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Personal Finance

We are taught to believe that wealth comes from having access to lots of money. But experience has shown me that this is not true. I was raised in a billionaire household and yet lived most of my early adulthood in deep anxiety about my personal finances. At the age of forty, I was a single mother with $2 million of debt and no idea of how financial systems work.

Living a life of prosperity – creating the right riches for you – has nothing to do with how much money you have around you. It is about having a healthy mindset and a willingness to create.

Of course, wealth creation is easiest if you have the right tools, so here are some that I believe are key to financial freedom. Most exciting, every single one of them is within your reach, right now!

Self-worth

This might surprise you and perhaps sounds a little cliché, but experience has shown me that self-worth is the key to creating wealth. Why do 70% of lottery winners lose their money within five years? Because, at a deep level, they do not believe they can have this type of wealth. Or it may be they feel they don’t deserve it. Either way, this unconscious lack of self-worth drives them to make unhealthy decisions and unwise investments.

You must be invested in your own fulfilment to invest time and energy into researching your best financial options.

If you want to create the right riches for you, it is vital that you value yourself enough to make the best choices for you. You must love you enough to say ‘no’ to yourself. You must believe you are worthy so you can make truly wise decisions. You must be invested in your own fulfilment to invest time and energy into researching your best financial options.

When it comes to wealth creation, self-worth is the foundational tool. Without it, nothing else matters.

Questions

Most people are unaware of the power of a question, but queries are an effective tool in many facets of life, including wealth creation. Firstly, asking yourself questions can reveal your underlying beliefs about money and highlight your unconscious points of view. This is important information to have as you set out on your journey to p08rosperity.

…queries are an effective tool in many facets of life, including wealth creation

How do you view money? Is it a happy or sad thing? Is money easy to make? Why or why not? What should people do when they have lots of money? Save or spend? Why? What are your family’s views on money? What does your culture or religion say about money? All of these questions, if answered honestly, can offer you vital insight into your point of view about wealth and, most importantly, how you may try to sabotage your own financial well-being.

Secondly, questions can help you navigate those awkward moments when you want to spend money impulsively, or frivolously. Wealth creation is about wise decisions, and experience has shown me that wise decisions are not aligned at all with out-of-control emotions and desperate yearnings!

When you find yourself about to make a significant impulse buy, use questions to bring yourself back to reality. Can you live without this item? (The answer to this question is normally “yes”.) Once you know you can survive without the item, you can realize the purchase is a choice. Is this the right time to spend money on that kind of purchase? How will the purchase affect your other financial plans? Is the purchase more possible and appropriate at a later time?

When you ask a question, you activate your creativity and intuition

Finally, questions draw our awareness to new and exciting possibilities and help us create financial opportunities that we have never before considered. We are taught that the key to any step forward is to make judgements, come to decisions and form conclusions. But, this way of thinking actually limits our decisions to knowledge we already know, or possibilities we have already considered. When you ask a question, you activate your creativity and intuition – you open your mind to recognize and consider ideas that are not simple replays of your past.

If you really want to be a powerful wealth creator, keep asking questions: What else is possible? What is right about this situation that I’m not getting? What do I have to be or do different today to create and generate more money right away? Vitally, don’t immediately come to conclusions. Instead, let the answers and ideas reveal themselves to you in their own time.

Internet

Ok, this one seems pretty obvious, but when you have a firm belief in your worthiness and a mind that is open to all possibility, then the internet becomes more than an information highway – is an incredible realm of opportunity. With the internet at your fingertips, there is no excuse to be poorly informed about your finances. Looking to invest? Research the company or fund statements. Wanting to learn new ideas? Enrol in online courses and seminars. Want to see what opportunities are available to you, right now? Real-time updates of stock, commodities and real estate are all at your disposal. So get moving, and make the internet work for you!

Curry Glassell is a dynamic producer, author, speaker, philanthropist, Right Riches for You facilitator and art-loving mother of two who loves helping people realize what’s actually out there for them in the world, if they let it in. For more information: www.curryglassell.com

The holidays are over and the year is finally in full swing again (sigh of relief). But for many of us, after the dinner parties, holiday shopping, travel and family-get-togethers subside, we have a not-so-friendly holiday reminder when our credit card statement shows up… and is rolled over to the next month, then the next. The holidays can certainly add up to additional spending and often that spending is done on credit.

Regardless of your current financial situation, no matter how much debt you have incurred, you don’t have to get that sick feeling when you look at your money. There is a way to get out of debt and create the finances you desire – with joy and ease.

