What's Holding You Back?

Coach.

What’s Holding You Back?

DREAMS = FINANCIAL PLANNING

What do dreams have to do with financial planning? Everything.

What’s the point of saving a dime if you haven’t figured out how that dime is going to help fuel your dreams or your dreams as a family.

What good is a big pile of money with no dreams attached to it? (FYI – people with big piles of money with no dreams attached to it, end up investing in other people’s dreams by default – what do you really think all this capital in our world is used for anyways? People’s ideas – people’s dreams! You’ll be lending out your capital for other’s dreams until you finally figure out what yours are – welcome to capitalism.)

The problem is most of us give lip service to our dreams and most are too afraid to even dream a big dream at all.

We (by we I mean I) are too afraid to talk about it. Afraid to fail. Afraid to succeed. Afraid we will be alone or no one will like us when they see the real us. Afraid of what people will think. Afraid people won’t love us.

Dreams push us right out of our comfort zone. They push us out of jobs we don’t like or careers that pay us really well to stick around. They break down the walls we worked so hard to build up not to expose the real us- so the shining part of us can stay hidden in those walls and die within. After all, that’s what our society has tricked most of us into believing.

All retirement really is, is when people have made enough money, have enough money set aside, or have enough cash flow (e.g. pensions or government benefits) to quit their job and actually follow their dreams without the financial risk of putting it all on the line (and that’s if you are lucky!) So they can finally follow their dreams in whatever shape or form they come in and take the financial consideration out of the equation all together. I think as a whole we are turning to careers or jobs we actually love – if not right away, soon after. No one sticks around in a job they don’t like anymore anyways. That would be ludicrous. However, I don’t think that we have swung the pendulum quite the other way yet. I think there are lots of hidden dreams that have yet to bubble to the surface.

Everyone has dreams. Dreams make you an artist in something. You may be an actual artist, a business owner, a musician, a surgeon, a construction worker, a pilot or gardener. It’s what fuels you. It what makes you shine and your eyes light up when you talk about it.

I’m a writer. (WOW! I don’t think I have ever actually wrote those words before about myself!) I’m also a financial coach. And at 4am this morning, I’m doing what I love because I had an idea while I was sleeping that I had to get down into Evernote and literally got me out of bed with no coffee! My blood is pumping. I’m excited to be here, in front of the fireplace, cozy, and writing!

My mom is awesome. I was on the phone with her yesterday and she told me she’s heading to Phoenix next week to spend the next 2.5 months playing her Viola with an 80 piece orchestra and a huge choir and make her art unfold into a beautiful Christmas concert. I love my mom and the passion she has when she says she’s going to do this. I can’t wait to go see her play at Christmas. That is her dream. It’s her art.

My Opa and Oma had a construction company and worked so hard – as immigrants do. I don’t think it was their dream to build apartments, but they built them, rented them out and that afforded them their dream – a hobby farm when they were around 50 years old. I remember growing up on that farm. My grandparents worked harder I bet at their chickens, sheep, tree farming, bee keeping, and vegetable garden than at construction. That second life – that was their dream – and my Opa Georg was famous in his little town, because everyone knew that that man was living his purpose – his passion; you could see it in his eyes, the way he talked, the way he loved everyone. Their money fueled their dreams. It had purpose with passion and it made a difference in that town and to our family – anyone in my family will tell you that.

I’ll tell you my story around following your dreams. The truth is – although I’ve known for years what my passion and dreams were, I finally married the two in my head.

Dreams and Passions are different elements and need to mutually meet for them to create magic!

Mine are financial coaching and writing, and somehow in the last 2 years, my dream is starting to take shape although my passion has always flustered below in my belly.

I believe passion stirs deep within, while dreams whirl around us in a playful game waiting to be caught!

Honestly, nothing is more fun to me than writing or working – because I LOVE MY WORK. I like it more than wake surfing or golf or wine tasting. And that is like swearing in my family.

This is how it happened for me: true story.

