Domain 1
Cash flow
Every other segment on this wheel runs on cash flow. Spending as little as possible was
never the point. Knowing where it goes is, because that is what makes the tradeoffs
yours to choose.
What to look at
- Look at a whole month. Take-home pay against what is fixed, what is flexible, and what is going toward later.
- Automate the things you would otherwise negotiate with yourself about. Savings especially.
- Redo it when life changes. A new job, a new diagnosis, someone moving in. The old numbers stop applying.
Ask yourself: If nothing changed for the next five years, would you be glad you spent it this way?
Domain 2
Reserves & debt
Cash on hand is what keeps a bad month from turning into a bad decade. It is the
difference between an inconvenience and a crisis.
What to work out
- Name the shock you would actually face. A job loss, a roof, a hospital bill, a parent who suddenly needs you. Yours is specific.
- Set the target for your situation, not a rule of thumb. Two stable incomes need less cushion than one variable one.
- Pay down debt without draining every dollar of liquidity. Debt-free and cashless is its own kind of fragile.
Ask yourself: What would it cost you, this year, if your income stopped for three months?
Domain 3
Protection
Insurance is for the losses you cannot absorb on your own. Everything smaller than that
is really a budgeting problem.
What to check
- Sort risks by size, not by likelihood. The rare catastrophic one matters more than the common annoying one.
- Actually read the policy. Limits, exclusions, deductibles, and waiting periods are where coverage turns out thinner than assumed.
- Make it findable. If someone had to step in tomorrow, could they locate the policies and know who to call?
Ask yourself: Which single event would change your family's finances the most, and are you covered for it?
Domain 4
Save & invest
Money you need next year and money you need in twenty years should not be doing the same
job. Most of the trouble I hear about comes from blurring those two together.
How to sort it
- Sort money by when you will need it. Next year's money should not be exposed to a market that might take five years to recover.
- Take the free money first. An employer match beats almost any investment decision you make after it.
- Watch concentration and fees. Both are quiet, and both compound.
Ask yourself: When do you need this money, and what happens if the market drops right before you do?
Domain 5
Retirement income & taxes
At some point the balance stops being a number you are growing and becomes a paycheck
you write yourself. That switch is harder than the saving was.
What to map
- List every income source. Social Security, pensions, part-time work, annuities, withdrawals.
- Test the timing, not just the total. Claiming age and retirement date move the answer more than most people expect.
- Know your tax buckets. Pretax, Roth, and taxable money come out very differently. This one is worth a professional's time.
Ask yourself: If one of you outlives the other by fifteen years, what does that person's monthly income look like?
Domain 6
Health care & legacy
This is where healthspan and wealthspan stop being separate topics. What care costs,
what care you would want, and who decides if you cannot are all the same conversation.
What to settle
- Put a real number on care. Premiums, cost sharing, medications, and the long-term services Medicare does not cover.
- Name who decides. If cognition changes, someone will end up managing the money. Better that it is someone you chose.
- Check the beneficiaries. They override your will, and they are usually years out of date.
Ask yourself: Could someone you trust find and follow the plan without you there to explain it?