Archive for July, 2009
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Tracy is very unique in her ability to communicate issues regarding financial strategy in a very compelling way. I know that sounds somewhat generalized, but this industry is so driven by charts and graphs and “sanitized” elements. Albeit they’re very important, it’s lost a bit of the emotional intelligence and professionals like Tracy are doing something about that - not only in helping advisors, but there’s a train-the-trainer component as well in that Tracy helps advisors add her approach and philosophy into their respective repotoire so that they can communicate more effectively with their clients and especially the affluent clients, and for that reason I’m excited about this call… let me welcome Tracy now…
Duncan MacPherson,
Co-CEO Pareto Systems & Platform
Breakthrough Business Development
Listen to the interview here
Posted in Everyday Testimonials, Interviews with Tracy | No Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Monday, July 27 from 4:40PM - 5:00PM Pacific time
(7:40PM - 8:00PM Eastern time)
Bonnie Graham will interview me on how spending money can make you wealthy!
http://tinyurl.com/kp7qrs
Tracy Piercy and her MoneyMinding programs are “happily helping people get rich and become philanthropists,” says Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Tracy’s book The 12 Simple Steps of MoneyMinding has over 50 immediate action tips to help you expand financial possibilities in your life. www.moneyminding.com
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Friday, July 17th, 2009
A friend of mine just shared an article titled ‘More Wealth for Those Who Wait.’ I fully expected it to be another one of these seemingly good advice messages about the benefits of delayed gratification or working longer so you can save more money.
Instead, it was a very brief synopsis of some new government plans (Canadian) to keep workers in the workforce longer to help ‘lessen the anticipated labor shortage when the baby boomers exit the workforce’.
Hmmm… it seems to me to be sad enough that so many people have bought into the idea that retirement is an age driven event and that in order to retire, you have to have a big pot of money saved so you can draw on it when you’re not working. Now we have the government putting plans in place to keep people working longer – not helping them to become financially independent so they can work at whatever they want to because they want to, not because they have to because they need more money and haven’t saved enough.
If that’s not bad enough, this very short article quickly explained that if you did ‘leave work early’ i.e. at age 60, you could receive a government pension and your salary from work albeit a reduced pension and a larger reduction than the current government plan. It then went on to say that if you worked longer (to age 70), before you collected your magical pension, you would be able to collect a significantly higher government pension than what is currently in place.
In my experience, when a worker is presented with this decision, they might be tempted to look at the reduction or pension amount or increased amount and not have the skills to evaluable the effect of time value of money – and how it all tied into their day-to-day lives. There are so many factors to consider with something like this, I can’t help but wonder who in the government or who in the companies will be able to guide the employee with this kind of decision.
It seems to me that if all you do is look at the numbers without having a complete picture of what’s important to the person making the choice, then you can easily miss the opportunities that will exist to create wealth from an extra income coming from a reduced pension amount rather than staying in the workforce for an extra 10 years for those few extra dollars from the government. I’m pretty sure the corporate and government benefit departments won’t be skilled in providing employees with ideas on what other options are available to them. The only way is for the employee to educate themselves on what’s important to them so they don’t find themselves faced with a dilemma based entirely on numbers given to them by the benefit clerk. This is sad, confusing and wrong.
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Monday, July 13th, 2009
I was up till 12:30 taking notes and then still couldn’t sleep afterwards. I love the focus on personal awareness and ownership of the financial process. I have a lot more chewing to do on this material… thanks, Mike of Virginia, USA
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Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Most people avoid creating a budget and fewer still stick to one. But it doesn’t have to be painful.
PLEASE SEE MY COMMENTS BELOW IN CAPITAL LETTERS. THIS ARTICLE WAS PRINTED IN CNNMONEY.COM ON JULY 6TH, 2009.
If you’re the type of person who always has plenty of cash, knows exactly where every penny goes and never has trouble paying bills, skip this chapter. You’re either too rich or too smart to need it. WRONG – I WORKED WITH A BILLIONAIRE TO SET UP BUDGETING BECAUSE SHE CONFIRMED TO ME WHAT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN, THAT WEALTHY PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE SPENDING AND USING THEIR MONEY IN LINE WITH THEIR VALUES.
