Tag Archives | Financial freedom

How to Assess and Improve Your Level of Financial Health

When I first started working as a financial coach, many people would mistake me for a financial advisor or financial planner. They thought I was someone who would help them learn how to invest their money for retirement.

And while financial advisors and financial planners are dear colleagues of mine and are very talented professionals, my work is very clearly in a different space where I’m helping people with their budgeting and money management skills so that they can focus on getting out of debt and saving money with the hope of building a financial plan to support their goals.

So in order to help people better understand what I did (and what I didn’t do), I created what I like to call “The Financial Health SpectrumTM” which includes the 3 phases of Build, Protect, and Grow your financial assets. These 3 phases simply reflect different levels of financial health, and while none of the phases are “bad” there is an increasing level of financial health as you move from the “Build” phase through to the “Grow” phase. In helping people to understand what type of financial support they need, I encourage people to take a few minutes to assess where they fall on this spectrum so that they can properly identify which financial expert can help them with their goals and with improving their level of financial health.

In order to help you determine where you might fall on the Financial Health Spectrum™, let me explain each phase a bit further along with the respective professionals that you might want to connect with:

  1. Build phase — This phase is typically where the 70% of people living paycheck to paycheck who are feeling out of control when it comes to their finances will land. When building your financial assets, you’ll be looking to do such things as establish a budget (or what I like to call a “savings and spending plan” because budget is such a restrictive word), develop more proactive money management skills, get out of debt, and save more money. To me, this phase is about improving your financial stability and strengthening and repairing your financial foundation so that in the future you can grow your financial assets. In this phase, you might look to work with someone who can help you increase your income, decrease your expenses, or perhaps do both! This is the phase where I work with my clients, and some other colleagues who can help you in this phase include CPAs, money mindset coaches (to help you understand if you have money beliefs that are holding you back in some way), and salary negotiation coaches (so that you can maximize your earnings).
  2. Protect phase — This phase is generally exemplified by wanting to either insure assets (property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance) or planning to have your wishes known about what to do with your assets in case anything happens to you. Experts in this phase include licensed insurance professionals who can help you determine the right type and amount of insurance that you need and estate planning attorneys who can help you with drafting all necessary legal documents such as wills, trusts, family planning/guardianship paperwork, health care directives and proxies, and also Medicare/Medicaid paperwork.
  3. Grow phase — At the end of the spectrum, once you’ve strengthened your financial foundation and protected the financial assets that you do have, you’ll also want to think about putting your money to work for you and growing it through investments and other financial vehicles (i.e. annuities, etc.). The financial professional you’ll want to consider in this phase is a financial advisor or financial planner who will take the time to understand your future financial objectives and design a plan customized just for you to grow your money over time to achieve your goals.

As mentioned before, there is no “right” or “wrong” phase to be in, these phases are simply an opportunity for you to recognize where you’re at right now and determine the next steps that you’d like to take for yourselves to improve your financial health. I also encourage people to think about moving along the spectrum as a longer-term process since strengthening your financial foundation and building financial independence is often a multi-faceted journey that takes place over time and with attention to progress (and not perfection). It is also important to note that you may be in more than one phase at the same time (i.e. saving for retirement while looking to more proactively manage your monthly cash flow and put the proper legal paperwork in place).

Taking the time to understand where you are on the The Financial Health SpectrumTM may well be one of the most productive things you can do to stop and assess your level of financial health. What is your next step to strengthen your financial foundation? Is there a financial task you’ve wanted to handle for a while and haven’t yet taken care of…perhaps because you don’t know the next step to take? Do you know which financial professional would serve you best to take that next step forward?

If you’re ready for a solid resource to support you on assessing your financial health, The Financial Health Telesummit may well be the answer — and the best news is that for a limited time, I’m sharing this valuable information with you for an investment of just $97! CLICK HERE to learn more about how some of my favorite colleagues and financial experts can help you decide on the next steps to take in improving your financial health and to determine whether this resource supports you in powerfully paving your path to financial freedom.

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Facing Your Financial Fears

Just the other day, one of life’s lovely ironies came and sat in my lap. Want to know what it was?

