Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees
When you ask anybody who is successful at handling their money they will tell you that money doesn’t grow on trees. The way we see it is that money is always available to you in abundance, however, it is up to you on how you are able to structure your cashflow in ways that support greater financial abundance in your life.
Having a plan that makes sense to you and your own circumstance is your first step in ensuring you have a clear path forward, as truly understanding where your money goes will provide you with the clarity on what you seek to achieve. The key is set your plan, tweak as needed, manage and monitor, and re-assess as needed – always. Never, ever, ever set and forget your plan.
All eggs in one basket:
For many, being able to see high amounts of savings in bank accounts means safety and security, for others high amounts in investments or insurances are better, and others don’t care for insurances or high amounts of savings in bank accounts but care more for overall cashflow. The key is, that a combination of all above are essential to keeping you on-track and accountable to the financial abundance and safety you seek in your life.
Think of it this way… if you are working full time and have savings over $20,000 and think you are “safe,” you might want to think again. What would happen if something were to happen to you and you were unable to fulfil your daily work-life duties? What would happen if your income today, were gone tomorrow? How long could you survive on this $20,000 alone without any income source coming in to cover your regular bills?
This is where insurances around income protection, total and permanent disability, and trauma protection come into play. A fully licensed and qualified financial planner is the key to backing up your cashflow strategy and ensuring that you have adequate level of cover at all times.
Cash and digital alternatives:
For those concerned about their financial future and the stability of cash many may consider whether or not cash is the answer or whether it makes sense to seek out other alternatives such as digital currencies or precious metals. In line with the steps listed above, each options have pro’s and con’s which we won’t go into here, but if you are planning to go down this route we strongly suggest that you do your research with licensed professionals in this field and determine what is right for you in line with your own goals and financial objectives and the plan you have set for yourself.
Having a backup strategy in place if your money provider were hacked, their systems were to go down, or your accounts were frozen (for whatever reason) means that you are not solely reliant on one source of money to help you pay your way forward. This gives you options in very uncertain times.
As Australians, many of us think “she’ll be right mate,” when it comes to money, but what if “she aint right?” Whats your plan?
Reliance on technology:
Many people rely on apps to help them understand where their money is going after they have spent it. It’s a great historical tool developed to allow you the visibility of seeing where your money is going. What it doesn’t do, at all, is provide you with forecasting of spending categories going forward.
The advantage of looking forward with your spending, not looking at historical data, is that this gives you the opportunity to be able to set weekly spending caps, savings goals, allocate monies for long-term expenses such as bills, and to allow this to all flow in harmony with your household budget.
It makes no sense to spend your money, track this historically, then look at your bank accounts and wonder why you haven’t saved anything. To achieve your goals you must always look forward with a plan, and record historically against your plan to ensure you are remaining steadfast in the correct direction of achieving your goals.
Additionally, for small business owners your own accountant will look at historical data when calculating your tax. Has your accountant ever shown you the income and expenses targets that you need to hit in your business to achieve your personal financial goals?
Reliance on government:
The Government allows you the opportunity for unemployment or disability benefits as needed. Benefits are a great tool designed to help you where you are currently are, and provide a step up to a better and brighter financial future. They are not designed as a “way-of-life,” nor a tool that should be relied on going forward to sustain your household budget.
For those that are on government benefits for the right reasons the following is not for you, however, for those that choose the “reliance on government lifestyle,” and have done so for many years consider this… What would happen if your benefit were gone tomorrow?
It is up to us as individuals and adults to ensure that when we are fit, ready and able to work, that we step up to become proud of ourselves and remove the reliance of government benefit from our lives. If we can visualize this, we can do this. All it takes is an economy of effort and love for self that your situation can improve no matter what your history has told you.
News and media sources:
Mainstream media, Channel 7 Sunrise, ABC and a myriad of morning, evening and afternoon news programs are always talking about “the markets,” “wall street,” and how to save money on your weekly shopping at supermarkets. It’s typically the same information day in, day out, regurgitated.
If you want to grow your wealth knowledge, consider sources outside of mainstream media. Consider reading books that open your mind to new concepts around not only your understanding around money, but the way in which our brains work mindfully when it comes to money and the way we think about money.
Aspects such as the effects of dopamine in the brain when it comes to impulse spending, behavioural challenges or patterns within our spending such as why we spend the way we do, and how we decide to spend when we are tired are all great avenues to consider rather than the limited range of sources listed above.
The information available to you whether it is considered to be on the far left or on the far right or even spiritually guided… we all have an infinite source and an abundance of knowledge to consider. It is up to us to widen our range of information and knowledge so that we can decipher information from an open range of sources and draw from it our own conclusions.
Receiving information from one source only denies yourself the opportunity to gain additional information and understandings that are invaluable to you. By doing so your thoughts, your critical thinking, and the ability to open up your world views and the understanding of your own financial future will become benign. You are only limited by the information you choose to restrict yourself by, when you seek all your information from just one source of reference.
Money doesn’t grow on trees:
Money doesn’t grow on trees, right? Well, we think it does but you need to keep up watering your seeds and tending to your garden to ensure you reap the rewards of your hard work.
This can be in a figurative sense or even a literal sense. If you have a large block of land for instance that remains relatively unused, get outside and use it! Plant fruit trees, citrus, vegetables, and get garden beds set. In line with above information, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
If you couldn’t work tomorrow, whats your plan to support your family?
If your access to money were gone tomorrow, whats your plan to be able to barter/exchange?
If your government benefit stops tomorrow, what plan do you have in place for a successful job or career?
With an open mind and information from all sources, not just one, what is your plan for a brighter financial future?
As a society we have been groomed to the point that everything is available to us, at all times, and that we live in a “convenient” lifestyle. We cannot help to question, what if this were all taken away tomorrow?
We pay a hefty sum for this so-called-lifestyle that many are unaware just how much reliance we are placing on a system of dependency and we know that is never a good idea to place all your eggs in one basket. So, what are you doing to ensure you and your family remain safe in the future?
If you are ready to reap the rewards of an amazing and abundant financial future and way-of-life you must plant your seeds, tend to your garden, and build your team. No athlete has ever gone on to win gold by doing everything themselves, it has always been a group effort leading forward to success. Who do you need in your team going forward to help you rise to success?
