All posts by wealthkeep

If my country were my client…

If my country were my client, I’d tell her its time to fix her family finances, before it’s too late.

I’d tell her it’s long past time to put together a serious budget.

I’d tell her to stop spending foolishly, as if she was able to print an unlimited supply of money down in the basement.

I’d tell her to stop borrowing, cut up her credit cards and pay back who she owes.

I’d tell her that throwing serious money at childish charades and flights of fancy is not “investing,” it’s dangerous.

I’d tell her it was time to play the long game with financial determination so fierce it would ensure the future of her grandchildren’s grandchildren.

And finally, I would advise her to stop hiring dishonest and unskilled employees who will deliberately destroy her standing in the world economy.

She has problems beyond money, but she’s strong, and brave, and good, so I give her my best advice with due respect, loyalty and love for her and her whole family, because they deserve better.

I can dream, can’t I?

Fix the money. Fix the future.

13 WARNING SIGNS YOU SHOULD HIRE A MONEY COACH

We are taught from an early age that money doesn’t equal happiness, and that’s generally true.

But when we think about money, we generally want to know a few things: How can I make more? How can I keep from losing it?  How can I be a better investor? How can I best manage my life, financial and otherwise, so that my family and I can live a healthy, worry-free life?

These are big questions, often uncomfortable questions, but they must be asked. And answered.

We’re fortunate to be a highly educated and informed society, but regardless of what we know, or what your education prepares you to do, most Americans need help with money. Why? Because our educational system has failed to realize that “money skills” are something every student from K to 12, and the graduates of higher education, should possess.

Whether it’s your inability to balance your checking account, your feeling of helplessness when your credit score is plunging, the terror you experience as you watch your 401(k) balance plummet, or on the flip side, you believe you’re smarter than the market, even when your returns are regularly in the tank, these are signs that you may need a money coach. 

Many people don’t recognize the warning signs that they should seek help organizing and optimizing their financial life. Others may be so embarrassed by their financial situation that they avoid seeking the help that can get their life turned around.

If any of this strikes a chord with you, you may be a candidate for money coaching, so to get the juices flowing, here’s a short and incomplete list of warning signs that professional money coaching may be a solution for you.

  1. You’ve not set clearly defined and articulated goals. “I want to be rich,” is not a goal, it’s a wish. “I want to accumulate $1 million before I retire in 28 years.  I make $80,000 a year, so I will need to save $10,000 a year at a 7.5% desired rate of return.” Now, that’s a goal.
  2. You don’t know what you own, you don’t know what you spend. This is big. You need to know where you are so you can get where you want to go, right?  A Personal Income Statement (how much you earn minus how much you spend) and a Personal Balance Sheet (assets you own minus how much debt you have equals your net worth).

    You don’t know what you own, you don’t know what you spend.

    These two statements will give you an accurate snapshot of your current condition.

  3. You’re saving less than 10% of your earned income.
  4. You don’t follow a financial plan because you don’t have one. Savings, investing, emergency funds, insurance, reducing debt, raising your credit score, tax minimization, retirement preparedness, having a will…all part of a cohesive plan. Be honest: did you wince after reading one or more of these? Don’t worry, most people do. Time to get help.
  5. You skipped the free money window! In other words, you are not participating in your employer sponsored 401(k) that matches your contributions. This is a huge mistake, and one that can be rectified easily.
  6. You don’t know the best ways to have your money make you money for you. It’s not about the “best investments,” it’s about the “best investments for you.” Big difference.
  7. Once you’ve made money, you don’t know how to keep it. Making money is half the battle. Keeping it is key to your future financial health.
  8. You lose invested money. You continue to do the same things, and you lose money again. A qualified, credentialed coach can help you break this destructive cycle.
  9. Handling money can be scary and overwhelming. We all have biases and behaviors that determine how well we handle money. These inherent biases often allow us to succeed with money, but too often they manifest in potentially damaging behaviors.

    Handling money can be scary and overwhelming.

