Many newspaper articles, emails, and primetime news stories have been talking about the possibility of inflation and hyperinflation lately. While we are of the mind that inflation will occur at some point, we don’t know when it will be or how much it will be. So I wanted to share with you this advice about inflation: don’t worry about it. What?! That is not at all what the media is saying. I know – they use fear and anxiety to get people all riled up because it keeps them in business. Let me explain what I mean when I say not to worry.
Inflation or hyperinflation is beyond my control, and it’s beyond your control. It may happen tomorrow or it may happen in 10 years. We don’t know. Think of worrying about inflation like getting on a stationary bike. You can pedal faster and faster, working yourself into a big sweat, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. You are still in the same place you were when you started pedaling.
But that doesn’t mean to stick your head in the sand and do nothing either. There are things that you CAN control in an effort to make your finances secure. Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you living within your means?
- Do you have debt?
- Are you saving money each month in a savings account?
- Are you investing some money each month?
- Do you have goals?
These are all things you can control. You can figure out how to stop spending more than you make (do you really NEED Netflix or cable TV?). You can work to eliminate your debt (by the way, if you’ve got some debt check out our Debt Elimination Course). You can set goals for yourself and work towards them. You can put your money in various investments and what we call economic pivot points, so if something does happen in the future that causes some of your investments to lose worth, it might cause others to gain value.
So what’s the take-away here? Don’t stress yourself out worrying about the possibility that inflation could occur. Start today working on what you can control in your finances so that you have a good shot when inflation does happen (IF it happens in your lifetime). As always, if you need help getting your finances in order, get in touch with iMoneyCoach. We have helped numerous people reach financial freedom and get to a place where they love life.
Tags: finances, inflation, media, money, savings, spending, worry
The 8th and final post in this blog series on Improving Your Life to Improve Your Finances will cover the financial aspect. It is intentionally the last topic I’m covering. You see, at iMoneyCoach we believe that money is the smallest part of your finances. The more people can realize that, the more financially successful they can become.
Having set goals in the other areas of your life, and having realized how the decisions you make in those areas affect your finances, you can begin working on improving your finances. Whether you have loads of debt or are living a great life debt-free, we believe there is always room for improvement.
Here are some of the basic principles we share with our clients and friends that will make a great difference in your finances:
- Always work from a “spending plan” – yes, a budget – When you have a plan for your money, you can control spending and make sure that you are setting aside enough for saving and investing. You can have a plan for getting out of debt as well as incorporate goals (like saving enough for a down payment on a house or building up enough to pay cash for your next car).
- Never spend more than you earn. It sounds simple and straightforward, but in our country credit is relatively easy to come by, and instant gratification is a king. We need to turn this around by making sure that we spend less than we earn each month. A “spending plan” will help you do this, by the way.
- Track all income and expenses. The only way to stick to a budget is by tracking your income and expenses so you know where you stand with your budget. If you say you are going to spend $500 on groceries but don’t track how much you actually spend, you may really be spending $600 (that’s a $1200 yearly spending leak!). Start today by writing down all income and expenses as they happen.
- Evaluate all “good deals” based on your spending plan. You may see a TV that’s marked down 60% – that’s a great deal, how could you pass that up? Even if something is an awesome deal, it may not fit with YOUR budget. If you’ve been saving up for a TV for a while and know what you can afford, then you can seriously consider that deal. But if it’s not in your budget, it’s not a good deal for you.
- Get out of debt and stay out of debt. Debt eats away at your dreams and goals. It takes away from your future. When you get out of debt, you are freeing up funds for saving and investing as well as eliminating the stress of making those payments each month.
- Seek wise counsel and diversify your investment. You work hard for your money, so you want to invest it wisely and make it grow. It is a good idea to talk to someone who knows and understands finances and investing to make sure you know your options and choose the best route for you. You also never know what is going to happen for sure, especially in our recent rough economic times, so it’s a good idea to diversify your investments – but this means so much more than what “diversifying your portfolio” normally does these days. If you want more information on this, be sure to give us a call.
These are just some of the principles we live by at iMoneyCoach. A full list of the basic principles we believe are necessary for a happy and healthy life are available on our Financial Constitution page. We work with our clients and have developed online courses based on these principles. Our goal is to get clients to a place where they can honestly and enthusiastically say, “I love my life!” I hope this blog series has been helpful – if you missed one, be sure to go back and read through to find out how finding balance and improving each of the 5 areas of your life can change your finances. And once you’ve read those, be sure to check out our website as well as our iMoneyCoach University where you will find fully narrated, interactive, online courses designed to help you make the most of your money and enjoy your life.
Tags: financially successful, get out of debt, improve your finances, improving your life, money, spending plan, stay out of debt
We as humans are spiritual beings. As such, it is important to maintain our spiritual life as part of balancing our whole lives so that we can be successful and leave a lasting significance. If you neglect your spiritual life, you will eventually feel an emptiness or longing for something more. Often when people have not taken care of the spiritual aspect of their lives and have developed this emptiness, they tend to make drastic changes to try and satisfy that need. This can cause an imbalance in other areas of life, creating more problems to fix. We suggest taking some small steps and building up to balance (this is true for any area of life).
iMoneyCoach recommends these fundamentals for balancing your spiritual life:
- Know what you believe about your creator and why. This will help you put your life into focus and shape the decisions you make. If you believe you were created for a certain purpose, then this will be reflected in the choices you make with your whole life, including your body, relationships, career, and finances.
