Published on thrivetalksme

​So before you begin the strategic journey of financial planning, you have to do the internal re-programing first.  Understanding your current beliefs around money and why you actually want what you want, then installing all of that in your mind and body will help you vibrate to attract money not repel it.
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There are 3 essential mindset shifts that will have you ready and positively programmed to design and create the life you want to live. As Robin Sharma said, “Everything happens twice: first in the mind and second in your reality.”

Money Discipline #1 - Know you are at choice
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Your past or your present does not determine what your future looks like - what matters are the decisions you make from now. It’s time to get into the driver's seat of your life and say yes to what you want, not what you don't want!
Sometimes, you may feel your choices have been made for you by parents, teachers or your boss. Maybe you feel that you have not always been in control and perhaps you were not. But from this moment, you need to choose for yourself. You must make the decisions about your own life. You need to become acutely aware that it is you who controls how you react to whatever happens from now on. 
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Before you go any further, you must accept that you are the only maker of your choices. Choosing to be financially free is a choice you can make. Being aware that everything is possible - if you choose it - opens you up to fully receiving. This
is the mindset you need to begin with.

Money Discipline #2 - Have a prosperity consciousness
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Many people have developed a lack mentality when it comes to money. The “never have enough” mindset. Know that whatever you focus on, energy follows and brings it straight back to you. So when you think you don't have enough, then you will only be able to see where you don't have enough so the same pattern of not enough will just keep repeating. It’s that simple! So when you focus on prosperity and abundance, you will see more and more of where this is true in your life and this pattern will keep repeating. From a state of positivity you can make clearer decisions to bring you the outcome you want. 
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Examine your own negative thoughts and beliefs around money so you can create a new positive and prosperous language. Say things like, "my income is always increasing", "I am grateful" or "I prosper wherever I go".

Money Discipline #3 - Know what you want

Ask yourself questions such as: What does financial independence mean to me? What will freedom feel like? How do I wish to live my life? What choices do I want to be able to make? Do you want to buy a new house? Do you want to afford to send your children to a university of their choice; to be able to retire early; to have money to start your business? 

Many people do not plan for their future because they don't have a specific goal in mind. They just meander along, directionless. This in itself is not a problem, except that at some point, they will make their minds up and realise that they do have a goal but now have little time to plan and save for it. As the saying goes, people don't plan to fail, most just fail to plan. Wouldn't it be easier if you were in a position of choosing which home to buy or which university to attend, knowing that you had the money to pay for it? The solution is to save now for financial freedom and then ‘worry’ about what to spend it on later. With a little forethought now, you’ll never have to compromise your current lifestyle to pay for something ever again because you will always have the money for it. 

So, what are the choices you want to be able to make? Take a pen and paper and write at the top of the page: "The lifestyle I will live" ...

https://www.thrivetalks.me/journal/summer-money-reset

Published on thrivetalks.me

The Basics;
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1) Have a set budget for your living expenses - create a system between your bank accounts so you cover all your bills, even the ones that don't come out monthly. Include a 'Miscellaneous' fund for those unexpected expenses because you should in fact expect them. Having an accurate budget allows you to focus on your goals of building wealth.

2) Build and retain an emergency fund. Firstly, this is not the same as your miscellaneous fund. Miscellaneous expenses come out every month, you just don't know what it will be for. Your emergency fund is for just that. You might find you use it three to four times a year - if that. It could be for things such as an emergency medical, family emergency or redundancy. Redundancy is the most common reason an emergency fund gets used. Aim to build up three months of your income for this fund. Not having an emergency fund means you could end up cancelling investments and potentially losing a lot of money to cover that expense. This is also the number one reason people fall into debt, because they end up having to borrow it and the cycle happens again - another emergency, another credit card or loan. Having an emergency fund is crucial to you achieving your money goals.

3) Ensure you have adequate medical insurance, critical illness insurance and life insurance. The statistics of people getting sick is so high these days that you are 7 times more likely to have a serious illness before the age of 60 than dying. We are now at a time where 1 in 2 people are diagnosed with cancer. Many people are starting families later in life which means at the age of 60, their children are still very much financially dependent. Therefore, in the event of death, there would be a huge financial impact on their family and dependents. Only 1 in 4 people have adequate insurance leaving 3 out of 4 people with not enough or no cover at all. Ask yourself, 'what would be the financial impact to myself and my family if I was unable to work, or died whilst I have dependents?' Many people rely on their employers, but what would happen if you were no longer able to work? Ensure you have adequate cover; it simply is not worth the potential consequences. A simple term assurance would suffice. 

