The place that you live whether rented or owned–is it more than you need or even want? As in, is the payment, maintenance, repairs, cleaning, utilities, and household goods reasonable or are you constantly pulled away from what’s really important to you because of the needs of your dwelling? Have you ever thought about the seasonality of owning your home based on your marital status, number of dependents, your business or job stability, how long you will be in that specific location, and whether that space is appropriate based on where you are financially.

In every commercial flight you have taken, the flight attendant will remind you of the importance of putting on your oxygen mask first, before assisting others in the event of a loss of pressurization in the cabin. However, how many of us don’t apply this to other aspects of life as well in taking care of our own basic needs before feeling like we need to help someone else. It can be a means of

self-sacrifice to others, which although can be a great trait, can and will be detrimental to our long-term well-being.

We have been prepositioned to focus on ourselves first and therefore, can oftentimes get stuck in investing into our own worlds, leaving little to be generous with. Many have been told that they can’t afford something rather than how they can afford something. So they continue spending based upon what’s coming in the door, prioritizing their needs, but not looking at ways to create margin in order to be more generous.

The lifestyle you choose to live can greatly change the resulting margin in your personal finances. Point in case, even if you make good money, you can spend your money to buy things on credit that will make you look rich and still be no better off or wealthier than your neighbor.Social media platforms have provided the ability for all of us to show our highlight reels, and many use that as an opportunity to present themselves a certain way, when in reality it does not necessarily resemble aspects of someone's actual life, beauty, and wealth.

If you already own a vehicle, it’s important to look at what you own and know the book and market value of that vehicle. This means knowing what the value is through resources like kbb.com and nada.com as well as what your vehicle is actually selling for. Now you may see this as unnecessary unless you were planning to replace it, but reviewing this at least once a year will allow you to have a better active knowledge of what your vehicle is worth.

Once you have gone through the process of budgeting based upon what is coming in in the form of income and what is going back out in the form of expenses and savings otherwise. You may be trying to figure out what needs to come next, especially if you feel like you have more month than money and that you living paycheck to paycheck.

Saving comes in many different forms and going through the process of doing so build’s in discipline in order for you to save for a gift or contribution otherwise. Figuring out what you are saving for and how much will be applied to where, will be important in being able to both save for those aspects that matter most to you as well as give to those causes, organizations, or people that you want to have the greatest impact on.

Developing and maintaining a financial plan is pivotal to your financial success, so looking back over the last 11 themes, I wanted to compile key takeaways that will help you in that process. This will help make sure that you have a rhythm for the key components of your personal finances leading up to being able to be more generous.

The purpose of going through 12-themes over a period of twelve months is to transform your personal finances step by step. Now the transformation process should help you to ensure that both the defense and offense of your finances are addressed. You cannot just focus on living within your means, paying off debt, and saving, while not also investing, increasing your income and growing in your applied knowledge. This, in-turn, will create margin. Margin to then decide how you want to give back.

In this theme on insurance and legacy we have covered various types of insurance policies to protect you and your loved ones, how to build up and store critical documentation, as well as thinking through your legacy from the standpoint of setting a vision, benchmarks, and goals as well as ensuring your habits support each of these.