Financial.

Financial products are the ONLY product in the world you NEED to buy when you don’t NEED them!

Think about it for a minute.

• You get sick – you need health insurance.
• You get diagnosed with cancer – you need critical illness insurance.
• You break your back – you need disability insurance.
• Your hot water tank goes and your washing machine springs a leak – you need an emergency fund.
• Your hot sexy girlfriend/wife/Lisa wants to go to Paris last minute – you need to have a credit card.
• Your husband dies – you need to have life insurance.
• You’re sick of working and you want to retire and not work so hard – you need to have a retirement investment account.

The problem with all of this is that by the time you NEED these products in place it’s TOO LATE!

Everything thing else in the world that we NEED we obtain instantly. We need food – we go to McDonalds or the grocery store and make dinner. We want to read a book, we open up our kindle or go to the book store and buy a book. Same with movies, clothes, cars, houses, same with all the things we think we need. We are a society of instant gratification.

I get this!

If I want chocolate, I get chocolate. If I want a bubble bath with candles, wine and a good book and a massage, I go and get that now. Okay, so even when we don’t get things instantly, we at least make plans to go get them because they will fulfill us now, or at least we think they will. Things we don’t need at the present moment we don’t pursue.

Right now, I don’t need a dishwasher, a new pair of underwear, or a new husband. If I did need those things, I would go out and get them!

However, the things that don’t offer us immediate satisfaction or we know we may need in the future, but don’t need today, we typically DON’T buy. Human nature. This isn’t rocket science.

Here’s the thing though – when you need a FINANCIAL PRODUCT because you got sick, disabled, had a financial emergency, or decided to retire, that is the TIME WHEN YOU CAN’T UNDO THE CLOCK!

You fall ill, you will not be getting any good quality insurance of any kind. No insurance company wants to touch you with a 10-foot pole!

You need money, and then wish you had saved all those years previous. No investment is going to give you a consistent 100% return on your money for the next 5 years while you frantically try to save every penny.

BOTTOM LINE my dear friends is this – IF YOU ARE HEALTHY, YOUNG AND MAKING MONEY THIS IS THE TIME YOU NEED TO INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE AND BUY, SAVE OR INVEST IN FINANCIAL PRODUCTS!

No more excuses my dear love! Get your butt in front of someone who can offer you these products – such as an independent financial planner or independent financial advisor who is licensed to sell these products and you will be forever grateful.

Plus being financially organized and prepared is one of the BEST FEELINGS in the world! (Okay – second or third best… but still a great feeling!)

I’ve seen first-hand when I deliver life insurance or critical illness claim cheques to my clients, and the only thing people ever say to me is that they wish they bought more. That’s the reality when you are in these situations. Trust me!

Being financially well-adjusted means that you have balance! Your financial balls aren’t all in the air. You equally enjoy things in the now and you also are prepared for what’s to come.

I hope you are walking around with your financial balls in place!

PS. IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR FINANCIAL BALLS IN PLACE, CHECK OUT THESE 3 YEAR END OFFERS TO GET 2017 OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT! Message or Email me at admin@ellementsgroup.com to register or learn more!

CLICK IMAGES BELOW TO SEE PDF

The Ultimate Quick Financial Guide to Parenthood

THIS IS THE GUIDE YOU NEED IF:

• You are having a baby!
• You just had a baby!
• You know people who are having a baby or just had a baby! (Hi Grandma!)

My lovelies, here is the deal ——> No one tells you what you need to do financially when you have a baby. The government sure doesn’t. Society sure doesn’t. We all know there is no guide to Parenthood! So how do you even know if you are on the right track?

To make sure that you are on the right financial track, I’ve compiled a few tips in an easy-to-read guide to help get all new parents on the right foot financially when having a baby!

Nobody knows better how overwhelming having a new baby can be, and this guide is here to HELP!

Even if you don’t have a baby, or your babies are older now, download this FREE guide and SAVE as a PDF to your iPad or computer and then forward to your friends and family when you know they are expecting or just had a baby. TRUST ME, you will be the hero here!

Every parent wants the best for their babies, and trust me when I say, sometimes as parents, we just want to know we are on the right track and making sure we are doing the best we can for our kids! This is one way to make sure you are headed in the right direction!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE COPY NOW!

I’m sure you know the 4 things you are doing with your money, but are you really aware of where your focus is?

