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The loss of a loved one can leave a woman crippled with grief, sorrow and a sense of lethargy. But circumstances all too often push her into making life decisions she feels she’s not ready for. Following are some suggestions that, hopefully, can ease the burden.
1. Locate all important documents. These include insurance policies, deeds, stock & bond certificates, bank & brokerage statements, employee retirement statements, wills or any estate planning documents.
2. Contact Social Securitybecause you (or minor children) may be eligible for benefits now or at retirement.
Last week I attended a fantastic recycling meeting and we watched the “Story of Stuff” at http://thestoryofstuff.com. Now I consider myself to be pretty environmental, but there is a lot more I could be doing in my home and office. As organizers we are always encouraging our clients to re-use, recycle or donate what you don’t need, use or love. But this is only the half the battle and there is so much more we can do in terms of bringing less into our homes.
When I was in the financial planning industry, people asked me this a lot, especially regarding their earnings, and how much to save for emergencies and retirement. They wanted me to tell them where they should be, because they hadn't examined it for themselves.
When talking about income, a client once told me, "I need to make $100,000." I asked her why. She said, "Because it will tell others I've made it, that I'm a successful business woman." "But what if your perfect life costs $64,789.32 a year?", I asked. She gave me that tilted look my German Shepherds sometimes do.
The January Issue of the Chief Learning Officer magazine states that Financial Education Could be the New Employee Assistance. It says 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and USA Today cites concern about personal finances as the number one cause of stress on the job. Does this resonate with you?
Are you ready to create a healthy financial life for yourself and your family? You don’t have to do everything all at once. It’s really all about taking one step at a time. But, if you don’t take the first step you’ll never reach your goal. And, everyone’s goals are different. The goals I have today are much different than the goals I had when I began getting my financial act together. What’s most important is to get started and get started today because time is not our friend when we procrastinate. I’m going to share a few steps with you:
According to Peter Walsh, the Professional Organizer on TLC's Clean Sweep, "diets don't work." Why? "Because they focus on what foods we should and shouldn't eat, but completely ignore everything else that makes us overweight." We are all guilty. We want to lose weight, but we eat too much, make poor food choices and don't exercise as often as we should. The same is true for organizing. We want to be organized, but we continue to bring more into our homes, we let the piles grow and don't dedicate the time or energy to change. Not to mention these piles all represent dollars in terms of duplication, buying things we don't need or the loss of square footage in our homes. It's March, the days are longer and warmer weather is (hopefully) around the corner; there's no better time to de-clutter and commit to getting organized. Stop talking about it, stop sitting in front of the TV and stop waiting for the perfect time. The time is now to get organized!
Many professionals I meet, when they discover I'm a Financial Success Coach, will ask me, "What do I need to do to make more money?"
I have the distinct pleasure of coaching some very high earners, and rather than ask how much more they need to do to meet their financial goals, they focus on who they need to be - what areas of their personality they need to develop or change to reach greater levels of accomplishment.
And therein, sometimes, lies the problem. More people than ever have entered the ranks of the self-employed, so it seems everyone we know has a business of some kind. With that comes a certain expectation on their part that if you’re a friend, that you will also be a client.
Not wanting to stand in the way of their success, we often do so without asking the questions we would if we didn't know them. This shifts us from doing business by reputation to business by obligation.
If you’re tired of being in credit card debt and ready to dig yourself out you can do it – one small step at a time.
Begin by making a list of your credit card debt including the account, current balance, interest rate and minimum payment. I know this scares the heck out of a lot of people because they know they owe a lot – just not how much. But as Eleanor Roosevelt said “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience you stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
If you don't already know it -- your credit report is your financial report card. It's as important to you as the SAT is to high school students. Most of the questions I get after my opening keynote at Money Wi$e Women Conferences are related to credit reports and scores. We normally offer a breakout session on credit reports and it's usually packed. Debbie Leviton with CFA NW Mortgage has presented the credit report breakout session with great feedback.
Debbie just announced that she's offering a five-hour training on understanding your credit report and scores. The training is on Saturday, March 22 in Kirkland. To register or for more information contact Heather Russell at 425-893-8903 or email her at hnew@cfahomeloans.com.
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