The Key To Your Financial Health
How do you save for retirement, get out of debt or solve a myriad of money struggles that keep you up at night?
As a certified money coach, I am passionate about helping people improve their financial health and solve money challenges so they can be happier! I usually work with my clients one on one, but I am also excited to share insights more broadly on this blog. I’d love to help with any of your money questions, so please email me any topics you’d like me to address. Soon I will also be offering webinars to explore specific money issues in more depth.
I want to start by giving you The Key to Your Financial Health. No, It’s not a complicated discourse on investment and rate of return. Really, it’s way simpler than that.
It’s CLARITY.
Are you stressing at 3 a.m. wondering how to pay for the new brakes or trying to figure out where your paycheck went? Are you bemoaning the impossibility of saving for retirement, or contemplating using your inheritance to pay off debt? If anything like this is keeping you spinning, then you need a plan. You must know where you stand with your money:
- How much you earn.
- How much you spend.
- What you need.
Here’s where you can begin:
- Start keeping track of what you spend and what you earn. You can contact me for help or find other resources. Here are a few helpful online tracking tools:
- Life is busy, so schedule the time to look at your money. Make it a priority.
- Don’t use credit cards. They keep you in a money fog. It’s rare to get a bill at the end of the month and not be surprised at what you owe.
- If you are self-employed, save for taxes! Guess what? Those checks that come in aren’t all yours.You have to share with the IRS.
- Step up to the plate and talk. How often does blood pressure rise when you are talking with your partner about money? Discussing money can be difficult, but avoidance just creates bigger problems later. Work as a team around money and there will be big payoffs in your relationship… and your bank account.
- Acknowledge your feelings around your money. Do you head for the mall if you’ve had a bad day? (See article: It’s not how much you spend, it’s why you spend.) Are you embarrassed because you never learned how to handle money? Emotions can get in the way of acknowledging your financial health reality.
If you have clarity, will you automatically have money to burn and never worry again? No! But if you have clarity on where you stand with your money, then you can work on a financial health plan to get you where you want to go.I know it works. I see it with my clients every day. I’ve never had a client who wasn’t enlightened when we cleared away the fog on their money. And I see the progress that’s made when we create solutions. No more 3 a.m. stressing!