It was October 2012, I was driving home Friday afternoon from the Delta Kananaskis after my work conference. The motivational speaker had struck a chord within me. I knew what I wanted to do with my life, but I actually didn’t know what my specific dream was.

I was stuck.

I’ve known for many years I have something great to share with the world. But finding my voice in this jungle with my own self-doubt yelling back at me – much stronger than my own voice (and for those that know me know I’m no shrinking violet – I’m loud!)

I remember driving down highway 40 asking God to give me a sign. He literally responded with this. A sign I had seen many times before. A simple road sign.

“Lisa, What’s holding you back?”

Somehow that sign – that moment – changed my life (Anytime God talks to you directly typically does!) I pondered that sign at so many cross-roads in my life when the question needed to be asked and I’m sure that sign will keep cropping up when I need it to.

So last Friday afternoon, October 9, 2015 (co-incidentally my daughter’s 8th birthday) on my way home from the same convention out in Kananaskis, I saw the sign again. Actually, I asked to see the sign again. So I looked for it. And there it was.

I pulled my car over and looking like a full-out tourist with my iPhone, I took a picture of this sign. It’s my Thanksgiving blessing.

I finally know my next step because I finally know my destination or at least what road I’m supposed to be on to get there.

I’ve ran out of excuses this year. Although fear will come along for the ride, I have nothing holding me back from my dreams and a purpose to my financial plan. I have nothing holding me back.

And it finally feels good to say that.

What’s holding you back?

Financial.

Up/Down Simple Planning Page

Before we can make any financial decisions, and start the financial planning process we need to get a snapshot of where we are financially so we can make a plan to get to where we want to go. In just a couple minutes, after completing the UP/DOWN Simple Planning Page, you will know which direction you are heading in. It’s black or white! There is no guessing here – like everything in life – you are either moving forward or backwards, up or down. It’s okay either way – the big point of this planning page is so you can start your ‘UP’ and stop the ‘DOWN’ward spiral. If you are ‘UP’, whether you knew that or had no clue – now you can plan your next financial milestone.

This is the first worksheet in my simple planning package that I give to clients, because honestly, most of my amazing brilliant clients may have a small clue, but on average most people don’t really know where they are at or by how much they are growing each month. It doesn’t matter if you are a bagillionaire or a dollaraire or if you are in an accumulation phase or a distribution phase. You need to take this first step and show your money who’s boss.

It doesn’t matter if you are headed up or down (yes, I say things twice!) It does matter that you know which way you are heading and to what degree so you can make financial choices and decisions based on that information going forward. Your financial coach is here to help you accomplish your next milestone (and drink wine with you!) And most importantly, whatever direction you are heading doesn’t mean anything about you! You are great no matter which way you are going!

TO ACCESS YOUR FREE PDF UP/DOWN SIMPLE PLANNING PAGE and AUDIO SIMPLY SIGN UP BELOW TO GET STARTED!

Have your completed your UP/DOWN SIMPLE PLANNING PAGE? Then please leave a comment below – because I want to hear from you! I want to know if this helped you, or gave you a new perspective – good or bad! Were you shocked? Pleasantly surprised? Or was is exactly where you thought you’d be? Does it make you want to create a new financial possibility for your life?

Financial.

5 Money Measurements

I think sometimes we are too disconnected from our real financial picture or maybe even down right scared to face the music and actually look at where we are financially.

I’ve been there.

You know the moment you get the mail, do a Hail Mary and you pray your visa statement isn’t as bad as you think. Then you kindly tell the police officer who came knocking at your door to investigate the screams that the neighbour heard and say it was just the movie Scream playing on TV really loud and not the shrills of you opening your visa statement…..

da-da-da……

(whatever…. like that’s never happened to you before…pffft…)

Time for the fun talk on money measurements!

These are 5 Money Measurements that you just need to know. Period. (*#5 is the money measurement I invented and for obvious reasons is my favorite! OK – so it’s not like rocket science, but I like to see how much my net worth is growing each month….you can skip right to it if you want 😉 – the other ones were probably invented by smarty-pants-Harvard-types a billion years ago and although your eyes may glaze over and think about tonight’s season premier of Grey’s Anatomy, these are still great measuring tools you need to know.)