Here are my top 5 tips for getting out of debt and staying there:

You are the one who can change it

This is a really important first step and one that is often over-looked. A new financial reality is up to YOU. You are the source for creating it. If you are waiting on some event to take place to change things for you, you could be waiting a very long time.

Winning the lotto, gaining an inheritance, marrying a rich person or getting an amazing promotion with a significant increase in pay could happen, but do you really wish to hope for some event to come and change things for you? Or would you like to start changing things now?

When you recognize that you are the source for creating your life, you are empowered to change it. Commit to your life. Commit to taking action. Ask, “What’s it going to take to have the financial situation I desire?” Now choose.

Take an honest look at your finances

How were you with money, growing up? Were you educated about money? Was money talked about? Or was it hidden? Ignored? A topic that was avoided?

If you came from a family that avoided the topic of money, you may find that you have carried that over into adulthood. The problem with this is that ignoring your finances does nothing to change them. If you would like something different, you have to be willing to take a look at where you are today. Not from a place of judging you. Rather from the place of, “Here’s where I am. What’s it going to take to change this?”

Once you are clear on how much debt you have, work out how much extra you would need to pay each month towards your credit card debt to be out of debt in 12 – 24 months. If you have more than one credit card to pay off, what are the possibilities of consolidating your debt?

Change your perspective on money

How many points of view do you have about money? Your point of view creates your reality. If you desire to have a different reality, be willing to change your points of view. If you have decided that you have to work hard for money, guess what? You will work hard for every dollar that comes in.

What if money could come to you easily? What if you were able to receive money from many places? What points of view about money would you have to lose in order to create that with ease?

To change your points of view about money, use this tool. For every point of view that you notice, say, “Interesting point of view, I have that point of view.” As you say this, you will notice that all of those points of view that you have made, real, true and significant become simply interesting. And when they are simply interesting, you are free to let them go and choose another perspective.

Carry around the amount of cash you think a rich person would carry

How different would you feel about your life if you saw a big wad of cash every time you opened your wallet or purse instead of a lot of blank space and some half-crunched up receipts?

Practice. Carry around the amount of cash that you think a wealthy person would carry. Because I travel a lot, it’s fun for me to have my cash is in different currencies. I also have gold coin worth about $2000 in my purse. It makes me happy to have it there. It makes me feel abundant. What would be fun for you?

Acknowledge You

Are you waiting for others to acknowledge you so that you finally know what you have to offer is valuable? What if you were the one who recognizes you are valuable, no matter what anyone else thinks?

If you are going to change your money situation, you have to be willing to acknowledge you. When you do not acknowledge you, you diminish you. When you diminish you, you limit your creative abilities. A much easier way to go forward in life is to acknowledge what you have accomplished, to open your eyes to your greatness and not dismiss the things that you have created and changed.

There are three ways you can begin acknowledging you more effectively:

Acknowledge the value of you
Acknowledge what is easy for you to do
Acknowledging what you create

It might be difficult for you to see your value at first. Commit that you will do it anyway; no matter what. Get a notebook and write down what you are grateful for about you – add at least three different things every day.

Don’t let holiday debt or any debt for that matter stop you from creating a change now. Remember, you can change it. Have an honest look at your current situation, be willing to change your perspective on money, start to carry cash around and acknowledge the gift of you. Daily choose these things and a different financial reality is possible.

Simone Milasas is the Founder and Creator of Joy of Business as well as the Worldwide Coordinator of Access Consciousness® which operates in over 170 countries. Simone is the author of the internationally acclaimed book Joy of Business (currently available in 11 languages) and her brand new book, Getting Out of Debt – Joyfully. You can find out more about Simone by visiting her website at gettingoutofdebtjoyfully.com.

Buying a car could prove to be a disastrous mistake if you’re on a budget and overextend yourself. Before jumping in the deep-end, there are a number of factors to consider to ensure that you don’t end up regretting the purchase.

To help you avoid an expensive mistake, we have listed a number of tips below to determine the feasibility of purchasing a vehicle.

Determine budget

Buying a car is quite the purchase. You should definitely set a strict budget and stick to it. Remember too that the budget isn’t limited to the price of the vehicle. You also have to consider future expenses that come with the purchase. Fuel, insurance, maintenance, as well as repayments are factors to consider when working on your budget.

In addition, it helps to know beforehand if you’re buying a brand new or used car. A new car may sound really exciting to have, but it’s worth noting that a second hand car can be just as useful as a new one; Not only that, buying a used car can also help you save. Just make sure you don’t get a lemon.

