5 Steps to Getting Started On Anything

by Elisabeth Donati | Dec 31, 2020 | Financial Literacy Principles, money lesson

5 Steps to Getting Started On Anything

One of the most pervasive questions I see written in Facebook groups and educational programs I invest in, or hear people say when they commit to taking on a new habit, project or goal, is, “Where do I start?”

I find it fascinating that this question is asked so frequently. Folks don’t seem to try to figure things out on their own first as they used to it seems. I believe it’s because we live in a culture now where humans want instant gratification and they’re used to having information at the fingertips, literally. So, rather than spending a little time upfront, they start by asking where to start.

Get in there and get dirty

If you’re anything like me, you just jump in with both feet, splash around as much as possible, immerse yourself in everything you can, getting soaking wet in the process and see what happens. THEN, if you can’t figure something out, you figure out where to go to find an answer.

My mother was big on teaching us to be resourceful. She said that successful people were the resourceful ones. I know she was right.

Many people, I have noticed, from experience and observation, however, aren’t like me. They’re scared…afraid of failing, petrified of making mistakes, timid, reticent, overwhelmed, fluster easy, and are quick to give up, throwing their hands in the air with that, “I’ll never figure this out!” resignation that only compounds the emotions they were having about starting in the first place. And yes, I know that was a long sentence!

For many years, I led a multi-day teacher training for people who wanted to promote and teach our Camp Millionaire program. The 5-day training was part curriculum training, part ‘how to teach’ training and part personal growth seminar. I realized early on that if they were going to be successful teaching the program, they would need to understand the program, how to teach it, AND they would need to shift who they actually WERE as they taught it.

I knew they would have to practice what they preached and in order to do that, they needed to shift who they were in their own personal world of finances. Sometimes they were where they needed to be, but more often than not, I realized there was a large gap between what they wanted to do and doing it.

I also knew they needed to BE a certain way when it came to both getting the program going in their area as well as teaching the program to the kids. Camp Millionaire is NOT your ordinary boring financial program. It’s playful, fun and organic, which means that it is shaped, to a large extent, by the participants. The ‘organicness’ of the program challenged a lot of trainers’ ways of training. Many were used to following a outline and while we HAVE an outline when we start, I promise you we’re never followed it all the waythrough…not once. And we like it this way!

So, in that training, we had many conversations about ‘getting started.’ I noticed the discomfort, the unease, the shifting of butts in chairs, the avoidance. I also noticed the assuredness of the ones who had already figured a lot of things out financially and, for whatever reason, weren’t afraid to just jump in and give it a try. The energetic difference between the two sides was more than palpable…it was VISIBLE in people’s actions, words and body language.

If you can relate to any of the discomforts above when it comes to getting started on any new habit, project or goal, you are most certainly not alone. My intention is that by the end of this article, you’ll have some new ideas about the process of ‘getting started’ and a new understanding of how successful people become successful in the light of ‘starting/learning something new.’

1) KNOW WHY YOU’RE STARTING

In order to decide what approach is best for starting a certain thing, it’s a great idea to understand at a core level WHY you’re starting it in the first place.

There are many reasons why we humans start things.

·       We want to make a difference in the world
·       We want to accomplish something for the sheer sake of accomplishing it.
·       We know it will give us pleasure and we’ve always want to learn it, do it, etc.
·       We need something we don’t have.
·       We want to change something about ourselves or the world.
·       We want to build something.
·       We want to make ourselves feel better in some way.
·       We want to impress others for some reason (praised, appreciated)
·       We want to advance in the world in some way (job, money, status)
·       In the long run, it will be easier than not starting it.
·       We’re bored and just want/need to do something.
·       And sometimes we start things simply because we’re interested in something.

By understanding WHY you’re starting something, you’ll have greater insight into whether or not you’ll actually follow through, whether following through is really important to you and how best to approach the process. The intensity of your WHY is directly proportionate to the degree to which you’ll actually succeed with whatever you started.

For example…let’s say you start something because you’re missing something in your life. If the ‘something’ you’re missing is a need rather than a want, you’re far more likely to be persistent and follow through until you get it.

If, however, you’re starting something because of a thing you simply want, your success really depends on how much you want the thing.

Bottom line…know WHY you’re starting in the first place.

