Entries categorized as ‘money’
Trying to get your financial life pulled together can be overwhelming and confusing. You may know that you need help but don’t know where to start or if it is even possible to get things turned around.
So you decide to ignore it and hope for the best.
If your doctor told you to lose weight or you would be unable to walk in a year, but you knew nothing about weight loss or if it was even possible, would you ignore your doctor and hope for the best?
Losing Weight is more than one issue
Losing weight is many issues that show up in one outcome. Not only is weight affected by your eating habits but also by your exercise level and type, your stress levels, the amount of sleep you get, mental blocks, health issues and many more! To lose weight you must figure out exactly what is causing your problem, and this is typically more than one issue in play!
Money is the same. The status of our money is affected by many things, including debt, insurance, overspending, savings, emotions and many more. To begin to fix your money problems you first need to figure out what is causing them.
Losing Weight is easier when you get help
Trying to go it alone in a subject that you are not familiar with can be overwhelming. If you have never lifted weights before you would have a friend show you the ropes, attend a class or hire a trainer. After all you don’t want to hurt yourself the first day out!
Money is the same. While money gets easier and easier to understand as you learn more, it still helps to asking a knowledgeable friend, attending a class or hiring an expert can make things faster and easier. This reduces your times of making mistakes!
Losing Weight happens one day at a time
Most of us don’t go to bed thinking I want to lose ten pounds and wake up in the morning and it is gone. Instead we have to adjust our lifestyle to include fewer calories, more exercise and a healthier relationship to ourselves and our bodies.
Yet again, money is no different. You don’t go to bed thinking I am going to pay off all my loans and in the morning they are gone (unless of course you have the money and you just write the check). Instead you have to adjust your lifestyle to increase income, decrease debt, increase savings and build a healthier relationship with money.
Getting Your Money Body Turned Around
So how do you apply the ideas we talked about above to start your money transformation?
- Solving your money problems is probably going to be more than one issue. So start making a list of everything that you can think of that affects your money. Then start reviewing those to determine if they are part of the problem. Then start working on those that needs adjusting.
- When you are confused and need help, do not be afraid to ask for help. Help will you learn more and make bigger steps in the right direction.
- Breathe each day and know that as you make positive changes they will eventually have an impact on your financial health. It takes every day making little steps of progress but you will get there.
Just like your doctor ordered you to lose weight or you would not be able to walk, I encourage you to get your money turned around or you won’t be able to walk through your ideal life. The confusion and what to do will slip away with the following of these three steps. Why don’t you start today and start planning for the best.
Need more help? Coming in January is our MoneyFit Workshop, we will create your list of money items to be worked on, how to tackle those, and answer any questions you have. Right now for a limited time we are doing a pre-sale, get in for half price!
Limited to 30 people!
http://www.smartstepomaha.com/moneypresale
Categories: Motivation · money
Tagged: money, money 101, money frustration
Earlier today I was reading some blog posts about personal finance and came across one that looked at hidden 401k fees. (http://blackopulence.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/the-truth-behind-hidden-fees-in-401k-plans/) It is another reason that we need to take action to be responsible for our own lives. We need to pay attention, learn and constantly ask questions.
Take the time right now to go to this blog post and watch ALL three videos! It is worth your time. Then when you are done check to see what your 401k plan looks like and then call you representatives in Washington.
Categories: money
Tagged: 401k fees, are you paying too much for investing fees, be responsible for your life, hidden 401k fees, learning empowers you, personal finance, responsible, take the time to learn for your life
Why should you invest? Investing creates freedom!
I already have Freedom, I am American? Freedom – Do you have the means to live and do exactly what you want when you want! Without saving money and investing you are tied to your job, parents, kids, the government, whoever is providing you money! Investing provides the money to help live your life your way! Just a small sampling below to show you why you should save!
Investing provides money to:
• Take care of yourself and family in retirement – no relying on a pension or the government.
• The ability to retire when you want to, not when you are able to get social security or retirement benefits from your company – if they even provide have them.
• Seize opportunities when they come along – business deals, new houses, you name it if it comes along and you don’t have money you cannot seize anything!
• Increase your sense of self worth, this comes from knowing that you don’t have to depend on anyone. This is more empowering than you will ever know until you are in the position where you have this freedom! It empowers you to write your own story, not one dictated by your provider. Don’t you want to write your own story?
• Investing gives you a sense of security that when bad does occur you are better able to manage it. You can worry about your emotions not how you will pay for everything.
This is just a small sampling of what investing can provide. Isn’t having one less dinner out worth the freedom that investing provides? That is all it takes, $25 a month, one dinner out. I even dare you to imagine missing 4 dinners out a month – $100 a month saved could rock your world! Don’t delay save now!
Categories: Motivation · money
Tagged: empowering, feedom, investing, opportunities, pension, prosper, retire, retirement, saving, self worth, social security, why invest, write your own story
Over the years my financial focus has shifted as I have continued my money education. I grab on to a phase and make that the it thing for the time. Everything from real estate is king, to invest early and often to debt free living is the way to go! Usually when I depart a phase that information does not go away, it just gets incorporated into what I know and my emphasis moves on! The older I become and the more I learn about personal finance the more I realize that no matter what financial approach you are going to take the number one most important principal is liquidity.
