Creating savings and "retirement" funding is as easy as budgeting and automation. Uh oh, I said "Budget" 🚩🚩🚩 Why is "budgeting" such a bad word?! I believe it's because there is a general lack of knowledge around financial literacy. We are a country that literally avoids the subject. Financial literacy is rarely, if ever, taught in schools, and we cannot even walk into our local banks and get the education that the 1% (the ultra wealthy) is provided with. Instead, in general, it has become 'taboo' to talk about money. Well here, we strive to empower through education! So today I am providing 3 simple rules that can make a huge different to help improve your financial state. In doing so, you can get back to that bubble bath and let your money work for you! 1. Pay yourself first. We all live "paycheck to paycheck" right? ...WRONG! Generally speaking, the more we make, the more we spend! So by figuring out which expenses are discretionary and which are non-discretionary, and where we can cut back (yes, this may be a little uncomfortable at first), then we can figure out an amount that can be saved each month for the long-term. Think growth, strengthening and stretching yourself financially. You wouldn't always want to just pick up the lightest weight in the gym. Strengthening your capability to save is the same, you might feel a little sore for a bit after, but you will also start to see results and feel more confident too! 2. Automate that money!! Set up a monthly amount to automatically go into the account that you choose for your long-term savings. And yes, by definition, this means this is not money that you are allowed to touch for many, many years! DO NOT TOUCH THIS MONEY, until retirement that is. So make sure you do have some liquid money that is in another account for emergencies first. 3. And finally, make sure that the account you DO set up for this long-term growth is one that is aligned with your risk tolerance, and is growing at a pace faster than inflation. It doesn't help you to be saving somewhere where the money is actually depreciating in value.

With this being the big “shopping weekend” I like to ask how you budget or plan for how you spend over the week of Thanksgiving? Many people talk about not having money over the holidays, but how are they preparing for it? Is it worked into the annual or monthly budget? Should it be? 🍲🍗First, people often spend more on food with Thanksgiving; many travel to be with loved ones for the holiday too. 🛍️Then there is Black Friday shopping (which now seems to fall over more than a week somehow). 🎁And finally, we have cyber Monday, and giving Tuesday! Did I miss anything? If you are interested in a free financial needs analysis to assess your budget, let us know. You can be scheduled with a licensed financial professional for a complimentary assessment.

Saw an interesting article this morning about predictions for Black Friday. Overall, shoppers expect to spend 4% less than last year. But the interesting numbers were in the breakdown by income. Households making 50,000 are expected to cut black Friday spending by 12%, while households earning $200,000 or more are expected to cut spending by 18%. Conventional wisdom would say the people who make less would be cutting more as the economy tightens. But it’s the higher wage earners who are reducing spending at higher percentages. It could be that higher wage earners are cutting out the extras, where lower wage earners use Black Friday as an opportunity to save on necessities. But during the recession I saw a phenomenon that I call “perceived poverty,” where donors with literally millions of dollars in the bank felt they couldn’t make a charitable contribution to my organization because they were “broke.” Anyways, this is fascinating to me. Why do you think higher wage runners are cutting back more?

Pensions. Social Security. Personal Savings. These are the three legs of retirement. Or at least they were established to be just that many decades ago. 🔴 Pensions have all but disappeared. If you are still in the working force and have a pension of more than $600 or $700 a month coming your way, then you are in the vast minority! And what is $700 going to cover in retirement anyway? That doesn’t even cover food now in most households! I have clients who easily spend $4-$500 a week on groceries for their families. 🟠 Social Security, well, how much faith do you have that it will not be greatly changed, reduced, or even completely wiped out by the time you, or your children, or your children’s children get to retirement age? In ‘The Power of Zero’ David McKnight talks about how when SS was first established in 1935, “…the math behind it ensured its financial viability into perpetuity” because we had around 42 working individuals paying into SS, for every one retired individual taking money out. Furthermore, at the time, the average life expectancy was 62, and the retirement age was 65! While our retirement age has not moved much, our life expectancy has increased to 85! One in 3 women live to age 90! And because the baby boomer generation did not have as many children when they grew up, our working to retired ratio (rather, those paying in, to those taking out SS) is more like 3 to 1, and moving into 2 to 1 very quickly. The math isn’t mathing anymore. 🟡 So what we are left with is Personal Savings… 😳 How much are you saving for retirement? Are you paying yourself first? Are you placing your money into a growth state and letting it compound at a higher interest rate and over a longer period of time? 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏼Who wants to learn how to empower themselves to save better? Take charge & 10x their money? What strategies are available to compound your savings faster? Let’s talk!

Of the four options below, what is your number one priority as a small business owner? If you aren't a small business owner, but hope to be one day, what would you say is most important for the success of your future business? Comprehensive Planning for your business: Here is a list of some areas that may have been ignored or unprioritized in the past but really SHOULDN'T be ignored. ☑️Business Preservation ☑️Wealth Accumulation ☑️Estate Planning ☑️Executive Benefits ☑️Business Transition Planning Here are some questions for thought: ✅What if you can not only strengthen your employees loyalty, but also support your own personal long-term business goals at the same time? ✅Would you want to learn more about how? ✅What is your 4+ month plan? ✅Are you protected and able to pay your bills long-term if you get injured or sick and cannot work for an extended period of time? ✅Will your business survive if you or a major key player on your team is out of commission? In the comments below, tell us about your business and where you feel like you struggle the most? What you would be most interested in learning more about? ~Additional information to be provided and discussed in Small Business Owners Part 2.