Being intentional to review aspects that are recurring expenses, like insurance ensures that these expenses don’t creep up in cost unknowingly. This will ensure that you are actually planning for these costs and annually reviewing these costs to ensure they are still a priority to you.

As we enter into the fall season, people begin to seemingly switch gears in thinking about others a little more. Whether that’s Thanksgiving reminding you of who or what you are thankful for or it’s Christmas reminding you to give, reminding you what the purpose of the season is, and reminding you how to slow down. I believe that money can either be a river or it can be a pond. It can either stay fresh by flowing to and through you to be a blessing to others or it can accumulate and pool, causing it to become stale, smelly, and bug-infested.

Personal finance is personal and is not just about the dollars and cents. It’s about putting the why behind what you do with the dollars and cents to build a legacy and inspire others to do the same. We are taking the time to talk about care as I believe you being intentional to care for someone else and in-turn seeing how it makes a difference can inspire you to be far more intentional and less frivolous with your time, talent, and treasure.

You’ve probably heard the saying that it is better to give than to receive. Countless studies have been done on the effects of prioritizing the needs of others when you are struggling with depression when you are cynical or when you are hopeless. Part of this process may be helping someone else in order to prop you up and realize what’s in you, the impact you have the capability of, and the wisdom that may reside within you.

Whether you look at your financial position, your health or physique, your family or friendships, or even your role, position, or contribution to society, it can oftentimes be difficult to be content. We may feel content in one area while feeling lacking or inadequate in another. If we are looking at what others are constantly absorbed with, accomplishing, or involved in, we can miss what we should be focused on and the opportunities available to us.

Oftentimes there are a number of different schools of thought per se around the extent to which you should utilize western medicine vs. homeopathic approaches to caring for your health. Without going into that argument, you may be thinking about all of the ways that you care for yourself including chiropractic adjustments, massages, yoga, acupuncture amongst a number of other methods.

When caring for yourself well and being mindful of those who depend upon you, it’s important to evaluate the need for disability insurance. You may have an insurance provider or a financial advisor to help you put a plan in place. Arguably this would be more for your loved ones who are affected by your premature death or short or long-term disability, but nonetheless, far too many people operate without any or enough insurance.

There are so many different ways to go about caring for yourself. Oftentimes people immediately think about going on a vacation, to the spa, or heading to the gym to work out. But just as you would care for yourself in these aspects, you also need to make a plan to save for your retirement.

It’s so easy to allow instant gratification to steal us away from the reality of our financial position. Now, in order to change course--find the one area that is your biggest culprit and simply replace that with a lower-cost, healthier option. This will start you on the path of reducing your monthly expenses to fit within your means in order to take the margin that you will then build by doing so, and using that toward outstanding debt caused by living beyond your means.

Now this may be a laughable question to high achievers, but it’s actually a serious question to ask yourself. How am I actually doing, not by means of comparison, but by means of my own requirements or standards for myself? Am I where I wanted to be at this point in life? Do I have a great purpose, the right people, and am taken care of provisionally? It's important to regularly go through the 5 P's to gauge how you are actually doing.