For the rest of us, unfortunately, (NOW THIS IS AN INSIRING WAY TO START A SUPPOSEDLY HELPFUL ARTICLE - NOT) making - and sticking to - a budget is the essential tool for ensuring that our money gets used the way we need it to. Even if you’re in the happy situation of having plenty of income, the homework involved in drawing up a budget can be instructive, since you may find that you are spending more than you wish on items like DVDs, electronic gadgetry or restaurant meals. DISGUSTING – YOU MAY FIND THAT THERE ARE MORE EFFICIENT WAYS YOU COULD BE USING YOUR MONEY!! THERE IS NO POINT IN STARTING OFF BY POINTING OUT THAT YOU MIGHT BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG – FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE THE BIGGEST POINT IS MISSED – THE OPPORTUNITY TO FIND OUT ABOUT WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU AS IS CURRENTLY REFLECTED IN YOUR DAILY SPENDING!
Drawing up a budget is usually pure drudgery (OH THIS IS PLEASANT) enlivened only by the reality of staring your foolish spending habits in the face. (CAN I EVEN BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS PUBLISHED WHERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAN READ IT – WHAT ON EARTH ARE THEY TRYING TO DO?) Why do you have a luxury sound system if neither you nor your spouse listens to it? In fact, one of the chief impediments to budgeting is that most people would rather not know how they really use their money. I REALLY DON’T WANT TO GO ON AND HOPE YOU DON’T EITHER…BUT ALAS…
It’s bad enough to learn this kind of information on your own. It’s even worse when a spouse or significant other finds out, since it usually confirms his or her worst fears - and provides new ammunition for future “discussions.” UUGH – YOU KNOW THE BEST WAY TO STRENGHTEN A RELATIONSHIP IS TO HAVE HUSBAND AND WIFE DO THE BUDGET ‘RESEARCH’ WITHOUT JUDGEMENT FOR THEIR CURRENT SITUATION, THEN TO DO THE SAME FOR THEIR ‘IDEAL BUDGET’ AND DISCUSS HOW THEY CAN FILL IN THE GAPS – THIS ADVICE SOUNDS LIKE A SURE WAY TO GUARANTEE THE DIVORCE RATE INCREASES.
Take heart. Any spending mistakes (WHO SAYS THEY’RE SPENDING MISTAKES – THERE IS NO WRONG ONLY AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER THAT PERHAPS YOU NEED TO RE-THINK YOUR GOALS AND FIND A WAY TO EARN MORE IN ORDER TO LIVE THE LIFESTYLE YOU REALLY WANT TO LIVE AND ALREADY ARE) you’re making are probably common and not impossible to kick. Moreover, the bulk of budgeting’s pains are at the beginning. PAINS – THIS IS EXCITING AND FUN – IT’S INTROSPECTIVE AND A FABULOUS OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER.
After you have a budget in place - and you’ve fine-tuned it with a couple of months of actual spending - tracking your expenditures becomes almost automatic.
If your boss at work were to ask you for an analysis of the department’s spending, you’d figure it out quickly enough. Budgeting your household should be approached in the same businesslike fashion. A variety of electronic tools can make the process easier. AND THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF BUDGETS IS ‘PLANNED EXPENDITURES AND A PROGRAM FOR FINANCING THEM’ AND THAT IS VERY BUSINESS-LIKE – BUSINESSES DO NOT OPERATE THE WAY THIS AUTHOR SUGGESTS – ANY BUSINESS THAT JUST LOOKS AT CUTTING BACK WITHOUT ALSO LOOKING AT HOW TO EXPAND IS NOT GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
THIS AUTHOR IS OBVIOUSLY OPERATING FROM A SCARCITY, FEAR BASED PERSPECTIVE AND ONLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE NUMBER ONE FEAR PEOPLE HAVE AROUND MONEY – FEAR.
ALL-IN-ALL I SEE THAT ARTICLES AND MEDIA COVERAGE THAT CONTINUES TO PROMOTE THIS CONFLICTING NEGATIVE APPROACH IS ONLY GOING TO PROLONG AN ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN AND WORSEN THE ECONOMY BEYOND REPAIR.