Also, I have tried to make this less technical and I even put what the goal should be; unlike those math textbooks that never gave you the answer in the back – boooo! Or like when you learn a new sport and you don’t know if the object of the game is to score high or low (like, I still think in golf the highest number should win.) So I wrote what GOAL you are aiming for right below – you can thank me with starbucks (grande skinny vanilla latte, please)!

1) Debt Ratio = All Debt / Annual Gross Income
(GOAL: 0 or a LOW NUMBER)

This takes your total gross debt divided by your total gross income (I know there is no such thing as ‘gross debt’, but it sounded gross so I put it in there – not to be confused with your gross income, which is gross because you realize it’s what you make before tax).

So, if you earn $80,000 in gross income, and service a total of $300,000 in debt your ratio would be 3.75 There is no right or wrong number here, just know the lower you can get your number, the better it is for you. It means you will have more money every month to save for things like earlier retirement, future education, business expansion, more travel or a big party. Either way, getting your debt load down will free up money and give you more options.

2) Monthly Free Cash Flow = Monthly Take Home Dollars – Monthly Expenses
(GOAL: Highest number possible)

This gives you your disposable income that you can use. The point of cash flow is to see where money is flowing to in different areas and when analyzed by a financial coach, you should be able to find ways to increase your cash flow. Cash flow is the name of the game, because if you can consolidate debt or free up more money to save or pay off your debts in a fast time, then you will reach your goals faster. So, in a nutshell, taking time to do these money measurements will hopefully get you to your goals faster.

3) Net worth = Assets – Liabilities
(GOAL: Highest Number Possible)

Add up all your assets, like your house, your investment accounts, everything of value or that will hold it’s value (your garden gnome collection doesn’t count!) and then subtract it from what you owe and VOILA – you have your net worth. Just please don’t compare to your net worth to your neighbor’s and never get that tied up with your self worth – people have a tendency to do that. 🙂 (You are worth a billion gatrillion times more valuable!)

4) Credit Score or FICO Score
(GOAL: Highest Number Possible – over 680 is good)

There are only 2 major credit reporting agencies in Canada. You can contact Equifax or Transunion. You are allowed to get a FREE copy legally in the mail (they make this hard to find online cause they want your $), but for under $30 you can get instant access online to it. It’s a good idea to find out if you haven’t. Plus, it’s smart to make sure there is no fraudulent activity or that they have incorrect information on it, which can negatively effect if you ever need to use credit in the future. I will write a detailed blog about credit in a few weeks and how it works, because I still think it’s overlooked and most people don’t know how it’s actually calculated.

*5) Up-Down Indicator (now called the Net Worth Maximizer!)
(GOAL: Highest Number Possible )

Well, possibly the best financial tool ever invented by yours truly. You can download my Up/Down Simple Planning Page by signing up below! Or if you are really nice, I’ll email it to you. What the Up-Down Simple Planning Page does is calculate in simple terms how fast your net worth is growing each month by adding and subtracting some key personal financial numbers. I even made a 5-minute audio to accompany it for further explanation.

I created this for one of my best friends who came to me and said that she didn’t ‘feel’ like they were getting ahead financially at all, and even though I knew they were in my head, I wanted to show her that she was doing better financially than she thought. I think half of the battle is that we have these crazy notions that we are ‘bad’ financially or that our money is no good or just all that crazy money talk floating around between our ears. The bottom line is this: things probably aren’t as bad as they seem.

Final Note: You will need to pick a day, and then repeat this exercise in a year so you can get your year over year results and then get a better picture of how you are improving.

“What gets measured gets improved.” – Peter Drucker

Insurance.

