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FinalCall.com News
Business & Money
Keys to financial success
By Michael Shinn
Updated Mar 14, 2006 - 4:59:00 PM
In the movie Last Holiday, Queen Latifah plays the role of Georgia Byrd, a lonely sales clerk with big dreams, trapped in a boring existence. Her life changes dramatically when she is serendipitously diagnosed with a terminal illness and told that she has only three weeks to live. She throws caution to the wind, cashes in her 401K and embarks on a grand European Holiday. In a touching scene, while elegantly dressed and reflectively looking in the mirror, Georgia says to herself, “Next time around, we’ll do things differently. We’ll laugh more, love more and I just won’t be afraid.” In Hollywood fashion, this story has a happy ending.
Suppose you were told that the next Holiday Season will be your last here on earth. How would you react? What would you do differently? How would you attempt to fulfill your dreams and life ambitions? Like Georgia, would you throw caution to the wind and attempt to go out in a blaze of conspicuous consumption? Or, would you spend your remaining time focused on family and close relations? Or, would you just keep on doing what you’ve been doing?
Most people won’t have that life-changing experience that will cause them to seriously evaluate where they are and where they are going. They will go through 2006 doing as they always have and hoping to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, the year will end just as Tennessee Ernie Ford sang in his classic ballad “Sixteen Tons”—“You load sixteen tons and what do you get, a little bit older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter, don’t you call me cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.”
For most people in America, achieving their life goals is inextricably intertwined with achieving their financial goals. There are four keys to achieving financial success.
Set goals
Having clearly defined family financial goals guides the financial decision making process in both the short and long term. The first step is to sit down with your family and discuss your short, medium and long-term financial goals. Write down your goals and review them at least quarterly.
Start right now
Procrastination stops most people dead in their tracks, because they just don’t do anything to achieve their financial goals. Procrastination costs money and wastes valuable time that cannot be made up. Start right now to work on achieving your financial goals—tomorrow may be too late!
Understand your finances
Most Americans will spend 20 hours or more a week watching television than they will spend in a year working on or educating themselves about their personal finances. Go to the public library and read investment books, magazines and newspapers. Watch the daily financial news reports on television. Having basic understanding of personal finance is key to financial success.
Eliminate credit card debt
Credit card debt is a huge barrier to achieving financial success. Use this simple rule: “If you can’t afford to pay for something within the next 30 days, don’t use your credit card to buy it.” If you have current credit card debt, don’t add to it and then figure out a way to pay it off within the next 12 months. Don’t let credit card debt prevent you from achieving financial success.
Start right now to achieve your goals and live your dreams. The only person that can change your situation is you, but you have to start today.
(Michael Shinn is a registered representative of the Financial Network Investment Corporation. Visit www.shinnfinancial.com for more information. Questions and comments may be sent to [email protected].)
