have one's cake and eat it too

I love this phrase,"Have one's cake and eat it too" it was was first used in 1546, "wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?" (John Heywood's 'A dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue'). Obviously it normally a justification for someone who's perceived as wanting more value then what others think they deserve.  I recently applied this analogy with a family that I'm working with who are moving to Arizona.

The couple is fairly young.  He's a business owner who's used to taking risks.  She's a stay at home mother who is worried about keeping the bills paid.  When I began my interview we first discussed why they were moving to Phoenix, we also discussed his business and their financial goals.  It was interesting to hear that they both looked at retirement in two completely different ways.  I then asked the wife a simple question. 

"Which of these two sceanrio's appeal more to you?   #1 Paying off the home in 7-10 years and then investing into a retirement account, OR, #2 would you NOT payoff the house, but get an interest only loan and invest the difference into a retirement account....So the end result would be in 15 years, a completely paid off house and about a 100k in investments, or a 300k home and 300k in investments?"

You guess what she picked?  Those whom guessed option 1....You win the PRIZE!!! The husband of course preferred option two.  But then I turned it around and asked the wife a better question, "What if you could have your cake and eat it too?"  She of course wanted to know more, and by demonstrating the power of the mortgage checking account she and her husband were soon excited about adding an home equity loan to their new purchase and designing a long term retirement plan.

So for those whom are contemplating a new purchase, it maybe the right time to consider having your own cake and eating it too, and I'd be more then happy to demonstrate how.