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Empowering Women in Careers which have been traditionally held by Men
Independent Women with Confidence
Jere Webb: Financial Expert, Founder and President of the Webb Network. Financial
Credentials: Certified Financial Planner, CFP; Chartered Life Underwriter, CLU
Fellow,
Life Underwriters Training Councile, LUTCF; Past President of Marin Association of
Life Underwriters, MALU
Catching Women’s Financial Dreams
Let’s talk about your financial plan. I can hear you laughing, saying to yourself “what plan?” Well, you have one. The questions is not whether or not you have a plan, the question is, is your plan by default or by design? Maybe you have even given financial power over to your spouse or partner. It is normal for one person in a household to “handle” the bills and balance the checkbook but the decision making process is a shared responsibility.Every financial decision you make is part of your plan. Think of every financial transaction as either creating debt or creating wealth.
Today many of us are held back by fear; worried about money and with good reason.
Why open our investment account statement and get depressed? All we see, right
there in black and white, are losses. Our home now may be worth less than our mortgage!
We call that being “underwater”. Our jobs may be in peril. We are under financial
stress, big time. If we are currently employed, we worry about getting fired, layed
off, less hours, higher insurance costs, reduced salary, no raise or bonus and the
list goes on. Of course, we are good wives, partners, mothers, sisters and daughters
so we worry about everyone else as well. If self-
There is no quick easy answer. I can’t say to you, don’t worry, we are out of the woods, it’s almost over, the rainbow is about to appear, or we’ve reached the bottom. No one can because no one knows.
What I can tell you, you already know. We are here and it is now. No more living in the what was and remember when. We remember the good times when our homes had value and we weren’t worried about losing our jobs and when our 401k and IRA looked promising, our futures bright, on the road to our American Dream.
A financial plan is nothing more than a series of small steps, action items that lead to big results. In order to take control of our finances and move toward the light, we must first recognize the here and now of our financial position as it is right this minute. The ostrich approach isn’t working. Time to take our heads out of the sand and accept our world as it is today. It’s time to make some financial decisions, to take control of your financial future. Knowledge is power and with knowledge stress goes down and confidence rises.
Begin by knowing and understanding your current financial position. List your annual and monthly expenses. Get clear about exactly what your total monthly expenses are each month. What does it take for you to live? In other words what are your minimum income requirements? I am not recommending a budget just an understanding, a beginning, a starting place. Divide the list into two. One list includes your variable expenses like food, clothing, utilities and the other your fixed liabilities. Fixed expense would be credit card debt, car payments, student loans and mortgage.
Next, list your assets. Get copies of your statements. Checking account, savings, CD’s, money markets, company retirement plan, investments including IRA, ROTH, stocks and bonds, cash value of life insurance, annuities, even home equity if you are among the lucky few who have any equity and anything and everything else you can think of.
In future articles we will, step by step, create a plan. This is just the beginning of a journey to financial control.
Is Fear holding you back?
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Finance Specialist & Blog Leader