The Naked Truth About Your Finances
You work hard. You want to get ahead. Money stresses you out at the worst of times and is super boring to focus on at the best of times. What do rich people have, apart from money, that you don’t have?
Transparency: Rich people have a very clear picture of their finances — both what is happening today and what is anticipated to happen in the future. Confused about how your credit card debt will impact your retirement? Unclear about how much it will really cost you to send your kids to college? Wondering whether you should save, spend, invest, or pay down debt with that $1,000 bonus you received? The first thing you need to do if you want to be on the path to financial security is embrace the truth. Really understand your current situation, and only from there can a proper strategy be developed to get you where you want to be.
Continuous Updating: It is a lot of work to put together your complete financial picture on your own, even if you have a relatively simple situation. Think about estimating your federal and state taxes accurately, understanding the rules around social security and Medicare, and what about having kids, caring for elderly parents, and more? Markets move, the economy changes, and your life is constantly evolving. Finding the best way to keep up with changing lives in a changing world, so you are not blindsided is key. Being aware of your financial situation is not a one-time event- it is an ongoing, always and forever, need.
Analysis: What if….? What if I get married? What if I get divorced? What if I lose my job? What if I rent instead of buy? What if I want to take 6 months maternity leave? What if I downsize my house when the kids are grown? What if I retire at 68 instead of 65? To best understand how different scenarios, impact your bottom line requires the ability to do the analysis. Most wealthy people have small armies of (very expensive) financial advisors who do this for them. You need someone to do this for you so you can make the best choices to achieve what matters most.
Focus: Ignoring your money is not a strategy if you want it to go to work for you. Finding ways to learn more, understand, and make this a focal point of at least part of every week is critical to achieving success. Learning how your finances work, what levers you have to play with to change your situation and understanding the resources available to you is all critically important.
You can improve your financial situation, but you have to make an effort, and you probably can’t do it without some help. Financial advisors typically cost between $2,000-$5,000 for a financial plan — which is stale the moment you leave their offices. Worse, some financial advisors are trying to sell you investment products that will make THEM wealthy, not you. You need affordable financial advice that is in your best interest.
Pefin provides you transparency into your finances and is continuously updating to give you the information you need, when you need it. Pefin provides simple and straightforward ways for you to answer your “what if” questions and provides relevant content so you can learn about what matters most to you.
The Naked Truth is that you can improve your financial situation, and Pefin can help with affordable, fiduciary financial advice at your fingertips.
