Liz Koh: Imagine starting your life afresh

Imagine starting your life afresh.

If you could start all over again with the money you have, where would you go, what would you do and what would you own? As we go through life we start accumulating all kinds of "baggage" that we carry around with us. Baggage can be psychological, such as past experiences, bad and good, that influence our fears and hopes in the present, or it can be physical, such as property and possessions that restrict us to a particular location or way of life.

In fact, there are many ties that bind us including financial ties, family, employment and so on. These ties can lead to a feeling of being stuck in a rut. Feeling stuck is usually a signal that it's time to redesign your life.

Emotional attachment to possessions or property because of associated memories can hold you back from experiencing the kind of life you would really like in the future. There is a well-known poem by Nadine Stair, which starts out:

"If I had my life to live over

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time

I'd relax, I would limber up

I would be sillier than I have been this trip

I would take fewer things seriously

I would take more chances"

One way to take a chance is to imagine you have resigned from your job, sold your house and packed your possessions into a container on the back of a truck.

If you could start all over again with the money you have, where would you go, what would you do and what would you own?

Because this is a theoretical exercise, you could choose to get back some or all of what you had or move on. The purpose of the exercise is to test which of your ties are real and valid and which are simply emotional ties getting in the way of you being able to live life the way you really want.
* Liz Koh is an authorised financial adviser. The advice given here is general and does not constitute specific advice to any person.

A disclosure statement can be obtained free by calling 0800 273 847. For free e-books see moneymax.co.nz and moneymaxcoach.com