4) Diversify your savings. There is not one type of investment that is best; it just depends on the time you want to access your money. Markets go up and down and you should expect that. Just give yourself different pots to take money from. So if one area is not doing well, take it from another.
Have money in cash, invest in property and buy equities. Start with that. What's most important here is having the discipline to save every month. Once you know you can do that, start putting it away for different time frames - 5 years, 10 years and 15 years. 

5) Review and adjust. As important if not more important to having a plan is regularly reviewing it. Goals change and life happens so make sure you are on top of it all. It also helps to hold yourself accountable. So many people took out some sort of plan years ago and have never looked at it again! Meanwhile, their circumstances have changed and the world's economic state has changed. We have to keep reviewing our plans to make sure they are still aligned to what we want to achieve. 

Create a money plan that is aligned to what YOU want - not what others want you to have or what the world tells you you need. 

​What is most important is that you take responsibility for your own financial well-being. In the end, nobody cares more about your money than you do.

The National's Video

A panel of experts met for the first time in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to help address the problem of mounting levels of personal debt in the UAE.
The Debt Panel, an initiative of The National, includes a banker, the chief executive of a money comparison website, a wealth and wellness planner and a financial adviser who will, together, address people’s credit-related issues in a weekly column.

They held a roundtable discussion on Sunday at The National’s office with two UAE residents who owe hundreds of thousands of dirhams and have monthly payments of more than their salaries.

They are among the dozens who have contacted the newspaper asking for help to get out of debt that include a mother-to-be with a monthly salary of Dh6,583 who has Dh252,000 of debt and another person who earns Dh29,000 but has Dh120,000 in credit card debt they cannot afford to pay.

According to Souqalmal.com, whose founder and chief executive, Ambareen Musa, sits on the panel, demand for personal loans on the website has risen by 153 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Ms Musa asked whether “people are going out to look for loans to sustain a lavish lifestyle, which, potentially, they don’t need to have".

The National's Video

How to help people avoid becoming over-indebted was a large focus of the roundtable. Ms Musa suggested a greater take-up of payment-protection insurance, which could help stem the rising tide of people who cannot afford to pay back their credit after losing their jobs.

Jamal Alvi, the chief credit officer at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, said that while lenders were always ready to work together with “willing" customers to restructure their debts the introduction of a bankruptcy law would make the process far easier.

Another panel member, Keren Bobker, The National’s On Your Side columnist and an independent financial adviser with Holborn Assets in Dubai, suggested that banks should also use cooling-off periods more, which would give people time to think about what they are taking on.

“I think things need to be set out for people to give them some breathing space to think, do I really need this loan, do I really want this level of credit?" said Ms Bobker.

“To be told when they take out a credit card out with a limit of Dh20,000, for argument’s sake, what that could mean if they spend all that kind of money. I don’t think that kind of thing is spelt out. Now some of us will sit down and work it out. But I don’t think most of us would."

The National's Video

Rasheda Khatun Khan, another panel member and financial life planner, said the problem has to be taken more seriously.
“We are trying to make this a more serious issue," agreed The National’s business editor, Mustafa Alrawi.

“We are trying to raise this. We are launching a weekly column that will look at this issue of rising personal debt and what can be done," he said.

Follow the Debt Panel in The National's weekly finance column.

http://www.thenational.ae/business/personal-finance/addressing-the-rising-tide-of-personal-indebtedness-in-the-uae

Aquarius Magazine "It’s a woman’s world - With international women’s day falling this month, we asked some inspirational ladies for tips from their areas of expertise, to help put some colour into the gaps in your life."
Money coach Rasheda Khatun shares her tips on taking control of your finances, thereby fortifying your future

It’s common for we women to leave our partners to deal with the finances. We’ve seen our parents do it, and our friends, and it’s not like we haven’t got enough to do without taking on the finances as well.
But we must.

Think about this – if you were suddenly left in a position where you were on your own, or without a job, how would you stand financially? Could you afford to take care of yourself? Could you afford to take care of your children?

If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, then it’s time to take responsibility for your finances.

1 Be in the know. Whether it’s you, or your partner, who’s the main breadwinner (or both of you) you both need to know what happens to money coming in. Both being involved in making decisions helps you to build the life you want to live together.

2 Get organised. Go through your income and expenses and allocate funds to different accounts. For example, have a bills account, rent account, travel account, emergency fund account and short-term savings account. As soon as the income arrives, distribute it across the accounts accordingly.

3 Be protected. I know you don’t want to think about it, but what would be the impact on you and your children if your husband died? What plans have been made to ensure you don’t suffer financial hardship? Make sure you both have adequate life (and medical) cover in place and you know which company the policies are with and the policy numbers; who you need to contact in the event of an illness or death; what documentation you’ll need; and what the procedure is.