2) END IN SIGHT

Most people I know who are even remotely successful got that way because they had a vision in terms of where they wanted to go in life or what they wanted to create or do. Not all, but most. The caveat is that while they had an ‘idea’ of what the end result would look like, i.e., on what basis they would proclaim their success, they weren’t attached to the exact end result or how they got there. This is a critical point and I personally have noticed that most people who accomplish what they set out to accomplish have this attitude.

Early on in my business career I learned my first lesson: don’t fall in love with our original idea! Why? Because our original ideas are great catalysts, they are rarely where we end of going in the long run.

I teach this philosophy as a personal autopilot of sorts. We all know that airplanes are flown mostly on autopilot these days. One statistic I read years ago said that even though airplanes are on autopilot, they’re still going the wrong direction most of the time.

WHAT? You might be asking about now but stay with me. Autopilot is about ‘correcting’ direction based on a destination. So if you get in a plane in Portland, Oregon headed for New York City, the plane’s navigation knows that NYC is the final destination so every time the plane veers off track even a little, it corrects the navigation so the plane is again headed to NYC.

Life is exactly like this and so is accomplishing something. We know where we want to go but often we’re really not heading in the exact right direction the entire time…heck most of us don’t even know which direction IS the right direction. AND THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL.

The point is that STARTING anything requires knowing what FINISHING looks like, even if you don’t know exactly what the end result will be.

3) BABY STEPS

Baby steps are just that…they are simple steps headed in the right direction or at least headed in the current right direction.

Jan, who used to work with me at Creative Wealth many years ago, had a great philosophy. She always reminded me that we simply needed to look for the next right step. If you take away nothing from this article but that, you’re ahead of the game!

The interesting, and sometimes frustrating, part about baby steps if that some times you take 20 of them forward in one day and sometimes you take 3 steps backwards. On the final day of my teacher trainings, I had a sweet little closing activity that involved dice. I had everyone get on the floor and I passed around a bag of different colored dice, instructing them to each take two.

(Note: if you get all caught up in whether I used the correct word for two dice, let it go. You’re one of the ones who probably gets flustered when you can’t follow the outline. LOL.)

Anyway, I would get their agreement that they all wanted to accomplish something either related to the camps or their own personal financial situation. I would then ask the following questions:

“How many of you think you don’t know enough yet?”
“How many of you think you’ll never be good enough to do this?”
“How many of you are just scared for whatever reason?”

Most of them raised theirs hands to at least one of those questions. I then asked, “How many of you want to change lives with this information?” They ALL raised their hands!

I proceeded to introduce them to the idea that everything is just a game and to win it or even just to participate, you needed to know, and use, the rules to whatever game you wanted to play.

Sometimes there are a few rules and sometimes, like in financial education and investing, there are a LOT of rules. Herein lies the importance of the answer to the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” (NOTE: please don’t take that question literally…NO one wants to eat an elephant nor does any elephant wish to be eaten!)

We all know the answer…one bite at a time.

Bottom line…learning to do something is best accomplished in bite-sized chunks and sometimes you don’t understand what you’re learning, why it’s important, or even where you’re going to use the information…but it will come together. The point is to keep learning every day. Keep taking baby steps. Even if you only take in one paragraph of an instruction manual or watch one video of a training program or create one web page or write one page in your new book…take a step in the next right direction. You WILL get there.

4) NEBULA STAGE and FAITH

The Nebula idea is what works for me personally. When I get an idea and then make the decision to actually go for it, I look at it like a nebula…a newly forming star formation floating all around me. Little pieces and parts and steps. Some of it known, much of it unknown as yet. I know that I can’t know how it’s all going to come together but I have faith that it will…and there in lies the key. You have to have faith that it will eventually all come together.

One of my favorite lines ever uttered regularly in a weekly TV series was in the A-Team. At some point in every show, Halibel would say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”

You’ve probably felt that way at least once in your life and hopefully many times. Sometimes the key to getting started lies in our ability to remember that at some point, we’ll be able to utter those words again and have that fabulous feeling when the plan comes together.

5) PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

We all know someone who’s wanted to accomplish something, set out to figure it out, got flustered and quit. Perhaps you’ve done this one or many times yourself. This can happen for many reasons:

You’re moving too fast.
Your expectations are too high or lofty.
You want it too quickly.You have forgotten that it takes roughly 10,000 hours to become good at something.
Someone convinced you that you should be able to get it right, right off the bat (this is a very common problem in society now).
You refuse to ask for help (this is a huge one).

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are many reasons why it’s perfectly fine to quit. Successful people often calling this, ‘knowing when to stop.’

The main reasons to stop working on a project are:

You realize you don’t want it badly enough. In other words, you realize that your WHY underneath it wasn’t big enough. This is actually a great reason to stop.
You realize you aren’t willing to sacrifice what it will take to accomplish it. This happens often when you miscalculate the time, energy and money it will take to complete a project.
You realize it was a dumb idea in the first place (try to laugh during these situations…we’ve ALL done this).
Life circumstances simply change and make the project, habits, etc. unrealistic.

Regardless or whether you keep going or you choose to stop for whatever reason, taking enough time and being patient with both the process and yourself is the main key to your sanity.

My second husband who was a pillar of support even after we divorced always told me to stay the course, never give up and just be patient with myself. His words were wise and I always appreciated his continued and gentle push that actually did keep me going on days when I just couldn’t do any more.

Bottom line:

Starting takes work. Breaking through the inertia of staying the same takes work. Learning something new takes work. Life takes work.

Know that going into whatever new habit, project or goal is going to have some work but if we didn’t keep trying new things, what’s the point of this beautiful life we were gifted with in the first place? Laziness, personally, has never suited me. It’s boring and more to the point, I can’t help anyone if I never started things, never created things, never learned new things I could share with others, etc.

So, re-read this article a couple of times. Know your why. Pay attention to your attitude along the way. Meditate if you start feeling impatient. Talk to someone you look up to about what they do to push through ‘those’ moments. Take a break to refresh your drive and passion, keep a journal, get involved with a group doing the same thing, stay engaged.

There are a million and one ways to get support from others and lastly, every morning when wake up, stop for a few minutes and remind yourself why you’re getting up in the first place. The answers may surprise you!

How to Raise Financially Intelligent Children…Let Me Count The Ways!

by Elisabeth Donati | Mar 21, 2018 | Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Articles for Parents, Financial Literacy Principles, Latest News, Money Camps

Guess what time it is? It’s financial education for your kids time! It’s time to do whatever you can to ensure that your children have enough financial smarts when they finally leave your house that they can not only survive but thrive out in this seemingly big, scary, exciting world full of opportunity we call adult life. The challenge with ensuring that your kids know what to do with the money they make (assuming they figure out how to make some), is that, generally speaking, parents don’t know what or how to teach their kids and schools either don’t teach them about money or don’t teach them the right stuff to be truly financially responsible in life. So…what’s a parent to do? Well, you have a few choices (some of which we can provide!):

You can teach them yourself! And just because YOU don’t know doesn’t mean you can’t learn and then teach them OR learn together. In fact, kids are usually relieved when parents admit they don’t know something and aren’t perfect. Suggest to your kids that you learn together OR you learn first and then share with your kids. And oh, it’s critical that you practice what you’re teaching yourself or the information won’t stick! A simple approach to teaching financial education at home is our Creative Cash for Kids Home Study program. You can learn more at www.innerwealthpublishing.com/creativecashforkids.php
You can make sure they are learning in school. If your child’s teacher isn’t teaching financial education, approach them with the idea and even offer to find and purchase a curriculum for the teacher to use. This way not only will YOUR child learn about money and investing but so will lots of other children as well. Our Money Game is a great solution and an easy to use, fun to play and teach financial education program for all. You can learn more at www.winthemoneygame.com.
Learn to teach financial education and offer to come into your child’s classroom, or any classroom, and teach the subject yourself. This is extremely helpful since most teachers are so swamped with rules, regulations and testing, they can barely even consider teaching a non-mandated subject. They’ll thank you for this!
Which brings up another idea…if it isn’t already, help get financial educated mandated in your state or at least in your school district. Yes, this will take some work but it’s ‘worth’ it in so many ways.
Get different money games and have money education events for your kids and their friends at your home on a regular basis. Be crazy and invite entertaining (i.e., not boring) financial professionals in to play with the kids, answer money questions, etc. It’s a great idea to provide prizes and such to get the kids interested in joining you for ‘money nights.’
If you have a teen, pay them to read financial books. Pay them $10 to $25 per book but have them do a short report on each chapter and have them tell you what they learned and how they might apply it in their lives. Start with any of the Robert Kiyosaki books and proceed from there. It might be the best investment you make in your child’s eventual independence.
Let your child be involved with anything and everything you do regarding money, running the house, investing, insurance, credit cards, etc. The more you expose them to now, the more they will be aware of when they leave home.
Send them to a ‘money camp’, like our summer Camp Millionaire or Moving Out! for Teens camps in Santa Barbara. They learn about money, investing, belief systems, assets, liabilities, planning and so much more and they have so much fun doing it. You can check them out at www.campmillionaire.com.