Here are the 4 Things You Are Doing With Your Money

• Making Money
• Keeping Money
• Growing Money
• Spending Money

That’s it!  There are only 4 possible options!

So where’s your focus?

Let’s start with SPENDING MONEY. Okay, you need no help from me! You’ve got that covered in Kate Spades!

Next, MAKING MONEY.  If you have a steady job or successful steady business, then you have this all locked up. You get paid a somewhat steady amount. If you are however a new business owner or entrepreneur, then your brain can’t escape thinking about how to MAKE MONEY! You are most likely always thinking about this; you live, eat, and breath this!

If you are trying to KEEP more of your money (aka. pay less tax or if you are retired!) or GROW your money (properly invest your assets!), then you need the help of FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS! This is where you need to call upon your team of ACCOUNTANTS, LAWYERS, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS! (Oh, you don’t have a team of Financial Professionals?  Then use ours! Check out WealthSpa™!)

Proper advice from financial professionals will help you KEEP YOUR MONEY and GROW YOUR MONEY!

So right now, ask yourself, what is your main focus? Are you feeling like you are spending too much? Not making enough? Need to preserve the money you’ve made or make it grow?

No matter what stage you are at, ask yourself this: are you utilizing all the possible tools, strategies, people & products that can help you with that stage or are you totally stuck? If you are, then reach out! There are amazing people in the world that want to help you MAKE MONEY, KEEP YOUR MONEY, GROW YOUR MONEY, and…oh yeah…. SPEND YOUR MONEY….

Here’s a great way to spend money today – BUY MY BOOK! Strut: How to Kick Financial ASSets in Sexy Shoes is available for $9.99 on Kindle, Kobo & iTunes Bookstore – Check it out here! That’s a smart way to SPEND money if I do say so myself! 😉

If you want to read about why you do need to work with professional financial planner, read this article on HUFF POST “ARE YOU TREATING YOUR INVESTMENTS LIKE A ONE-NIGHT STAND”

If you prefer to get your info in VIDEO, then PLEASE JOIN my private FACEBOOK GROUP HERE! You will get all this content and more!

If you prefer listening to PODCASTS, then please search “Money Makeover” or “Lisa Elle” on your favorite Podcast App!

Here is a short something for you to ponder today:

Investments and Taxes and Shoes

If I give you $1 and it doubles every year for 20 years (meaning you make 100% return on it every year):

In a Tax-Free Account You would have

$1,048,576

If you were taxed 50.67% on the growth (an average marginal tax bracket in Canada) you would have

$3,040

This is why you need:

• An awesome Certified Financial Planner to help you navigate the tax world
• An awesome CPA or accountant to work with your advisor on financial strategies
• A great pair of shoes (I just threw that in, because it’s just truth!)

BOTTOM LINE: All the talk in the investment world right now is about fees and returns, which don’t hold a candle to the real issue, which should be making sure that tax planning comes first, because nothing will KILL YOUR INCOME, ASSETS, NETWORTH, BUSINESS & ESTATE more than taxes.

The cold hard truth is this: When considering your investments, income, assets, business, and estate, are you buying JUSTIN T. (note: NOT Timberlake) new designer shoes when really you deserve a pair for yourself?

Start Planning. Start a conversation with your fav CFP, one that understands that shoes are as important as taxes!

When I eat chips, they land in a nice resting place. My boobs.

I don’t have any chips on my shoulder (literally or physically – besides, who even came up with that expression?!) But today, I have a chip on my boob.

What is a ‘chip on my boob’ you might ask, besides having an intimate night with a bag of Lays?

Great question.

A ‘chip on my boob’ is a gentle message of love for someone, just like a fallen chip finding a nice, soft landing place, and you bringing it back to fulfill its ultimate purpose in life. (I’m totally coining that – right here, right now. 🙂 )

My message today is a gentle message of love for someone, maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s me who needs to get this.

Honestly, I was divinely struck yesterday while driving to write this. Simple as that.

Dear Friend,

I got a simple message I was told to share with you today.

You are a not a number.

You are not your Social Insurance Number.

You are not your age.

You are not your parent’s net worth or your children’s net worth.

You are not the money (big or small) in your bank account right now.

You are not the money you make at your job.

You are not the failure of successes of your business.

You are not your financial status; past, present or future.

You are not your address.

You are not the amount of debt you owe.

