The internet has changed every aspect of our society in the past ten years from the way we interact with our friends to the way we hail a taxi. Our entire lives can now be handled from the palm of our hand.
So what can we expect from 2020? We already know that 5G is rolling out and that will make the internet on our mobile phones even faster and better. But the one aspect of our lives that is about to change for good is the way we bank.
Every year, more than 80 million Americans take out personal loans. They do it to consolidate credit cards, pay for emergency car repairs, catch up with medical bills, and more.
Do you think that you might be able to benefit from taking out a personal loan? If so, you should take the time to learn about the different personal loan requirements.
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Foreclosure is imminent when you fail to pay your mortgage. The lender can use this legal mean to repose your house when you don’t pay them. If this happens, you lose your home. And if your house doesn’t worth enough to cover the mortgage, the lender will pursue a deficiency judgement. And when this happens, you not only lose your house, you also have to pay them an additional amount. And the worst part is that foreclosure and a deficiency judgement impact your credit score. So, the smartest solution is to find a way to avoid foreclosure.
If you need guidance, this article can prove helpful.
A New Year often brings lofty goals. I want to get in shape or I want to get that promotion, but how often are our yearly goals about our finances?
In this post, we’re going to talk about some of the things you can do to set yourself up for financial success this year.
For the vast majority of people, credit cards hurt more than they help. If you’re financially responsible and pay off your balance right away, they’re an extraordinary tool. For everyone else, credit cards often come with financial pain.
Don’t close your credit card (more on that in this post, here). Take it/them out of your wallet and delete them from your “payment options” on Amazon and/or any other online retailers you frequently visit.
The easiest way to avoid temptation is to take it away. Avoid using your credit card(s) this year.
Before you spend a single dollar, set some money aside for yourself.
What you do with that savings will vary. Everyone should have an emergency fund. Ideally, 3-6 months’ worth of expenses.
At the very least, have $1,000 set aside for emergencies, and then build up from there.
Once the emergency fund is set, start building an account for short-medium term goals. A new car or a down payment, are two examples of short-medium term goals.
Last, but not least, you need to save for retirement. This should be its own line item on your budget (more on that below), but it’s something that requires intentional savings each month.
Your saving methodology, or how you save, deserves it’s own section because often times, we save after we spend.
We need to flip that around. You need to save BEFORE you spend. When you budget (make a spending plan), there are several line items.
What you pay, in order, should be necessities, savings, and then excess spending.
Additionally, your savings rate shouldn’t stay stagnant. It should constantly be adjusted. At the very least, on an annual basis.
Run the numbers. Do the math and figure out if you can spare another percentage of your salary, or another $5/month.
There’s no better way to improve your year than to improve yourself!
Put healthy habits into practice. Read, exercise, meditate, hang out with friends, go for a walk. The list is endless.
Some of those activities have compounding benefits. Walking is great exercise and is also meditative.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin
Figure out where all of your money is going. I typically look back three months, but Holiday shopping is there, so that will distort your spending a little.
If you can, audit October, November, and December, and remove any item that isn’t normal (i.e. gifts/presents).
Once you have a good grasp on how much you’re spending and where you can develop a budget.
My term for budget, as the word “budget” has negative connotations tied to it. Using your spending audit, create a spending plan.
Once you have these items listed (debits and credits, respectively) compare the two. The resulting number should be positive. Make adjustments accordingly.
A financial plan isn’t something that’s set in stone. It’s a living organism that’s constantly changing.
If there’s one thing that’s been proven (time and again) it’s that helping other people makes you feel good. However, the reason for being generous shouldn’t be the dopamine rush that follows, it’s to help someone/something that needs it.
Whether that’s a stranger at the store or a cause that you strongly identify with, do what’s right. Live to serve.
Start saving now! December sneaks up quickly, and before you know it, you’re spending hundreds of dollars on things you didn’t budget for.
Save a little bit each day, week, or month. Whatever you’re comfortable. I encourage you to figure out what you think you’ll need for the Holidays and break it down.
Discern what is manageable for you and put it into practice.
Related Reading:
Jacob Sensible is a financial advisor with decades of experience in the financial planning industry. His journey into finance began out of necessity, stepping up to support his grandfather during a health crisis. This period not only grounded him in the essentials of stock analysis, investment strategies, and the critical roles of insurance and trusts in asset preservation but also instilled a comprehensive understanding of financial markets and wealth management. Jacob can be reached at: jake.sensiba@mygfpartner.com.
In 2019, only 55% of Americans invested their money into the stock market.
Investing money can help you retire at a much earlier age. It is important to invest some money in the future so that you don’t have to work for the rest of your life.
More than half of Americans have some form of investment in the stock market. What can you do if you want to take an active roll in investing your money?
You’ve worked hard for your money. Isn’t it time for your money to work hard for you?
Now that we’ve turned the calendar to another year, another decade, it’s time to figure out what goals we would like to set.
Specifically, in this post, I’m going to go over the goals that I’m setting for myself, why I’m setting that goal, and how I’m going to put a system in place to achieve that goal.
Typically, when you’re setting goals, you should be very specific. You’ll notice, that I wasn’t. I get more granular with my goals in the systems section.
Getting out of debt and saving for retirement we can lump into one system, as they both revolve around finances and me reigning in my spending.
Until April, this will be incredibly challenging, as I am currently paying my mortgage on my house and the rent for my apartment.
So until I get my house rented (I have tenants set to move in, in April), I’m kind of stuck. Once that happens, however, I’ll have the debt repayment pedal down to the floor.
Simultaneously, I’ll contribute $20 per month to my retirement account, just to get in the habit of doing it again. Start small, enforce the habit, then increase the dollar amount.
