So how does the current state of the economy and the state of the stock market in the year you retire, influence the retirement income you have to live on for the rest of your life?
Lower Investment Returns
So how does the current state of the economy and the state of the stock market in the year you retire, influence the retirement income you have to live on for the rest of your life?
Lower Investment Returns
As part of my on-going series on presenting excerpts from this seminal book on money, Think and Grow Rich. Here is yet another small slice from Chapter 2 - Desire: The Starting Point of all Achievement.
Throughout the book, you’ll read about people that exemplified many of the characteristics Napoleon Hill talks about so passionately. The book was revised and updated recently to include stories about people such as Bill Gates. One of the stories on Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, how she got started, is fascinating. Below are some tips she offers from an article she wrote titled: Personal Excellence.
Imagine Yourself Successful
Always picture yourself successful. Visualize the person you desire to become. Set aside time each day to be alone and undisturbed. Get comfortable and relax. Close your eyes and concentrate on your desires and goals. See yourself in this new environment, capable and self-confident.
Reflect On Your Past Successes
Every success, be it large or small, is proof that you are capable of achieving more successes. Celebrate each success. You can recall it when you begin to lose faith in yourself.
Set Definite Goals
Have a clear direction of where you want to go. Be aware when you begin to deviate from these goals and take immediate corrective action.
Respond Positively to Life
Develop a positive self-image. Your image, your reactions to life and your decisions are completely within your control.
As a fee-only financial planner, lately some new clients have asked if I could use a different word besides budget when discussing their cash flow plan. Words do matter and for many reasons, the word budget congers up all sorts of negative thoughts and feelings. So for that reason and many others, lose the word budget and replace it with two words - spending plan.
Before you decide on a spending plan, keep one major goal in mind - your savings plan. Paying yourself first, meaning, putting your savings and investments to work by automatically funding these accounts first before paying your bills is the key to long-term financial success.
How many of you reading this blog have read Think and Grow Rich, written by Napoleon Hill? I heard about this book many times and honestly had the wrong impression of it. Perhaps it was the word rich in the title that threw me or maybe I thought it was a get rich quick book like so many others that end up only making the author rich. Either way, what a gem of a book this is.
Think and Grow Rich was first published in 1937 at the height of the depression. Think about that…writing a book about getting rich when all around there was so much misery and pain. That takes chutzpah to write a book like that during the depression.
Visiting clients at their home is old school, I know that, but I still love it. Sometimes I feel like the small town doctor making house visits. At a recent client meeting in Sebastopol, CA, before we moved into the discussion about financial planning, my clients shared pictures of baby grey foxes that set up home right in their front yard.
Another local client always wraps up our meetings by opening a bottle of his own estate grown wine. Living in wine country feels like a movie set as we sip and chat while overlooking his beautiful vineyards.
From the start of the financial crisis right up until today, we have been bombarded with story after story of how much wealth was vaporized from the global financial system. It seems all the news is about dollars and cents. How much did your 401k or 403b go down? How about your IRA’s, your home value? Everything is focused on the material-money, and little conversation is had discussing the emotional, physical and spiritual ramifications this crisis is having on regular people’s lives.
As a financial planner working mainly with couples, I see firsthand the damage this crisis has had and continues to have on relationships. Let’s face it; money is a tricky enough subject to deal with when things are good. But when the s**t hits the fan, whether it’s a job loss, too much credit card debt, too much spending, not enough saving, you name it, the inability to communicate and resolve conflict grows and grows and the risk to your relationship grows as well.
“He who knows the universe and does not know himself knows nothing”-Jean De La Fontaine, 1679
David M. Walker is the former Comptroller General of the US. He is someone that truly cares about the financial wellness of our country. I saw him last night on the Ed Schultz show on MSNBC. I’m definitely going to get his new book: Come Back America-Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility. Walker writes on social security, healthcare reform, Medicaid and Medicare, tax reform, our international deficits, political reforms and more. Like it or not, we need to keep our eye on ball and this 'call to action' book gives us information and the hope we need to turn things around.
I came across this passage in the book: Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, written by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It really makes you think…
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit - Helen Keller