You are not the car you drive.

You are not your net worth – BIG or SMALL!

You have ONLY one REAL title in this world. The only real title that you were born with and you will leave with and that title comes with more GRACE than you will ever comprehend, know or need.

YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. You have the entire power, knowledge, strength of the universe at your back to do the incredible things in this world that you were called to do.

Money is just a tool. Stop using it as a measuring stick for your life!

You can’t measure your worth. If you think you can, then you will go through life thoroughly miserable.

YOU ARE WORTHY JUST BECA– USE YOU ARE HERE. PERIOD.

So be kind to yourself. Don’t compare yourself to anyone, because it will stop your light from shining.

Don’t stay ‘stuck’. Have your pity party, and move on. Who gives a damn about your past f*ck ups! So don’t measure yourself by that.

And, my love, forgive yourself! FORGIVE YOURSELF.

You’re not forgiving yourself. You know everyone around you and even God has forgiven you, but you need to forgive yourself for whatever it is that is keeping that light dim, from bitterness, and things that didn’t go as planned or go your way. Release yourself from all the “shoulds” in your life.

You are too DAMN hard on yourself.

I know. I’m the same as you. We come from the same source, and virtually most of us are programmed the same way.

I want you to live in raw wonder, in a place where anything is possible. I want you to see the smile on other’s faces when you shine your greatness & love on them, and stir inside of them the belief that anything is possible. I want you to NOT be harboured when things don’t go your way, and release yourself into the vast ocean of abundance that comes when you’ve stopped comparing yourself to this world.

Never seek your favour from the world, it will let you down miserably! Every. Single. Time.

LOOK DEEP INTO SOMEONE’S EYES today, even if they are your own, and know you are called to greatness however YOU define it.

Stop comparing yourself to a number, whatever number listed above that is holding you back, is my prayer for you. Over and over, and over again, because you know that is sure as hell ain’t about the numbers.

With Love,

P.S. Thank you to my shopping club who pointed out the literal chip on my boob at our last party, hence where the title came – those are my peeps! And to all you girls who get chips on your boobs – Love you girls!

Could you possibly be treating your investments and the advice around them like a one-night stand?

Do you even know the first name of your financial advisor? Do you even have a “financial advisor”? Bonus points if you have their contact information programmed into your phone.

THIS IS A GENTLE SMACK DOWN from Moi for everyone who doesn’t know their advisor’s first name, or have their advisor programmed into their phone!

Funny (not-funny) as it may seem, many people aren’t on a first-name basis with their financial advisor, let alone having a long-standing relationship with them.

When I survey random people in my world about who their financial advisor is, most people spurt out the name of the financial institution that holds all their hard earned dollars, and find it difficult to come up with an actual name of a real live person. They would be even more hard pressed to get a direct number to call them, as most calls are routed through a call centre anyways these days.

I don’t condemn the employees at the big banks for one second. The corporate financial system has created a culture in which no one stays around long enough in one position at a majority of these companies. It’s a move-up or move-on out mentality. Let’s be real for a moment, we are all taking care of number one first, so naturally, I would want to keep my job as well.

You are the client and from your perspective you may find repeating yourself over and over again, meeting after meeting. You slowly begin to omit pertinent and important information over time because you know next year, you will be meeting with yet another advisor (that’s assuming your portfolio is big enough to even warrant a face-to-face appointment to begin with!)

Please tell me how an advisor can really make an impact on a client’s financial life when every time the client walks into the same office they are meeting with a different advisor?

As an observer of the effect technology has on financial transaction-based businesses leaves me wondering where the quality of financial advice is coming from these days and I know this is affecting the middle-class population all over the world. Corporate ladder climbing at large financial institutions leaves an undesirable effect on the bulk of the population, which still gets most of its financial advice from the corner bank.

What’s missing?

Relationships.

Period.

Ok, to be fair, I can’t put all the blame on big corporate banking culture, I do know all relationships are a two-way street (yes, even marriage…so I’ve heard), and even I have clients that don’t return my calls.

The reason why being on a fist name basis and developing a long-term relationship with your financial advisor is so important is because the quality of advice suffers when there is no relationship. Proper follow up goes right out the window when your account gets thrown around from advisor to advisor, and I’m not even going to touch on the proprietary investments or possible canned advice that some of these institutions actually hand out like old-hard-candy – the kind your grandma kept in her purse with tissue stuck to it.