4 Have access. Have both joint and individual accounts and know where you can find each other’s cards and PIN numbers. Be in a position that you can access your emergency funds. Have offshore bank accounts that you can easily get access to.

5 Stash some cash. This is not about keeping secrets, but about your security. Having a lump sum of money in a bank account in your own name will give you peace of mind. You might dip into occasionally, but try to keep it built up to a level that makes you feel secure, whether it is from your income or your partner’s.

Flowers, jewellery and surprises are all wonderful ways of expressing how much you love your partner and as a women, I can say they are greatly appreciated.  Though it is always in times of distress that we can truly see what it takes to love. How one rises when they fall, overcomes their fears and still does what it takes to take care of their family, no matter what, now that is love! People buy life insurance because they love someone and to protect them financially. The question to ask is how will my family manage financially when I die? It’s a subject nobody really wants to think about, but if someone depends on you financially, it’s one you can’t avoid.

Research shows financial distress is the number one cause for ill health and marital break ups. A family left in financial despair after the death of a loved one can cause devastating consequences to their future and sometimes unrecoverable.

Where do I start?
Well the first place to start is to identifying what you want covered. Look at the list above and see which ones apply to you and your family. Then brainstorm if there are any other costs that need to be covered. 

How much cover do we need?
Now that you have your list of what needs covering, make a column to the right of it and jot down how much it may cost. Don’t worry about being precise. You can even find many life insurance calculators online to help you work out exactly how much cover you need factoring inflation which is so important when it comes to the cost of these things in 10, 15 or 20 years time. Here is a calculator you could use.
http://www.rashedakhatun.com/life-insurance-calculator.html
Then compare this figure to what your current policies protect you for.

How much will it cost?
Let’s put it this way, right now it is going to be the cheapest it can ever be for you as the cost of life cover increases with age and we all know we are not getting younger.
People will spend on average $5 for a cup of coffee and the average person has more than 2-3 cups a day. This is $15 per day, that's $300 per month based on 5 days a week for 4 weeks. That is $3,600 (AED13,248) per year! A life insurance policy that gives you peace of mind that in the event of your death your family are financially protected, could quite possibly cost you less than what you pay for coffee every month. 

​Spend some time during valentine month reflecting on this area of your life plan. Find out what you are already have, what your company actually covers and for how much and take some time to do the exercises in this article. Protect your loved ones because you love them.

People don’t plan to fail, most just fail to plan.

So why is it that we just cannot stick to our money resolutions? Why can we not keep that promise we make to ourselves?

The answer is – we do not make a strong enough commitment. Making an agreement with yourself is just so easy to break because you only have yourself to answer to and we are all good at cutting ourselves a little slack. A good agreement is made up of a worthwhile outcome and a penalty clause if you break it midway. The strong commitment comes from the level of importance of the outcome to your life and what holds you to it is the penalty clause or pain if you let yourself down. 

Here are 5 steps to make sure you make a big difference to your pocket in 2016.

1) Be Specific
You have to know what you want. Just wanting to save more is not enough to keep you in line. You have to know exactly what you are saving for and most importantly WHY. Really get to the bottom of it. Knowing your Big Why, and what difference it will make to you and your family’s life is crucial in building this commitment to self.
 
2) Get Leverage
Know what’s the price if you don’t achieve your goal. And remember keep the goal focused on what you want or where you need to be by the end of the year. Getting leverage on yourself is so, so important. Ask yourself “how would life be if I didn’t save enough money for…….?” Really go there. The stronger your leverage, the stronger your commitment.
 
3) Allocate & Automate
Separate what you are saving for in different accounts. This will help you see clearly and helps you avoid using the funds for something else. Once you have opened the different accounts, automate the monthly amount so it ‘automatically’ transfers across on the same day every month. You can do this by setting up a reoccurring transfer either online or through your bank directly.

So how to get started? For many committed couples this is not an easy conversation to have. It’s often ‘the elephant in the room’. So…

1)     Pick a happy moment and open up a conversation about some of your long-term goals. Start with the ones you already know of each other. Get excited about them, as now you get to really help each other achieve those goals.

2)     Pick an agreed time to sit down to write up your life goals together – keep it light and exciting because it is light and exciting! Focus on what you are trying to achieve not what you are fearful about. Agree that during this goal planning session you will start to create a realistic financial plan to help you accomplish your joint goals.

Next… Time for the session.

1)     Grab yourselves a cup of tea and set yourselves up around the dinner table with a big sheet of paper and perhaps your laptop. It’s time to get financially naked. Knowing where you stand and what you want to achieve builds trust and strengthens your teamwork.

2)     Out of all the goals find out what are each of your top three and put them in a timeline so you know what you want and by when. Ask each other what are the top money lessons you learnt growing up? Find out what worries each of you most about money and what each other’s retirement wishes are.

