Nothing is more important than each of us taking control of our personal finances. We cannot rely on someone else to make our decisions for us. We need to accept the responsibility for our actions and the outcomes of our lives. I believe this is great news for all of us.
No one has more vested interest in the outcome of our lives than we do. This does not mean we do not seek out experts for assistance, help and guidance with our personal finances. Financial experts play a very valuable role in helping us in a variety of areas. I have been an invaluable asset and provided expert advice to thousands of clients.
However, each of us should be committed to increasing our knowledge in a variety of areas relating to our personal finances, debt, assets, real estate, mortgages, investments and our retirement goals, etc. Our increased financial knowledge will help educate and empower us to make informed financial decisions that impact every area of our lives. Our increased financial literacy will help us understand the recommendations of the experts that we seek out for additional advice and input with our personal finances.
Many people never work on improving their financial literacy because they feel that they do not have the knowledge or education to learn or apply financial principles to their lives. Therefore, they become overwhelmed and never get started.
However, understanding financial literacy at its simplest form is relatively easy. We need to spend less and save more! This is a very simple statement. However, it is difficult to implement because of the lifestyle and spending choices we make everyday. We never stop to consider how each purchase or swipe of the credit card is consuming our future. Therefore, each of us needs to start today to take control of our personal finances with simple things like setting a limit on our spending, saving all our receipts to track our expenses for 30 days, limiting the use of our credit cards and setting aside money very month to fund a cash cushion, etc.
There are countless resources on the internet from government agencies, non-profits & companies that can help get you started on improving your financial literacy and taking control of your personal finances. I hope you will get started today.
Here is my closing thought and one simple question. How much time did you spend on the internet and watching TV today, this week or this year? How much time have you invested today, this week or this year improving your financial literacy? What is more important?
Remember, we must take full responsibility for our own financial lives. Simplify this task by working on one subject at a time. Pick something basic like home budgets, etc. and get started today. Work on this with your spouse, family, friends etc. Together you will learn more and encourage one another.
I hope you have benefited from this post on Financial Literacy. If so, leave a comment. In addition, please forward this to anyone you think might benefit from this short financial literacy lesson
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