Enter The Trigon: Setting Up Your Wealth Program

“There is much more to life than just accumulating possessions.”
- Donald Curtis

The image that makes up our wealth accumulation program does not immediately involve the details of where we put our extra money or how much our money earns. Like in the house of our dreams, we see ourselves viewing from a distance and immensely appreciating the perfect finish of the mediterranean house of our choice that we feel fairly represents our taste, experiences, personality and needs.

In the same vein, the initial image we have of our wealth program is one where we see ourselves enjoying the fruits of our efforts at the exact time that we planned it, in the way that we want it. We are visualizing a wealth structure that is basically durable, lasting and self-sustaining, and therefore, we must be sure that the design, the construction and the finish of the structure can withstand the tests of nature, man and time.

Considering that time is the most crucial element of a wealth program, its construction may be likened to putting up that physical structure, where we start from the base and move up to the size and height that we want. Of course, we won’t proceed unless we have a design of the structure we want to build.

The Trigon Model

The trigon, a triangular pyramid with triangular base, is the strongest of all such structures. The pyramids of Egypt, though of the tetrahedron type (square base) to provide for a wider space for the tombs, exemplify the strength and durability of the pyramidal structure against the test of nature and time.

As a model for wealth accumulation, the layers of the trigon, from the base to the apex, represent our evolving financial needs from the most basic to the most psychic, from needs to wants (Trigon A).

The layers also represent (Trigon B) the arrangement of the wealth forms with which we fund our financial needs and how we deploy and marshal our resources for maximum return. We must note that wealth vehicles vary in yield, safety and liquidity, among other factors, and therefore, our deployment must consider the best mix of these variables according to our financial needs and our specific time frame.


Trigon A

HERITAGE
CHARITY
LEGACY/GIFTS
LEISURE/PERKS
TRAVEL
VACATION
HIGHER EDUCATION
ESTATE TAX FUND
DEBT LIQUIDATION
MOBILITY FUND
FAMILY HOME
DISABILITY INCOME FUND
MEDICAL FUND
PROPERTY COVER
RETIREMENT FUND
EDUCATION FUND
FAMILY INCOME
EMERGENCY FUND

Trigon B

NO TIME FRAME SPECULATIVE FUNDS
GROWTH HIGH RISK FUNDS
MEDIUMTERM BALANCED FUNDS
SHORTTERM SECURE FUNDS
FUNDS FOR CONTINGENCIES/PRIORITIES


Typically, as these financial needs occur chronologically, they will not differ much from person to person as to pattern or sequence, except in the level or in the degree they are pursued. What is important to consider at this point is that, in the realm of time, the needs and wants are in two dimensions: the present and the future. And these two dimensions, eventually, become one and the same. But when they become one, we are not the same! In the present, we are in charge, in the future, we are dependent. Unless we “will” not to be.

And we will not be! Following our trigon model of wealth accumulation, we will start from the base, according to our means, as early as we can, and slowly but surely, step by step, build up the financial structure that, when completed according to our time horizon, will ensure our future financial independence.

6 Steps to Wealth: P A S S I T

Successful wealth accumulation involves six (6) important steps:

1. Identifying the purpose or purposes
2. Determining the amount desired and when needed
3. Identifying the “seed” and the seed source or sources
4. Formulating the strategy or program for accumulation
5. Implementing the program
6. Tracking the program to completion

A great many accumulation programs fail even before they start because they were never intended for anything in the first place! How do most of us start saving? We work to earn, then spend what we earn. If something is left of it, it becomes our saving. In 997 out of 1000 cases, nothing’s left to save! But even if there is, the amount saved becomes of no consequence because it disappears as fast as the urge to spend comes.

The Purpose: What Am I Accumulating For?

The key is to identify a reason for saving, a purpose, a “why," an identity tag, a label, so that we do not surrender to the spending urge when it comes. You will certainly not withdraw and spend money you save for your retirement or for the education of your kids just to buy vacation tickets to Boracay!

The “purpose” then establishes the importance of our accumulation. Certainly, if the purpose is compromisable, or is not worth keeping, the accumulation stands to fail because it is spending-prone. The Trigon model enables us to establish our priorities based on needs, beginning from the most basic for our existence to the most trivial or peripheral or psychic.

In the order of their importance, the following are the needs/wants as we go through life:

1. Survival 10. Second Home
2. Emergency 11. Vacation House
3. Family income 12. Higher Education
4. Education of children 13. Leisure/Old Age Perks
5. Retirement 14. Travel
6. Health Maintenance 15. Hobby
7. Mobility 16. Charity
8. Home 17. Gifts
9. Other Contingencies 18. Legacy/Heritage

Note that as we go through the items in their descending order, the characteristics shift from need to want. These needs and wants are arranged in our Trigon model from the base to the apex, signifying that the more important ones occupy the base and must therefore be given the first priority in accumulation. This should also remind us of motivational psychologist Abraham Maslow suggesting the universality and pyramidal, hierarchical arrangement of human needs in his theory of human motivation.

Our Life Story

Let us encapsulize our story: We work to earn to live. In short, we work to eat. Then, we set aside something for emergencies, such as sickness or accident or loss of job. Then, we set aside something for the education of the kids and for our retirement. We insure against death, fire, accidents. We set up home. We buy a car. We go to higher school. We travel. We go on vacation. We seek leisure. We expand our possessions. We allocate some inheritance for the children when we go. We reserve something for our favorite charity. We aspire to be known as some responsible father, husband, businessman, philanthropist, citizen, creation of God…

Each one of these can be an accumulation purpose and can be addressed by our choice of one or more wealth forms. It is unusual for one person to set them up all at once, not only because they involve a tremendously large outlay, but more so because they happen within our lifetimes one after the other. For practical reasons, there only has to be an order of priority in setting them up (how about first come first served?) and arranged and pursued through a time-tested program of accumulation.