And last, but not least, it’s critical that children grow up knowing it’s perfectly OK to TALK about money. As human beings, we tend to make money ‘mean’ more than it actually is. We tend to think that people with more money are better, smarter, more important, luckier, etc. when in truth, money is just a tool to reach your dreams and help others reach theirs. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s make sure your kids never have to move home after they move out (unless you need or want them to that is!). If you have questions or need guidance, give us a call at 805-957-1024. We’re here to help. Making sure kids learn about money is what we live for!

A Money Fairy Tale for Women

by Elisabeth Donati | Feb 11, 2016 | Financial Literacy Principles, Money and Women, Uncategorized

Here’s a financial tale for your enjoyment…

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful and popular girl who grew up in the world’s most perfect little family. Everyone loved each other, spoke nicely and supportively to each other and everyone went to bed happy and joyful every night.

The girl learned everything she needed to know in order to grow into a stunning (aren’t they always?) young woman who graduated with honors from the most prestigious university in the country with the most amazing job offer of $100,000 to start along with plenty of yummy benefits.

On the first day of her fabulous new (and first and only) job, she met the man of her dreams (of course). He was not only to-die-for handsome but romantic in every way.

He swooped her off of her feet, they fell helplessly in love and had the most exciting, beautiful and memorable fairy tale wedding in the world. Their honeymoon was exquisite…a month-long cruise to every island in the Caribbean.

After their perfect honeymoon, she went back to her satisfying career and worked for five more years, getting promotions and huge raises every year.

Finally, the couple decided to have two perfect children, a sweet and charming girl and a handsome, intelligent boy, each gifted and never a behavioral problem ever.

The perfect couple lived with their perfect children in a perfectly safe housing development with a view of the mountains on one side and a view toward the ocean from the other side.

The couple saved and invested ten percent of their income from their very first paychecks, never had a single emergency and even had enough put away to pay for their two children to attend the finest universities money could buy.

They never got into any debt and when they were 55 years old, they both retired and lived out their lives happily ever after.”

STOP! WAIT! This isn’t how your life turned out? Mine either!

Let me guess what DID happen…

At some point, you couldn’t afford your expenses (or you just had to have those new shoes, the matching handbag and the perfect coat), so you borrowed some money to get by (i.e., you used your credit card). Then you couldn’t pay the loan or credit card back and the digging began. As the debt mounted, so did your stress levels and your ability to deal with money at all, or your children, or…
Or you have just struggled to make enough money to pay your basic expenses and have felt there was never enough to start saving and investing. Many women feel this way, until they learn what we teach at Celebrating Women & Wealth.
Or you got divorced and got the children but no alimony or child support.
Or…there are a zillion other reasons why you are struggling financially. We feel your pain!

Please know that you’re not alone. There are more women in the U.S. (and world) who are struggling financially than most people realize.

Here are some interesting financial studies and findings…

According to a study on InsuranceNewsNet.com by the financial education company called Financial finesse:

In every age group, women were more likely than men to report significantly higher levels of financial stress
Women under 30 are nearly twice as likely as men to report feeling “overwhelming” or “high” financial stress levels.
Middle- and low- income mothers are reporting the greatest financial stress of all the market segments studied.
Men just seem to have an easier time of it. Among those with annual household incomes of under $60,000, men were twice as likely as women to report “no financial stress” (19% versus 7%), according to the study. The same trend appeared among those under age 30, where 26% of men reported having no financial stress, while only 9% of women said the same.
Stress levels can change over time, especially with the help of education. The Financial Finesse study noted that 66% of all users of its financial education programs were women, and those women “appear to be taking steps to improve their finances.
The presence of minor children in the household impacts women’s stress levels. For example, 10% of women with minor children reported overwhelming stress compared to only 3% of those without minor children.”We know that women often experience high levels of stress before retirement as they juggle both professional and family responsibilities (and) that the stress women feel often carries over into retirement,” said Elaine Sarsynski in commenting on the study.

