Finding Your Financial Style

Finances are very personal. Everyone’s situation is different, not just because the amount of money with which they are working is different but because the goals that one has for their money will differ from the goals of the next person. For this reason, this blog is not intended to render financial advice specific to any one person. Instead, the purpose of this blog is to share financial information and tips that I have learned which help me, a professional woman, manage my financial situation and work towards my own personal financial goals. I am sharing this information because I feel that there is not a lot of practical information specific to professional woman available and I hope that whoever reads this blog will find it of use to them

Our financial style has much to do with who we are and who we would like to be. Just as with food, clothing, etc., everyone has their own personal preferences. What works for one person does not work for another. This is important to remember, especially when you are having conversations with your friends or neighbors related to finances, because what works for them or what is important to them may not always resonate with you and your goals. We have probably all at one time or another fallen into the trap of trying to “Keep up with the Joneses” or “Keep up with the Kardashians.” However, at the end of the day, the people against who we are trying to measure up may have completely different goals than you. And, by trying to keep up with their financial moves or be one step ahead of them, you are only moving further away from your own personal financial goals.

So, how do you find your financial style?

First, ask a lot of questions about who you are. Are you a person who needs financial security, an emergency fund or financial cushion, to be there when the unexpected events in life happen? Or, are you a happy-go-lucky person who doesn’t really worry too much about your financial affairs? These are important questions to ask and to remember when you see your neighbors leaving for Hawaii for the THIRD time this year. If you ask why they are able to do that when you have not even taken one trip, the answer to that question may lie in your different financial styles. The money that you are putting towards the emergency fund that you need is the money they are using for vacations, because they may not feel that they need a financial cushion.

Second, ask a lot of questions about who you would like to be. Are you someone who is completely committed to paying off debt or, if you have a child, committed to sending their child to the best college? If so, you would devote your resources to those goals while your friends or neighbors, with other goals, may continue to take trips to Hawaii or some other destination.

The point is that focusing on what other people are doing with their money is not always the best way to attain your goals.

Wishing you well,

M