I have seen a few closing ceremonies in my life, I really liked the London closing ceremony, as it had a lot of music I love and some interesting weird bits (the Wish You Were Here – Burning handshake recreation being up there with the Eric Idle – always look on the bright side of life). London did a good job ending off their Olympics with a rousing good time (even Madness, my favorite band, made an appearance).
Will there be a closing ceremony for your financial career? Will there be a whole bunch of fun music played, and will folks be really happy and excited about the whole thing? Some how, I doubt that will happen for any of us, but we can always hope.
Will you have a flag bearer for your finances for this closing ceremony? Your RRSP for making retirement possible, or maybe your pension? Your financial advisor maybe for giving you good advice? I can assure you if this ever happens to me, Nortel will not be invited.
I think the whole metaphor of a Financial Closing ceremony is unachievable (unless you strike it rich and then have no financial worries), however there are a few things the closing ceremonies can teach use financially:
- When you achieve something big in your life, or finish something important, have a party, and invite your friends (I don’t think you need to have the Who at your party, but if you do, make sure you invite me). If you can’t afford to invite the who, stick with a case of beer, 3 bags of chips and rent a movie from Netflix.
- All things end, no matter what we think, even that debt that you never thought you could ever pay off, will end in some fashion or another (by either paying off the debt, by bankruptcy, or by your death).
- You cannot please everyone so stop trying. I have heard people complain about this and that, but as long as you make yourself happy (financially) you will be fine. The other thing to remember is that you will get lots of people commenting on what you are doing (I am talking about your CTV and NBC), ignore them, they know less than you.
- No matter what happens, when the giant inflatable Octopus deploys, time to ask if you are at the right financial party.
- Finally: Always look on the bright side of life, no point in being morose about the whole thing.