I came down with a pretty decent case of what I like to affectionately call the “financial grungies.” Pretty ironic given that I teach money management and proactive finances for a living, right?

So what are the “financial grungies” exactly? For me this time, it felt like not wanting to honestly take a look at something related to my finances (more about that below), a knot in my stomach, a racing mind, and my blood felt like it was coursing through my veins at an extra-quick pace. Oh, and all of that was wrapped up in a nice big bow of FEAR and SCARCITY. Yuck, yuck, yuck. It was so clear that financial fear had come to pay me an unwelcome visit.

Yup, the teacher and healer got to use her own tools to heal herself. Gotta love it.
And here’s what I reminded myself of when I got to diagnosing the situation at hand and whipping out my financial toolbox:

  • BREATHE! This may be the most important suggestion I’ll make in this entire article. Living in the knot-in-your-stomach-blood-coursing sense of panic won’t ever serve you, since it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to think or operate from a clear space. So this is exactly what I did when I felt the fear kick in – I stopped what I was doing (or should I say what I was pretending to try to do….and I was doing it very ineffectively I might add), and I moved to the nearest chair and started to breathe deeply, in and out. The sense of panic and fear within me slowly died down after a few minutes.
  • Raise your vibration – Breathing normally is only really the starting point and it’s intended to try to restore you back to an equilibrium point (and out of the “grungies”). Once you’re feeling somewhat stable, you’ll want to do something to jump start your energy again – think of it like a car battery where you want to give yourself an electric charge. Depending on what gets you going, you’ll have a different way of raising your energy. Some people dance or exercise, yet for me I find it soothing to listen to a guided meditation that’s specifically wired to reset my brain waves. When I did this the other day, on the other side of 15 minutes I was already feeling much better and was ready to take on the next step. This step is important and the intention is to put you in a positive frame of mind before you move forward to see what’s at the root of the financial fear you’re feeling.
  • Get clear on what gets to be handled – I’ve said for years that financial clarity leads to choice, which leads to the ability to contribute in a bigger way, which results in a higher sense of connectedness. Without clarity, you’re often left feeling disconnected (from yourself and from others) which only enhances the sense of fear in the current situation. For me, I knew that over the last few months I had been investing quite a bit of money into my business and myself (as the business owner). After breathing and meditating, I got clear that the task ahead of me was to update my list of business investments. I knew that the investments I made were wise ones (and ones I would make over and over again), and so I knew it was time to briefly summarize the dollar value of those investments.
  • Break down the task (or tasks) to small, manageable steps – In my example, the tasks to be completed were relatively simple in the sense that it involved consulting transactions and balances on various bank and credit card statements. In your case, it might be a bit more complex, in which case you’ll want to think first about the end result you want. From there, think about the first step you would take, then the second, then the third, etc., continuing until you have a solid flow of steps mapped out to get you the end result you desire. As examples, if your task is to work on getting out of debt you’ll want to understand the total amount of debt you have along with interest rates and minimum payments. If your task is to be saving more money, you’ll want to get clear on what you want to save for and how much you want to save.
  • Take one step (and repeat until complete) – It’s as simple as it sounds – take your first step as soon as humanly possible to build positive momentum and start shaking off those grungies once and for all. I know that the minute I sat down at my computer and started a brand new business investment summary that I instantly felt much better…and it only got better from there!

The outcome of taking each of these steps is that you are able to accept the situation as it is, and in a grounded way work through whatever financial challenge is contributing to the fear at hand. As a bonus step, it may also support you to confide in someone you trust what it is that you’re working through (both the fear and the steps you’re committed to taking), so that they can hold you accountable to the steps that you want to take as well as support you in moving through the fear in whatever way they are able to.

In the end, the lesson here is that no matter how proactive you try to be (and I’m very proactive!), sometimes financial fear secretly slips into the picture without you even realizing it. And if you ignore the fear, you may end up significantly altering your road to financial freedom by inadvertently sabotaging your financial plan.

So don’t let financial fear hold you back from standing fully in your power – begin clearing away the fear and start healing and transforming your relationship with money today!