Research and understand your vehicle requirements

Just like any big purchase, it is important to know what you need in a vehicle before heading off to the car dealer. Do you need a car just for yourself or something that can fit the whole family? Is fuel efficiency something you’d really like in a car? It would also do you well to compare car models and manufacturers to determine which car actually meets your requirements.

Remember, buying a car that offers features you don’t really need will take a toll on your budget. So, take your time researching and planning your car purchase to ensure that you get the best car that meets all your needs.

Pay with cash or with finance

Once you’ve narrowed down your car requirements, it’s time to consider how you’re going to pay for the purchase. It’s best to buy a car when you already have some cash saved up for the car. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to buy a car from savings. If this is the case, you have the option of approaching banks or companies offering flexible financing solutions such as these car loans by stratton.

Paying outright could mean buying the car at a cheaper cost since there’s no interest to consider. However, there might be a chance that your budget could be compromised if new expenses come up along the way. On the other hand, getting a car through financing will help spread cash flow burden on your budget. The best thing to do is to create at least a 12-month cash flow projection to give you an idea whether or not buying outright or through car financing is the way to go.

Choosing the right finance broker

Never make the mistake of going with the first finance broker you come across with. Shop around! You don’t want to get stuck with a broker who doesn’t have your best interests at heart, do you?

The first thing to consider is to look for someone seems to really know the business. This way, they can clearly answer any questions you might have. Also, work with a finance broker you’re comfortable with. This should make it easy for you to ask anything that confuses you. Also, a great car finance broker should have no problems assisting you with all your queries until you have clearly understood all the financing terms and conditions.

Tax implications

If you have a business, you can claim deductions for company-related car expenses when doing your tax returns. Make sure you log information whenever you use your car for the following business purposes: delivering items or collecting supplies, traveling between workplaces, attending meetings or conferences.

Buying a car for business can get complicated. Take time to research before making the big purchase. Make sure that the company can afford a company car before getting one. Otherwise, buying one might end up hurting the business instead of being beneficial.

This article was written in collaboration with stratton. Stratton has grown to become the largest vehicle finance broker in Australia. With access to a panel of lenders, stratton provide competitive finance solutions to thousands of Australians each year. If you require a vehicle finance solution, reach out to their professional team today.

With so many financial products on the market available to consumers, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re financially literate and in control of your finances. Effie Zahos, Editor of Money Magazine and financial extraordinaire, shares six ways you can get back in control:

Manage your money week to week

You should be actively deciding where you want your money to go. Whether you receive weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay; divvy up your pay into four separate accounts.

Create an account for your weekly bills, another for mandatory costs like car registration and servicing, a miscellaneous account (because you never know when things just ‘pop’ up), and your long term savings account. Once you’ve worked out your weekly bills and ideal savings, organise for that money to be automatically transferred into their designated accounts. Whatever money left, is your ‘play money’ to last you until your next pay cycle.

Think about what is important to you! Don’t ever look back and wonder where your money went.

Plan for the future

Have a goal for the future and a plan to reach it. You’ll be surprised what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. But without a plan, it won’t happen.

Start by writing down all the goals want to achieve and the financial input involved reaching it. Develop a realistic timeline and see how your plans abide with your weekly money management. Ensure your financial goals are realistic and account for mishaps like car breakdowns and celebrations.

Make your finances as easy as possible

We all have good intentions, but don’t necessarily get around to it. Make things automatic instead. Have money go automatically into your savings account or investment account every payday. This way, you don’t get overwhelmed seeing your entire paycheck in your bank account and you don’t (un)intentionally hoard the funds.

Set up a direct debit to pay your regular bills for mental and financial clarity.

Talk to your partner

Nothing kills a relationship like financial tension. Talk to your partner about where you stand financially and where you want to go. Whether you’re in a short or long term relationship, opening a joint bank account is a big decision to make. Ensure you’re both willing to commit to an agreed upon contribution on a frequent basis. Be sure to outline the instances when your joint account can be dipped into and that you’re both working towards a common goal.

If your partner wants a house and you want a 12-month round-the-world holiday, learn the value of compromise. Realistically, you may not be able to do both as extravagantly or as soon as you initially imagined, but perhaps sacrificing your 12-month trip for 6 months and allowing more time to save for a house would see both parties satisfied.

