There was a wonderful article in the Wall Street Journal back in October of 2012 about a retired couple who did what many thinks was unthinkable. They sold their home and traveled the world living wherever they felt like going. So how did they do this? They must have been rich! Well no, the way they accomplished this was to determine exactly what their current lifestyle cost them (mortgage, utilities, food, travel, entertainment, etc.). Let’s say it was $7,500 per month (roughly equivalent to earning $120,000 before taxes); that was their spending amount. So, they would then look to the places they wanted to go. For example, when they wanted to live in London, they determined what their budget would be: One bedroom apartment in the suburbs of London for $2,450, groceries $800, dining out $1,750, entertainment $500, transportation $1,300; for a total of $6,800 to live in London for a month! Some months they would splurge and spend more than their allotted amount, but then the next month they would travel to a place off the beaten trail where the cost of living was dramatically less, just as long as it all balanced out in the end.

Certainly, this lifestyle is not for everyone. Many of us like to put down our roots and build a home tied to our family and loved ones. What this does show is that there are ways, unique ways, in which we can add some of life’s excitements into our everyday life if we just do a little planning up front. Step 4 is where we begin to formulate this plan and build a strategy to transform your current lifestyle into The Lifestyle of Your Dreams. It doesn’t happen overnight; the underlining goal is to add bits and pieces over time so that in the timeframe you set up, you have begun to enhance your lifestyle today without sacrificing your future. We will design the investment strategy that makes all this possible.