The financial company Prudential reported:

Forty-four percent of women are primary breadwinners in their households.
Household income, personal circumstances and a host of other factors affect women’s stress levels and financial choices. For instance, 31% of women in the Prudential study said that not having enough disposable income was their top financial planning hurdle. They also complained of lack time to spend on financial planning and difficulty understanding financial jargon. married women now say they “take control” of financial and retirement planning and manage it themselves, up from 14% in 2006. Despite that, many women continue to feel more stress in financial matters than do men, although some are making strides.
In the Prudential study, researchers found a worrisome retirement trend, however. Only 33% of the women said they were on track or ahead of schedule in planning or saving for retirement — down from 46% in 2008, although up from 24% in 2012.
It appears that women’s top long-term financial goal is “having enough money to maintain their lifestyle in retirement,” Prudential researchers found. That’s followed by “not becoming a financial burden to loved ones” and “having enough money to pay for health care costs.”

These similarities in findings between the two studies occurred even though the foci of the studies differed: The Financial Finesse study looked at financial issues, while a MassMutual study looked at retirement issues.

As you see, women really are struggling all over the US. You definitely aren’t alone and not feeling alone is a great first step to finding solutions to your financial challenges.

If you’re want to learn more, and you’re ready to do money differently, click the link on the bottom right and schedule your free 30 minute consultation. It may be the most important decision you make today. We really want to help.

Have You Made Any of These Top 9 Estate Planning Mistakes People Make Before They Die.

by Elisabeth Donati | Jun 15, 2015 | Financial Literacy Principles, Uncategorized, What you can do

People work their entire lives to pay off a mortgage, accumulate savings, fund a retirement plan, and to create a financial legacy for their children. Unfortunately, many fail to create a proper Last Will and Testament, leaving children and surviving spouses with mounds of paperwork to sort through after a death. This leaves the courts to decide on how to distribute your assets, which may or may not reflect your wishes. Worse, people often create their Will, but neglect to include exact details on how they wish their estate to be divvied up after their death.

A poorly planned estate can leave some of your beneficiaries out in the cold, despite your best wishes. A divorce can further complicate matters. If you don’t wish your greedy ex to inherit your estate, you’re going to need to update your Will, and avoid any costly mistakes for your heirs.

To avoid estate planning pitfalls it’s best to carefully document your Will, and ensure that a qualified lawyer vets and notarizes it. As you enter your twilight years it’s worth checking every year or so, to ensure it’s up-to-date.

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is a process where you connect your assets to the people you love, in the event of your death. Assets may include a house, property, vehicles, jewelry, furs, collectibles, fine art, coins, savings accounts, retirement savings, bonds, and more.

Estate planning is usually done with a Will and/or trust accounts. You can designate to whom your assets will go after you die.

Estate planning is done for your piece of mind, and to properly provide for children in the event of your death.

Here are the top 9 estate planning mistakes people make before they die.

1. Neglecting to make an official Last Will and Testament.

Depending on which state you live, a Will found in a shoebox in the closet may or may not be a valid document in the event of your death. Even worse is having no Will at all. Failure to create a Will will place your successors in a bad position. Your estate could be tied up in the courts for years, or worse, your beneficiaries may not get what you want them to inherit. If you have young children they may be left without the support they need, while the courts decide how to divvy up your assets.

There are many books and software programs to help you get started with writing your Will. You simply type in your wishes and print out the document. This document needs to be taken to a lawyer to be vetted and then signed, and notarized. A notarized Will is considered an official document. A lawyer can assist you with wording and ensure that your chosen beneficiaries inherit exactly what you wish. You may not wish to rely entirely on a tax package, particularly if you feel that your estate planning might be complicated.

One copy of your Will should be kept with your lawyer, one with an Executor, and one in a safety deposit box. This will prevent any disputes in the event that one of them goes missing, and a relative tries to pass off an older Will as the most recent.

