Do you live in a House or a Home?

When you are talking to your Harvard Wealth Financial Advisor about your financial future one of the very first questions you will be asked is ‘Do you live in a house or a home?’

So what is the difference between a house and home, you may ask?

Well a house is a place you reside at and use as your base. A home is also a place you reside at and use as your base too. Having said that, the emotional attachment to a house and home are very different.

If you live in a house your commitment to the property is not as deep as it would be if you felt you were living in a home. This is equally true regardless of whether you are renting or buying too!

We recently had a couple in their mid-50’s who had bought a house in Central Queensland and used it as their base to travel Australia. Whenever they returned from travelling they felt a little unsettled and they felt a sense of lack-of-achievement. So as these emotions intensified they would focus their attention on planning their next adventure and usually within 5 months or so, they would be back on the road.

When their Harvard Wealth Advisor asked them if they lived in a house or home, the penny dropped and they finally realised that their base that they had been paying off for years was just a ‘house’ to them. They also realised that they were travelling more frequently to fulfil their sense of achievement. This particular couple determined that they wanted to relocate their ‘base’ and they set out to find their perfect ‘home’. They wanted somewhere that they would be content returning to after their travels.

Within 3 weeks their perfect home was found! Their Harvard Wealth Financial Advisor could tell immediately that this was a ‘home’ by the passion that resinated in their voices every time they talked about the home and the potential it had. 12 months on, the Clients found that they were travelling less because their ‘home’ was giving them a sense of fulfilment, contentment and achievement without the need to go anywhere.

So what about you – do you live in a house or home?