Plans vs planning

"In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." That's a well-known quote from General Eisenhower, who was the commander of Allied forces in Europe in World War 2 and later, President of the US. It's one of those ideas that would hardly ever occur to anyone, but once you come across it, it's instantly recognisable as deeply truthful and equally valuable. What's more, I find that in planning and managing their personal finances and investments, the general uselessness of plans puts many people off the idea of planning, often to disastrous consequences. This confusion between financial plans and financial planning is not apparent at first. Indeed, they are the sam