2. Failing to designate a Power of Attorney.

Whether you fail to designate a Power of Attorney, or you choose the wrong person, you’re failing to have a trusted person at hand who will handle your finances, and manage your accounts if you become disabled. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a mental or a physical disability–as you get older you may need help managing your affairs. Unfortunately, too often an unscrupulous relative can offer their services, and before you know it, the money is gone.

Many people may wonder what designating a Power of Attorney has to do with them in the event of death. If you fail to choose the right person, there may be no estate left to manage upon your death. In the event you become disabled, you need a capable and trustworthy person to manage your finances. This means designating a trusted Power of Attorney in advance, before you lose your mental faculties. A trusted Power of Attorney will ensure your bills are paid, ensure you have the care you need, and that your lodging is secured.

3. Leaving your individual retirement account to your estate.

If you choose to leave an IRA to your estate it will be subject to probate, along with your house, assets, and any other types of savings. If there’s any money left in the IRA after debtors have been paid, it will go to your heirs. Many people think that it doesn’t matter after they’re gone, but if you’re leaving survivors behind, possibly a spouse or young children, ensuring that they can make the most of your assets in their time of need is paramount.

To get maximum funds from an IRA, it should have a designated beneficiary set up in advance. In the event of your death funds are immediately transferred to your beneficiary, and will not have to go through probate. This can potentially save a lot of money.

4. Not updating beneficiaries.

If you set up your Will several years ago, your beneficiaries may not be current. In the event of divorce or death in the family, past beneficiaries should be removed from your IRA or Will. This is also applicable to new births in the family. Keep your documents up to date to avoid disappointment or disputes within the family. You’ll also want your children to be adequately provided for, should something happen to you.

The best time to review your Will is at tax time. Consider whether you have new family members, including foster or adoptive children you wish to include.

5. Not following through with trusts.

A trust can enable you to transfer some of your assets to a family member. but it’s a two-step process. You need to actually fund it. If you merely set up the trust, but don’t fund it, in the event of your death, your beneficiary may receive nothing. As soon as you set up a trust, you need to set up funding as well. Your assets will need to be retitled under the name of the trust. Don’t assume it’s done by merely listing assets that should be going to each family member.

6. Liquidating assets that are in the Will.

If you’ve decided to sell your house, or prized coin collection, but neglect to remove these assets from your Will, you’ve going to create turmoil during the probate of your estate. Many state laws will require the Executor of the Will to replace possessions designated to a beneficiary in the Will, unless the beneficiary is in agreement that they receive nothing. Property assets that no longer exist can tie up probate for several months while this matter is investigated.

In order to avoid disputes upon your death, your Will should be regularly updated. Assets that no longer exist should be removed from the Will. You may also wish to add assets if you have made any valuable acquisitions in the past year or so, such as property, vehicles, collectibles, time share plans, jewelry, etc.

7. Failure to note beneficiary specifics.

If you’re hoping that one child receives all your jewelry, while another receives your antique furniture, and for both of them to be in agreement, don’t. Family squabbles frequently happen after a mother or father has died. Parents just assume that children will get along, and be able to divvy up belongings like adults, forgetting that they may act like children where possessions, or money, is concerned.

If you have your heart set on leaving one child all your jewelry, or fine art, vehicles, or any other types of financial assets, be sure their name is clearly spelled out in the Will. Your other child cannot dispute what is part of a legal document. When your wishes are set out in a notarized legal document your children must obey your wishes. Having clear designated beneficiaries is also applicable to life insurance plans, retirement savings, and any other type of account where you can designate a beneficiary.

8. Using ambiguous legal phrasing.

Many people write certain ambiguous phrases into their wills such as “assets to be divided equally among survivors”, or “left to the discretion of the executor”. These phrases are open to misinterpretation, and may not even pass probate. It can leave your family open to disputes and squabbles that can lead to court battles. It can be baffling why a lawyer would endorse ambiguous wording, but the power is in the estate planner’s hands. An executor will do their best to follow their wishes. A will gives an executor the power to use their discretion. It takes a criminal act to displace an executor. Good-faith acts will never displace them. If your executor is someone you trust implicitly, it’s worth being more specific in your Will.

