Find my gaming-inspired blog posts difficult to read? You can find a helpful breakdown of terms used in this blog post on housing in this term glossary. I explain there what terms like Players and Real Life mean to me, as well as other terms. Hint: I like to nerd out and get inspired by r/Outside.
A common misconception about people in the financial planner class is that we all recommend that players hoard their riches. This misconception often runs so deep that players will avoid seeking the help of a financial planner. The truth is that what you should be spending in Real Life depends on your class and level, as well as your individual stats. I want to propose an alternative idea to you; develop a savings plan for future buffs and spend the rest on buffs to your current build!
Pay Yourself First
You may have heard the phrase “pay yourself first” when it comes to finances and I’d like to elaborate on what that means. Developing a savings-first strategy allows players to pay their future selves first, benefiting their end-game builds, and enjoy some of the payoff today as well. So how do you put a savings-first strategy into action?
1. Decide what buffs you need for the mid game and end game. Do you want to buy a mount? How about a house? Do you want to retire?
2. Decide what those buffs will cost and what the timeline to achieve them is.
3. Determine how much you need to save each pay period to acquire each buff.
4. Set up automatic transfers to separate accounts for those goals.
5. Pay your upkeep. Then spend the leftover money freely.
Why Take This Approach?
Striking a balance between acquiring temporary buffs now (such as good nutrition and well-rested buffs from vacation) and investing in the later game buffs is important. Some of the early and mid game debuffs (such as depression and loneliness) will dramatically impact players if they don’t spend anything on themselves today, but it will be very difficult to acquire some of the more expensive future buffs without a longer-term savings plan.
This is why being a financial life wizard requires me to talk with players so often about spending patterns. If a player overspends in the early game and runs up debt, they don’t reach their end game goals. Yet, if a player underspends in the early game, they face a variety of other serious issues that might make them enjoy the game significantly less. So striking a balance is hard.
What If You Need A Boost?
If you’ve been trying to implement a savings-first strategy and yet you still find the resource management part of the game hard, you may need some additional help. You may need to increase your income, decrease your expenses, or reevaluate which buffs are most important to you. No matter which issue you’re facing, overcoming it is possible! The devs did start some players on hard mode, but those of us in the financial planner class are here to help.
If you want counsel on your individual challenges and seek out my sage advice, please use my calendar at openworldfp.youcanbook.me to find a time to talk.
