Wondering why some people hit financial goals sooner than others? In this video, Paul outlines four proven strategies that help clients accelerate their progress. From automation to value-based spending, these habits make a real difference.

Topics Discussed:

• Prioritize progress over perfection
• Automate saving and investing
• Watch out for lifestyle creep
• Align spending with personal values
• Build consistent financial habits

Transcript:

Hi everybody. I’m Paul Sydlansky, and welcome to Unlocking Hidden Value. Today, we’re going to talk about a couple things that I see that my most successful clients do on a consistent basis to improve and speed up their chance for financial independence.

When it comes to financial independence, the first thing you should realize is it’s more about progress than perfection. Trying to maximize every single investment decision in your life that you make and make it perfect, it’s going to take its toll, and ultimately, it’s impossible. You want to focus on progress, getting closer to your goals by having consistent good habits and making good decisions, not trying to perfect every single decision.

The second thing that I see my most successful clients do is they fight the present bias by automating, and what I mean by that is there’s pressure to spend and do things now, and you need to balance that by automating some good behaviors like investing or saving in order to prevent or limit some of that present spending. Automating investing can help force good habits and make sure that you’re saving and investing for your future.

The next thing that I see folks do is that they’re mindful of lifestyle creep. Making more money doesn’t mean that you just automatically up your lifestyle and buy a bigger house, faster car, buy a boat, whatever it may be. Be mindful that as you increase your salary and your earnings, you should be leveraging those extra funds in order to speed up your financial independence.

The last thing that I see folks do is spending in line with their values. By spending on things that matter to them, it’s going to get them closer to financial independence because they’re not going to be wasting or spending on things that aren’t important to them.

Take a minute to think about how you can apply some of these tips in your lifestyle to help you achieve financial independence quicker. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We’re happy to help, and we’ll see you next time.

Lake Road Advisors (LRA) is a virtual wealth management firm headquartered in Corning, NY, with offices in Ithaca, NY, and Vancouver, WA. Founded by Paul Sydlansky, CFP®, in 2016, it serves successful couples planning their next chapter—whether that’s retirement, part-time work, or a less demanding second act. Paul has worked in the financial services industry for 25+ years. Prior to founding Lake Road Advisors, he worked at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan for 13 years, where he was a senior-level manager within the Institutional Equities Department. In 2018, he was named to Investopedia’s Top 100 Financial Advisors list. Paul received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Marist College and holds an MBA from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Paul is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and the XY Planning Network. They can be reached by phone at the Corning, NY office at (607) 438-2914, Ithaca, NY office at (607) 463-8400, or Vancouver, WA office at (607) 292-2172 or at the firm’s website at https://www.lakeroadadvisors.com/