Can or Cannot, Will or Will Not ? Everything is a Choice
by Lou Scatigna
I was cruising around Facebook today and it seems that everywhere I turn, people are posting quotes in their statuses about choices. So I thought to myself, Lou, how can I apply this to finance to get people to think more about their financial futures and their level of commitment to their own financial literacy? Waiting for the ?AHA? moment? Ok, so here it is: If everything we do in life is a choice, good/bad, up/down, wealthy/in debt, then why can?t we just choose to be wealthy? Is there a simple answer? Maybe not; but there are some simple choices you can make to help build your financial health and lead you to that choice of building wealth.
Let?s start with something simple: how do you choose to spend your morning? Do you eat breakfast with your spouse/children and have a nice conversation? That?s great, more power to you! Do you grab something and run out the door, waving goodbye to whoever happens to be in your path? Hey, if it works for you?. Do you sit at your desk, read the paper and maybe listen to some talk radio or watch the news? OK, good choice?but is it the best choice? None of these are bad choices if they work for you, but we can go one better.
If you are the ?sit with the family and enjoy breakfast? type- great. How about adding a little conversation about the state of the family?s finances? Or maybe play a little financial game with the kids? How about getting the old newspaper out and talking about what?s going on in the world and how it affects the family, especially financially? Enjoy some conversation while teaching the kids to be more financially literate, it?ll help them learn and give you some quality time with them; not to mention keeping you up to date on your financial affairs and involving the family in the decision making. Kids learn by example, if you are interested in the economy, chances are, they will learn to be too.
Alright, you ?run out the door? types, your turn. I?m not here to judge you on your choices, but let?s see what happens if we add ten minutes onto your morning by drinking a cup of coffee and glancing over the financial section of the paper. News programs only take a few minutes to catch you up on the headlines and you can listen while getting dressed. Staying informed on what is going on in the world today makes financial sense; if you don?t know the state of the economy, how can you make decisions as a consumer? Turn on CNN when you get out of the shower. Listen to some talk radio when you are commuting to work. There are a lot of ways to keep informed without having to sit down and read the paper from cover to cover. Try something new and you might learn something about how to build your financial wealth?just from tuning in for a few minutes.
Desk jockeys, how about you? You read the paper, you listen to the news, you cruise the internet for information ? that?s great. Do you share it with your spouse?? Do you go home and talk about what you?ve learned that day? Do you ask your significant other what his/her opinion is on the economy? Do you ask for opinions on the family finances? Are you part of a team effort or are you the sole proprietor of the family finances? Conversations are important; share the wealth of knowledge that you accumulate. Take ten minutes each day to talk to your spouse about what is important to your family and how you can improve the financial future of your family. It works ? try it.
Life is full of choices. What stocks to buy, what to invest in, how much gold to own, what financial adviser to choose, how much to put in the retirement fund, how much to put aside each month for your kids? college fund.? I know sometimes it seems like the choices are out of your hands; you feel you can?t afford to save, you can?t afford to invest; there?s nothing left at the end of the month to put aside for a rainy day.? Life gets overwhelming, but if you think about the things you choose to have, but don?t necessarily need to have, you may find some wiggle room in there somewhere.? Do you really need the big, expensive house you live in or could you make do if you downsized a bit? Do you really need a new car right now? Do you need to go to the movies every weekend and then out to dinner? Do you see what I?m getting at here? Define your actual needs and differentiate from the wants in your life and you have some choices you can make.
Don?t be controlled by your feelings of material entitlement; make a choice to live a simpler life and to communicate with your spouse. Teach your kids to earn and save, not to beg and splurge as kids today tend to do.? Just about everything in life is a choice except birth and death. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt: ?In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.? You can choose to live in a way that supports the building of wealth; the question is ? will you make that choice?
Article source: http://www.thefinancialphysician.com/blog/2012/09/its-all-about-choices-2/
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