THE STARTING POINT
Your economic situation is a matter of choice not a matter of chance. In your every-day life, you may find it more and more difficult to delegate the time necessary to uncover information needed to plan a successful future. Many professionals subscribe to the theory that owning the proper products will produce the desired results that will create future success. Although products and investments are necessary, they are not the center point in planning your future. The products you purchase are not the source of your knowledge, they should be the result of your knowledge. Knowledge is some- thing you learn. Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge to your everyday life.
YOU CAN’T GET LOST IF YOU ALREADY ARE
What you must understand is that what you know today will determine your future success. The most important question when thinking about your future is very simple. Ask yourself, in planning a trip or your future, what is the most important thing you need to know? Most people will answer this incorrectly by saying you need to know where you’re going. What you really need to know is where you’re at, your starting point. How can you get from point A to point B if you don’t know where point A is?
VALUE
When you discover where you are at you will likely uncover options and opportunities in your life that, to this point, you were unaware of. What you need to understand is that everything in your life has value. Not only do your investments and savings have value, but many things that surround your everyday life also have value. Your possessions such as your home, cars and everything you own have value. Your ability to work, your business and your entire family, could also be valuable financial tools in your future.
Many people go through life believing the only way to prepare for their financial future is to rely on their personal retirement programs and government benefits. Although these are important factors, they are not the only ideas that should be considered when preparing for the future. Learning how your money works, in your life will allow you
to live the best life you can. Discovering "where you are at” and that everything in your life has value will be the starting point in creating a defining moment in the way you approach your life.
START VS FINISH
Almost every American has dreams of retirement and some ideas of creating a comfortable life in the future. Most Americans know how they want to finish life. Very few know how to get there. Traditional thinking and planning has failed many, and in the process destroyed dreams of a lifetime. Many problems of reaching goals in the future are caused by a lack of information and sound financial understanding. Getting to the finish line is not the goal, because everyone will finish. How they finish will be determined by the "start and the preparation” of getting to the finish line. If everyone is going to finish then the difference between finishing successfully or poorly will be determined in the strategy of running the race.
YOUR APPROACH
Everything you do in life and the results of your actions will depend upon how you prepare. If you wanted to become a doctor, you wouldn’t prepare by studying all the art courses you could in college, would you? No, unless of course you were interested in having the fanciest waiting room in the world. To be a doctor, you would study all the appropriate courses and then enter into medical school.
Your money is no different. You need to apply a thought process to where you want to be in your financial future. Heading into that future without a clue of how your money works will expose you to many unintended consequences. Now is the time to understand how your money works and discover all of the opportunities that may be right in front of you. The defining moment in your life will occur when you are no longer "out of control” in your financial life.
Analyzing and understanding your financial situation will give you a clearer view of opportunities you have and will guide you in making better life decisions in the future.