BARRAK OBAMA SAID WE NEED A PARDIGM SHIFT TO TURN THE ECONOMY AROUND AND STARTING WITH A POSITIVE, PRACTICAL AND PERSONAL APPROACH TO FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IS A PERFECT PLACE TO START.
Posted in Tracy's Thoughts | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
In all the years I have learned about goal setting and creating a life you dream of, no one has ever asked me to do a budget for that future life.
What an eye opener! We have always dreamed of having a boat, and as I went to add mooring fees to my budget I realized I have no idea what it costs. When you are really clear and specific about where you’re trying to go… getting there becomes the easy part.
Wealth Secrets is the best program I’ve ever encountered for creating the life you want to live NOW.
CN, self-employed, married w/ 2 kids
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Monday, July 6th, 2009
I love shopping. I love nice clothes. I love fashion. And, I love a bargain. It’s treasure hunting to plan out a wardrobe then to play games to find just the right pieces at just the right prices. A recent comment on a sequel to Sex and the City sure missed the point. For all you Sex and the City fans, here is a link to the article I am referring about http://tinyurl.com/l3c85d . I struggle to understand why it’s so hard to make the connection for designer styles to goals. If an $800 pair of shoes isn’t affordable at your current income there are a couple options:
- Find a way to make them affordable
- Look for something similar in a price that is reasonable
- Assess why it is you’re attracted to the item - is I the look or the name?
- If it’s the look - go find it
- If it’s the real deal - then find a way to fit it in to your lifestyle - not by going into debt over - but to really have an income where it’s reasonable to pay that kind of money for an item like that
If all this brings up other judgments or fears or negative reactions, then this is all good learning and an opportunity to assess what’s really important to you and why. For what I can see the comments in the Sex and the City sequel review just illustrate the writer’s values without creating an opportunity for personal assessment or learning from the reader. I’m not sure if the comments were meant to be a review of the movie or not, but regardless, they sure missed the opportunity to provide the audience with some valuable financial training.
The writer’s last paragraph said “What would have been helpful and more inspiring if she wrote something like this: “SATC is an escape for women. We’re not idiots, we know hardly anyone can afford to buy a new pair of Manolo Blahniks and Louboutins every month, and during an economic downturn like this it’s inspiring to be reminded of the light at the end of the tunnel. Since right now when we don’t want to pay $12 to go to the theatre it’s good to be reminded of the abundance we have all around us and the freedoms we have to pursue our dreams and give back to others in need and to be encouraged to create our ideal budget rather than one of constant sacrifice and struggle”.eate our ideal budget rather than one of constant sacrifice and struggle”.
If you like what you have read and want to learn more about money as it relates to you personally, please go to the moneyminding.com website and subscribe to our mailing list for more tips.
Posted in Tracy's Thoughts, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
Yesterday Julie, who is an amazing young MBA grad who works with me directed me to an article on CNN Money.com about the 7 new rules of financial security.(http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/moneymag/0903/gallery.financial_rules.moneymag/index.html) She thought I might find it interesting and be able to comment in some way. Well, my first reaction to her says it all. I said it was boring but I’d get back to her with some specific comments. It’s not just boring it is unbelievable. I don’t think I can read the whole thing. I got to the first ‘what to do’ in the section on retirement and just about fell over when it suggested the financial benefits of delaying retirement by one year.
For heaven’s sake – this is the problem with our society – it’s completely lost sight of the whole concept of financial independence and developing income. While this article says work longer is Plan B – it doesn’t offer anything inspiring, original, creative or helpful in terms of how to create income – it only talks about how to save, cut back and sacrifice – this is the problem and it’s disgusting that this same boring message that hasn’t worked for over 50 years is still accepted as the norm. Retirement has nothing to do with age and everything to do with how you hare arranged your finances so you have enough income coming into your household to live the life you want without having to go to work every day. Retirement is when you have arranged your finances so you are financially independent – regardless of age or how much money you have accumulated in your ‘nest egg’.
If you like what you have read and want to learn more about money as it relates to you personally, please go to the moneyminding.com website and subscribe to our mailing list for more tips.
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