive life vision. By looking at wealth as a means to enjoy every chapter of life, from building a career to thriving in retirement, financial planning becomes a journey toward fulfillment, rather than just a destination.
Shifting to a Return on Life (ROL) Mindset
The “return on life” (ROL) approach encourages us to see money as a tool for enriching life experiences, and creating a life of purpose and satisfaction—not simply as a means to accumulate wealth. A skilled financial advisor can offer more than just growth strategies; they provide guidance on how financial decisions impact lifestyle, values, and fulfilment along the way.
While a traditional financial plan might focus only on the return on investment, a comprehensive, life-centred plan brings into focus the return on life—how your wealth can create meaning, freedom, and fulfilment. And the sooner you adopt this mindset, the sooner you’ll experience a purposeful relationship with your finances that transcends mere accumulation.
Aligning Financial Goals for Every Stage of Life
To align your financial plan with a 100-year life, start by asking yourself:
- What do I want my wealth to help me achieve now, in five years, and in twenty years?
- Am I prioritizing experiences that align with my passions, interests, and values?
- How can I balance saving with spending in ways that enhance my quality of life today and tomorrow?
Working with a financial planner who understands this broader vision can help you clarify and act on these goals. Beyond managing investments, an advisor who prioritizes holistic wealth management helps you align financial choices with your life’s purpose, creating a long-term strategy that prioritizes meaning and fulfilment at every stage.
Enjoying Life Along the Way
With a 100-year life in mind, financial planning becomes not just a matter of building wealth but of creating a fulfilling, purpose-driven life every step of the way. Intentional financial planning allows you to balance growth with experiences that bring joy and meaning to your life now, while still preparing for the future. A planner who understands your values and long-term vision can help you enjoy the journey as you work toward your financial goals.
Rather than waiting until retirement to enjoy what you’ve built, purposeful planning allows you to integrate what matters most to you into each financial decision. This way, retirement is not an abrupt change but a seamless continuation of living your best life.
Bringing Purpose to Financial Planning: Start Your Journey Today
Wealth isn’t just for accumulating more—it’s for creating a life that’s filled with joy, purpose, and fulfillment. And when planning for a long life, holistic financial guidance becomes invaluable. The purpose of wealth management services, with an emphasis on return on life, is not only to grow your assets but to help you use your resources in a way that aligns with your values and ambitions.
By partnering with a Perth financial planner who understands your journey, you can ensure that your wealth supports a life filled with purpose and satisfaction at every stage. Ready to see if your wealth is helping you achieve the return on life you desire? Take our Wealth Check to assess if your finances align with the life you want to lead. Let’s work together to build a financial strategy that supports your best life and the legacy you want to create. Book a discovery call with us today to start crafting your life-centered financial plan.
General Advice Disclaimer Please note, the information provided herein is general in nature and does not consider your personal circumstances. It is not intended as legal, tax, or personal advice. Always seek personalised financial advice to ensure your estate planning aligns with your unique situation and goals