- Share your beliefs with others in a kind and loving way. There is no need to beat someone over the head with your beliefs, but if they are truly important to you then you should be sharing them (again, in a kind and loving way). Someone once said that if you believed a truck was coming down the street and would hit a person standing in the middle of the road, you would tell them that the truck was coming rather than watch as they get hit. The same holds true with spiritual beliefs.
- Spend time regularly for reflection and prayer. It is easy to get caught up in the daily “to-do” lists and all the distractions of life, but putting aside time for reflection and prayer can have a huge impact.
This concept of life balance is key to the iMoneyCoach philosophy. Learn more about it on our website or in our fully narrated, interactive online courses that you can take in the privacy of your own home at any time that is convenient for you.
In my last blog I discussed ways you can improve your potential for income in your current job. Sometimes though we all have to consider whether a job change might be something we need to do. And while sometimes the answer is yes, it may be wise to stay where you are and follow the advice I gave on ways to improve your skills and chances of a raise.
One example that we like to share on this topic is the story of a successful realtor who made great money and was a mentor to other realtors because of his success. But he felt unfulfilled spiritually and decided to quit his job in real estate to write books. This all sounds fulfilling, but his books didn’t sell, so he couldn’t make his house payment and ended up losing his home. This caused problems with his family because they couldn’t depend on him to provide for them. This could have been avoided had he done a few things, like making sure that he could sell as an author before giving up his income, generating alternative income sources, and taking small steps to create balance instead of completely overturning his life.
So before you quit your job for a hobby or even another career you think you would enjoy, be sure to think about the ramifications of that change. Question whether or not you will be able to make a living doing that other thing. How will it impact your family? Will you need to totally reconstruct your budget?
If you think a career change is the best thing for you, here are some tips to keep in mind as you are considering and searching for a new career:
- Do some research. Is there a career out there you think you might want to have? See what it would take to get into that field. Do you need more education or experience? Talk to people who are already in the field and see how they got there. Sometimes it helps to have a friend in the career you are looking at when you are trying to get a new job.
- Look for other opportunities with your current employer. Perhaps you are not happy in your current position, but is there something more fulfilling or something better suited to within your current company? Check out the current job postings or chat with your boss about the possibilities.
- Consider who will be affected. Be sure to discuss your ideas with your spouse. Consider how a new career would impact your family. Make a list of pros and cons. The confidence you can gain from having the support of your family as you search for a job can be very beneficial.
- Think About the Future. Consider whether the new career you are considering is one that is just hot right now or if it stands to last the test of time. Is it a stable career that you can count on for a long time?
- Don’t burn bridges. You don’t know if the new career will work out for sure, and there could be a time when you need to fall back on your old career. So just because you are leaving your current job doesn’t mean you should leave a bad impression with peers, colleagues, or superiors.
If you’d like more advice or want to talk to people who can help you decide whether a career change might be beneficial, you can call and talk to one of our Financial Life Coaches at (303) 462-2001. Or be sure to check out The CALL to see what career is right for you.
Tags: finances, improve work, job
If I tell you that improving your work life can improve your finances you might say “duh.” How do I think you get your money in the first place? But I’m talking about more than just hoping you get a raise each year just because a year has passed. At iMoneyCoach, we believe it is important to improve your work life in order to improve your finances. Not only can these ideas give you a possibility for more income, but they can help you find an overall balance in your life. And if your life is balanced, you will be happier, healthier, and more financially successful.
- Always be productive working in an area of your expertise. You will likely be much more successful working in an area that you know and are good at than a field where you don’t know what you are doing. This may sound obvious, but many people end up in careers that do not suit them or are not a good use of their expertise, and they might benefit from a change (more on this next week!).
- Create more value for your employer than what you are being paid. If you make $10 an hour and work like you make $10 an hour, then why would you expect a raise? Asked another way, why would your employer feel compelled to pay you more if you are producing exactly what he is paying you for already? If you work like you make $11 an hour, your employer can see your effort and value and may be more likely to give you a raise.
- Create more value for your clients/customers than what you are being paid. When you give clients a greater value, they will likely return to you and send you referrals.
- Spend time improving your skills and increasing your knowledge. Consider taking classes or doing research to continually improve and keep up on your career. This will help you in your current position and would be beneficial should you want or need to search for another job.
- Be positive. It can be easy to fall into the habit of complaining about work and co-workers and bosses, but maintaining a positive attitude can do wonders. Try to be friendly to your co-workers, and look for the positive in your projects. Your positive attitude can have a huge impact on the work you produce.
Now, some of these concepts are taken from the iMoneyCoach Constitution where we have created a list of principles to live by. Be sure to check it out to see the principles in each of the 5 life segments. Next week we’ll talk about career seeking – and how to decide if a new career might be right for you.
Tags: improve your finances, improve your work, job, skills
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