Of my goals, incorporating meditation practice should be relatively easy. I know my preferred style – I’m not one to sit pretzel-legged on a cushion. I lay down on the floor, on my back, which some relaxing music playing.
The hard part is a) making the time for it and b) doing it consistently. To start, I’m going to set my alarm for 5 minutes earlier than normal.
5 minutes might not seem like a lot, but if I wake up 5 minutes earlier, that gives me 5 minutes to meditate. If I do that consistently for the next, say three weeks, those extra 5 minutes won’t seem that, and I can scale it to 10 minutes.
As I noted in last week’s article, when forming a habit, you have to start small and then scale up.
Reading every day. This is a must-do for me. It’s good for my mind, it’s good for my soul, it’s good for everything. I have a great many books on my list, but they will all fall into a specific genre – finance, philosophy, religion, or biographies.
The first one will help with work. The last three will help with life.
Every day, before bed, I’m going to read for 15 minutes. That’s my starting point. Once I get into the habit, the amount of time I read will increase.
Spend more dedicated time with my son. This is an easy one. Just stay off my gosh darn phone.
Keep it in my room or in the kitchen. Not in my pocket, where I can easily access it. Put the ringer on and leave it alone.
If it’s an emergency, someone will call and I will hear it.
This will also eliminate a distraction, so if he goes to bed for the night, I can immediately pick up a book without getting sucked into the social media black hole.
Exercising every day. I read recently in a book about the Dalai Lama that exercising your mind is more important than exercising your body, so I’ve put that on the back burner.
I have a pull-up bar in the doorway to my bathroom and I do 5 pull-ups every time I go in, but that’s not enough dedicated, consistent time for exercise.
I think doing it in the morning makes the most sense. I’m too tired in the evenings to exercise. The question is, do I do this before or after meditation?
Probably after, as I need my mind at ease when I meditate.
So instead of waking up 5 minutes earlier, I’ll start by waking up 20 minutes earlier. Dedicated 15 of those minutes to exercise and the remaining 5 for meditation.
Related reading:
A Systematic Approach to Goals
Worthy Goals for You to Set and Crush
How Do You Set Financial Goals?
Jacob Sensible is a financial advisor with decades of experience in the financial planning industry. His journey into finance began out of necessity, stepping up to support his grandfather during a health crisis. This period not only grounded him in the essentials of stock analysis, investment strategies, and the critical roles of insurance and trusts in asset preservation but also instilled a comprehensive understanding of financial markets and wealth management. Jacob can be reached at: jake.sensiba@mygfpartner.com.
With 2020 staring us in the face, it’s time to review goal setting and the systems you can put in place in order to reach those goals.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
That said, let’s look at systematic ways to approach goal setting and actionable tools you can use to smash those goals.
Here are a few articles I’ve written in the past about financial goals:
Worthy Goals For You To Set And Crush
How Do You Set Financial Goals?
We can think of systems as the sub-category of actionable steps. A routine is another word for it. When it comes to goals and habits, you can’t rely on will power. You have put a plan in place to do the work for you.
Take exercising for example. You need to create low barriers for yourself. Wear your gym clothes to bed or have your bag packed the night before.
If you go to the gym, put your bag and your keys in a place where you have to pass them to get to your car.
If you exercise at home, have your routine and your equipment laid out and ready for you.
When it comes to creating habits, James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, likes to break down the habit into bite-sized pieces.
For example, if your saving for a down payment, go to your banking app and transfer $1 from checking to savings every morning (or whatever amount is realistic for you).
When that becomes second nature, bump it up a dollar a day.
Another thing that James says is, “People ask me all of the time, how many days does it take to create a habit? My answer, all of them because if you stop doing it for one day, it’s no longer a habit.”
This section is speaking specifically to mental health versus other goals. You could also consider physical health as an internal goal, but for this article internal relates to mental health.
There are several things you can do to work on your mental health. See a therapist, exercise, and start a journal. Those three are low-barrier, easy things you can implement into your day to help.
Meditation, medication, and other forms of mindfulness training/practice can also help. There’s a podcast that I listen to regularly called “10% Happier” that will help you with establishing a meditation practice.
Do some research about this. Meditation can and will take many different forms, and not each modality will be right for you. Some may find that magic mushrooms from a magic mushroom dispensary can help them to relax, whilst reading has also proven to have meditative benefits.
It really is up to the individual as to what they consider, short, medium, and long-term, but my definitions are as follows: Short-term – less than 3 years. Medium-term – 3-15. Long-term – 15+.
My definitions are almost entirely based on the investability of those assets for that specific time period.
Once you’ve established your short, medium, and long-term goals you can break them down into actionable steps as we talked about earlier.
Each New Year brings about resolutions that we hope to achieve. Whether it’s getting in shape or paying down debt, your barometer for success should be progress and consistency.
Are you in a better place than you were on January 1st? Do you have more saved? Are you still committed to the goals you set in the first place?
Yes. It feels great to set a target and hit it, but as far as I’m concerned, if you’re better than you were yesterday, that’s all that matters.
Take it one day at a time and keep your eyes on the prize. You got this!
Related Reading:
How to Set Long & Short-Term Goals (And Reach Them Too!)
Jacob Sensible is a financial advisor with decades of experience in the financial planning industry. His journey into finance began out of necessity, stepping up to support his grandfather during a health crisis. This period not only grounded him in the essentials of stock analysis, investment strategies, and the critical roles of insurance and trusts in asset preservation but also instilled a comprehensive understanding of financial markets and wealth management. Jacob can be reached at: jake.sensiba@mygfpartner.com.
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In a world where everything is changing so dramatically and technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, people look for innovative ways to solve problems. The latter applies to all areas of life, including personal finance. Given this, you have surely heard the option of investing in cryptocurrencies today, making money from it and being the millionaire tomorrow. [Read more…]