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Know These 10 Things Before You Negotiate Your Pay

Number TenGuest Post By Katie Donovan of EqualPayNegotiations.com

You have rewritten and proofed your resume and cover letter a million times. You run interview questions and answers throughout the day. You are ready to go get your new job. Or are you? Have you thought about the salary and how you will negotiate it? Here are ten things to know before you complete the next job application. These work for raises as well.

1. You are underpaid if you accept the first salary offered to you. Hiring managers expect negotiations so they keep some money aside specifically for that purpose. This money already has been budgeted. Will you be able to get it or will your manager have the opportunity to use it elsewhere? Next time try before you accept the job offer.

2. It is almost impossible for a woman to ask for too much. Research shows that women continually underestimate the value of their work. It’s also shown that men typically ask for 30% more money than women in salary negotiations. Even when you think you are pricing yourself out by asking for too much, chances are very high that you have not.

3. The market value of the job for men is different than the salary ranges shown on career web sites. The salary ranges consider salaries earned by men and women. The goal is to earn what the guys are making so seeing numbers that are lower does not help us determine the true market value of the job.  This means a little math. Divide the target salary by 0.885 and you will get the salary men earn assuming a 50/50 split of men and women in the industry.  Earn More Girl mobile app will do the calculation for 135 different jobs categories and industries.

4. The financial strength of the company is important. We ladies are an empathetic bunch who wouldn’t want to ask for something that would be hard for our managers to do. Really we think that way even when we know the job should pay more. To help you realize the company can afford to pay you more and to be ready for the inevitable “we can’t afford it” comment in the negotiation, research the company’s financials. Public companies report their finances with the SEC. Non-Profits file 990 forms annually. Government offices have public budgets. Private companies have many hints at their success through the press releases, company meetings, and sales growth. Sales representatives can give great insight on this topic.

5. The company’s future strategies are more important than today’s tactics. Sure you are doing a specific job today but you need to understand how the company will change. Oh, did I forget to tell you that your company would change? If it doesn’t it will most likely die so be ready for change. Ask about the future of the company. Do you have skill sets and experiences that will continue to be an asset with future strategies? Do you have skill sets and experiences that have not been used yet at this company but will be critical with new strategies? Can you learn new skills that will make you more valuable with the company’s future? Make sure management understands how you are ready to grow with the company and welcome the changes.

6. The network you bring to the company can be invaluable. Harvard people are worth so much more than we mere mortals not because of their brains. It’s their connections that truly are above and beyond the norm. You have a network of friends, family, classmates, colleagues, and others who may become clients, employees, partners, vendors, advisors, or investors of your company. Let your company be aware of how you are developing your network and using it with the company’s needs in mind. When possible use specific examples of people you have brought into your company’s world.

7. Awards and accolades you have earned are objective and subjective proof of your abilities. Current and former employers, industry organizations, and educational institutes often give various accolades. Make sure your superiors are aware of all that you have earned. Don’t be shocked if you have to remind your manager of an award granted from him/her. Don’t be shocked if you forget what you earned. Keep an “Atta Girl” file with emails and notes from superiors, clients, and others that praise you for work well done. Even save digital copies of voice mail that praise you. Of course, don’t forget any actual awards. Now the most important part, share this information freely with management.

8. Your contribution to increase revenues is important. If you are not in sales this one may seem hard but the more you can put a dollar figure to your contribution the better you will be able to negotiate. Did you help sales representatives pull information for a new client? Did you come up with a product idea? Did you come up with a new market to target? Do you think of a new advertising channel? Did your introduce a new client to your company? Once you can pinpoint a direct impact on revenue than put a dollar figure on it. It’s amazing how easy it becomes to ask for $10,000 more in salary when you can demonstrate that you impacted $50,000 coming into a company.

9. Your contribution to decrease costs is important. Chances are high that if you do not impact revenue then you probably impact costs. Did you negotiate a better contract with a vendor? Did you develop a shorter production method? Did you improve customer service best practices so that fewer customers need additional assistance? If it saved time, it saved money. If it lowered the number of times people needed to interact, it saved money. If it lowered the amount of inventory needed, it saved money. Again putting a dollar figure on this and sharing with management is the ultimate goal.

