Minding Your Money 360 - Quick tips to manage your money for success

Today on the minute – what’s your biggest asset?

Assets are things that you own. Financially speaking, assets can include tangible things like stocks, bonds, property, art collections, etc. as well as intangible things like patents, trademarks and copyrights. But there are also other types of assets and they play a vital role in your wealth and well-being.

Other important categories of assets include:

Career assets or skills that you can use to increase or maintain your income

Intellectual assets – your bank of knowledge and the ability to continuously learn and build your skills

Personality or core assets – such as your attitudes, thoughts and behaviors

Relationship assets which include those you love and those who love you

Health assets – the temple that houses it all – and good health is one of the most important assets of all.

Civic assets which include your giving side such as gifts to charity, volunteering and giving back to the community

Spiritual assets – the things that keep you grounded

Remember, life is not just about goals, although that’s what keeps us going and growing it’s also about recognizing what you have – your assets and building them in all the major areas of your life.

And that’s the minute for today. I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free discovery session.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

Today on the Minute – What’s Your Break-Even Point?

Your breakeven point is the point where your income equals your expenses and there is zero left over.

Several of my clients are business owners and meeting that break-even point or BEP is so important to the future of their business and in many cases their livelihood as well. So how much money do you need to earn each month to cover your fixed and variable expenses. Your fixed expenses include things like your rent or mortgage payments – things that are always there. Your variable expenses are things like food and entertainment that can vary from month to month. One of the most disturbing things that I often find is that many people don’t know where that point is and that can cause you to fall deeper and deeper in debt without realizing what is happening until you reach your credit card limits.

It’s important for business owners to know their BEP or break-even point because making anything less than their BEP means that they have a loss and if they do that enough times it could put them out of business.

And the same thing holds true for you. If you don’t make enough to cover your expenses each month you need to do something. You need to earn more money or cut back on your expenses. You can’t just keep going or you could eventually go under.

So take a minute and calculate your BEP and if you are exceeding it do you know where the extra money is going and if you’re not meeting it, what are you going to do to get yourself in balance.

And that’s the minute for today. I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. Wanna learn more about calculating your BEP or do you have a question, is debt is an issue or would you like some help in getting your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free discovery session.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

It's Monday and I have a question.

And, my question is this…can you finish this sentence? If it sounds too good to be true, it…and you fill in the blank. You may have read about Barbara Barkley who lost her home of 30 years due to scammers. She lost her house and her savings to a group of California scam artists who stole $11 million from thousands of struggling homeowners looking for help with their mortgages.

She got caught when a group started sending out mailers and put up Internet ads promising mortgage modifications under an Obama administration program meant to stem fallout from the housing crisis.

The program was real, but the offers were not. Homeowners were directed to send a cash “reinstatement” fee and then monthly “trial payments” for their new monthly mortgage. The money, they were told, would go to the lender. Instead, and you know the rest of the story, the conspirators pocketed the funds.

Now there were red alerts all over this scam and doing a little due diligence might have saved them a ton of money and heartbreak. At a minimum, never send money without all of the facts – verification from your lender that this is real and they are participating in the program with this specific group and that your loan has been cleared for the program, a contract of some type, information that shows their direct ties and a phone number for the government program offices so that you can verify that they are authorized to make loans. I know it’s time consuming and irritating to make these calls BUT you have a lot riding on them.

And that’s the minute for today. I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free Discovery Session and let’s talk.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

It’s Friday and time for our word of the week –the word this week is Procrastination.

We reach a milestone today. This is Episode 700 and my book, How to Divorced Without Losing Your Blouse, made Amazon’s Best Seller list this week. In celebration, the Kindle version is only $0.99 until August 1st. Get a copy at http://amzn.to/2v1rRYA and if you like what you read, please leave a review on Amazon.

Now back to the ‘Minute’. I chose procrastination because it is what we love to do, especially if we are not particularly fond of the task at hand and that is sometimes related to managing our money. One of the best ways to beat procrastination, is to take a look at the consequences of not doing something. So what are some of the consequences of doing nothing with your money? Well, mainly lost money and lost opportunities. How much lost money? Well, consider this if your goal is to retire at age 65 with a cool million and you start saving $300 a month at age 25 and earn 8% on your investments, you will make it without breaking a sweat. However, if you wait to age 45, you will need to save $1,700 a month to reach that same goal. So the consequences of procrastination are real.

But, you can do something about it. First, take a look at what’s holding you back and then take action. If you know what to do and you are afraid of making a mistake, remember mistakes and some uncertainty come with the territory. Even the experts make mistakes. And, if you don’t know what to do – just look around. Financial information and education are everywhere. Start by reading money books and magazines, the financial pages of your newspaper or the Wall Street Journal, watching money shows and attending classes and seminars. But never forget that it’s your money and it’s your future so resist the temptation to pass this responsibility off to someone else because you will have to live with the consequences. Do your homework and then just do it.

Our word of the week: procrastination – the consequences are real, so don’t even stop to think about procrastinating, procrastinating, procrastinating.

And that’s the minute for today. Want more ‘Minute?’ follow us on Twitter @yourmoneyminute

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

Summer is winding down and things are getting serious. If you haven’t achieved your money goals or if you think there is more to life than the job you currently have, you may want to consider a side hustle. A side hustle is a business you run in your free time that allows you the flexibility to pursue a passion or simply earn more money. So how do you get started? Here are some tips to get you going:

Choose something you are really good at it, people need and are willing to pay for. That opens the door to a lot of options. If you plan on making this a long term option, take the time to do your homework to be sure you understand what is involved and can do the work.

Use your network. Let your contacts know that you’re open for business by posting your work on social media and starting an email list. Most people will support you.

Schedule in time to work your hustle. This may mean some sacrifice as you may have to forgo some of your other activities.

Get to know other hustlers and entrepreneurs. When possible, collaborate on projects. The bigger your community the more “luck” you are likely to have.

And that’s the minute for today. I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free Discovery Session.                                                           

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!