    An experienced, credentialed coach can plug that drain so you can make smarter, informed decisions about your overall financial wellness. When it comes to money, we all have the potential to be our own worst enemy. Low financial literacy, bad habits and wonky behavior will kill even the best laid plans.

  10. Your IQ is higher than your credit score. There are steps you can take to improve your credit score that will pay dividends in your overall financial health.
  11. You think CDs are a safe investment. If you are reading this the day of publication, CDs are paying less than 1%, but inflation is running at 7% (or more). This makes every dollar in your CD worth about 94 cents. CDs may be “secure,” but they’re not inherently “safe.”
  12. You keep making the same mistakes. You want a coach to help you avoid costly mistakes, and most experienced money coaches have made those same mistakes. It’s called “earning your stripes the hard way,” and hard knocks are the best teachers of all. If you work with an adviser, coach or planner that hasn’t made mistakes, fire them! 
  13. You have a difficult time visualizing and understanding the four necessary elements to a beneficial money coaching relationship, namely: Historical Context (the past), Daily Events (the present), Forecasts (the future), and most importantly, Your Personal Info (critical, first-hand life experiences, behaviors and biases). 

To enjoy a productive and collaborative coaching relationship, these four elements each require examination in the context of two worlds: the world at large and your world.

The signs that you may need a money coach are virtually unlimited, and the signs from your own life may surprise you, and this list of 13 (a really ominous number, I admit!), is simply a starter list; broad, general strokes to get you thinking.

Money coaching is a relatively new and unusual concept to many people, but don’t you owe it to yourself to take a look at the warning signs in your own life and seek the help you need?

Climate change is not an existential threat to our planet…

Climate change is real.

Climate change is not an existential threat to our planet.

The truth is this: Having no access to reliable energy is an existential threat to the poorest nations in the world.

While all of us want to be good stewards and good neighbors, Environmental Social Governance (ESG) is an existential threat to the wealth of everyday people and small businesses in all nations.

africa poverty

Article link: Climate Change Dispatch, January 19, 2022, “The ESG Movement Is Anti-Energy, Anti-Development, And Anti-Human.”

Excerpt: ESG is…an immoral and financially ruinous movement that is destroying the free world’s ability to produce low-cost, reliable energy. This prevents poor countries from developing and threatens America’s security…In reality, ESG was a movement cooked up at the UN–not exactly a leading expert in profitable investment–to impose moral and political agendas…

If you are in the financial services industry, and your job is advising clients about investments that are in their best interests, you had better learn all that you can about ESG, and push back on its most damaging aspects. There are too many great industries, theories, practices, and ideologies, and good people, that ESG threatens to drown out and do meaningful financial harm. Our clients deserve better.

And the poorest nations in the world cannot defend themselves from this charade. –JG, 1-21-22

West Virginia does the right thing.

11Sep/21

THE BIG QUESTION!

Advanced Wealth Protection, Money Skills, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Retirement is a big decision. Actually, it’s a series of decisions that travels the timeline of your adult life, from your first job to your last breath! It’s a big question: DoRead More…

What can a Money Coach do for me?

Clients hire money coaches for a number of reasons, and, surprisingly, its not just about their coach’s skill with money!

Most people in the US need help with money, because or educational system failed to realize that “money skills” are something every student from K to 12, and in four years (or more) of higher education, should have a firm grasp on.

And while a professional money coach will bring hands-on experience and broad skills to the table, it is the less tangible skills that people often need to harness in order to make real headway with their personal finances.

Your reason to seek out a coach is unique to you, so to get you thinking beyond the dollars and cents of it all, here is an incomplete list of reasons that people hire a coach (listed alphabetically so as not to imply the relative importance of one reason over another).