Also, keep in mind when you are working with an independent advisor on a first name basis, as a client, you are their boss. Independent advisors typically don’t have a manager they need to suck up to, quotas they need to meet and/or they don’t have the sole purpose in life of trying to please shareholders.

Here’s the other thing. The client (that’s you) deserves to get quality advice that looks at your whole financial picture and not just the ‘transaction special of the day’. This requires the investment of time and if you find an advisor that is willing to work with you and go the distance, then your portfolio will reap the benefits of that relationship.

Oh, and by the way, no matter where your money is, whether at the corner bank lost in the black hole or with an awesome advisor, you are paying for it. You are paying for your financial transactions or investments you hold any which way you cut it, so wouldn’t it be worth your time to find an advisor that you can build a relationship with?

Important big picture advice on tax planning, estate planning, retirement planning, education planning and other products and services that the traditional banking channel does not offer is the biggest reason why you need an advisor who has your best interests at heart.

How does an advisor get to the point where he/she can recommend what is in your best interest? By getting to know you and building a relationship with you, right?! Okay, so I hate having to state the obvious, but yet, it’s obviously not obvious enough.

Quick financial fixes are like a one-night stand. Sure, they are good for today, but you’ll be paying for it down the road.

BOTTOM LINE:  Question for you: What does not knowing your financial advisor’s first name do to your prosperity over the long run?

DOCTOR LISA IN DA HO– USE TODAY!

Here are a couple prescriptions to take away your money headaches forever.

2-22’s

Patient: Self-Employed or Anyone Commission Sales

RX: Two-Twenty Two’s

Frequency: Everyday

Refills: Unlimited

Directions: Set 2 appointments. Make 2 presentations. Follow Up with 2 clients. Continue daily for best results.

Results: Sure to cure any financial or sales headache!

Side Effects: Inconsistent use of 2-22’s will result in continued financial headache.

INVESTODINE FIFTHROMAX

Patient: Young Adult

RX: Investodine Fifthromax

Frequency: Everyday

Refills: Unlimited

Directions: Set aside $5 a day into a savings account. Invest in a diversified portfolio as needed.

Results: Done consistently over 40 years @ 8% interest will result in approx. $500,000 of invested savings.

Side Effects: If drug is taken to Vegas, spent on emergency shopping spree’s, shoes, or new cars, desired result will not occur.

AMILLICILLIN FUKITODON

Patient: Women Aged 45-65

RX: Amillicillin Fukitodon

Frequency: Take Only Once

Refills: None

Directions: To be used only if you have tried and failed at all other money making options. Marry for Money. Lots of Money. Do not take into consideration personality, looks or religion, and confirm all financial statements before nuptials.

Results: You will never have to worry about money again.

Side Effects: You may not have true love, but you’ll be able to soak up those tears in a Hermes scarf and Chanel tissue. 😉

This time of year I embark on my love/hate relationship with back-to-school. The kids going back to school sounds like a choir of angels singing music to my ears compared to the current airwaves of sibling warmongering. That’s my love part.

The hate part is the endless money drain that September always seems to bring with it. I feel like after 5 years of getting these same bills over and over I should know better, but they keep taking me by surprise. School fees, school supplies, bus transportation, fun lunch, field trips, school fundraising (those dang entertainment books always get me!) And oh yeah, don’t forget dance, piano, hockey, and accordion lessons are all starting up again too! Requests for money are everywhere!

I find recurring expenses, like the water bill, easy to plan for and budget for, but it’s all the one-time expenses that are hard to plan for, especially when you aren’t exactly sure what amount is being thrown at you.

So enough is enough.

Here are 7 Back-to-School Financial Tips for Parents:

Tip#1 – Write out a list of approximately what you think all the school bills due in the month of September will amount to and total them up.

My list looks like this:

School Fees: $300

Bus Transportation: $450

Fun Lunch: $110

Fundraisers: $40

Choir: $600

Piano: $250

Total: $1,750 or $146 a month.

Then, take this total and divide by 12 to figure out what you need on a monthly basis to save up.  It’s a lot easier for me to save $146 a month, versus spending $1750 all in one month. This works for Christmas gifts too!

What’s important about this strategy is that you are being pro-active and not re-active. This is a calming strategy. This is making decisions ahead of time and totally reduces your stress.

