Wealth Today

In the process of creating our financially free future, it’s important to have others to look up to. Humans naturally model others unconsciously. As responsible managers of our assets, we have the unique ability to be able to choose a mentor, or any number of them. It’s a good idea to “take stock” of who we currently know and consider their financial status. Perhaps there’s a friend that is always complaining about being broke. Sure his credit’s perfect, but he has no plan to increase his income in the short term. Or rather, a close family member has been quickly stockpiling cash into index funds and mutual funds, but they’re constantly exhausted and inaccessible because they spend all of their time working. Envy a friend who’s tripled his own income and cut his working hours by twenty percent so that he’s able to spend more time with his family? Maybe someone else we know continues to make poor financial decisions and finds themself deeper and deeper in a cash hole. If the people around us are not where they want to be financially, we can see this as an opportunity to learn from their situation and discover better role-models to sculpt our own results. Those who are successful we can instantly add to our financial emergency contact list. If we don’t know anyone who is achieving their goals, we can seek winners. We also have the ability to enlist the aid of financial advisors. There are wonderful people who receive compensation for their skilled advice, and can be a great benefit in our cash travels. If you can’t think of 5 people who you’d like to follow in their financial footsteps, it’s time to call and arrange an appointment with one. Before making any dinero decisions, a wise person will consult at least 3 favorable sources for any suggestions or advice they could offer toward the pending deal.

Aside from setting goals, a clear picture of where we currently are is just as important. On any journey, there is an end in mind, but it’s impossible to use a map and plan how to get there without actually knowing where we are. Beginning with our own financial statments including an income statement and balance sheet we will know where we are at financially. I did a little digging and found an template Excel spreadsheet Income Statement and a Balance Sheet on the Small Business Administration web site. InvestoPedia has a good reference on reading the income statement and balance sheets. Of course, a good program like Quicken or Microsoft Money will create one for you. With a little bit of exploration and study, it’s easy to begin to use these as a starting point on the trek to financial freedom and wealth.