Tag Archive for: Personal Finance

Do you know where your money goes?

If you are like most people, you have no idea where your pay check went. Often you have more month left after all your money has gone.

Let me ask you, when you get paid do you pay yourself first? Do you do something fun then try to pay your bills or do you have a plan?

If you are not successfully budgeting and are frequently struggling with your personal finances then I highly recommend that you take a look at YNAB. Yes it stands for You Need A Budget.

It has 4 key rules;

  1. Give every dollar a job
  2. Embrace your expenses
  3. Roll with the punches
  4. Age your money

Do yourself a favour and check them out here, and enroll in one of their classes ( they have several). There is always something to learn. Or you could pick up their book here.

Cheers,

Pat

5 Ways to Avoid a Personal Financial Crisis

Here are some tips on what you should do to avoid a personal financial crisis:

1) Have an emergency slush fund

You should have at least 3 months of living expenses put away in case the worst happens. I am not talking about putting it in your mattress or in a coffee can. These funds should be liquid and fairly easy to access quickly but not so that you can dip into them & buy something if the whim strikes you. My wife and I have used an ING investment savings account, you could do something similar or open a Tax Free Savings account, that way your emergency fund is tax protected.

2) Know your income and expenses

Most people might know how much they make but have no idea how much they are spending. When I got out of University I worked as a personal trainer for a few years. When I took on a new client, I would have them keep track of what and when they ate for a week to give them a better idea of what is really going on in regards to their health. Your finances are no different, take a 30 day period, create an excel spreadsheet for example and track all income and expenses. Then sit down and take a real good look at it and decided if it is needed or not. Trim the fat and put the saving’s into your newly developed emergency fund.

3) Diversify your income

What I mean by this is don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Develop a secondary income stream incase something were to happen to your day job. Turn that passion or hobby into a business. Invest in real estate. Build a residual income stream by joining a network marketing or direct selling company. Make sure that what ever you do, it’s something that you are passionate about and will allow you to add to your bottom line. The other advantage is that your new business could become a great tax deduction, check with your accountant to make sure that it is structured properly.

4) Give your self an immediate 18-20% return!

How is this possible you may ask? It’s easier than you may think. Do it by paying off your debt. Start with your higher interest debt, your credit cards which are anywhere from 12%-18%, or if it is a department store card, it could be as high as 24%. Next your car payment, unless you have a 0% loan, you are probally paying 7-9%. Lastly your mortgage 3-7%. If you need a detailed plan on how to do this quickly, let me know I have designed quite a few of them.

5) Lastly make sure that your affairs are in order.

I am not trying to sound morbid, but we don’t live forever. Have a proper estate plan, have health insurance for your and your loved ones, and have an insurance policy big enough so that the one’s you leave behind are not faced with an immediate financial crisis. For this point I suggest consulting with your personal estate lawyer as well as your financial planner. If you don’t have one I can suggest for legal advice or here are two good options for financial planning.

Bonus point….and this should be a no brainer.

To achieve anything on this list, you should have a plan. Start with a clear picture of the current state of your finances. How much time do you have between where you are now and where you want to be? With the help of one of the financial planners above or your own, develop your plan and work your plan. Remember to be flexible in your approach, know what’s working or not, and be willing to make the necessary changes to insure that you achieve your goal.

*Note that I receive no gain monetary or other wise from promoting the services or products in this post.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions and I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.

Sales Pitch

We all love to buy, but generally we don’t like to be sold. I like to compare it to driving, unless I am in the driver’s seat it’s just not the same. Let’s just face it we have all been sold to at one time or another. It’s just the experience of the sales process that some of us have trouble with.

You have to admit that you are almost pre-programmed to say that “Thanks I am just looking” when a sales person comes up to you at a retail store and says “May I help you with anything”?. Think of it for a minute, would your response be different if their approach was different?

When I first started as a broker almost 7 years ago now, my first branch manager (who was more of a bull in a china shop kind of salesman) at them time told me to call people up, tell them what I did and expect business to be thrown at my feet! Not only did that not work, I was not comfortable doing it. I turned to Google and did a search for cold calling techniques. I stumbled upon a site now called unlockthegame. Had a great chat with Ari Galper and hired him to teach me his process. The rest they say is history, more or less a night and day difference from what other sales trainers teach.

I have implemented his approach in all my dealings with clients and also use it in almost all my communication but mostly unconsiously. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some people using old fashion sales approaches and are doing quite well. If you want to improve your financial postion and want to be “sold” there are a number of people who I could refer you to, however if you want to uncover the root causes and find a solution that meets your need, then feel free to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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