As simple as this may seem, and we all know this head knowledge, doing it is another story entirely. So just spend 5 minutes and do this. I do this on a sticky note. So it doesn’t have to be fancy.

TRY IT!

Tip #2 – Create a free sub-account for your kids

I have a sub-account (the free e-accounts at your bank) that I nickname: Kids. In this kids account, I keep all my specific payment for kids in that account. (And for my kids their monthly RESP and Life & Critical Illness Insurance Payments come out of that account as well.) I also get my government payments into this account, that way, I don’t have to worry if there is money in that account for all the automatic payments.

Plus I have cheques for this account, so when I write cheques to the school (yes, our school still takes cheques – YIKES!), then I don’t have to worry about them getting mixed up in my regular household account. Who wants the embarrassing call that you bounced a cheque for $20 because you weren’t paying attention to that account! Not me. Been there, done that.

Tip#3 – Look for discounts on school supplies or reuse from last year.

I find kids bring home so many supplies that they haven’t used. I’m sure I have a drawer of 30 erasers, 17 rulers, and a bazillion pencils and a shoebox of pencil crayons or buy school supplies on clearance in October for the next school year.

Tip#4 – Pre-plan lunches!

I always get caught not having lunch foods in my house. So, I’m the one at the corner convenience store buying Lunchables for double the price late on a school night. So a little pre-planning on my end would probably pay for my expensive latte habit anyways!

Tip#5 – Start saving toward your RESP.

I can’t believe how fast kids grow up and I just realized my kids are about 10 years away from university. CRAY! So, to make sure you aren’t super stressed about post-secondary education, make sure to start saving $50 or $100 a month to your child’s RESP.  The government will add 20% and some provincial governments add a few other bonuses, depending on where you live.

Tip #6 – Research financial aid if you need it.

I do know in my province that lower income families do get certain subsidies towards school or transportation costs. So, it may be helpful to talk to your school and find out what subsidies are available.

Tip#7 – Get your kids involved.

Show your kids the cost of their education and all the activities they part-take in. Even if it rolls over them, it’s important to show them that there’s a cost.  The word cost seems to have a negative connotation for most people, and kids pick up on that. So maybe even explain it as a way of trading or exchanging something of value for something of equal value. You can also get your kids to work a summer job or do extra work around home or the office and put it towards a fun trip or activity that they want to do.

3 Money Hugs For Investments Gone Bad

I’ve seen things go bad before in my life. I’m not just talking about the vegetables in my fridge, the rotting food I found under my daughter’s bed (which finally explains that smell!), Rhianna & Beyoncé having to actually tell their fans to put down the Pokemon at their concerts, or watching Pokemon people walk right into oncoming traffic to catch Pikachu. That’s bad and I don’t mean Michael Jackson bad either.

Things go bad sometimes. This is life. Or as my Opa would say, “Wie stinken die Tomaten!” Which loosely translates to something about stinking tomatoes. Although my German is bad at best, I got the just of it every time he said it!

I will also admit that sometimes I feel bad for psychologists and pastors. Every time they meet someone new, people tend to verbally spew out all their problems, and vomit all their tales of woe to them. It’s like asking for a free counselling session right there in the middle of the cocktail party or cafe.

And poor doctors and nurses….I’m sure I’ve even been at fault for this at parties, as I throw my foot up on the table, “Does this look like a wart to you?” (It wasn’t a wart…just to clarify!)

However, I did not realize when I became a financial coach years ago that I would come upon a similar plague or occupational hazard when I meet new people and tell them what I do for a living.

Instead of hearing about gout in your big toe, your crazy Aunt Martha leaving your Uncle Dexter, or how you can’t sleep at night because you fear for spiders crawling into your mouth, I get stuck with hearing about every bad investment that you or your family or friends have EVER MADE!

I’ve actually started keeping a mental journal of all the stories I hear from people I’ve just met!

These last few months alone, I’ve heard these from random strangers where our conversations lasted under 3.5 minutes:

• lost entire retirement savings when given to brother to invest
• lost house to fire years ago and didn’t have insurance
• re-mortgaged house and lost it on a single investment
• lost money in a land deal gone bad from “irregular accounting”
• sorry, got no money – lent it all to family members and will never see a dime of it again
• spent all my money on PokeCoins

Why is it we feel comfortable telling total strangers all our deep dark secrets? Clearly, that’s a topic for another day.

