Money is and always will be, an emotional topic. This is understandable because the currency holds the keys to helping you live the way you want. Therefore, you will want to make SMART FINANCIAL DECISIONS!
My hope for you is that when faced with choices in your financial life, you make decisions that allow you to feel confident, powerful and in control of your life so you can be happy and live with meaning and purpose.
I designed these (7) Tenets by both watching others succeed and from my own life’s experiences. They are designed to help you make decisions that will position you for success and help you on your journey.
Commit them to heart. When you are faced with financial choices, reflect on them to make the best decisions for your unique situation. Remember:
"Your Future Will Be Created By The Decisions You Make Today"
Financial Decision Making Tenet #1
The first Tenet to smart financial decision making is VALUES – Specifically the Values YOU live by.
Money by itself is not important. In the grand scheme of things, this possession is nothing more than cotton paper, metal, and numbers found on a statement. You cannot eat, drink, or breathe money and iy does not love you, so there is no reason to love it back…
Money is only useful for its ability to help YOU enjoy WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU!
Your Values define who you are and what you live for. They should be identified and never be compromised.
Many people are confused about the financial strategies they should employ with their money while others are unhappy with the strategies they are using. Many times, these feelings exist because what they believe they should be doing is not aligned with their core values.
Remember, societies values are not always your own.
If you want to have a financial strategy that inspires you so that you can always look in the mirror and be proud, that strategy must help you fulfill your values.
Therefore, it is important to clearly identify your values, so they are part of your consciousness. This way, when faced with choices, you will be able to make smart decisions knowing that they will help you fulfill your values.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #2
The second tenet to smart financial decision making is DREAM.
Good Dreams will inspire and provide hope for the future. They give you vision of the life we desire.
When you want your dreams to become reality, put them to paper and make them a goal to solidify the destination. Once you know where you want to go, determine the most efficient route to get there while simultaneously fulfilling your values.
Do what is in your power to accomplish your goals and make your dreams reality.
You want to live the life of your dreams but not of your nightmares which you understand are dreams too. This doesn’t mean you should ignore them.
Instead, have that difficult conversation and identify the things that keep you up at night. Put up roadblocks to reduce the probability or eliminate them from ever happening.
By Doing this, you will have confidence and peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens to you in life, money will not be a worry.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #3
The third Tenet to smart decision making is Challenge.
Challenge the status quo to discover new possibilities that exist to transport you toward your dreams.
Those who have the potential to profit most from your behavior are out to control your mind and decisions.
They want you to behave in ways that maximizes profits to them and reduces their own risks, making money regardless of you being successful or failing.
Tap into your curiosity and ask questions so you can make the “unknown known.” This new information allows you to make informed and opens possibilities you previously didn’t know about.
When new information is discovered, it unlocks new opportunities and identifies threats that were previously overlooked.
Prevent looking back and saying “I didn’t know you could do that” or “I didn’t know that could happen” so you can live without regret.
The common way of doing things is not a recipe for success because financial success is not common…
Strive to be exceptional and find new opportunity.
Understand the rules of the financial game, exploit them to you advantage and demand the financial industry provides you with products and services that provide maximum value FOR YOUR LIFE and not Maximum Profits and reduced risk for them.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #4
The fourth Tenet to smart financial decision making is to Embrace Risk.
However, before you act, ask yourself these questions:
“What is the probability of success?”
“What is the probability of failure?”
“What is the best-case scenario?”
“What is the worst-case scenario?”
You must understand, in order to succeed financially, you must take risks, but NEVER accept or retain a risk where the worst-case scenario is one where you could lose your ability to continue to ‘play the game’ of building wealth.
Instead, embrace risk as much risk as possible when the odds of success are in your favor while the maximum loss is low. When you do this, you will make money systematically, your confidence will skyrocket and you will realize a life you didn’t know was possible.
Yes! You can take the occasional ‘long shot’ but only when the maximum reward is exceptionally high and the maximum loss is extremely low.
Never put yourself in a position where if something happens beyond your control or things ‘don’t work out as planned, the results could destroy you both personally or professionally.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #5
The fifth Tenet to smart financial decision making is PROTECT.
In the 4th Tenet, you gauged and only acted when the odds were in your favor, AVOIDING any reckless action that could destroy you personally or professionally. In tenet 2 you identified things that kept you up at night.
Unfortunately, you cannot avoid or reduce all risks in life that have the potential to destroy you. Therefore, you must protect yourself from these financial “barbarians” that can show up and cause chaos.
When you identify those risks that are unavoidable, transfer them so you are made whole financially if they occur. This way, money is not a concern while you are forced to deal with the other negative consequences of the unavoidable event.
You can also protect yourself by being conscious and taking care of your body and mind. Eat right, exercise, and participate in activities that bring you happiness.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #6
The sixth Tenet to smart financial decision making is Liquidity.
Cash is King and that means the ability to stay liquid.
Access to cash allows for the opportunity to take advantage of opportunity while providing the ability to weather any financial storms that may happen in our lives.
Lack of liquidity causes projects to fail, bills to be overdue, assets to be repossessed and bankruptcies to occur.
Though you want to avoid the reckless use of debt, do not be in such a hurry to pay your debts down so fast that you could lose control of your finances if everything doesn’t go perfectly. You want to be in a position of control and flexibility, not where we have to beg for money if we need it.
When there is enough cash on hand to pay off any loans IF WE CHOSE, we are not in debt – we a liquid.
Do not want to wait until you NEED cash to ask for it because lenders avoid lending to desperate situations and can be slow to approve.
Sometimes opportunities are only available to those who are prepared to act.
Financial Decision Making Tenet #7
The 7th Tenet to smart financial decision making is Leverage.
Wealth in today’s world is created by leveraging something. It is nearly impossible to get ahead without it.
The government leverages its citizens income and assets to levy taxes…
Employers leverage their employees to accomplish their mission…
Banks leverage their depositor’s money to create loans…
YOU ARE BEING LEVERAGED EVERYDAY to create profits for others.
To succeed, you want to find ways you too can leverage Money, Time, Technology, Labor and Knowledge so you achieve more benefits and results with less effort and risk.
Apply These (7) Tenets In Your Life
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The information provided on this website is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as financial, investment, or legal advice. Kevin Wenke, CFP, CLU, and his companies, Decision Tree Financial and Decision Tree Investment Advisors LLC, do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. No client-advisor relationship is established by the use of this website or interaction with its content.
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