The two financial finish lines

I was listening to an interview on the Finish Line podcast today when the interviewee mentioned the two different finish lines one should have.

Maybe I should start with explaining what a finish line is.

I learned about the concept of a finish line a few years ago. It's about setting a cap to how much money I am going to spend in a year, regardless of how much money I earn.

I loved the concept. It made sense: if I don't set a cap for my lifestyle, I'm very likely to be subjected to lifestyle creep (in that the cost of my lifestyle will go up in accordance to my earnings).

Without a finish line, how would I ever know how much is enough? Research has shown that when people who don't have a finish line are asked how much money they need, the answer is always, "just a little bit more."

A race will never be over without a finish line. A football match will never be over if there isn't a limit on the time.

Similarly, I won't know how much is enough if I don't set a goal; a finish line.

Back to the interview. This person mentioned that most people only think about one financial finish line: the lifestyle one.

But there's another one that far fewer people think about: the lifetime finish line.

This is the point where your own needs are fully covered for the rest of your life, and every extra dollar becomes a tool rather than a necessity. Instead of asking, "What more can I buy?" you begin asking, "What more can I build? Who can I bless? What kingdom work can I fund?"

I'm not there yet. I'm still in the process of figuring this out. But I've realized that the goal isn't to have more and more.

But to decide what enough looks like.

And once I cross that, the rest can be freed up .... to sow into areas of good work.