On The Road To Financial Wellness

Posted by maggiebaker on Aug 4, 2010 in Money | 0 comments

Can you imagine feeling empowered about the money you have and what you do with it? I was talking with some of my clients today about just that-how their relationship to money was doing these days.

With glowing pride one person talked about how she had finally, after years of procrastination, consulted a financial advisor ($500/year).

Another person was living with someone who had a fortune  but, after 16 years of living together, had not put her name on anything nor  offered her a guarantee of income.  She “knows” she is vulnerable but can’t assert what her needs are to a partner who “would rather not talk about the money.”

Very strong emotions and the complexity of human relationships  are woven into these money matters. How do I help someone who is churning around in these issues and can’t seem to get a handle on them?

The first step toward change is to help you clarify what your beliefs are about money. Even though we all have a relationship to money many of us do not know what that relationship is all about.

One exercise that might help is to write a dialogue with money. Write down several words that come to mind about money if you think about it for a minute. Then take those words and imagine what money would look like were money to be a person. Once you have that image (a tall, dark, powerful looking man, a beautiful woman seductress, a hobo on the streets, etc.) , then imagine how a converstaion would go between you two.

When you have finished the dialogue, ask yourself what your mother would think, what your dad would think and what your higher power thinks. What have you learned about how you relate to money? Has this exercise clarified some beliefs you have about money?
The next step is to think of one small aspect of money you would like to change. For instance, if you are spending too much, write down all you spend for a week and then review it. See if there are any surprises. Or promise yourself to look at your bank statements at the end of the month instead of just tossing them in a pile.

Any small step to understand how you regard money and how you believe money treats you will be a positive step on the road to financial wellness.