9. Not communicating your wishes to family.

Many people are uncomfortable discussing their Will with the family. But there is nothing wrong with giving them a heads up about your assets. If your only child is going to inherit the family home, that may give them the security of knowing that it’s going to stay in the family.

Other reasons to communicate with your family may involve records and papers for certain assets. You may wish your family to know where to find the deed to the house, or information about a life insurance plan. Perhaps you have a large collection of valuable coins hidden in your home. Notify a trusted member of your family, so that these valuables can be found in the event of your death.

After someone dies, it can be chaotic for family members to sort the house, go through their parent’s stuff, and toss or donate items. Often many valuables are overlooked. You don’t want your son to discover after the fact that there was an insurance policy, but now it’s too late for them to collect. Or perhaps the deed to the house is needed for a property transfer. Hunting down records will slow down the probate process. It can still be done, but more slowly. Other items to make your family aware of are safety deposit boxes and keys, vehicle registrations, and out of state property.

Prevent disaster by informing your loved ones about where your important documents are kept. Further advice about avoiding estate planning pitfalls may be obtained from your lawyer. Anything to do with passing down houses, property and vehicle transfers, investments, and other asset distribution can vary state by state. State laws can vary widely, so don’t assume that one state will follow the laws of the state you came from. If your heart is adamant on who inherits what in your family, and you wish to prevent disputes, the more care and detail you place into your estate planning is only going to benefit your family.

You may wish to create a current list of your assets, and update it once a year. This will enable the executor of your estate to find everything they need to manage your estate. Notify your lawyer or executor where this list may be found, in safety box, or otherwise.

Start Your Estate Planning Today

Create your Last Will and Testament sooner, rather than later. Ensuring that your family will have the support and financial care they need upon the event of your death will be one last checkmark to make on your bucket list. And once it’s done you can breath a huge sigh of relief. It’s done, and all you have to do is have a once-a-year review of your estate.

Sources:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/estate-planning-mistakes-to-avoid-2.aspx
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robclarfeld/2012/04/25/7-major-errors-in-estate-planning/

Stop worrying about your credit ratings!

by Elisabeth Donati | Sep 12, 2013 | Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Principles, Uncategorized, What you can do

Because I am the proud owner of many financial education websites and several financial literacy blogs, I receive, almost weekly, requests from other website owners requesting that I post a link for their sites on my blogs and sites.

My usual response back to them is, “OK, show me the link.”

Side bar: I have a policy of never posting links to websites that deal with credit scores, credit ratings, mortgages, loans, or debt consolidation.

Invariably the person is asking me to post one of the many links I refuse to post on my sites and blog.

Occasionally it’s a legitimate link and I’m happy to do it…especially if they’ll reciprocate and post a link to my sites from theirs…but this is rare.

Back to the point of this post…

I find it intolerable that we have become a country that is primarily focused on credit scores and credit ratings. I never hear people talking about how much money they’ve saved or invested but I DO hear people talk about their credit ratings.

Do you realize that almost everything we see on TV, hear on radio and read in the papers and in magazines is designed to get us to BUY something? And that credit score that a lot of financial educators think it’s so bloody important to teach our kids about plays right into the hands of every one of those companies trying to get us to buy something.

Don’t get me wrong…there’s nothing wrong with buying things…and there’s nothing wrong with learning how to borrow money wisely in order to acquire assets that pay us passive income over time…it’s just that so often we either don’t need the thing we’re buying or the thing we’re buying isn’t going to affect our lives in a positive way. Go ahead…think about the last few things you bought…especially if you borrowed money (from anyone) to buy those things.

That’s all…just wanted to pop in and remind you that it’s WAY more important to be saving and investing instead of borrowing, buying and getting into debt and I think our kids need to learn why everyone wants them to have a high credit score!

Oh, by the way, I invest between 10-15% of every dollar I earn and make into individual stocks. I also continue investing in my companies (I have more than one:-).

How about you? Let’s start talking, and teaching, about what’s really important!

Just something to think about as usual.