What is liquidity? Liquidity is how quickly you can get your hands on your money for immediate needs. Checking accounts are highly liquid; the value of your business is not liquid. I also add the requirement that the liquidity is present without a penalty being imposed for liquidating. This would be the case with retirement accounts, CD’s and some other investments. You may have a million in a money market account, but if it is under the umbrella of an IRA and will cost you a penalty to the IRS to get at it, then I do not consider that liquid. Debt is also not liquidity, because ultimately debt will decrease your future liquidity by creating payments and extra expenses in the form of interest. We are talking about cold hearted cash that you can get your hands on is liquidity.
Why do you want to be liquid? Liquidity gives you flexibility which allows you to create independence and freedom. How? Imagine all the times that having money available would have allowed you the ability to move on an opportunity that has been presented. For example during a recession your competitor is about to go under and you can step in and buy them or their equipment. You start a new business and because you have cash you can take longer to build your base and find the right customers versus operating in panic mode and going back to make adjustments latter. You at the last minute are offered a vacation spot with your friends because of a cancellation and you have the cash to do it and enjoy it!
Outside of winning the lottery and sticking all that money in savings how do you create liquidity? There are three basics to follow: live on less than you make, diversify your types of assets and learn to say no to good opportunities.
The first step is to live on less than you make. This is one of those things that you hear over and over but rarely actually listen to the advice and take steps to follow through. Please take the time to stop right now and process this statement in your head. It will help you with more than just financial liquidity. It reduces stress, creates money for investing and allows you to take full control of your financial destiny. Sit down and do a budget and start focusing on eliminating expenses or creating income until you are spending less than you bring in. Then begin to put that extra money into liquid accounts for you to access when needed. This concept should apply to you and your business. If you don’t do this on the business side you are not making a profit, and at that point you might as go work for someone else!
The second step is to diversify your assets. What I mean by this is don’t put all your money in retirement accounts, or real estate or even just a savings account. Your money needs to be divided among different assets with varying degrees of liquidity. This is beneficial because it not only creates a place for liquid savings, but encourages you to put away in non-liquid investments such as retirement thus creating more permanent long term wealth at the same time you create liquidity. If the perfect real estate deal comes along you don’t want to have all your money in retirement. If your goal is to save 15% of your income, break that 15% down to 10% retirement accounts, and 5% non retirement investments.
The third thing to do is learn to say no! Just because you come across a fantastic deal does not mean it is a fantastic deal for you as your situation stands today. This is a really hard one to put into practice because we all tend to want to get a great deal and then brag about it! However if that great real estate deal that you get to brag about is going to jeopardize your liquidity and wealth then it is not worth doing. Why, because life is unpredictable. You may believe you can make the extra payments for a year and then you will get a raise, land a new client or sell your old place and then all will be back to the right balance. What if that is not true? You cannot guarantee that a future event will happen today. Basing current decisions on what might happen tomorrow is not a good way to make good financial moves. Only seize opportunities if it is completely right for you today, based on today’s situation. Say no with the confidence that it will put you further ahead and when YOUR right deal comes along it will be even better and easier to enjoy.
Freedom comes from having choices, allowing yourself liquidity creates choices. Don’t box yourself in a corner, give yourself freedom. It is easy by living on less than you make, allocating your assets across many areas, and learning when to say no! You can do this and reap the rewards of good financial choices!
Categories: money
Tagged: business, freedom, liquidity, money
Yesterday while working on narrowing down my list of mutual funds for my invest 25 project I became a bit agitated toward the end of the process. Why? I kept running into road blocks on selecting the right fund to invest in. When I thought I had the perfect fund, I would get to the last step and one thing would throw it off. Then it dawned on me. If I spent as much time as I did on the research for this (at least 8 hours), and knew what I was looking for and understood the terminology and it still managed to frustrate me I could not even begin to imagine the frustration new investors feel. Which confirmed for me even more how much help we need in the area of money education for our society?
So what does this mean for you? I want you to know that I understand your frustration; it’s like learning a new language late in life or worse yet me trying to learn physics! I am here for you when you need guidance, just drop me a line. I encourage you to commit to learning more over time. Ultimately know that by taking small step to learning over time you will get to a place where you are comfortable with money. Please don’t give up. Only you can manage your money with the passion and heart that is your own. So take the time and learn and eventually the frustration will go away, and be reassured to know that even those of us who are knowledgeable are sometimes frustrated also.
Categories: Motivation · money
Tagged: education, frustrated, invest, investors, learning, money, money frustration, mutual funds
A quick summary for those of us too busy to know all of the ins and outs of the stimulus! The benefits to small business owners all had to do with taxes! I put the different provisions into four categories: Reorganizing of the business, expensing/income timing, estimated tax payments and hiring incentives.
First is the reorganizing of the business. There are two provisions that dictate when and how you are taxed if you sell small business stock and the taxation of your business if you convert it to an S corporation. If you either sell or convert your company to an S corporation during 2009 or 2010 you may be eligible for reduced taxes on the gains. Check in with your CPA if you are considering selling or reorganizing your business, this year might be the year to do that!