3)     Align your common three goals and make a plan to achieve them.

4)     Make this a monthly or quarterly session.

Couples that plan together financially stay together. Get started on aligning your goals and create the future you both want.

http://brideclubme.com/articles/joining-forces-and-aligning-your-goals-expert-advice-from-rasheda-khatun-khan/

Ahh, tis the season! Well, actually, it’s the season after The Season. 
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January is that troublesome time of year after we’ve eaten too much, spent too much, indulged too much and certainly slept too little. It’s a wistful time when we reflect back on our recent past and gaze forward to our immediate future. Traditionally, it’s a time when we make solemn promises to ourselves in the form of New Year’s Resolutions.

The most common resolutions, according to a recent study, are loosing weight & getting fit, getting organised, spending less and saving more. The most common broken resolutions are loosing weight & getting fit, getting organised, spending less and saving more..... Why do we do that?

35% of us who make new year resolutions break them before the end of January and only 23% keep them to completion. Are you of the 77% of people who make new year resolutions and break them before you even get started?

So here is how to make your New Year Money resolutions stick!

Most New Year’s resolutions are scrapped within a month and the reason isn’t hard to fathom; most are made up rather quickly. A study of the most successful resolutions discovered that the ones which had some sticking power are those which have been carefully thought out. They aren’t made up on the spot, nor are they arbitrary. Successful New Year’s resolutions are typically small in number, have been percolating for a while and deal with a really significant issue.

So, in the same way that losing 20 pounds is arbitrary for someone who hasn’t really given fitness a lot of thought, so also is saving $500/month  (AED 1840/-) arbitrary and equally unsuccessful for someone who hasn’t given their financial health a lot of thought. When we make resolutions like this, somewhere along the way we start asking ourselves why did I decide to do this? Without a strong answer, we give in to the immediate temptation and break most resolutions by February.
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I’d like to suggest that this New Years you do something different – at least with regard to financial matters. Before you make a single resolution, I want you to think about five key questions. 

These are the basics which must be considered before any financial plan, goals, strategies or resolutions should be adopted:

•    How important is it to you to have a long, comfortable retirement in which a reasonable lifestyle can be maintained without the risk of running out of money?
•    To what extent do you want to assist your children financially, both during your lifetime (cars, college, down payment, etc.) and after you have gone (inheritance, grandkid’s education, etc.)?
•    Do you think you will need to help your parents take care of any medical or housing expenses in their last years?
•    How much risk do you want to take that your spouse’s well-being and/or goals 1 –3 above could be interrupted if you die or become disabled?
•    After you are gone, do you want to leave a meaningful legacy to any school, church or charity that is particularly important to you?

You can’t just blow through these questions so you can get on with making those pesky resolutions. They are meant to be pondered, discussed at length with a spouse/partner, and, for those who are religious, certainly committed to prayer. Even after all that, these questions won’t generate easy answers. They will, however, bring you face to face with some trade-offs that will inevitably need to be made. Preparing for your retirement probably means compromising your current lifestyle, at least a little. Helping the kids with cars or college means compromising your efforts for your own retirement. These are but a few of the issues we all need to tackle.
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Seriously considering these questions demonstrates just how foolish it is to make a resolution like “I will save $500 per month(AED 1840/-).” If you don’t address these five core issues, you have no idea how much you should save or where you should put it. Somewhere deep inside us, we know how foolish this is, and that’s why we don’t really keep many of our New Year’s resolutions.

Now before you beat yourself up too badly because you’ve planned poorly up to this point, consider what your peers are doing. According to a recent survey of UAE households:
•    80% of UAE residents say they are comfortable with their planning, yet 30% don’t save anything.
•    60% of UAE residents want to retire by age 61, yet one quarter of them don’t how much money they will need in retirement.
•    40% of parents don’t know how much college will cost for their children.

Generally speaking, we’re a pretty naïve lot. We’re also pretty optimistic, believing that there’s always tomorrow to start doing the things we should be doing now. Somewhere between irrational optimism, “I can always start tomorrow”, and immobilizing pessimism, “I haven’t done anything, I’m doomed,” lies reality. You can’t change yesterday, but you shouldn’t wait until tomorrow.

So if you make any resolution at all this New Year, simply resolve to take up these issues in earnest today. Begin the process and remember that it is a process. Unlike resolutions, a process doesn’t simply start and end at convenient points. A healthy process will continue well into your advanced years. The good news is that with a little bit of effort and a great deal of earnestness, all of your dreams are possible.

Happy New Year! Wishing you an abundance of wealth and prosperity in all areas in 2016 and beyond.