in the back of your mind is there a little voice telling you that you could be no you should be
in a better financial position no matter what you do your net worth isn't growing fast enough
if you struggle trying to figure out what to do first or if you know that you have too much
money sitting in low yielding savings but can't figure out what is the best thing to do with it
or if you're building wealth but struggling to really accelerate the growth well these
five money pivots can help you be in a much better financial position
hi there Colin Exelby here and i'm a certified financial planner professional with over 20 years
of experience providing financial planning for business owners and their families
that just make sense i own the financial advisory practice celestial wealth management
and provide advice virtually to clients all over the country
what is financial freedom financial freedom is a term that's thrown around far too often so
much so that people don't really even stop to think what it really means financial freedom
is the ability to do what you want when you want without financial worry in order to get there your
money needs to be working for you 24 7 just like the money in the largest corporations in the world
that we must put up on the screen so here they are it's important as a financial channel to make
sure we're always disclosing properly the risks i know i know but as a registered investment advisor
it's a requirement all right now that that's out of the way here are the five money pivots
number one eliminate consumer debt in my opinion you can never hear this one enough because many
people don't follow it and it hinders their net worth for years and even decades over the past
30 years debt advanced the living standards of many people in essence tying their future income
streams to debt that was already accumulated many incomes didn't increase at the rate of spending
people use debt to buy cars to buy vacations things and debt to buy the home that you live in
being in debt reduces your options when times are good and can severely destroy your
financial well-being when times are tough because you've placed a claim on your future cash flow
a great way to accelerate your net worth is to get a high guaranteed rate of return of course in
the investment world there's almost nothing that's guaranteed in fact i'm sure you've seen the phrase
past performances no guarantee of future results well i'm here to tell you there is one place
where you can earn a guaranteed return paying down existing consumptive debt credit card debt
often has high interest rates in the double digits attached to it look you're not alone
many people even millionaires will carry credit card debt for one reason or another
but will also keep assets sitting in low yielding savings or checking accounts pay it off now
and get a guaranteed rate of return if you're thinking about taking on more debt and it doesn't
result in an increase in cash flow think twice this means if debt is being taken on to achieve
additional rental income or increase productivity or you're investing in yourself then that can
be beneficial but if it doesn't result in an increase in cash flow then it's purely consumptive
consumption should ideally be paid for with either income or accumulated savings or investments
work to create a strategy to pay off all the consumptive debt and you will feel liberated
and your net worth will grow even faster all right number two optimize your cash flow what do i mean
well stop leaking money and unnecessary taxes lost opportunity and unused expenses set up a formal
structure to monitor how your dollars flow through your bank accounts and you can help capture
money that's leaking out of your net worth treat your personal finances like a business
your family inc should be well run organized and automated whenever possible understand when you
get paid where that money goes what deductions are being taken out and how much sits idle each
month and maximize it look most people pay their bills once a month but you get paid multiple
times a month and banks love this you know why because you keep your money sitting in the bank
working for them not you get that money moving and being optimized while you have it not sitting
there doing nothing technology is an amazing thing harness its power to improve your cash
flow there are a number of apps like the one that i use called true bill now truebill helps monitor
your cash flow and it uses ai to find ways to save money and cut unnecessary expenses you didn't even
realize you had there are many apps that are like this and i think that it makes a lot of sense to
take a look at them to help you manage your cash flow don't let your cash sit idle businesses
maximize their cash every month do the same with your personal cash flow by paying down revolving
lines of credit like heloc's and personal loans to reduce interest expense all right number three
accumulate assets that may provide protection from inflation in a declining us dollar
all around the world when faced with budget shortfalls or excessive debt burdens governments
are opting for the same solution printing that money over the past year rising prices for almost
everything we buy has impacted our cash flow and if this money printing continues we may very well
see higher inflation continue in the coming years stimulus payments child care tax credits student
loan forgiveness these are all current or proposed programs to put more money in our pockets but more
dollars chasing the same amount of goods can lead to higher prices and we're seeing that firsthand
right now the last time we saw inflation rates this high was back in the 1970s and early 80s
most people under the age of 50 never experienced or remember what it was like unfortunately these
higher prices hurt those who can least afford it the most keeping funds sitting in low yielding
checking and savings accounts lose money every day as your purchasing power declines that dollar
is buying less every day so how do you improve your finances in periods of rising inflation
well certain assets historically can perform better in times of rising inflation of course
past performance is no guarantee of future results but for more specifics check out these videos how
to inflation-proof your portfolio and how to earn 7.12 with this government bond and of course if
you're getting value from these five pivots make sure that you hit that little thumbs up button and
smash that subscribe button so you're notified whenever i release a new financial planning video
all right number four take control of your investments and maintain liquidity
you are responsible for your finances nobody else at celestial wealth management we believe our
relationships with our clients are partnerships but ultimately it's your money and your decisions
your wealth is your responsibility here's some great ways to take more control over your finances
number one obtain access to account aggregation and planning software or create your own balance
sheet and income and expense statement this will help you get clear on where you currently stand
know your account numbers your routing numbers passwords usernames and all that other information
that you need to have access to move funds if needed know all the processes penalties and
regulations around moving your funds between accounts understanding the rules surrounding
access to your funds can be an eye-opening experience do you have electronic access to move
the funds is a physical signature required do you need a secondary signature does a physical check
need to be cut and mailed do your accounts have limits on them like retirement accounts where you
can't access them until you're a certain age what are those ages and what are the exceptions if you
want to retire early you've got to come up with a strategy to be able to access your different
fund accounts does the institution place a hold on funds above a certain level that can happen
when you're making deposits know the financial standing of your bank or investment institution
is your bank on the fdic watch list are there questions about solvency what would you do if
your bank failed how long would your money be frozen and would you have access to other funds
these are all things that you should know just in case all right number five understand your
current asset allocation your investments and the effects that different economic outcomes could
have on that allocation a good financial advisor will take the time to understand your situation
your goals your risk tolerance and time horizon while customizing an investment plan for you
don't settle for a cookie cutter model that's appropriate for the average joe out on the
street every investor is different and every plan should be individualized know what you own and why
you own it i can't tell you how important this is if you can't determine why you own an investment
get rid of it and if you wouldn't invest hard-earned dollars in that investment today get
rid of it CNBC host Jim Cramer had a best-selling book a few years back called getting back to even
if the only reason for holding an asset is getting back to even then get rid of it here's some other
questions to ask yourself about your investments number one are you well diversified number two
how correlated are the different investments do they move up and down together number three
how are your investments likely to perform in economic expansion recession war and periods with
rising inflation understand how the portfolio works in those different economic climates number
four what percentage of your wealth is tied to a single currency such as the u.s dollar
number five how would you replace your paycheck if you lost your job or you were forced to retire
how much do you need how often do you need it how safe does it need to be how consistent a cash flow
portfolio and your financial plan there's an old adage that most people don't plan to fail
they just fail to plan it happens every day
these five pivots can put you on the right path to amplifying your wealth over the next 12 months
if you like this video check out these ones next in order to maximize your financial
planning strategy during the next 12 months just click on the screen now get clear be clear you