Death By Dishwasher

CRITICAL ILLNESS

Apparently, death by dishwasher has increased 100% since they invented the diswasher. Beware, those crazy dishes can pile up and wreak all sorts of trouble on your life, even relationships (specifically the marital type), sometimes resulting in an “accident”, disability or as already alluded to, death. What advice I’d like to give you is to avoid those pesky things all together, however, in life we know that dishes, taxes and death are certain, and for the most part unavoidable. Sadly, there is one more certainty to add to that list that will likely affect everyone at some point in their life: Critical Illness.

I’m not going to go into statistics, but everyone knows someone or multiple people in their life with a critical illness right now. And here’s the thing, most people do survive their critical illness, be it cancer, heart attack, stroke, etc. and for many years after go on to live completely normal lives. Life after a critical illness is becoming more common thanks to medical technology and health care advancements and fabulous support groups.

Critical Illness Insurance, I believe, is an important part of your financial portfolio (because I’ve seen it financially distress families many times). If it’s not in your portfolio, I really think you should take a serious look at it, regardless what age you are at!

Keep in mind, it’s probably not part of your benefits plan at work (if you are lucky to have one). There are very few companies that do offer Critical Illness Insurance as part of their benefits, so make sure to read and know what your benefits cover.

There are even return of premium options (so you get your money back at age 75 for example) and although Critical Illness Insurance premiums are more expensive than Life Insurance, still typically less expensive than Disability Insurance.

But what I really want to tell you today is what Critical Illness Insurance really does for people. I’ve handed out a few critical illness claims myself (all to people under age 50 by the way!) and found it had a very positive effect on those families.

I think when handed a large lump sum of money when you are diagnosed with a critical illness is a mindset game changer – keep in mind, you can do whatever you want with this money (oooh, and I forgot to mention the best part: It’s TAX FREE!) I think it goes unsaid, but I know in my clients’ situation that there was no financial stress on the families during that difficult time, there were financial options available to them to go seek medical attention at the best places in the world if they wanted to, and they felt they were more in control of their situation, rather than having their situation control them. Plus, they didn’t dip into their life savings, and came out in remission financially unharmed years later.

I’m also a firm believer that a positive mindset will overcome anything. And when you have financial resources available to you to, you are less likely to get depressed or feel like a burden to others, because still one of the top reasons for divorce and depression is financial difficulty.

I could write a book about Critical Illness Insurance and why I’m so passionate about it (oh wait, I am….), but for today, just remember to stay clear the dishwasher, and if anyone in your family asks, just tell them I said so*.

*This advice is not real legal advice and should not be construed as legal advice. Liability for not doing dishes is at your own risk, and you should NOT not do dishes without first seeking legal and other professional marital advice. If you were injured as a result of not doing dishes or your life was otherwise negatively impacted by not doing dishes, you are advised expected to shrug it off and be more careful next time.

Invest.

Transparency is Always Good

INVESTMENT FEES & CRM2

I’m a huge fan of transparency…..always good to know all pertinent information upfront to make an informed decision. 😉

No one likes being kept in the dark (although I’m a huge fan of dim lighting and its effect on the aging process)!

And now you won’t be kept in the dark when it comes to the fees you are paying in your investment account.

Here’s the deal: As of next year, July 2016, every statement you receive will disclose all your management investment fees, administration costs, commissions paid front and center on all statements. In the industry we are calling it CRM2 (Client Relationship Model Phase 2 amendments to NI 21-103) and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) to enforce it among all investment dealers across Canada.

This most likely includes you, considering 4.6 Million households as of 2010 (or over 10 Million Canadians) hold mutual funds or equities in one form or another.

Trust me when I say, this is a good thing for you, the client. Transparency is always a good thing.

However, you may be surprised by the ‘sticker shock’ of this – warning: investment fees listed on your statements may appear higher than my 7-year-old on laughing gas at the dentist this week.

What you need to know is that the investment fees are not changing. However, the way in which they are presented to you is. It may appear that fees have increased or are changing simply changing because they will be bold and in your face, whereas before they were simply dealt with behind the scenes, talked about once and for the most part forgotten about.

It’s also important to note that investment fees have always been disclosed in the prospectus given to you when you purchased the mutual funds or other investments originally.