10. Your options if you cannot negotiate the salary you want. Too often we feel like we need to take what is given us especially during bad economic times. Understand how well you can survive and thrive elsewhere prior to having a salary discussion with your current manager or a hiring manager. It’s amazing how this knowledge gives you confidence. If you talk to your current manager, the worse that could happen is that you are still employed with the same salary. You may decide that you will begin to look for a new job if you cannot negotiate a better salary but that doesn’t mean you need to say, “I’m quitting.” If you are talking to a hiring manager and are currently employed, again you can stay with your current job at the current salary and continue your job search until the right job at the right salary happens. If you are unemployed and talking with a hiring manager the best alternative is harder to come by. Sometimes, knowing that you are taking a job for the short term to keep a roof over your head is the needed step. Just knowing this can give you the freedom to then continue job searching even after accepting a job offer.

Good luck with your next salary negotiation. You should find it easier if you consider the 10 items above.

Article originally appeared on EqualPayNegotiations.com.

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Why Celebrations are Important

PIC_Feb 6th_ARTICLE_Celebration pic with DanaOK, so you might be thinking to yourself – Beth, we just wrapped up the holiday season full of celebrations, and you want us to celebrate AGAIN?

Yup, I do. Celebrating is a lost art form as far as I’m concerned, and to be quite honest I’ve personally had to train myself to do it more often to acknowledge not only the big things but also the little things too!  Yes, I’m a “celebrator-in-training” just like many of you might be.

As I’ve found over the last few years (and more specifically over the last 6 months if I’m being honest), like attracts like which means success attracts more success and celebration attracts more celebration.  In other words, the more you acknowledge something great, the more the Universe will say “oh, he/she gets excited about that – we like excitement – let’s give him/her more of that!”  (Yes, I’m going a bit spiritual here with some “Law of Attraction”…so bear with me if that’s not usually your “thing,” ok?)  Celebrating raises the positive vibrations surrounding you and encourages more of the same positive results to be delivered to you.

As an example in my own life (since I always find it helpful if someone shows me how to do something new that I’m trying to learn), I’m thrilled that January 2014 was the best month EVER in my business and that I found 6 brand new and amazing clients to work with in the months to come!  I started my celebration this past weekend with some much needed “down time” to relax and really let everything that had happened this month sink in and then I celebrated with friends and family (see the pic of me having a celebratory cocktail with a good colleague last week in the picture!).  I also played hooky earlier this week to sneak off and see a movie by myself during a snowy day when I didn’t feel like working.  And this is just the beginning of my celebrations – I really want to anchor what this last month felt like, because I want more of that type of amazingness (so that’s probably not a word but who cares, I’m excited!)!

As it relates specifically to your finances, sometimes the road to financial freedom and financial independence can feel long.  Truth be told, that road is paved with small steps taken over time to build up your financial skill set and financial health – proactive money management skills and a well thought out financial plan doesn’t just come together overnight!  On your lengthy financial journey, there are likely some things that you can celebrate and acknowledge for yourself, so let me get you started with a few ideas:

  • You opened your latest statements for the first time in a long time (bank, credit card, etc.);
  • You reconciled your checking account;
  • You listed out all of the debt that you owe with corresponding details (interest rate, due date, min. payment);
  • You put together a Net Worth Summary (Assets – Liabilities);
  • You looked at one month’s worth of cash flow (income and expenses) to get a better understanding of how you use your money;
  • You got a raise at work;
  • You started a savings account;
  • You saved up for something in advance and paid for it outright;
  • You paid down (or paid off) a piece of debt;
  • You had a money conversation with someone important to you (spouse, friend, co-worker, etc.);
  • You reached out to a financial professional for help with something (taxes, investments, insurance, etc.).

The ideas above may not feel like much (and clearly there are many more examples that I could include), however I’d like to encourage you to see each step on your journey to financial freedom as something worth celebrating.  And, of course, I believe in celebrating in moderation or within appropriate parameters given your individual circumstances!  Sometimes the best celebrations don’t need to cost much (like the movie I snuck off to see) or they don’t cost anything (like the dream car I’m going to go and test drive this weekend just because I can…it’s free, at least for now!).

