Resources Beyond Money

As financial advisors, our team at Beshear Financial gets to see firsthand the abundance of resources our clients manage beyond money. As a member of Crossroads Church (which I highly recommend if you haven’t tried it out), I was recently reminded of the resources we all have beyond money. We’ve found the following "Life Account Paradigm" incredibly helpful in planning and strategy for clients, and I believe these are important even if you are not a person of faith. 

The paradigm suggests that each person has several different accounts or groups of resources from which to draw upon.

• Spiritual

• Relational

• Physical

• Intellectual

• Financial

We all have some level of wealth and some amount of poverty in each account. When we are surrounded by friends, we are relationally wealthy. When we are sick, it’s like being in physical poverty. 

There are three points to this paradigm that stand out. First, these accounts affect one another. Think about Christmas time and the story of Ebenezer Scrooge who was rich financially, but poor in relationships. If we focus too much on one category to the neglect of the others, we are out of balance. 

Second, resources can be moved from one account to "buy" resources in another. When we are out of shape, we can purchase a gym membership and intellectually read up on healthy eating. If you just moved to town for a good job but do not know anyone, spend that extra money on taking people to lunch or the cost of some social activity to meet new friends. 

Lastly and most applicable to our work is that the Financial Life Account is the easiest one to affect. It’s a quick fix to start saving or to rearrange a budget. It is also the one that brings the least joy. Confidence comes in the intellectual and physical accounts. Joy is found in the spiritual and relational. 

Our best work is helping families direct their financial resources towards the accounts that bring them confidence and joy. In fact, that is one of things that brings us joy.

Article prepared by Associate Wealth Management Advisor John Brannon with the cooperation of Northwestern Mutual. Brannon is an insurance agent of Northwestern Mutual based in Cincinnati. Email John at john.brannon@nm.com. Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and its subsidiaries. John Brannon is a Representative of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (fiduciary and fee-based financial planning services), a subsidiary of NM and federal savings bank.