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Confused on what to invest your 401k in? Here's a simple strategy with proven results.

Today I'll share a funny story that reminded me of ground hogs day, being distracted, value of being in the present - and taking what I call a micro break.  Making time to empty your mind is so important.  

Join me for this brief episode!

BONUS MATERIAL!

In the story I shared in this episode, I made reference to the business having to work overtime.

There was an employee that did not want to work - and the employee in the video below, wrote a song about her & working overtime. 

So Funny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LkfVwwvxUE

Hi Listeners, 

One of the biggest fears I had, especially early in career, was asking for help.

Fear of looking stupid, wasting the other persons time, not knowing what to say etc etc.   All this fear prevented me from reaching out & connecting with others, preventing me from getting needed information, prevented me from taking the needed step towards my goals.

It is completely NORMAL to have these fears:

1. Remember that when you allow fear to control your life, you hold yourself back from doing your great work and creating great results. If you are smart (I know you are), you realize being paralyzed by fear isn't efficient or effective. The better strategy is to ask for help, line up adequate resources, and get the work done.

2. You can't defeat an enemy you don't know. Write out what triggers your fear of and how it holds you back. Be honest with yourself. Honesty opens doors. It's a powerful tool.

3. Don't try to be anyone but yourself. That means you must first know who you are and own it. Create a list of tasks that you enjoy and are good at. Then, create another list of things you don't like doing. Let other people do those things you don't enjoy. You can't be perfect at everything. Remember, everyone possesses a unique ability. Discover what makes you unique and do more of it.

4. Oftentimes people overlook the resources and support they already have. Look around and create a list of all the support and resources in your life right now. Don't discount them simply because they are familiar to you.

5. Next, determine which resources you are missing, and what you can do to acquire them. If you hate making the phone call, see if a trusted advisor can make with you. If you are ready to make changes in your life and career, hire a coach.

It is humanly impossible to know everything and be perfect at everything. We all need a little help now and then. Instead of trying to be someone you can never truly be, why not practice being yourself?

Just returned from a week in the Coachella Valley California.

Cities in the valley include Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, LaQuinta and Coachella.

It's nestled between the mountain of Joshua Tree National Park and San Jacinto Mountains.

The valley is 100 miles east of Los Angeles and 140 miles north east of San Diego.

This area is a dry rocky desert between 2 Mountains that has been converted into a Golf & Hiking mecca.

There is also great diversity of the resident & attitude with people from all over US and world migrating here over the past decades.  40% of Palm Springs permanent residents identify themselves as part of the LGBT community - A haven for all those who love and want to just be themselves. Being gay here is normal, as it should be.

Deb and I stayed at an Airbnb condo in Indian Wells.  Our patio over-looked the pool and we were surrounded by mountains.   Just so peaceful and quiet - really enjoyed that.

They said the population of the area goes from 200,000 to 800,000 - and Jan/Feb was the peak.  We didn't find the area very congested at all.   While hiking, we seldom saw another person.

Weather was in the 70s during the day, and 50s at night.  Wonderful for the hiking and horse back riding we did throughout the week.  Looking at the monthly weather - summers rough with June to Sept averaging over 100 degrees.

The decision to come to Palm Springs driven entirely by my desire to go someplace warm in January, my lack of desire to drive a long way and I thought that if a direct flight - Deb would go with me.  So aside from Florida, Phoenix, Los Vegas and Los Angeles - all places we had visited before, Palm Springs was the last option for us out of Des Moines airport.  It was a winner & a place Deb and I would visit again with family.

Of Course, also looked at real estate there - which like the rest of US is up 30% over the past year - and very limited in supply.  Add onto this horrible state California taxes & $5/gallon for gasoline - this appears to fall into a great place to visit vs consider a "base" camp (for someone retired like me)... However if you lived & found work here that could cover the areas higher cost of living - I think it would be a great spot to call home.

