YOUNG ADULTS: FINANCIAL LESSONS SERIES - PART ii

Time: Our Most Valuable Asset

As advisors, we have access to a plethora of financial tools from savings, qualified/non-qualified accounts, life insurance, real estate holdings, business interests and tax strategies to name a few. These are tools and strategies that we layer in to build up and maintain an estate. It is a complicated process to monitor and manage these different instruments all at once. These tools are referred to as the 'basics' in our industry, which is not entirely accurate. The most basic and valuable tool we all use is time. Time is our most valuable asset, because once spent, you cannot get it back. It is quite literally priceless. 

​The Time Value of Money is the principle that "a dollar today will be worth more than a dollar tomorrow." It is the most significant concept in personal finance where time causes the constant erosion of value. Our purpose as financial advisors is to educate clients that a dollar today can actually be worth more tomorrow. Time influences money in every facet, from the appreciation of real estate holdings, to return on investments, to interest rates on debt, to inflation's depreciation of the very cash in our wallets. The smallest percentages compound over time to create massive disparities. This concept will work continuously against you until you learn how to leverage it for your own advantage. Time can be both the carrot in front of us and the stick behind us. 

​​Don't believe me? Let's look at an example.

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