Investing is not gambling

You will gain financial success by steady, sensible decisions over many years, not by gambling on spectacular returns or picking a winner. The key concepts are:

Diversification (spreading your investment)
Buy things you understand (or use an unbiased professional who understands)
Invest within your risk comfort zone (where you can afford the likely ups and downs)

Before investing, do your research. Enlist the assistance of a financial advisor or seek advise from a trusted friend who is a confident investor. When it comes to investing, you can never know too much.

Increase your borrowing power

A $10,000 limit on your credit card reduces your home loan borrowing power by about $40,000.

If you’re interested in entering the housing market or need a loan, you can increase your borrowing power with a few quick and easy steps:

Improve your credit rating
Cancel credit cards or reduce your credit limit
Reduce your other debts

Avoid credit debt

If you need to borrow, avoid getting a short-term loan or pay day loan. They’re faster to process but harder to afford. In most cases you’ll be up for an establishment fee of 20% of the loan amount and an account-keeping fee of 4%. Take time to do the math: You could borrow $1000 for a month and find a cash advance from your credit card which would be about $220 cheaper.

Seek help and advice

Don’t be scared to seek advice. Whether you’re building your wealth, or things have gone horribly wrong, seek help from a financial advisor who is able to help you continue on, or get back on, the right path.

These tips were brought to you by Effie Zahos, Editor of Money Magazine, to celebrate the Australian DVD release of Money Monster.

Everyone wants to get rich, but not so many people know what they need to do in order to get wealthy. Some people became rich by making one smart investment, but there are also others, who changed their mindset, habits and lifestyle to build their wealth.

Getting rich is not easy, but it’s definitely possible. Building wealth takes serious willpower, long-term vision and discipline.

Firstly, be honest with yourself and answer an easy question “Why do you want to be rich?” Just think about it. Do you want to travel? To have a luxurious lifestyle? To buy a big house? Money is only an instrument to reach some of your goals. That’s why it is really important to know what you want and what your true goal is.

Here are my tips that will help you become wealthy – or at least start you off on the right path:

Monetise your talents and passions
It’s great that you are good at something. I believe you are! If you want to become rich and you have a valuable skill, the best and smartest you can do is to create your business around your talents and passions. Remember, you signed up for something that you know in your heart and in your head that you love. If you love what you do, you are enthusiastic and optimistic about your project or business, you are happy to go the extra mile to make sure you reach your goals. Use your skills and passions to make money.
Always promote yourself
Promotion is one of the most important and most crucial part of any business. Do not be scared to open your mouth. You need your voice to be heard. Feel comfortable to get your name out in social media, local advertising and other marketing methods. Don’t be shy! Focus your attention on your people, who love what you do and feel free to write off those who wouldn’t ever think about supporting you. Do your best and your satisfied clients will be your best promotion and promoters!
Get a mentor
One of the most important keys to success is having a good mentor. It’s a great opportunity to learn from your mentor’s mistakes and avoid making them yourself. Your mentor may notice potential in you that you might not see in yourself. Besides, you can get new network contacts or connections.
How can you find a mentor? Just identify successful people in your industry and ask for their advice. Before contacting your future mentor decide what skills or knowledge you would like to develop with your mentor’s assistance. You should always know your goal!
Set goals
Stop dreaming and wishing – define goals instead. Goal setting provides you with a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding and allows you to take control of your life’s direction. Make your goal real – write it and you will not forget about it. You can also post your goals in visible places to remind yourself every day of what it is you intend to do. Set some goals for a week, month and year and write steps you should be taking to achieve them. Making an action plan is very important in goals setting. You need to write out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you’ll realise that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. Your goal should motivate you!
Feel comfortable to ask and communicate
Desire to learn and grow is the engine of all wealthy people. Always ask questions and learn from other people’s experience and mistakes. Know what you want to ask and why. Ask yourself what outcome you want to achieve and the impression you want to leave. Begin by making eye contact. You inspire trust and confidence when you look a person in the eyes when you speak.
There is no such thing as failure
“Failure is success in progress,” Albert Einstein once said. Any failure and any mistake is your experience that makes you smarter and stronger. Failure can act as a seed for a springboard to growth. Use it as a mechanism to reset your perspective, make a mental change or embark on a new, much-needed direction. Besides, failure keeps you down to earth, keeps you realistic that results in an explosive energy that breaks you out of constriction and into a highly energetic, creative state when things become clear and new insight is gained.
Your money should work for you
It is such a common personal finance piece of advice that it borders on being cliché, but that’s certainly one of the main rules of all rich people. Here are a few suggestions for your money:

Open a high-yield savings account.
Invest it in the market – stocks, futures etc.
Store it in retirement accounts.
Choose credit cards with rewards you’ll actually use.
Invest in real estate.
Pursue a professional degree or certification.

