Think about your favorite kind of pie. Getting hungry? Whether it’s store bought, your own effort, or a cherished family member is a skilled baker, it’s exactly what you want. To go one step further, financial planning is like making a pie.
How so?
Pie Flavors
First, what kind of fruit, perhaps vegetable, or other main ingredient do you prefer? Apple, blueberry, or something else? When it comes to my favorite choice I am torn. It’s either pumpkin on Thanksgiving or apple with a nice latticework top and à la Mode with vanilla ice cream. And nutmeg and cinnamon.
Anyway, when you design your pastry or financial life, you can choose whatever you like – key lime pie, lemon meringue pie, cheesecake, etc.
Shapes and Sizes
There are many options for the crust – cookie crust, butter crust, or gluten-free crust. You pick what you like and how it “pairs” with the flavor.
And the size and shape will vary by the dish or plate. Perhaps you want to make a very large dessert that doesn’t fit on a traditional sized dish. You get to decide.
Pie Slices
Financial Planning is like making a pie. You get to choose everything. We’ve already covered the ingredients and the crust and now we get to pick how we slice it.
Remember that the slice size can vary. For some people who love pie, they think that the entire pie is only one slice. Alternatively, there are others who prefer slivers. And there are many tastes and choices in between.
Your financial life is like a pie and the slices vary from year to year. For instance, during 2024, the different pieces represent different parts of your financial life. So investing may take up a large part of the pastry and debt paydown may be a smaller slice. An even bigger tranche could be tax planning.
The size of the slices increase and decrease over time – month to month, year to year, etc. So debt paydown may not be important for you this year. But in 2 years it can be a larger piece of the pie when you buy a home.
Hiring a Professional Baker
Baking a pie that tastes good takes a lot of time, effort, and practice. If you are doing it yourself and making wonderful desserts, congratulations.
On the other hand, if you prefer a skilled and trained professional to satisfy your sweet tooth, that’s ok too!
Let’s chat about finances over some pie. I’ll bring the milk!