One of Aesop’s fables features a hardworking ant and a lazy grasshopper. While the ant toils away, socking away food for the coming winter, the grasshopper sings, dances, and doesn’t plan for the lean months ahead. When the seasons change and the winter weather arrives, the grasshopper appears on the ant’s doorstep, pleading for a few morsels. He’s at the ant’s mercy (and, in the original fable, mercy doesn’t come).

Wrapped up in this famous story is a not-so-subtle lesson about planning ahead. If we think about this in terms of financial planning, the ant is the person who consults a reputable financial advisor, creates a logical strategy, and starts allocating money to investments and an emergency savings fund well before these funds are needed (long before retirement or before a financial emergency). This type of person can rest easy when the stock market slumps (similar to lean winter months) because they know they have a solid financial plan that isn’t upended by the ups and downs of the market. “Spring” will come again, and the stock market will inevitably experience growth once more, but in the meantime the “ant” investor is just fine.

On the other hand, the grasshopper is the person who puts off financial planning until the eleventh hour. They wait until they are in full crisis mode before taking action, and by then, it might be too little, too late. A major expense could crop up—an expensive surgery, a costly home repair, a child’s college tuition, an elderly parent’s care, a divorce—and they are unprepared to deal with it. These people either tend to assume everything will somehow work out OR they are so intimidated by the financial planning process, they avoid it completely.

That’s unfortunate, because most people could benefit from professional financial guidance. Too often, people approach a financial advisor in a panic, when “winter” is inevitable. For example, they might want to know if they are financially secure enough to retire within a year or two (even if they have not been following a disciplined investment strategy).

Don’t be the grasshopper. Instead, take a methodical ant-like approach to your future by practicing intentional planning. A few ways to do this include:

  • Start NOW. There’s no time like the present to begin planning for your financial future.
  • Find a reputable financial advisor—one with a disciplined, evidence-based investment strategy—and start talking with him or her.
  • Create an emergency savings account AND start adding money to it every month
  • Think long-term when it comes to money management (I’ve written about this in past blog posts, such as this one)
  • Make sure to diversify your investments (a financial advisor can help with this)
  • Don’t fall for get-rich-quick schemes or unproven investments (the recent crash of cryptocurrency is a testament to that!)
  • It bears repeating: Start NOW. Today.

Though Aesop’s fables are hundreds of years old, we can still find wisdom in these stories. In the case of the ant and the grasshopper, the ant was able to be well-nourished and comfortable during his winter months, and you can find that same level of security. Be the ant.

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