Do You Need A Lifestyle Review? Take The Quiz
Do you have a hard time sticking to a budget or achieving your financial goals?
Do you dislike keeping track of every penny you spend?
Are you living paycheck-to-paycheck with very little or no room to breathe?
Have you tried to apply the principles of a Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman or other personal finance book(s) / program and been unsuccessful so far?
Are you paying all or most of your bills?
Do you have multiple financial goals that you’re struggling to accomplish?
Can you commit at least two hours to complete the program?
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your desire to make changes in your financial life?
1=Not motivated but know I need to change 10=Will do whatever it takes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
If you answered “YES” to at least five questions and rated your desire to make financial changes a “7″ or higher, than please contact us about getting started on your lifestyle review and start achieving the financial life that you deserve.
New York Contact
Craig Forman, CFP®
Well-Being Financial, LLC
585-241-5900
craig@well-beingfinancial (dot) com
Securities and advisory services offered through Waterstone Financial Group, Member FINRA/SIPC. Well-Being Financial, LLC and Waterstone Financial Group are independently owned and operated.
National & Advisor Contact for myFinancial Reflection & Dancing Frog Software
Robert Laura
248.890.0834
rsl@dancingfrogsoftware (dot) com
www.myfinancialreflection.com
Hit The Reset Button
The recent news about Chrysler’s bankruptcy and GM’s looming collapse offers some hidden clues that people can use to escape the same financial fate as the auto industry.
We all know that the “Big 3″ have sold off their private jets, slashed jobs, and closed factories to become leaner and eventually, profitable again. Similarly, more and more people are tightening their belts and taking steps to live within their means. What’s different is that these corporations have been forced to hit the “Reset” button and move forward, whereas consumers continue lamenting about the past and keep right on digging a hole that’s getting tougher and tougher to climb out of.
In the past, the “Big 3″ relied on producing X number of cars, making X number of dollars, and employing X number of people. Well, that’s all changed now and, frankly, what happened in the past doesn’t matter anymore. The automakers have hit their “Reset” button and have promptly restructured and implemented turnaround plans. It may seem drastic, but it’s the new normal, and as a result, these companies now operate under a different set of expectations and are seeking very different outcomes.
The same market factors are affecting individuals and their investments. Everyone needs to realize they, too, need to hit their “Reset” button before they are forced to. The new reality is, it doesn’t matter how much your retirement account or your house was worth a few years ago. It’s not worth that much anymore. And it may not ever be worth that much again in your lifetime. There’s no point in moaning over what things used to be worth. It’s time now to start adjusting your expectations and focusing on your turnaround plan.
Step 1: Stop doing nothing! You can’t control what has already happened. Sure, you can kick yourself for not doing this or that, but the reality is you can’t keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. Hit the “Reset” button and start focusing on the things you truly value like your family, health, spirituality, community, and more. You got here, wherever here is, one decision, one situation at a time… and you can get out of it the same way.
Step 2: Get smart about investing! It’s easy to see that financial independence does not come naturally to people, since so few actually ever achieve it. That means you can’t do what comes naturally to you in order to get there. So the days of simply throwing some money into an account and watching it grow are over. Hit the “Reset” button and start getting educated about your investment options and the strategies that will and won’t work for your particular situation. After all, nobody drowns by falling in the water; they drown by staying there.
Step 3: Take advantage of the crisis! If the current economic climate has made you unhappy, start doing what makes you happy. Now is the perfect time to start a business or switch careers because even if you fail you don’t have far to fall. Things have changed so dramatically that it’s considered great news when a company only loses $6 billion in a quarter. Hit the “Reset” button and use the changing expectations to realize your potential. Henry Ford said it best, “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
Step 4: Don’t walk away, find a way! Your parents and grandparents would slap you silly if they knew you were walking away from promises you made to pay back money you borrowed. Sure, things happen, but a person is only as good as their word, so if you gave your word, find a way to keep it. Hit the “Reset” button and start being a part of the solution instead of the problem. It’s like the old saying, everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.
Step 5: Don’t over-think what you just read! What happened has happened. Stop feeling bad about it and start concentrating on your potential instead. Don’t worry about what everything used to be worth because in every sense of the words, it’s not worth it. Start taking control of your future by taking action now. Just take a moment to think about what’s right instead of what’s easy, then hit your “Reset” button and start your turnaround plan today.
