Snakes and Ladders

My 5 year old was doing as much as he could to stay up a bit later..

After a game of Uno, Paw Patrol Monopoly, Jenga and much negotiation, he pitched me on snakes and ladders..

Bleary eyed and just wanting to wind down for the evening, we pulled out the board, the dice and our playing pieces. My son’s face was beaming with glee.

(Snakes and Ladders is a classic board game where players roll dice, moving their pieces along a numbered grid. Ladders represent opportunities, propelling players forward, while snakes act as setbacks, sending them backward. The first person to hit the 100th square wins the game.)

As we played, I was reminded of some recent client engagements.

So much of what we do everyday is trying to help our clients find the right ladder while avoiding the snakes in their paths. An older and wiser adviser shared this analogy with me when I first started out in the money management industry and after playing with my son, I have to admit that it rings true.

Just like snakes and ladders, a lot of life is unpredictable. And, oftentimes unfair because chance dictates progress. The game mirrors life's unpredictability, where luck, decisions, and circumstances influence success. It teaches resilience, strategy, and adaptability, illustrating how progress isn't always linear, and setbacks can be overcome with persistence.

Snakes and Ladders embodies the unpredictable nature of journeys, urging players to navigate setbacks and seize opportunities on their path to victory. Taking this analogy toward managing your wealth, we should expect our progress to be non-linear (after all, performance never comes in a straight line).

As I write this, I'm thankful that some snakes can be catered for. The medical aid that covers surgery. The short-term insurance policy that protects your nest egg when you have to fix your car following an accident. I’ve needed both in my life.

While ladders or wealth creation opportunities are always around us, we’re not always sure of which ladder to climb as some may be stacked up against a house of cards while others may lean up against tall buildings with deep strong foundations.

Finding the right investment opportunities for our clients is why we do what we do at Zaina Wealth. Helping our clients find and climb the right ladder can help them reach that all important objective which to be honest, was never about having more money but more about the meaning that money can allow them to enjoy.

Oh and my son? He crushed me in snakes and ladders but it was never about winning the game. I had already felt like I had climbed a ladder by making meaning out those precious moments with him.