By George Kinder

This week’s The Distillery is Part 1 of a 3 part exercise in discovering what freedom means to you. The word freedom likely sounds a bit out of context in a financial planning blog, yet it’s relationship with money is certainly real, and ever-evolving in our profession. In fact, there’s a completely separate niche of financial planners who practice what is referred to as Life Planning. Life Planners’ main goal is to help discover client’s deepest beliefs, values and desires, and by way of money, help deliver them to their personal definition of freedom. To quote one of the founders of Life Planning, George Kinder, “With Vision we understand further that money is a conduit through which our souls flow into the world.”

Now that I have you thinking, we’re going to stay with Kinder for a few weeks, and work through three questions he developed to help discover what freedom means to you. I encourage you to write these answers down to refer back to after completing Part 3. Think of Part 1 as a warm-up.

Part 1 – Plenty of Money

You may not be as wealthy as Bill Gates or the Sultan of Brunei, but you do have all the money you need, now and in the future. What will you do with it? From this moment forward, how will you live your life?

As you write your answer, let yourself dream. This part of the exercise has nothing to do with realism. Run loose, without tether or rein. Give yourself the right to have, do, or be anything that comes to mind. Only when you have completed this part of the exercise in the space that follows should you move on to Part 2 (next week).