Robert Laura is The SVP of Wealth Management for First National Bank. He is the author of Financial Karma and The Five Most Important Financial Things They Don’t Teach You In School. He is also the founder of myFinancialReflection.com, the first and only financial program that measures people in terms of what their financial life reflects instead of measuring it in dollars and cents.
myFinancialReflection.com is the web’s first and only financial program that targets the root cause of money issues (why people spend) instead of the symptoms (how much people spend). The program is motivating and inspiring because the biggest obstacles and challenges that people face in dealing with their finances have been removed… the numbers! The program never asks how much people make or how much they spend on every little expense. So there’s no need to pull out every bill or dig through the last two months of bank statements to figure all of your expenses out. Instead, we want to know what’s important and why it’s important. Then our program helps consumers apply those things to the way they spend money, in effect comparing what they say is important to what they are actually doing with their money.
The program teaches people how to design and use mental budgeting techniques to get out of their paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, stop arguing with their spouse about money, stop spending impulsively or emotionally, and to help people who can’t figure out why traditional budgeting and financial planning programs don’t work for them.
According to Robert Laura the program’s CEO and founder, “Let’s face it, our lives are changing dramatically because of the recent financial crisis. Everyone needs to get back to the basics - back to deciding what expenses are really necessary and important. This is a tool that will help consumers build a personalized process that integrates their personal values into their financial decision-making. Quite simply, our mental budgeting process helps people think before they spend.”
The program is FREE and provides a nine-page plan that helps consumers assess whether or not their financial life reflects what’s important to them… and what they can do to realign it. The company GUARANTEES it’s the most comfortable and enlightening financial program available. www.myfinancialreflection.com
Financial FYI: Interesting Financial News, Statistics, & Research
Family Loans And The Cost Of Adult Children
In the U.S., about $45 billion of parent-child loans are extended every year. In fact, nine in 10 boomer parents have helped their adult children financially, according to a study by Ameriprise - even though to do so 40% of them had to draw down savings while 17% had to take a loan. About 14% of loans between family and friends end up in default, far more than the under 3% of consumer bank loans that go bad. So understand that you may not get paid back. Source: Money.cnn.com. Read The Full Story.
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2009 Jobs, Employment, & Pay-cuts:
Nearly 2 million jobs were lost in 2008 and economists say the unemployment rate, which stands at 6.7%, will continue to rise into 2010. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Employment Law Project, 63% of unemployed workers said they would be willing to accept a job offer that pays less than their previous job. Still, only 37% of respondents expressed high confidence in finding a job in the next four months despite being willing to make such a sacrifice. Source: Money.cnn.com. Read The Full Story.
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S&P 500 Winners & Losers For 2008
Only 25 out of 500 stocks in the S&P 500 ending the year in the black, with discount retailer Family Dollar Stores as the S&P 500’s top stock, up over 38% for the year. The overall index is down nearly 38.5% from the start of the year — its worst annual performance since an earlier version of the S&P fell 47% in 1931. All S&P 500 sectors are showing double-digit percentage losses, including a staggering 58% retreat for the financial sector. Stocks in the materials sector are down 47.8% for the year, and information technology stocks were off 44.2% as of Wednesday’s close. But the consumer staples sector, which includes some of this year’s best performing stocks, is down a comparatively benign 18.3%. And while the consumer discretionary sector is down 35.7%, it includes seven of this year’s best performers. Source: Money.cnn.com. Read The Full Story
Sponsored By: Financial Authors (www.FinancialAuthors.com): Find the hottest new financial books and authors. This Month’s Featured Author is Robert Laura, and his book, The Five Most Important Financial Things They Don’t Teach You In School (Read The Intro & First Chapter Free Now)
Financial FYI: Interesting Financial News, Statistics, & Research
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Power of Credit Cards
In one experiment, researchers at MIT had people submit sealed bids for a pair of Boston Celtics tickets. Half of the participants were told they could pay with a credit card, half were told it was cash only. The average bid for people expecting to charge the tickets was twice as high as for cold, hard dollars. Scientists have also found that when people feel blue, for instance, they tend to both over-shop and overpay, by as much as 300 percent compared to when they are not depressed. Source: Newsweek.com. Read Full Story.
76% of Americans Cut Back On Holiday Spending
According to Consumer Reports, 76% of Americans plan to cut back on spending this season, particularly on gifts and travel. Source: Kiplinger.com. Read Full Story.
Health Costs of Economic Downturn
About one in five midlife and older adults have had their health negatively affected by the current economic downturn, and about one in six are not confident about being able to afford medical care next year, according to this October 2008 survey of adults age 45 and older. Source: AARP.com. Read Full Story.
More Jobs For High School Drop-outs Than College Kids
In November the number of people with a higher degree who were out of work rose to 1.413 million from 1.411 million in the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Comparatively, there were 1.282 million unemployed high school dropouts, up slightly from 1.273 million in October. Source: money.cnn.com. Read Full Story.
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