3 Money Hugs

Today, I want to offer 3 money hugs to those who have ever lost money on a bad investment.

Money Hug #1 – You had faith. You took action.

Having lost money on something means that you were willing to invest or try something new and you had faith and believed in an idea so much that you put your money where your mouth is. Even though it didn’t work out, you learned something.

This investment taught you something, whether it was how not to do something in the future, or to research more next time you put your money into an investment, or for the simple fact that you were willing to be the “wind beneath the wings” – to allow a project or idea to grow, fly and see it take off.

Losing money means that you tried something, and you were right to try. True, you didn’t get your desired outcome, but you did your half of the equation, which you MUST do if you want anything in life.

Your half is the try. The part that you control is the try. It is the effort put forth; the action taken. If you didn’t try, you wouldn’t be anywhere right now. One day an investment will go right and you will be glad you did invest and you did your part of the equation.

Don’t feel bad about your failed investment either. Take that guilt and shove it where the sun don’t shine. It’s not helpful to you in any way.

Money Hug #2 – You helped someone.

Even if you didn’t help someone, you helped society/humanity in some way.

All money goes toward our collective increase as a society. Think about it for a second. All investments or businesses need capital to run. You are investing in something that provides jobs for others, and even if that company goes bankrupt, or that land deal goes bad; that money did go somewhere, it fed someone.

You can make up whatever good or bad story about where that money went in your head, but do yourself a favour, and just trust what you sent out into the world went to work toward a good intention. You contributed to something bigger than yourself. It had to create value in some way, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have invested in the first place. Remember, money isn’t good or bad, it just is. Money needs to circulate to do its job.

Money Hug #3 – It was a bad investment, not a life sentence.

You can and will be able to make money as long as you are of sound mind. (Okay, I see you want to plead the 5th here on your mental competency, but if you are reading this, you probably have a sound mind and aren’t reading this from your rubber room.)

You can rebuild. You can create. You can have the life you desire. But you can’t do that with all your negative extra baggage you carry around with you from your bad experience. I have clients that were in bad investments in their past and they haven’t let it go. I have other clients that have moved on, cut their losses, and didn’t let the bad investment get to them. Blame will not serve you as you try to rebuild. Try forgiveness instead.

Remember, if you are really putting yourself out there and going after your dreams or have a desire to make money, you will most likely at some point in time stumble upon failure.

I have had many investments go bad over the years, and I’ve learned from every one of them. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them, and I wouldn’t be able to understand what it’s like to lose a lot of money without having gone through it first-hand. I also know that as I continue to build my business and invest, I realize that I will again at some point in the future come across one or more investment failures.

Investing in life is part of the game of life, and I refuse to be on the sidelines!

(On that note, I’ve also considered telling people that I work as an undertaker at my next party, I wonder what stories I will hear then! 😉 )

BOTTOM LINE: Bad investments happen to good people. Bad investments don’t make you bad or a failure. Bad investments mean you tried, you took action, and you also helped someone or created value for someone. Bad investments are not a life sentence, and you can, and you will recover from them! There is also one investment that never goes bad, you will never lose any money and you get back only happiness in return: FREE HUGS! Call me today for yours! 🙂

One of my all time favourite podcasts to listen to is Brooke Castillo. She is an amazing life coach and I can’t lie, I’m totally addicted!

She had this amazing blurb on saving and investing that I want to share with you.

These are my notes from her talk:

Every time you make a purchase you are either spending or investing. Both are important.

Spending money means it is gone. There is no financial return coming to you (although, yes, you clearly will have some enjoyment from your purchase). Investing money means it has the potential to make you money in the future.

Here are two questions to ask yourself every time you are making a purchase:

Does the money you are spending have the potential to make money in the future?

Or is it a spend that is just worth the money?

If it is neither, then walk away.

You should have a nice balance of both spending and investing.

Here are a few of my favorite spends:

• a nice new pair of stilettos
• buying a treat for my girls
• traveling absolutely anywhere
• a latte from my favourite cafe
• my sports car

Here are some of my favorite investments:

• my iPhone 6S
• my laptop
• my life coach and business coaching
• books that enrich my life
• traveling to conferences or to learn more about something

BOTTOM LINE: Spending and Investing are both important. Investing in yourself doesn’t always have to mean saving money. Spending money doesn’t have to be a negative thing. Balance is important.