This all has me thinking of the benefits of living somewhere that has:

1. Low to No state taxes.

2. Airport with direct flights near the cities where are families live.

3. Weather above freezing but summer averages below100F.

4. Outdoor activities, hiking, biking, horses

5. Near fitness center or have one in home.

6. Near community college/university

7. Space, couple acres.

8. Nice, Friendly people.

So - this is where are search begins.  For us - our job has driven location all our lives.  The only driver beyond that was to not live too far from work to minimize the commute.  however - even then - we made some exceptions.  what about you?  what is the criteria you use to define where you live?  It's definitely something to think about  - and it will change absolutely change over time.

This is all part of building & living your best life!

1. Many consider budget a four letter word.  Something that is bad, that constricts them, prevents them from doing what that want, when they want it - a real pain.

2. Other, know they need a budget, get gung ho creating one, but then find it difficult to maintain, difficult to deal with the unexpected, hard to handle "lumpy" expenses that just come up.

3. Still others, just lack the discipline to stick to a budget.  The credit card addiction & temptations to spend just overwhelming.

So if you fall into one these camps - hate doing a budget, frustrated making one work for them or lack the discipline to sticking to one - then I'll share my quick recommendations on approaching a budget in positive way.

Read more here on my blog:

https://setfreeat53.blogspot.com/2022/01/budget-not-four-letter-word.html

Follow me on twitter for daily insights:

https://twitter.com/setfreeat53

Success in new job is established in the first 100 days.  In todays episode we discuss key to success in the first week, month and 90 days.

Making a change within a company or transitioning to a new company - both require that you approach the transition purposefully.

My Bucket Strategy

Think of putting each investment objective in a bucket.

Link specific accounts to each goal (bucket).

My buckets:

- Cash / emergency fund bucket

- 70 plus bucket (401k)

- 59 to 69 (IRAs)

- 50 to 59 (Taxable Account)

- Kids College Bucket

I have used MINT.com for a long time.  It is a free investment account budget tool & aggregator.  That means is one app that give you a view of all your accounts and real time net-worth.

However - it also has a really cool goal feature on the when you use it on a laptop.  It allows you to create a goal, for example, college savings.  You can then set how much you want to save & by when.  Next, you open the goal & select the accounts you want to assign to that goal.  For example your 529 investment account.

I went on to set a goal called "70 plus", which I created to hold all the money I needed for 70 and over, another 60 to 70, and another 50 to 60.   I linked my 401k to the 70 plus.  I linked my IRAs to 60 to 70 bucket.  I linked my Brokerage account to the 50-60 bucket.  I linked my High Yield Savings account to my emergency fund bucket.

What is nice about this - is that you create the buckets that make sense for you.  For the way I think, it made me feel better to know I had specific goal covered - and when I felt there was a gap in one of them, I could take action to correct & get it back on track.  For example, about 10 years ago, I received a bonus at work, and dumped it all into my kids 529 plans.   At the time, I expected it to grow and cover 50% of college expenses - thanks to bull market, it covered 100%.  The point is you can routinely add to your buckets or if opportunity arises, toss a lump at a goal & be done with it.

Hope this helps you build and live your best life!

www.mint.com

https://www.blogger.com/u/0/blog/post/edit/preview/425323161886675590/1328474092482915694

In this episode we discuss interest rates, pandemic and inflation on the market and what you need to do to be ready to take advantage of market correction.

Please send comments or questions to [email protected]

If interested in SMART Coaching, learn more at www.setfreeat53.com

If interested in setting up an M1 finance account, here is the link.  https://www.m1finance.com/

If interested in learning more about investment pies, https://paulmerriman.com/m1-finance/

In today's episode, we cover 2 topics:

1. Name change of podcast from Find Your Road to Freedom to SMART Coach.   Objective is the same, help you build and live your best life.  SMART is acronym in goal planning, Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Relevant and Time Based.  I like the idea of Agile improvement where we break down big goals into 10 week goals, then set weekly milestones and track performance against those weekly sprints.

2. New Self Image.  How to achieve the goals is the easy part. Upgrading your self image to your new skills and performance enables lasting change.

Ted Talk Referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5dyGh3oMVQ

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Contact me at:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @setfreeat53

Website: www.setfreeat53.com

Links: https://linktr.ee/setfreeat53

On todays episode explore work, money and happiness.  

We cover the changing work environment, great "resignation", what employers are doing, what they should be doing & what you can do to build your happiness & wealth where ever you wind up working.