I got to interview an absolute legend in the financial planning world. George Kinder, the Father of Life Planning, is an author and thought leader I have followed for over 15 years. He’s written several books on Life Planning, a subset of financial planning techniques he developed. Four years ago, I was lucky to speak to him about his technique, Kinder’s Three Questions, which I had written about on this blog.
You can watch the full interview here: Fiduciary In All Things
Kinder told me about his latest book – The Three Domains of Freedom. In it, he describes how everyone has the ability to be present in the moment through mindfulness. This is the first domain of freedom – Each Moment is Yours. In the second domain – Your Life is Yours – Kinder revisits the core tenets of Life Planning: each person must find their purpose in life and pursue it. Once taking control of your life, you break the bonds and limitations that kept you from finding fulfillment and happiness.
Kinder has taught mindfulness and life planning for many years. What is new in this book is the third domain – Civilization is Yours. He posits that because we create our society, we as individuals have the power to guide and change it. In a time when decency, truth, and democracy are at risk, this feels like the existential question of the day. And while it may seem pie in the sky to even contemplate that mindfulness could be a solution, I applaud George Kinder for shouting his ideas from the rooftop.
Kinder’s proposed solution is to create a Fiduciary In All Things (F.I.A.T.) standard for all corporations, nonprofits, and governmental agencies. He believes this one sentence of legislation would hold entities accountable to all stakeholders instead of our current limited liability system. It’s a big idea that would shift one of capitalism’s bedrock principles, which holds corporations only accountable to shareholders.
Source: fiduciaryinallthings.com via George Kinder
Over the years, human society has been shaped by visionaries with bold ideas. Visionaries like George Kinder suggest that something as seemingly trivial as mindfulness can change the world. I happen to think he is on to something. After the interview, George shared with me an idea to have two economists debate the F.I.A.T. standard and what it means for investors, profits, and the future of capitalism. We needed that debate yesterday, so let’s make it happen.