Accept criticism
Sometimes it is difficult to accept criticism, but think about it as a form of communication, that helps to make your product or services stronger. Do not take it personally and avoid getting into an argument. Turn your words into action to show that you can listen to feedback, respond in the correct way and still get the job done. Use critique to perfect your business model.
Build relationships with other successful people.
It’s one of the best ways to widen a customer base, learn about wealth and business. If you want to succeed, make relationship building a habit. Think of ways to connect with all the people you meet, even if there’s no immediate gain involved. In the long run, this approach will empower you to build mutually beneficial relationships with all kinds of people.
Don’t forget to give
Our greatest successes in life are often found in helping others succeed. Our most lasting and fulfilling achievements are often earned by helping others fulfill theirs. Be open to the people – help by volunteering, being generous, truly listening. Share your success with other people and be sure you will feel real happiness. Enjoy it!

About

Inna Rosputnia is a futures trader and wealth manager, working with individual and institutional clients. She is the founder and CEO of Lady F Wealth management. Inna has a Masters degree in economy and international relations. She is also a well-known philanthropist. This year Inna joined Cherie Blair Foundation to contribute to women’s empowerment. She believes that building confidence is the first step every woman should take to open her true power, strength and world-changing capability. Inna is the author of “Basic instinct of woman-trader”.

Change is inevitable. We change jobs, move house and start families. We can be struck down with sickness, go through a divorce, or even lose a family member. Some of these things may happen, but some of these things will happen, it’s all just a matter of time.

There is not much that stays exactly constant in our lives, and finances can be a moving beast even if you have a perfectly set out budget and financial strategy.

When a major life changing event occurs however, it will usually take more adjustment than just increasing or decreasing one expense.

A big change can have a big flow on effect and will usually mean you need to reestablish your whole financial strategy before you can move forward confidently.

So, what do you need to do to move forward, and how do you restore your finances after a big change?

Figure out where you are now

This is where you throw it all on the table. Where are you at financially right now, right after the massive change has occurred? Write it all down. Do you have debt? Excess cash? Higher or lower expenses? Plans for the future that need to be accounted for?

Whatever your change, this may mean a complete deviation from any previous plans or budgets that you have created, so be prepared to pull apart what you currently have. If you have a financial adviser, then you have the advantage of going through all of this with them. They will know how to tackle your new situation the best way.

Review all of your expenses

If you situation has changes, then maybe some of your expenses have too. Now is the time to call your insurance providers, banks and lenders, internet and phone providers to see if there is a better or more appropriate deal based on your new situation. Most of these companies will be willing to negotiate cheaper rates if they think you are at risk of leaving them. Don’t be afraid to shop around either. A few hundred dollars here and there will make a difference to the bottom line.

A big change can have a big flow on effect and will usually mean you need to reestablish your whole financial strategy before you can move forward confidently

Set in place the new structure

Once you have pulled everything apart, you need to start from the basics again and build up. Firstly, you need to figure out what your absolute mandatory expenses are (food, accommodation, bills) and set aside money in your budget each pay period for all of these ongoing and yearly expenses. Once the mandatory requirements have been taken care of, then you are able to figure out where to direct any excess cash that you have. It might be towards debt, or a new goal that you have. Write down all of your goals financially speaking, and then rate the importance of them with 1 being the most important and work your way down. This will help to create a clear vision as to what your money should be directed towards.

Get an outside perspective

As mentioned above, seeking out a professional for this kind of thing is a real asset. A good financial adviser would have seen so many different situations and will be able to give you an outside, non-emotional perspective on your new situation and be able to create a plan going forward for you. Big life changes like buying or selling a house, change in family structures and changes in jobs are the typical reasons that people will seek financial advice. A good financial adviser should be able to help you through any and all stages of your life.

Do you need to update your other stuff too?

Getting your finances sorted is one step in the process but you may also need to consider any of the other peripheral parts of your life that could be effected by this change. Does your Will and/or Power of Attorney need to be updated? Are your bank accounts, credit cards and loans all in the correct names and structures. Do you need to update your payroll department with any changes in accounts, super funds or salary sacrifice arrangements?

If you are in the midst of a major change, then work through the above 5 tips, to reset yourself and start moving forward again.

Featured image via Pixabay under Creative Commons CC0