I would like to share with all of you, that you can always develop the skill of money management. It is not as though you are born with a particular money management IQ and you have to remain stuck in remedial class or a low money IQ. No offense to anyone that ever needed to start in a remedial class. My point is, it is never too late to become advanced in the skill of money management.
I wish that someone would have told me in my twenties that I could excel at money awareness and money management if I was willing to create and follow a budget, if I sought out the right teachers, role models etc. and if I could practice the skill of delayed gratification. Many people feel that you need to have excess money in order to work with a financial teacher or planner, but that is untrue. There are a ways that you can go about becoming financially educated, stable and empowered.
One place I recommend is using your or your spouses Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Most people think of free counseling when they think of EAPs, but they have free financial planning and free legal advice too.
Another recommendation is working with your bank or credit union. There are people that will sit down with you and assist you in looking at your spending and they can help you create changes in spending patterns that will decrease your debt and increase your savings. They also can work with you in securing lower car insurance rates, homeowners insurance rates etc.
If you have a good accountant they can give you helpful tax deductions that you may not be familiar with. We recently changed our business status so that we would not taxed as high on our 2016 tax returns.
And finally, working with the right financial planner is extremely helpful. Both my business partners and I have excellent financial planners, if you would like a referral.
My wish for you is to raise your money I.Q. and increase your bank account in 2017!