  1. Accountability. The one thing that separates coaching from any other financial relationship is the two way street of accountability. In order for any coaching engagement to be a success, coaches must follow through. And so must clients.
  2. Biases. We all have inherent biases that can manifest in potentially damaging behaviors. Many clients have been been unable to overcome the biases and behaviors that have held them back from financial success. An experienced coach can plug that drain so their client can make smarter, informed decisions about their overall financial wellness. Money Coaching is on the cutting edge of changing investor behavior and establishing life-long money skills.
  3. Celebration. A win for the client is a win for the coach, and you will celebrate your victories as a team!
  4. Challenge. Changing any habit is hard, and a good coach will challenge their client to face their hardest problems, and partner with them until the correct solution reveals itself.
  5. Change. An experienced and informed coach’s support will help clients initiate critical change.
  6. Confidentiality. Unless you are attending a group coaching experience, your business is your business. Nobody has the right to know what you discuss with your coach. Private clients are just that! 
  7. Discovery. Coaches help clients discover intelligent alternatives and approaches that they had not considered or didn’t even know were available.
  8. Effectiveness. Clients can’t be effective as an investor or money steward if they don’t have a personal paradigm or a detailed plan built around their personal goals.
  9. Focus. The money coach will help clients tune into the problems that must be solved, and tune out the rest of the noise. A laser focus on only the issues that matter means turning away the million and one bits of financial pornography that assault our senses daily. 
  10. Goals will never be realized unless and until they are visualized. One of the most important roles a coach plays is helping their clients visualize and define realistic goals and then craft a plan to attain them.
  11. Honesty. Your friends and family may be reluctant to help you because they don’t know how. Also, they don’t want to put in their two cents and put the relationship on the line. An honest assessment from an unaffiliated, unrelated and trusted third party is what clients demand from a coach.Truth without baggage!
  12. Logic. A coach can help clients replace emotion with logic, the secret to effective long-term wealth creation.                 
  13. Mistakes. You want a coach to help you avoid costly mistakes, and most experienced financial coaches have made those same mistakes. It’s called “earning your stripes the hard way,” and hard knocks are the best teachers of all. If you work with an adviser, coach or planner that hasn’t made mistakes, fire them!
  14. Objectivity. You will benefit from unvarnished, non-judgmental and objective discussions with an outside observer. 
  15. Observation. Through close observation, active listening, and asking powerful questions, financial coaches can help clients craft an intelligent plan, complete with detailed action steps.
  16. Obstacles. All goals face obstacles. Spotting potential obstacles and barriers before they appear, and crafting a plan to overcome them by anticipating changes or shifts in your life and the world in which we live.
  17. Partnership. Coaches are not dictators. Rather, they are collaborators, partnering with clients to find answers and create positive change. 
  18. Potential. An experienced coach will know how to help their clients uncover their hidden potential, which will lead to fulfilling their dreams. 
  19. Perspective. Coaches learn to look at everything from a broader perspective and in longer time frames.
  20. Resources. Clients are able to benefit from the network of allied resources that their coach has developed over decades in the field. 
  21. Simplicity. One of the goals that seems to surface often is the client’s desire to take complexity out of the financial picture. Complexity causes stress; simplicity invites peace.
  22. Success. Success comes in many forms. Making more money, feeling peace of mind regarding your future, finding more time to do the things you want to do because you have the resources. You defines your own success; the engaged money coach helps you achieve it. 
  23. Strategy. Without a strategic foundation, it’s unlikely anyone will build the wealth or the life they want.  
  24. Tactics. Experienced coaches carry a full “bag of tricks” with them to share with clients. You will learn proven techniques for solving problems as varied as fixing a broken portfolio to creating meaningful lifetime financial wellness.

The reasons clients hire a money coach may be virtually unlimited, and may often can be quite surprising. For instance, a self-sufficient, hard-driving executive may actually need someone else to steer the personal finance ship, based on his or her own inherent biases or behaviors. Sounds odd, but it happens every day.

Most money coaches like helping people and they like solving problems. That’s a really winning combo of motivations, and the varied nature of the engagements and the diversity of the problems to be solved are two of the main drivers that lure many coaches into the field. 

Money coaching. A new and unusual concept to many people, but don’t you owe it to yourself to take the next step?

Advanced Wealth Protection.

What a prediction from Iconic Economist!

Milton FriedmanI think the internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government. The one thing that’s missing but that will soon be developed is a reliable e-cash.

–Milton Friedman, economist

Milton Friedman died in 2006. Bitcoin was launched in 2009.