How Your Financial Values Need To Tie Into Your Life
Part of the financial planning process that often gets overlooked is the importance of setting values-based financial goals.
Shari Greco Reiches, cofounder Rappaport Reiches Capital Management and Behavioral Finance Expert understands how emotions and money go hand in hand. When Shari works with her clients, she works with them by understanding their feelings around money and financial planning, emphasizing creating goals aligned with their values.
In her new book, Maximize Your Return on Life: Invest Your Time and Money in What You Value Most, Reiches empowers readers to make smart money decisions for themselves through personal stories and related exercises. She provides tools to uncover the ins and outs of our relationships with money and how we got there. Shari examines childhood memories of money that shaped our views and spending habits and how to fix any bad habits we may have developed.
Shari’s book explores various topics and explores emotions around money. Some of my favorite subjects in the book are:
1. Encouraging you to explore your early money story
How do you feel about money? Does money feel good to you, or are you in constant conflict in your relationship with money? The book encourages you to explore your feelings around money and reflect on what your parents taught you. When you examine your feelings and understand where those feelings came from, it allows you to let go of negative emotions that are holding you back and replace them with positive feelings and habits that will help you succeed financially.
2. Identifying your core values
Core values are the priorities you value most in your life—such as family, meaningful work, or giving back to your community. Core values are not possessions, activities, or experiences; they are aspects of defining yourself as a person. They bring about the most positive impact on your life. That is why it is essential to ensure that you are considering your values and what you want out of life when creating your financial plan.
3. The key to financial happiness
According to Shari, the key to financial happiness is living within your means. Shari’s dad always said, “You can have anything you want, not everything you want.”
When you are spending more than you bring in regularly, you are putting your financial future at risk, which is a cause of financial stress and anxiety. When you live within your means, you spend less than what you make, and you carry no consumer debt. You’re spending is controlled, and you are financially responsible, and your finances feel safe.
The bottom line is that knowing how your emotions are affecting your money decisions is an essential part of getting your finances together and under control. When you connect on how your emotions are dictating your money choices, you can see if they work against you and adjust your money behavior. Making good money choices is the key to financial success.
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