Why a Good Financial Plan Should Help You Enjoy Today, Not Just Prepare for Tomorrow
In 1986, Matthew Broderick starred in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, playing a high school student who decided that a beautiful day in Chicago was simply too good to spend sitting in a classroom. It has been one of my favorite movies since it was first released. I have seen it dozens of times, and Rachel knows that if it is on TV, we will stop for at least a few minutes to watch a couple of scenes. It's a joyful movie that, beneath all the fun, also contains a few pretty good life lessons.
Source: Wikipedia
Along the way, Ferris offered a piece of wisdom that may be just as relevant to financial planning as it was to skipping school:
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
If you have been living under a rock for the past 40 years and are not familiar with this movie or this scene, I am including a YouTube clip below for your enjoyment and to help frame today's discussion.
I've been thinking about that line quite a bit lately.
Living in Northeast Ohio, I have spent nearly four decades working with a lot of people who could have been featured in The Millionaire Next Door. They worked hard, spent less than they earned, saved the difference, contributed to their 401(k)s and IRAs, paid down debt, avoided excessive credit, and generally resisted the temptation to make crazy investment decisions based on something they heard online, at the golf course, or in the barbershop (or beauty salon).
Do those things consistently for 30 or 40 years and something rather remarkable tends to happen. You accumulate wealth. It isn't particularly exciting. In fact, it can be downright boring… sort of like watching paint dry. But over time, it works.
Unfortunately, the same habits that make someone exceptionally good at accumulating wealth can sometimes make it difficult to enjoy that wealth later.
After spending 40 years asking, "Do I really need this?", it isn't easy to wake up one morning in retirement and suddenly start asking, "What would I really enjoy?"
That's one of the places where I believe good financial planning can make an enormous difference.
During the accumulation phase of life, a financial plan helps us determine how much we need to save today to create the resources necessary for tomorrow. Once we know we are saving enough, the plan can also give us something else:
Permission to enjoy some of what is left today.
When we reach retirement, the question changes. Now the financial plan helps us determine how much we can reasonably spend under conservative assumptions without jeopardizing our future. Once again, the plan can give us permission.
Permission to enjoy what we spent a lifetime accumulating.
Because eventually, three incredibly valuable things intersect: the gift of time, the gift of health, and the gift of financial resources.
Money can potentially be replaced. Time cannot. And health is never guaranteed. I could share story after story of clients who worked hard and saved diligently, only to have their retirement dreams and goals changed by an unexpected health issue or family circumstance.
While we want you to save and accumulate for the future, the goal isn't to die with a pile of unused money. The goal is to use the income and assets you've accumulated to live your best life.
Rachel and I have been reminded of that intersection over the past few weeks because life has been moving pretty fast around our house.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to a Cleveland Guardians game with our son Zach and his wife, Kayli, as part of my birthday present from last year. As an unexpected bonus, the Cleveland Air Show was happening that weekend, so we got to watch the Blue Angels perform overhead.
Source: Jesse's iPhone
The next weekend, we took friends to see Death Becomes Her at Playhouse Square. The following day, we spent three hours at STIR Cooking in Hudson attending a cooking class and learning to make stuffed tortellini with vodka sauce with our great friends David and Lisa.
Source: Jesse's iPhone
The next week, we celebrated a friend’s 65th birthday on Wednesday at Madeleena's restaurant in Kent (if you have not been, you should go… trust me). Then on Friday, Zach and I headed to Nelson Ledges, where we each got three laps around the racetrack through Xtreme Xperience. Zach chose a black Lamborghini. Dad chose a silver Porsche 911 GT3. I'm comfortable with my decision.
Source: Jesse's iPhone
That Saturday, Rachel and I went to the Maltz Performing Arts Center, where a four-piece string quartet performed music from Bach and the Beatles. That's a combination I never would have thought of, but somehow it worked beautifully.
Source: Jesse's iPhone
And in the midst of all of this, I flew to Dallas for a conference while Rachel flew to Charleston to spend time with our daughter Sedona, son-in-law Mark, and our six-month-old grandson, Sonny James. Rachel has made that trip six times in six months. I've made four.
Source: Jesse's iPhone
That's a lot packed into a few weeks. And I'm not sharing any of it because I think everyone should live life the way Rachel and I do.
Your list will look different, and that's the point.
Maybe it's traveling somewhere you've always wanted to visit. Maybe it's a lake house, a golf trip, a concert, dinner with old friends, taking the grandchildren to the zoo, or simply having the freedom to spend a Tuesday afternoon doing absolutely nothing.
The financial plan isn't supposed to prescribe the life. It's supposed to help make the life possible.
That's why I often tell clients that a financial plan is like a custom-made suit. It doesn't need to fit anybody else. It just needs to fit your life, your family, your goals, and your financial resources. Your plan is uniquely yours. Helping clients create that plan is one of the great joys—and challenges—our team at Impel Wealth Management gets to share.
I've spent nearly 40 years helping people prepare financially for tomorrow. I believe deeply in saving, investing, planning ahead, and making wise decisions with money.
But preparing for tomorrow shouldn't require continually postponing today.
Maybe that's one of the greatest gifts a successful financial plan can provide. Not simply the confidence that we'll have enough someday, but the freedom to recognize when we already have enough to enjoy today… while still preparing for tomorrow.
Source: LinkedIn
Ferris Bueller was right. Life moves pretty fast.
So, enjoy the journey. Keep Moving Life Forward. And don't miss it.
© 2026 Jesse Hurst
Senior Wealth Manager
The views stated are not necessarily the opinion of Cetera and should not be construed directly or indirectly as an offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Due to volatility within the markets mentioned, opinions are subject to change without notice. Information is based on sources believed to be reliable; however, their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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Featured Blog Image Source: iStock.com/JoeyCheung