Financial Planning: ”How am I ever going to save enough money to pay for a wedding?”

Summary

The cost of weddings has become exorbitant and often stems from a desire to recreate the feeling of other weddings the bride and/or groom previously attended. Before entering into such an emotionally charged expense, it's important to ensure that one's emotional state is in the right place. Rather than focusing on impressing others, focus on the feelings you want to experience during the wedding and own those feelings internally. By doing so, you can avoid becoming enslaved to debt and make financial decisions that align with your current financial resources. 

The key is to own the feeling internally and not need a specific experience to fill an emotional void. The opposite creates unbalance, stress, and leads to debt or overspending.  Meditation, visualization, and journaling help with the emotional balance necessary to keep those insecure (unbalanced) feelings in check. The ceremony has no impact on the ongoing feeling of a marriage, and overspending on a wedding can put unnecessary stress on a marriage.  

Chapters

| **Timestamp** | **Summary** |
| ------------- | ----------- |
| 0:00:01 | Introduction to the podcast and topic of saving for a wedding |
| 0:00:29 | Disclaimer and investment advice |
| 0:01:15 | Introduction to Wealthbuildingmadesimple.us newsletter |
| 0:01:58 | Discussion of the high cost of weddings |
| 0:02:41 | Emphasizing the emotional aspect of weddings |
| 0:03:27 | Recreating the feeling of a wedding |
| 0:04:07 | Importance of owning the feeling before the wedding |
| 0:04:43 | Feeling beautiful and appreciating oneself |
| 0:05:16 | Owning the feeling and practicing it makes planning easier |
| 0:06:10 | The importance of owning the feeling and not the experience |
| 0:06:52 | Don't worry about what others think and focus on yourself |
| 0:07:28 | The ceremony has no impact on the ongoing feeling of marriage |
| 0:08:35 | Get the emotional state from owning the feeling, not the thing |
| 0:09:23 | Acting out of obligation creates stress and leads to debt |
| 0:09:57 | Information about complimentary consults for portfolio review |
| 0:10:33 | Disclaimer and investment advice |

Quotes

**(0:04:07)**
"If you just learn to just own the filling first, it lets you think clearly so that you can go the path that's right for you given where you are right now."

**(0:06:10)**
"Once you own the feeling, you can have your wedding in a shack or a big castle, it doesn't matter because it's going to be fun."

**(0:06:52)**
"Everybody who I have met that's been married, that look back and they go, man, the ceremony was good or it was bad, but with hindsight it wasn't as big of a deal (long term emotional high) as we thought it was going to be… As a matter of fact, depending on if we got into debt for it, it might have put some unnecessary stress that we had to overcome for years in the marriage.  That pattern of thinking expressed itself in the marriage, then in the house that we bought, then in our monthly expenditures because we were always searching for the feeling in things versus owning the feeling and allowing, wherever we are in satisfaction to appreciate the feeling and allow it to expand because it's going to expand…it can't help itself."

**(0:08:35)**
"Get the emotional state from don't look for the feeling that you want in the thing because it's not going to come in a thing."

**(0:09:23)**
"I call it acting out of obligation.  You “have to” have 300 people on the  list, right? I feel if I don't invite these 100 people, they're going to be bad. Who gives a shit? You know what I mean? They will be mad for a day or two and then they'll forget about it."

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Phillip Washington, Jr. is a registered investment adviser.  Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies.  Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.  Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.