There’s an old saying, attributed to Confucius (I think): When is the best time to plant a tree?
Well, the best time was 10 years ago. The second best time is now.
When we look at our finances, this is really important. Because if you’re just sitting there hoping for things to happen, sadly, I think you’re going to be disappointed! You can’t harvest the crop you don’t sow or with this analogy, the tree you never planted in the first place.
So what can we do now, so that the future has all the money and security you need?
I’m going to give you three pointers of things you could do today, which mean that you’ll be in a stronger financial position for years to come.
Here goes!
#1: Get Clear On Your Starting Point
The first thing is to take a really good look at where you are right now, so you know exactly where you’re starting from and can take the right next steps.
The biggest thing here is to make sure you’ve got more money coming in than going out each month. You can then use the difference to repay any debts like credit cards and loans – which are often an expensive way of borrowing – and to then create an emergency fund and invest for the future.
If you’re in a position where you don’t have more money coming in than going out each month, then of course there’s nothing left over to start using strategically for the coming years. You can’t grow money you don’t have! So it’s then a question of seeing how you can both generate more income and reduce your costs.
Could you add additional revenue streams to your business? Where could you increase your profit margins? Reduce your tax bill? Are you paying out for stuff you’re not using or don’t really want any more? Even just going through your bank statements, seeing what you could cancel and putting that cash towards your debt or emergency fund instead can start to stack up faster than you might think!
When you start to get clear on where you are now, there’s often lots of other things that then come up. Which brings us to my next pointer:
#2: Decide What You’re Aiming For
Which is all about getting really clear on what you actually want.
What do you want your life to look like over the next 5 years? How about in 10, 20 or even 30 years from now?
How much money are you going to need to live that life you really want?
It’s a big question that I know can feel pretty overwhelming, especially if you’ve been completely absorbed in your business and family life and haven’t had much time or headspace to think about this stuff for a while. In which case, breaking it down into smaller questions can help you start to figure it out.
Where do you want to live? Do you want to still be working full time, part time or have stopped completely? What does that lifestyle look like for you? How many holidays a year do you want? What else do you want in your life, both big things and small?
Then it’s a case of working out whether you’ve got enough in your current savings and investments to fill that gap and provide that income.
If you haven’t, then you need to do something about it, because by putting money away now, it’s got time to grow.
The key thing here is to get clear about what YOU want – not what society says you should have, or what your parents expected or wanted for you, and not necessarily what your partner wants for you either. What do you want for you?
If you’re talking about getting older and starting to work less hard, what do you mean by that? Fewer hours a week? Shorter days? Fewer days? Taking more holiday?
Break it all down and get as clear as you can on what that really looks like, so you’re know what you’re aiming for.
And then:
#3: Do Something About It NOW!
The third step is about taking action. And yes, I will bang my drum about this until the cows come home (bit of a mixed metaphor there, but you know what I mean!),
If you don’t take action, NOTHING HAPPENS.
Time will keep on passing by and you’ll end up wishing you’d planted that tree 10 years ago. Like I said at the start, you can’t reap what you didn’t sow.
I’m sure when you’re on social media, you see pictures popping up from years gone by – photos of the kids when they were small, pictures of you with dodgy hair or in outfits you’d forgotten you ever wore. You can’t believe it was 25 or 30 years since you were at uni. Time is moving so quickly.
Well, if time has moved so quickly to get you here, what are the next 30 years going to feel like?!
None of us wants to get to 65 or 70 and find that you haven’t got the money you need to live the life you want, spending time with people you care about, and doing things that are fun to you.
No one wants to be poor and miserable in their old age, but none of the things you want are going to happen if you don’t take some kind of action!
There are two ways we can do this together right now.
The main way is with my PATHWAY programme. We’ll basically do everything we’ve talked about today – working out what you’ve got in place already; how much you’ll need for the future you really want; and where to put the money to maximise its growth.
We also cover ways to boost your business profit, so you have more to spend now and to invest for later. As well as loads of other things to make sure your financial future is secure and you feel so much better about all your money stuff.
Get all the PATHWAY details here now. {Both this and the link above link to the current promo page, just to double check this is the sales page you want to use}
PATHWAY is the most comprehensive way for us to work together, but there are lots of other options available too – just click here to take a look.
And if you’re not sure, just send me a message here and we can figure it all out together!
Until next time,
Claire