Can One Thing Make a Defference?

Life is sort of a cumulative thing for most people.

You know, they're where they are right now in life is really pretty much based on a string of small cumulative decisions and events that it happened over a period of time. Your health in your twenties and your thirties is pretty much based on the string of cumulative events and decisions that you made were happened in your teens. Did you eat healthy? Were you consistently snacking with pizza, soda and candy and then booze and drugs when you're actually old enough to get those things.

Your financial status and condition in your fifties is pretty much based on decisions that you made and the events that happened to you in your late twenties, thirties, and forties.

Who'd you associate with? Did you choose to go to college or not? What field did you decide you wanted to study in? Did you study? Where you there for the college experience? Did you get married by a house, raise a family? Did you have a stable job or were you laid off due to the economy? At some point in time happened to a lot of people. ...totally outside of their control.

Were you fortunate enough to have enough money for the family and still be able to save a little bit for your retirement? If you did? That was great. Did you invest that money? Where, what type of returns were you getting? Did you even know? Do you know today? Did you get caught in the market crash or possibly two?

All these decisions and events made who you are today. It's very cumulative. One just feeds right into the next one. It's just the way things work. And at the time we don't even recognize what's happening because we're just, trying to get by on a daily basis.

But is there a single event, a single thing that can make a difference in our lives? If so, what could it be?

For some, it might be a debilitating disease or an accident. For others, maybe a good marriage could make all the difference to find the right person. It could make a difference in your entire life. It changes things completely. A bad one can have a lasting change in effect too. One bad marriage, one bad divorce. It’s unbelievable what that does to you financially. A divorce could wipe out 60% or more of your money and you could be devastated for years, emotionally and financially.

Maybe you have a rich relative and you receive a major inheritance. Or, maybe you were fortunate and you actually won the lottery. Although most lottery winners are broke within five years anyway, … too much money too fast and they just didn't have the skills to handle it. But that's a discussion for another day. So yes, one thing in your life could make a major change, major difference in your life.

The problem with these one thing, situations and events is that you generally have absolutely no control over if or when they actually happen. ...If they happen at all. Which makes them sort of useless for planning purposes. I mean, you don't want to wait your entire life to see if something may or may not happen. Even though some people are still waiting for that amazing winning lottery ticket.

Waiting for a rich unknown, relative to die, and leave them a Chateau somewhere in France. Some people are still waiting for those things.

So what does this really all mean to you? It's the small cumulative decisions that you do actually control that will have a lasting impact on your life. You can't change what's already happened. It's in the past, it's done. You can make better decisions starting today and moving forward that will affect your future.

You just need to recognize that each one of those actions and inactions that you take today, we'll have a positive or a negative effect on your life tomorrow. So you want choose wisely.

My only goal is to help you get protect and enjoy your money, your life, and your retirement. If you want see how a little decision today, could have a major impact on your life and give you the best chance to retire in the next three to five years, go to DrRouseNow.com See for yourself if that one little decision could change your life and get you the ultimate secure retirement that you've always dreamed of.

Dr Fred (focused for retirement) Rouse, CFP

The REAL Money Doctor