Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Easy Credit, Hot Stove, Silver Lining

I was reading a recent CNNMoney.com article titled "How the Crisis is Changing You." According to reporter Dan Kadlec, "frugality and safety are in; bling and plastic are out. The economic meltdown has sparked a major shift in our financial values. And one that's likely to last."

Sure enough, 89% of survey respondents said that they have changed how they manage their money since before the recession began - and they plan to keep the change in the days ahead. Consumer behavior experts are saying that this time in financial history will be transformational; much like the Great Depression shaped a generation of Americans.

Traumatic experiences have a way of revolutionizing the way we look at our lives. Relationships and personal growth permanently replace material gains in the financial pecking order.

Picture a child standing next to his mother in a kitchen. The child comes close to touching the stove top, but his mother stops him: "No, no, no - you'll get burned!" Yet, because this child has never actually been burned, he has no understanding of the result of touching a hot stove. So he does it again and - SINGE! - burns his hand. Now he knows.

Credit - in the form of plastic, home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, and personal loans - has been so easy to get for years. Living outside of our means has been a way of life until recently. The national savings rate just turned positive in past few months. It took burning our hand - the one with the credit card in it - to drive us back to a place where saving money for emergencies and purchases, valuing people over more stuff, and breaking the chains of consumer debt all make sense.

One of the positive outcomes of the Great Depression was the generation of young people who grew into disciplined financial managers. Their entire system of values was stripped bare and reconstructed with The Roaring '20s behind them and Hoovervilles ahead.

How has your system of values changed in the last two years? Perhaps that transformation is the silver lining of our current "crisis."

Derek Sisterhen is a financial coach with Lukas Coaching. He helps individuals and couples establish goals for their lives and their money, then creates a plan for accomplishing them. His clients have been able to eliminate their debt in 24 months or less without any gimmicks or complex products. In fact, he doesn't even sell investments or insurance so his clients' best interests always remain at the forefront. Visit http://www.lukascoaching.com to reach Derek and for great resources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_Sisterhen
I was reading a recent CNNMoney.com article titled "How the Crisis is Changing You." According to reporter Dan Kadlec, "frugality and safety are in; bling and plastic are out. The economic meltdown has sparked a major shift in our financial values. And one that's likely to last."

Sure enough, 89% of survey respondents said that they have changed how they manage their money since before the recession began - and they plan to keep the change in the days ahead. Consumer behavior experts are saying that this time in financial history will be transformational; much like the Great Depression shaped a generation of Americans.

Traumatic experiences have a way of revolutionizing the way we look at our lives. Relationships and personal growth permanently replace material gains in the financial pecking order.

Picture a child standing next to his mother in a kitchen. The child comes close to touching the stove top, but his mother stops him: "No, no, no - you'll get burned!" Yet, because this child has never actually been burned, he has no understanding of the result of touching a hot stove. So he does it again and - SINGE! - burns his hand. Now he knows.

Credit - in the form of plastic, home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, and personal loans - has been so easy to get for years. Living outside of our means has been a way of life until recently. The national savings rate just turned positive in past few months. It took burning our hand - the one with the credit card in it - to drive us back to a place where saving money for emergencies and purchases, valuing people over more stuff, and breaking the chains of consumer debt all make sense.

One of the positive outcomes of the Great Depression was the generation of young people who grew into disciplined financial managers. Their entire system of values was stripped bare and reconstructed with The Roaring '20s behind them and Hoovervilles ahead.

How has your system of values changed in the last two years? Perhaps that transformation is the silver lining of our current "crisis."

Derek Sisterhen is a financial coach with Lukas Coaching. He helps individuals and couples establish goals for their lives and their money, then creates a plan for accomplishing them. His clients have been able to eliminate their debt in 24 months or less without any gimmicks or complex products. In fact, he doesn't even sell investments or insurance so his clients' best interests always remain at the forefront. Visit http://www.lukascoaching.com to reach Derek and for great resources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derek_Sisterhen

Are You Ready For Life After?

