YOU ARE WEALTHY

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to sit down with wealth manager, Emma Foulkes to discuss the commonly misunderstood basics of personal finance while capturing her entrepreneurial story. As always, I love it when my preconceived notions get challenged and I learn something new or go deeper into what I thought I thoroughly knew. I am a smart guy, but it is refreshing to keep learning.

The fresh concept to me was her definition of what “wealth” is and that we all have it. To become “wealthy” as our society understands it; financial freedom, when work becomes a choice, not a necessity, when money works harder for us than we do for it, when we can donate substantial sums of money to causes we care about and make an impact, when we have an estate large enough to cover another generation, when we can invest in any business venture which interests us, when we can truly own our lives and treat ourselves to our heart’s desires so much as money can buy, to have this experience depends in large part upon what we do with the wealth that we do have, however small. Wealth as Foulkes defines it, is the money we have left over after the bills are paid. If that is ZERO. How much of those bills are necessary (food, housing, communication, clothes, transportation to work, healthcare)? And are those bills as low as they can possibly be? No one should have an excuse of not having money left over after the bills are paid.

When you have found your wealth, are you saving it? What are your saving goals, (3 months of basic necessary living expenses covered, to 6 months, to 1 year, to 3 years, to 5 years, to 7 years, to 10 years) what are these numbers for you? Inchworm your way into wealth by alternating between achieving your emergency fund goals and savings to purchase assets (things that make you money) like buy-in to side hustles and other business ventures, like perhaps purchasing a car if you don't have to drive for Uber or Lyft, any necessary certifications or equipment to get into personal training, massage or barbering or hair-styling, dog-sitting, dog walking or baby sitting, mechanic, real-estate house-flipping, selling Herbalife, Mary Kay or Avon or other decent network marketing ventures so that you when you return to your next emergency saving goal, you can save quicker and accelerate your pace. Your saving goals for these ventures should cover up to one year of startup overhead expenses to begin. Or, you could temporarily commit several months at a time to a part time job to reach your goals in the beginning for either your emergency saving goals or asset acquisition goals. How bad do you want to be rich? Once you have reached 10 years of necessary living expenses saved, you are then ready to dive headlong into any serious entrepreneurial venture which captures your passions that you are ready to commit a career to. At this point when you passion becomes your work, you'll never work another day in your life. That is your prize and keep your eyes on it.

Next, are you adequately insured against any financial emergency which may befall you? Are you out of bad debt (debt related to liabilities--things that aren’t making you money)? After these bases are covered, your next goal is to begin investing. At this point, you need to come see Emma Foulkes, once you have at least saved 10% of your annual income on top of your emergency savings and are then ready to explore your options.

http://www.greenwoodwealthmanagement.com/team/emma-i-foulkes-cfp-crpc