Single Most Important Tip for Creating a Simple Life

by Elisabeth Donati | Sep 9, 2013 | Burning Financial Questions, Financial Literacy Principles, Latest News, Uncategorized

I have been traveling this month (September 2013) to visit family, making the rounds to Portland, Oregon to visit my son and my sister and her family, on down to Corvallis (my alma mater…go Beavers) to visit a long-time girlfriend and then over the Cascade Mountains to visit my house-bound mother who has COPD (this is doctor-speak for smoked cigarettes for decades and now can’t breath without the help of an oxygen machine) where I clean, re-organize, run errands and so forth for a week or so.

I also get to connect with my younger (but taller!) brother who I adore in ways he probably doesn’t know.

While doing all of this traveling and visiting, I also get to meet a lot of people who, for whatever reason, seem to need to share the trials of their lives with me. The sharing of those trials is what today’s blog is about.

Sidebar…

A little about me…I have always wanted a simple life; a life that didn’t take a lot of money to maintain and a life where I felt purposeful. I’ve never seen the point of ‘finding’ my one purpose because quite honestly, I have never believed in that high pressure idea. I noticed early on that if I was helping someone with something, I felt great about it and realized that that was living my purpose.

OK, back to the story…

What constantly amazes me is how so many human beings have chosen to create such complicated, overwhelming and expensive lives that cost a fortune in time, energy and money to maintain.

The sadder piece is that these same people don’t seem to be enjoying the lives they’ve created because they don’t have enough TIME to enjoy them…they are too busy working to support their created lives.

How to Create a Simple Life

All of this expressed stress and overwhelm gets me thinking about my own continual quest to make life as simple and easy to maintain as possible. I believe it comes down to one thing…THINKING AHEAD.

Notice I didn’t say setting goals or planning or changing your belief system or any of the other common notions being presented by today’s new-age money and lifestyle gurus.

I said THINK AHEAD…specifically, think about every choice you make concerning your lifestyle:

Partner…are they high maintenance or not? Are they healthy or now? Will their habits keep them safe and healthy or….?
Cars…are they going to cost you a fortune in gas, maintenance and insurance? How much do you have to work to afford the payments if you’re about to take on a car loan? Is there a less expensive way to acquire reliable transportation that is easier to support?
Homes (rental)…are you taking on too high a monthly rental payment for your current income level? Could you be sharing an apartment or home with someone else to cut costs or chores? Cooperative living is increasing in several age brackets for just this reason.
Homes (purchase)…can you really afford it? Do you really want to owe someone that much money? Do you really want to be strapped to a building without the freedom to leave it anytime you wish? (Security is a myth). Have you fallen for the ‘but you can write off all of the interest’ idea to the point where you’re working harder than ever to make the payments for that house that’s giving you such a wonderful write off?
Children…do you know how much having one healthy child costs to raise? How about two? Three? Have you thought ahead to the amount of money you’re going to have to be making when they are teens (unless you buy into my idea of getting them to create businesses as early as possible to make their own money).
Pets…do you know what it costs to feed a dog for 15 years? What about getting them shots, taking them to the vet when they get hit by a car or develop hip issues (and they will)? Note: don’t get a bird unless you want a lifetime companion that never grows up!
School loans…yes, I said school loans. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT investments. They are huge unpleasant chains around yours and your children’s futures. Borrow money for education wisely!

I could go on but you get the idea.

The point is to THINK AHEAD…as far ahead as you can…when you’re about to make a choice that may affect your time, energy and money for years to come. The challenge seems to stem from our inability to realize we WILL get older and we may just not want to continue living the same way we lived in our 20s or 30s.

If you really want to be tied to whatever it is you’re thinking of buying or acquiring and are willing to support whatever it is you’re about to add to your life, then go for it.

If you realize, like I do, that many of the things that you might enjoy in life come with huge time, energy and money requirements, you might just want to choose otherwise.

What I can tell you from personal experience is this…every time I make a choice that makes my life simpler, I breath easier and every time I make a choice that complicates any part of my life, I feel the burden of that choice and wish I’d chosen differently.

How to Uncomplicate Your Life

My coaching clients often ask me how to uncomplicate their lives once they have already made the choices that are costing them too much time, energy and money to maintain.

My favorite answer (and I often remind myself of this) is something I remind myself of all of the time and that I coined a couple of years ago:

“The only way to stop doing something is to simply stop doing it!”

Yes, sometimes it takes a little planning to stop doing something but it’s almost always worth it!

OK…go uncomplicate some aspect of your life and let us know how it feels!

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