And lastly, when you’re wanting to truly acknowledge and anchor successes in your life (in any area, really), I’m also a big fan of having a “success journal.” What is that, you ask?  It’s a chance for you to write down each of the successes (big and small) that you have along the way because sometimes we forget our successes and we need to go back and read them to be reminded of the good that we’ve done!  I keep a success journal by my bedside and each night before I go to sleep I list my top 5 successes of that day (financial and other).

So what have you done recently to improve your financial health that you would like to celebrate?  And if you haven’t done anything lately, is there something small that you can do to get yourself started and in action?

Start small, take action, celebrate and document your success along the way…and then rinse and repeat!

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How to Assess and Improve Your Level of Financial Health

When I first started working as a financial coach, many people would mistake me for a financial advisor or financial planner.  They thought I was someone who would help them learn how to invest their money for retirement.

And while financial advisors and financial planners are dear colleagues of mine and are very talented professionals, my work is very clearly in a different space where I’m helping people with their budgeting and money management skills so that they can focus on getting out of debt and saving money with the hope of building a financial plan to support their goals.

So in order to help people better understand what I did (and what I didn’t do), I created what I like to call “The Financial Health Spectrum™” which includes the 3 phases of Build, Protect, and Grow your financial assets.  These 3 phases simply reflect different levels of financial health, and while none of the phases are “bad” there is an increasing level of financial health as you move from the “Build” phase through to the “Grow” phase.  In helping people to understand what type of financial support they need, I encourage people to take a few minutes to assess where they fall on this spectrum so that they can properly identify which financial expert can help them with their goals and with improving their level of financial health.

In order to help you determine where you might fall on the Financial Health Spectrum™, let me explain each phase a bit further along with the respective professionals that you might want to connect with:

1)    Build phaseThis phase is typically where the 70% of people living paycheck to paycheck who are feeling out of control when it comes to their finances will land.  When building your financial assets, you’ll be looking to do such things as establish a budget (or what I like to call a “savings and spending plan” because budget is such a restrictive word), develop more proactive money management skills, get out of debt, and save more money.  To me, this phase is about improving your financial stability and strengthening and repairing your financial foundation so that in the future you can grow your financial assets. In this phase, you might look to work with someone who can help you increase your income, decrease your expenses, or perhaps do both!  This is the phase where I work with my clients, and some other colleagues who can help you in this phase include CPAs, money mindset coaches (to help you understand if you have money beliefs that are holding you back in some way), and salary negotiation coaches (so that you can maximize your earnings).

2)    Protect phaseThis phase is generally exemplified by wanting to either insure assets (property and casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance) or planning to have your wishes known about what to do with your assets in case anything happens to you.  Experts in this phase include licensed insurance professionals who can help you determine the right type and amount of insurance that you need and estate planning attorneys who can help you with drafting all necessary legal documents such as wills, trusts, family planning/guardianship paperwork, health care directives and proxies, and also Medicare/Medicaid paperwork.

3)    Grow phaseAt the end of the spectrum, once you’ve strengthened your financial foundation and protected the financial assets that you do have, you’ll also want to think about putting your money to work for you and growing it through investments and other financial vehicles (i.e. annuities, etc.).  The financial professional you’ll want to consider in this phase is a financial advisor or financial planner who will take the time to understand your future financial objectives and design a plan customized just for you to grow your money over time to achieve your goals.

As mentioned before, there is no “right” or “wrong” phase to be in, these phases are simply an opportunity for you to recognize where you’re at right now and determine the next steps that you’d like to take for yourselves to improve your financial health.  I also encourage people to think about moving along the spectrum as a longer-term process since strengthening your financial foundation and building financial independence is often a multi-faceted journey that takes place over time and with attention to progress (and not perfection).  It is also important to note that you may be in more than one phase at the same time (i.e. saving for retirement while looking to more proactively manage your monthly cash flow and put the proper legal paperwork in place).

So if you’re ready to get more information on how you can assess your financial health, make sure to stay tuned for more details coming soon on “The Financial Health Telesummit” coming in January 2014.  It’s a free event that you can attend from the comfort of your home phone, computer, or your favorite listening device (iPod, iPhone, etc.) with some of my favorite colleagues and financial experts who will help you to decide on the next steps to take in improving your financial health!

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