The second issue has to do with the timing of certain expenses and income. Two provisions have to do with the purchasing of items that are eligible for depreciation. One allows you to deduct the full cost of some item up to $250,000 and the other allows you to take extra depreciation the first year you buy it. If you are considering making a major equipment purchase during the year talk to your CPA to see if it qualifies for either type of accelerated expensing, it may help you make the decision between buying it this year or next! Another provision allows you to carry back net operating losses over five years instead of 2 years. You will want to talk to your CPA to determine what the best course of action is for your 2008 taxes! Finally there is a provision for those businesses that are having debt cancelled. When you have debt cancelled or they take less than you owe this is considered income in the year it happens. Some businesses will be allowed to claim that as income over a 10 year period versus one year. So it may be very wise to touch base with your CPA on all the provisions that came from the stimulus bill and how you can incorporate them into your business.
The third issue has to do with the amount of your estimated tax payments if more than half of your income is from a small business and is less than $500,000. Normally you are required to pay in 100% of the prior year’s tax amount due. This year the stimulus package allows for you to only pay in 90% of 2008’s tax due. You do need to be careful with this as it does not mean that all taxes won’t be due it just means that you can avoid penalty for underpaying if you paying at least 90%. Talk to your CPA if you handle your own quarterly payments.
The final provision that may affect small business is the incentive to hire unemployed veterans and disconnected youth. This allows you to claim a tax credit of up to 40% of the first $6,000 in wages you pay to unemployed veterans and disconnected youth. An unemployed veteran is someone who was released discharged or released from active duty within the past five years and has claimed unemployment money for more than four weeks in the past year. A disconnected youth is anyone between the ages of 16 and 25 that have not been employed or in school for the past six months. When hiring remember to tell your CPA if any of your new employees fall into one of these categories!
Now is a great time to sit down and review where you are at with your business and how these and other economic issues may be affecting you. So grab your CPA, attorney and business coach and make plans!
Categories: money
Tagged: business, cpa, incentives, income, small business, stimulus, taxes, wages
Most of my clients come to me for assistance in learning about money and making progress with their investments. However, we usually end up working on many issues that indirectly influence our money. These cover everything from job and or business growth, family and life balance to health and fitness issues. Each of these areas has a direct impact on our money and how well we manage it. With this being the 3rd week of the New Year and some of our resolutions starting to waver I wanted to focus on the one that most of my clients have in common – health and fitness.
How does fitness affect your finances? The obvious one is that the healthier you are the lower your health care costs are, but it actually impacts us in other ways that are harder to monetize. To me the biggest of these is that exercise and a healthy lifestyle decrease stress levels. I know for myself that without exercise my stress goes up which creates a downward cycle. I am less productive, my creativity comes to a halt and my patience is gone. This impacts money because I don’t get as much business done, my writing is harder to accomplish (I get many of my ideas on cardio equipment) and my overall patience with myself is gone so I am more demanding – which creates more stress! It ends up being a vicious cycle that impacts me and my money.
Unfortunately in our hectic world the challenge becomes when do I work out? Most of us are overbooked and quickly put fitness on the back burner because it is not screaming at us. Yet it is one of the most important things to do, so how do we make it a priority? I use three areas to get it to the top of my list: Variety, commitment and make it easy!
1. Variety – I keep it exciting and rarely do the same thing more than once in a week. I spice up the cardio and alternate my weights program. This way it is never boring and dreadful.
2. Commitment – I make a commitment to myself and family that I will be the best me. I know that this requires me to workout. So it is on my calendar in ink and cannot change!
3. Easy – I make sure that I am able to workout whenever I want. Not only do I belong to a gym, but at home I have cardio equipment and some weight items. This means I never have an excuse beyond I did not make it a priority. I even have one of the best inventions ever for weight training that make it quick and easy to accomplish (FitDeck) so I really have no excuses.
So are you going to make fitness a priority so the rest of your life can thrive? Your bank account and business with thank you for it!
Categories: Fitness · money
Tagged: bank account, commitment, fitdeck, Fitness, money, stress, stress relief
I am always amazed when I read a book how I am radically changed by it. Over the past two weeks I have flown through two books that have had a huge influence on me. They are The Secrets of Six Figure Women and Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny. I have been searching for a book that I liked on dealing with the emotional issues with money and was never satisfied with any of the books. These two books have changed that forever.
Money is deeply tied to our emotional past and present. You may think that sounds a little new age, but the fact it they way you were taught about money and the way you have dealt with money as an adult does have an effect on what you do today to not only make money but to save money also. In order to reach your true potential with money and life you need to discover what your deepest core beliefs are, determine if they are right for you today and if not change them. These two books are great for helping you with that. Get these books today and start a journey to a healthier money relationship. Your bank account will thank you.
For information on these and other books I recommend check out my book list:
http://www.smartstepomaha.com/books
Categories: money
Tagged: barbara stanny, books, core belief, emotional, money, six figures, underearning, women
