Financial Wellness Mindset

Dear Financial Wellness Seeker, Today, I want to talk to you about having a financial wellness mindset. I have noticed that talking about money can be awkward for many people. Some people believe the myth that money is evil. Others who don’t feel that money is evil don’t feel comfortable talking about money for fear of the judgment of people who believe the myth that doing so makes materialistic. Well, let me break down my thoughts on these damaging thoughts and the alternative financial wellness mindset.

Money Myths

First, let me dispel the aforementioned myths. It is important to do this because your beliefs will control what we do. What we do is what leads to our results.

Money is not evil. It is not the root of all evil. Money is just a tool. It’s a medium of exchange. It is the love of money that the Bible states is the root of all evil.

As for the second myth, discussing money does not indicate that you are materialistic. Practically every part of our lives is affected by money. That’s just how it is. Until the situation changes, we need to learn how to not only survive in this system, but how to thrive in this system. Money is just a resource. The key is to not allow money to become an idol.

Money doesn’t make you happy. But, money does touch on most things in life, including many things that make of happy and give us a sense of contentment.

In Contrast to The Myths, Money Is…

Now that I have discussed what money is not, let’s get back to what money is.

Money is a tool. We don’t need money to make us happy. But, we need money to prevent or solve lots of problems that can prevent us from being happy.

Do you want to avoid being hungry? Well, money is needed to purchase food. Do you want a home? Money is needed for that.

Do you have a home, but want a home that is in better condition, or in a safer neighborhood? You need money for that.

Are your children growing out of their clothes? You’ll need money to buy them replacement clothes.

Are you living far from your job? You’ll need money to pay for some means of transportation.

Are you in need of health care or some type of medicine? You’ll need money to pay for those.

Would you like to go on a vacation? It’ll cost money.

Would you like to help pay for your child to attend college? It’ll cost money.

Would you like to help a parent with some type of bills? It’ll cost money.

I could go on. But, hopefully you get the point.

The desires that I mentioned above are not those that I would consider materialistic desires. But, they are things that are a combination of things that you need and desires that I believe most would not be considered unreasonable.

So, now that, hopefully, you understand that it is not bad to be interested in money and personal finances, let’s move on to discussing financial wellness.

What Is Financial Wellness?

Financial wellness is the state of understanding your financial details and being able to control your finances in order to pay today’s bills and at the same time save toward your future financial goals. Financial Wellness includes having a mindset that understands several concepts which I have discussed below. Let’s get started!

In Order To Successfully Achieve Financial Wellness: You Must Have an effective Financial Wellness Mindset.

Mindset is how you deal and react to challenges and opportunities.

What Is an Effective Financial Wellness Mindset?

Based on what I have learned, rather than believing in the money myths, you should believe the following:

You are responsible for your own financial well being. Even if your parents would like to help you with understanding personal finances, many parents cannot do so very well, because they did not have a strong financial education themselves. Furthermore, most schools are not teaching financial literacy. And for sure, you cannot count on the government to save you. So let me emphasize this…No one is coming to save you. It’s up to you.

Be careful about your inputs. Find some friends who are also interested in developing financial wellness. Avoid people who encourage you to spend more than you earn. Instead, find some friends who discuss financial goals and plans on how to achieve those goals.

More about inputs…Educate yourself about financial wellness. Read about how to improve your financial wellness (and your life in general). Be careful about who you read, watch on television or online, and listen to on podcasts. Reading my messages can be a start. But, don’t stop there. You can read books, listen to podcasts, and look for educational shows or even some YouTube videos.

If you have not started investing, today is the day that you must start. You do not need to know everything about investing. For example, you can just open an investment account, and buy some S&P 500 shares, like VOO.

Of course, look it up first. Use the Internet. Google it. But, you only

need to know the basics to get started. So, get started now.

Whether discussing your financial goals with others, or just listening to someone else discuss how money works and doesn’t work, be careful not to listen too much to people who have not achieved financial wellness.

The golden rule in personal finance is to spend less than you make. There are only two ways to do this. Often the first thing that pops in people’s minds is to spend less money. This is definitely one part of the process. But, there are exactly two ways to increase the gap between what you earn and what you spend. The other way to do it is to increase your income. Focus on finding ways to increase your income. (I know, I know, this is easier said than done. But, don’t give up on trying.) Ideally, you should do both, decrease your spending and increase your income. Then, you save and invest the money that is left over after you pay your bills, and get to your goal faster.

The first thing to do with active income is to buy cash-flowing assets. Buying cash-flowing assets is the only way to create a future in which you will be less reliant on trading your time for money. Assets first. Lifestyle second.

Start buying cash-flowing assets as soon as possible, as the one of

the main ingredients that assets need to do their job is time.

There is no shame in living at home with your parent(s), as long as you are earning an income and contributing financially to the household. See if you can negotiate paying your parents an amount that would save you money over what it would cost you if you moved out.

Don’t wait for your parent(s) to approach you with this idea of living

with them. Parents like to see that you are developing some

maturity. Your approaching them with this idea would be a nice sign.

Even if you know that your parent(s) wouldn’t mind if you stayed with

them, it is not good to take them for granted.

If you pay them some rent, this can contribute to both you and your

parent’s financial wellness.

Learn to get more joy in life without spending all of the money that you earn on a weekly or monthly basis. This will allow you to not miss the money that is left over. Then, the remaining money can be invested into assets without you feeling deprived.

It’s better to be rich than to look rich. Many people spend a lot of time trying to look rich. From the clothes that they wear to the watches that they wear, from their fancy footwear to their fancy handbags, from expensive cars to the exclusive restaurants, lots of people like to look like they have money. But, statistics say that this might not be the case for many of those people. Consider this…57% of Americans could not handle a $1000 emergency without taking on debt by doing something like using a credit card or taking out a loan, or by selling something.

Anytime you feel that you have failed at your financial goals, don’t get down on yourself. Just keep going. Try to do something for your financial wellness each day. As Dory, in Finding Nemo, says in the face of adversity, “Just keep swimming.”

But, getting even part way to financial wellness will make your financial situation better than it is now. In other words, some progress is better than no progress.

Okay. So, there you have it…Financial Wellness Mindset. Have it. Live it.

Financial Wellness Mindset: Key Takeaways

Ignore the negative myths about money.
You are responsible for your own financial well being.
The golden rule in personal finance is to spend less than you make. The best way to do this is to both decrease your spending and increase your income. Then save and invest what is left over after paying your required bills.
If you have not started investing, today is the day that you must start. Right now.
Be careful not to listen too much to people who have not achieved financial wellness.
Find some friends who are also interested in developing financial wellness.
Educate yourself about financial wellness, through things like reading, watching educational videos, and listening to podcasts.
The first thing to buy every time you get active income is cash-flowing assets. Basically, use a portion of today’s income to buy your future self some income.
There is no shame in living at home with your parent(s), (if you are contributing to the household).
Learn to get more joy in life without spending all of the money that you earn monthly.
It’s better to be rich than to look rich.
“Just keep swimming.”
Some progress is better than no progress.

Wait. I am going to add a bonus aspect of the financial wellness mindset. You have to have a mindset of abundance. This mindset is the belief that there are enough resources for everyone, and practicing gratitude for what we have as opposed to focusing on what we don’t have.

You can show gratitude toward those who help you, and by helping others.

That’s all for now.

May you “just keep swimming”. It’s the only way to get there!

Best,