Designing the Financial Environment

Designing the Financial Environment

Review the following to help you evaluate and bring your “Finances” more in-line with your goals. Having your fianancial environment in order will lead to less stress.

DEFINITION:

The financial environment is your money, investments, property, savings, debt, and future goals that will require money or impact your financial health.

Why is this environment important? What Causes Financial Stress?

Here is a snip from an article, 10 Tips to Deal with Money Stress by Laura Adams, MBA, Money Girl

“As a Financial Life Coach, I typically work with clients who have some amount of anxiety about what’s going on with their money. I help them identify exactly what the problem is so we can pinpoint the most effective solutions. That’s the first step—to really understand where your stress comes from. When you strip down the issues, there are four fundamental reasons why people get stressed about their finances:

Money Stress #1: Drowning
Money Stress #2: Barely Surviving”

So we want to assess and evaluate so you don’t have stress!

Money – Do you have a budget for your household and business? Money is often said to be the #1 stressor when it is controlling you. When you have a plan for your money, you can tell it what to do, regardless of how much you have. Setting a budget is the first step. Personally, I am what Dave Ramsey calls a “free spirit” and budgets are not something I naturally do either, however, if you look at it as a tool for your strategic and long-term success, it is a tool you don’t want to be without. See this budget worksheet. If you want more on this, I highly recommend Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey or a live one near you.

In your budget be sure that you have a:

  • Plan for reducing debt – if you have debt, look at where you want to attack it first. Having a plan will help you streamline your efforts to really get rid of it and not endlessly pay a little here and there.
  • Have an emergency fund –  when you have extra for the unexpected, there is less stress and you will have more energy and strength creating a positive environment.

Will and future planning – A will and the supporting documents are very important and can get you in quite a pickle if an unexpected life event happens. Do yourself and your family a favor and make sure your will and the surrounding documents (living will, power of attorney, etc) are up to date.

Insurance and coverage – How are your policies? Do they cover what you need? It is good to assess your plans and what they cover periodically. If you have not looked for a while, call your agent and do a checkup.

Investments – once you have a budget and are earning and saving in a healthy way, you can INVEST! Have a goal and a plan. Be on the same page with your spouse. Take time to talk through these things.

SUMMARY: Take a few hours this weekend to get your financial environment in tip-top shape. The holidays are right around the corner and going into them with a budget will be a blessing and reduce your stress!

Keep Charging & Shine!
Christy Geiger, Executive/Leadership Coach

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