Women today are becoming "responsible" for their finances for several reasons. Sometimes it's due to a divorce, sometimes women lose their spouse or it may be a young woman graduating college and living on their own for the first time. In any case the big question is "ARE YOU READY?"

In most cases we want to say yes but inside we are saying NO!!! Now, let's take hold of that question and give it the best possible answer: "I am prepared". How can you prepare to take care of yourself financially?

Here are some basic, simple things you can do:

1. Take Inventory. You will need a simple, college ruled notebook. Standing in your home or apartment, look around you. Begin on page 1 of your notebook; label the top of the page "THIS IS MY STUFF". Now start listing everything you own in each room of your house. This seems unnecessary, but it is important, at this point in your life, to know what you own today.

2. Take Financial Inventory of Money In and Money Out.

Money In:In the next pages of your notebook, start to write down every place that you have money. List your bank accounts, your investments, your cash stash, your IRA, your 401K, your life insurance proceeds from your spouse.

Money Out: Follow that list with the list of what you owe and who you owe it to; the banks, the credit cards, the car payment, the house.

3. What brings you money and where do you spend it? Next is the list of where new money comes from and where you spend it;

Money In: List all the places you make money; new job, old job, pension plan payments, social security for example.

Money Out: List all the places you will have to spend money every month, a monthly budget is very important and don't forget to include some "fun money"!

4. Step Back and Decide: Are you happy with what you see in front of you on the pages of your notebook? If the answer is NO, then you will have to develop a plan to improve the situation. If you say YES, that's great and you should feel good about understanding your readiness for life!

This is your starting place, the journey can be fun and your future is a blank canvas and now its your time to paint the picture of your life to come!

Diane Dutton, MBA, CPA, Speaker,Financial Coach for Women, Business Strategy Consultant and author of "A Woman's Ladder To Success", http://www.businesswomenspeak.com/womenladder.htm

For more information on this and the other factors facing your business growth potential , find books, systems and financial coaching at http://www.execsolutions.com

Women today are becoming "responsible" for their finances for several reasons. Sometimes it's due to a divorce, sometimes women lose their spouse or it may be a young woman graduating college and living on their own for the first time. In any case the big question is "ARE YOU READY?"

In most cases we want to say yes but inside we are saying NO!!! Now, let's take hold of that question and give it the best possible answer: "I am prepared". How can you prepare to take care of yourself financially?

Here are some basic, simple things you can do:

1. Take Inventory. You will need a simple, college ruled notebook. Standing in your home or apartment, look around you. Begin on page 1 of your notebook; label the top of the page "THIS IS MY STUFF". Now start listing everything you own in each room of your house. This seems unnecessary, but it is important, at this point in your life, to know what you own today.

2. Take Financial Inventory of Money In and Money Out.

Money In:In the next pages of your notebook, start to write down every place that you have money. List your bank accounts, your investments, your cash stash, your IRA, your 401K, your life insurance proceeds from your spouse.

Money Out: Follow that list with the list of what you owe and who you owe it to; the banks, the credit cards, the car payment, the house.

3. What brings you money and where do you spend it? Next is the list of where new money comes from and where you spend it;

Money In: List all the places you make money; new job, old job, pension plan payments, social security for example.

Money Out: List all the places you will have to spend money every month, a monthly budget is very important and don't forget to include some "fun money"!

4. Step Back and Decide: Are you happy with what you see in front of you on the pages of your notebook? If the answer is NO, then you will have to develop a plan to improve the situation. If you say YES, that's great and you should feel good about understanding your readiness for life!

This is your starting place, the journey can be fun and your future is a blank canvas and now its your time to paint the picture of your life to come!

Diane Dutton, MBA, CPA, Speaker,Financial Coach for Women, Business Strategy Consultant and author of "A Woman's Ladder To Success", http://www.businesswomenspeak.com/womenladder.htm

For more information on this and the other factors facing your business growth potential , find books, systems and financial coaching at http://www.execsolutions.com