Also, it’s essential to know that your advisor doesn’t keep all that money. The pie gets split by many different hands; similar to realtor fees.

I think the more I live, I learn first hand; you always get what you pay for. Same goes for the value of investment advice. Even if it ‘feels’ you aren’t getting any value, there is lots going on everyday behind the scenes to bring you your investment. And at the end of the day, there’s no free lunch when it comes to our capital markets.

In the end, you may be shocked to find out what’s behind the sheets (…of paper), just be glad you now get all information upfront and can go forward and make informed decisions.

Estate.

Get the Last Word

WILLS & ESTATE PLANNING

Truth be told, I’m partial to my romantic comedies although every now and then I’ve always liked a little gun fight, the odd car chase, or even the Terminator. He always did threaten he’d be back….. (this week in a movie theater near you)

Well, here’s the thing (spoiler alert!), unlike the Terminator, in real life when we die, we are dead. We are not coming back (GASP!)…….yet, it keeps taking thousands by surprise every year.

What’s even more shocking is how many Canadian die without a will, or die intestate.

56% of Canadians do not have a will according to a 2012 survey by LAWPRO.

A will is the foundation of a good financial plan. Not only because you get to direct how your assets are distributed, but if forces self-reflection and one of my favorite planning principles Stephen Covey made famous, ‘begin with the end in mind’. Knowing what we are building, getting clear and painting that picture also helps propel us towards our goals. There are intestacy provisions which vary from province to province, however they probably won’t reflect the true wishes of most individuals and especially if you fall into any of these categories:

– if you wish your spouse to receive your entire estate
– in your second marriage
– in common-law relationship
– in same-sex relationship
– you have children from a previous marriage or born outside of marriage
– you have a child with special or circumstances
– you do not want a public trustee or government managing assets for your minor children
– you don’t want your kids to get their hands on all that money at age 18 or 19
– if you wish to do any tax planning whatsoever
– if you wish to leave any money to charity
– if you wish to appoint guardians for your minor children (and you def don’t want crazy Auntie B doing that!)
– if you wish to grant extended powers to your executor
– if you wish to establish trusts for your loved ones (so Johnny Jr. doesn’t get a $100K sports car at age 18)
– if you wish to leave money to your favorite financial coach …. (PM me for my banking details 😉 )

and finally

you need to have a will…

because who doesn’t want to have the last word.

Invest.

Creating Change

I will never promote traditional “formal” budgeting cause I think it’s boring. Yup, you heard me – I think creating a big detailed budget is for the birds and rarely works for most people (although, I will say a good “excel” spreadsheet is a total turn on for me – just not when it comes to this.) I realize that if you aren’t a spreadsheet-loving-penny-watching-crazy-er-I-mean-meticulous-money-manager then you ain’t ever gonna be one (and if you are one – GOOD ON YOU!) I also know that tracking where every penny goes is a full time job – something we don’t have time for! I’m not gonna make old dogs (or in this case my-shopping-friends) learn new tricks.

It’s probably gonna work for like a day, maybe an hour, and after you’ve written down your morning Starbucks on your budgeting log or entered in your new shiny budgeting app, you’ll be feeling proud and patting yourself on the back. Then miraculously, after the new pair of shoes you just bought hours later, you can’t seem to find a pen to write down that purchase on your budgeting log, nor in your phone app cause your battery is about to die, and we must save the battery for the important “emergency texts” we are waiting for. There’s always 3 sets of financial statements anyways…. “What Really Happened” Book, “What Hubby Can See” Book and “How Much Wine Did I Have That Night When I Bought All Those Shoes Online” Financial Hangover Book. (Wine meets Shopping – The True Danger of Online Shopping – join our support group today – sign up for my blog below! 😉 )

Before you do the dance of joy because your new financial coach said you don’t have to budget, you need to know this. The only way to create change is by action. Action in your life will create glorious transformation. If you truly want to “create change” in your financial life, then start with this easy tip – Start a PAC. Yes, I want you to start a PAC (Pre-Authorized Cheque or Pre-Authorized Debit) with me! (Literally!) I want you to call up your financial coach, and start saving what you can every month. Everyone who works can do this! PAC’s or PAD’s (whatev) start at $50 a month with most financial institutions. So if you are working you can find $50 a month to save. Then whatever amount you feel comfortable with – say it’s $200 or $500 a month, then I want you to add another $50 or $100 to that number to make it kinda feel like it’s going to hurt or pinch a bit. This is because providence moves with you once you commit and take action!

