Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or guarantees against loss.
Can I Afford It?
One of the best things you can do for yourself prior to making a major purchase is to look at your spending patterns. More than just looking at your past it’s important to consider your other goals, income and how much you have set aside. If you’re contemplating a significant purchase, or even a small one, it is a good idea to know if the purchase will hinder you from your other goals.
Start by downloading your free expenses tracker here:
When you review your current spending patterns, it helps you do three things:
1. You see the real #’s. You become clear on where the money really is going.
“Not that much” becomes “We spend $800 per month on eating out!”
2. When you see your real #’s, you can see that some of your spending can be shifted to other areas.
If you know you aren’t investing as much as you should be for retirement and you’ve noticed that you’re spending more than you thought on restaurants, it’s obvious and therefore, easy to shift the money from one bucket to another. You can choose to eat out less. The money you would have spent at restaurants can be systematically added to your retirement account. Set up a systematic investment or increase the amount if you already have one set up. You won’t notice the difference. Systematic investing is an easy discipline used by the wealthy as they continue to build their wealth!
3. By understanding the money required to fund your current lifestyle, it allows you to make projections for your future lifestyle requirements.
Sometimes it’s necessary to cut back on spending today to have what you want in the future. However, I have seen instances where the focus on the future became a barrier to enjoying life in the present. It’s about clarity and balance. If you’re on track for your goals and have identified and addressed your risks, have some fun with your money! Within reason. Balance!
Do you want to find out if you are making mistakes or should be doing something different with your money?
Schedule a Welcome Call with Melissa to start the process of getting clarity and knowing your choices.
Rule-of-Thumb Calculation
A rule of thumb calculation for estimating if you have enough to retire is to look at how much you spend on a monthly basis. For every $1,000 you spend each month, you’ll need approximately $300,000 in investments.
Looking at it another way, you’ll need roughly $1,000,000 for every $40,000 that you spend. These rules of thumb don’t take into consideration your other sources of potential income including but not limited to, pension, social security, rent, business income, and so forth.
It’s important to take into consideration the way your nest egg is invested. There may be restrictions on how much you can take from your accounts each year. Some accounts have surrender charges if you take out too much, others have IRS penalties if withdrawn before a certain age. Other accounts have IRS penalties if you aren’t taking enough out by a certain age. Get an expert involved to reduce DIY mistakes!
An Easy Way to Reduce Required Income
Ditch debt!
The less you have going out in debt payments each month, the less income you’ll need each month.
Take a look at the expenses form below. Total the amounts you pay for your mortgage payment, credit card payment and car payment. How much are you paying each month for those bills? What if they were paid off? If those bills were paid off you could be intentional about how to spend those payments.
Spend some, invest some, give some…you get to decide! This is true if you’re retired or still working. If you’re concerned about running out of money in retirement, the money you aren’t pulling out to pay on your debt, could be kept in savings and investments so that it is there for you down the road. Bottom line, the lower your income need, the less you need to pull from your investments.
You’re wise. You know you need to plan ahead. If you don’t know how to pay off debt, build savings, build cash reserves or investment portfolio I can help you!
If you’re ready to stop avoiding your finances and ready to take action, schedule a Welcome Call with Melissa.
Goals and Rewards
I’m a big fan of setting goals and setting rewards. By knowing what the reward will be, it helps me stay focused on accomplishing my goal. If you happen to be dreaming of retirement and still have student loans, 401k loans and/or credit card debt consider giving yourself a goal of having those debts paid off before you retire. When it comes to cash flow, the less you have in debt payments, the more you have in cash flow!
What’s holding you back from your dreams?
Get clarity about your financial position and work your plan to make your dreams a reality.
Melissa loves helping people get what they want in life.