I’m not going to tell you how or where to invest it or what type of account (your financial coach will) – just to start now. And yes, this is over and above whatever your employer is doing for you right now in terms of savings and over and above whatever you are doing for ‘retirement’ savings.

This will combat the effects of any future online financial hangover and to put into effect the golden rule of “paying yourself first.”

This isn’t a marriage proposal, you can always cancel a PAC at any time. This is YOUR money going into savings and going to work for you. And what this does for you is miraculous. You are forced to save everymonth (cause if you start a PAC and you are like me – we are too lazy to stop it!) and you don’t have to think about it and typically you can go on your way living the lifestyle that you want and yes, I will guarantee you that your lifestyle will not suffer. Infact, the opposite will happen. You will begin to attract financial abundance into your life.

THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER THAN 80% OFF SALE AT YOUR FAVORITE DESIGNER STORE! (and calorie free!)

So trust me, call and set up a coffee with your coach now. It takes a few minutes to get your PAC set up, and then you can kiss budgeting goodbye without guilt. You can say your financial coach said so!

Insurance.

Protecting Your Babies

Have you ever thought about getting Critical Illness Insurance or Life Insurance on your babies?!

Well, truth be told, as horrible as it seems to “profit” off your child’s illness, or worse, death (yes, I’ve had this talk with many parents, many times!) – it’s something to consider for this simple reason:

If your child had to be at the hospital everyday or needed plenty of care for the foreseeable future, and you couldn’t work (remember, disability is only if you can’t work, not if your kids can’t), how would that affect your family financially? If you are a single parent, it’s probably even more important, or if you are in a partnership that requires both of you to pay the bills every month. And if the worst case scenario happens, then do you want the option to go back to work right away or not. Don’t think of it as insuring your children, think of it more as insuring your job if you can’t work.

Well I found a way to make the “uneasiness” of buying critical illness and life insurance on your children less terrible!

There is an insurance company that I use that offers a 3-In-1 policy – it’s the best I have found, and yes, I have these on my girls (I hunted for the best when I had my babies – so naturally I share that with you! I’m quite passionate about these policies.)

For whatever your selected face value, say $50,000 or $100,000 (very typical face amounts), if your child is diagnosed with a critical illness (the policy will pay out for a number of critical illnesses), or if your child dies prematurely, then it pays out the face amount upon death. So you get one or the other. However, if you are like me and you pray, hope and expect your children to grow up healthy and happy, then guess what – 20 years later you get all the premiums back! This is a lovely little lump sum of money you can gift to your child for university, perhaps a wedding, or a new home or just keep it for your next shopping trip after all you just spent 20 years having to raise that child – well deserved shopping money! Also, important to note, after 20 years, the policy becomes ‘paid up’ meaning you don’t need to make any more payments every month, and then your child has a critical illness/life insurance policy for life, just in case he/she is uninsurable at the policies 20 year mark – so you don’t have to cash it in for refund of premium. That’s like a 4-in-1 policy.

By the way, this is a great policy for grandparents to buy on their grandchildren who want to help, so if you can’t afford the premiums, ask OMA or BABA or NANA to help.

So ask me for a quote – it’s free and I will email it to you. EASY PEASY and ZERO obligation! I want to arm you with the best information to make an informed decision for your financial situation. Oh, and on that note…maybe it’s time you look at your own critical illness policy!

lisa@ellementsgroup.com

Create.

Financial Freedom

“Financial Freedom is when you never do anything that you don’t want to do for money and

you never omit doing something you want to do because of lack of money.”

∼ Phil Laut, Money is My Friend ∼