Family Papi

A few years back, I had a colleague at work who constantly complained about everything (yes I do mean everything).

It seemed that every day, he complained about his boss, the weather, the copy machine, the “rich getting richer”, his wife, his kids, his neighbors, his job, etc. – you get the picture.

Whenever he called me or stopped by, I knew he had something to complain about.

He had what I call the negativity virus.

Symptoms of the negativity virus include:

• seeing anything from a negative standpoint all the time
• complaining instead of coming up with solutions for things you could control
• complaining for things out of your control
• whining and complaining to others about stuff outside of their control
• not appreciating life and all it has to offer
• not being thankful

As we approach the Thanksgiving season, it’s important to recognize these symptoms. 

My colleague ended up not only losing his job, he lost his family.  The family broke up after the divorce and he lost his home as well.

Let me be clear – I am not saying that his negativity virus actually directly caused all of this to happen.  I just know that the negativity virus blocked his opportunity to prosper.

Another way to say this is that positive things happen to positive people. 

Negative people don’t “see” positive things.  They ignore them or consider them negative – and with that – they attract truly negative things.

How to combat the negativity virus

During conversations, I would plead with him to please begin to look at the bright side of things.  I articulated the power of positive thinking and most importantly, the need to be thankful and appreciate all we are blessed with.

I also noted that as a family dad, his words were hurting rather than building those around him.

His response was that he couldn’t do any of that.  He said he needed to be himself and “tell it like it is – like it or not”.  His negativity was only made worse by his stubbornness.

After a while, I moved on.  He would call me once in a while. 

Once I sensed the negativity creeping into the conversation, I’d make an excuse to end the call. 

I didn’t want to catch that negativity virus.

I learned that the best way to combat it is to stay away from it.  It will drain away your energy, ambition and motivation.

Instead, surround yourself with positive people.  Positive people will provide support, encouragement, and most all be thankful for what they have. 

As a family dad, set the example and encourage your family to be this way.  Banish negative self-talk and self-defeatist thinking from your household.

Stop negativity on its tracks and master the art of living thankfully and positively inspiring those you touch every day.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

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In the last post, we talked about getting to the Automate/Diversify part of managing your money.

It is actually the simplest part of all because you only do it once and forget about it (unless you want to add or change things).

Here’s how it works: Every time you get paid, automatically send or transfer your money (automate) in a number of different accounts (diversify).

 To do this, you will need at least 15 accounts.  These accounts fall into 4 categories. 

Here are the category and accounts listed in priority order:

Category: God

1.)    Church/Charity Account - Do this first.  In order to prosper, you must give.  You will be blessed if you are a blessing to others.

Category: Government

2.)    Uncle Sam Account – If you are always scrambling to pay off your taxes before tax day, why not prepare for it?  If you are fortunate enough to get a refund and don’t want to spend it, use this account to hold it – you can always transfer to another account  later.

Category: You

3.)    Emergency Account – You never know.  Be prepared for anything.  Have a goal of at least 6 months of your income.

4.)    Retirement Accounts – These can be in many form – 401K at work, IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, etc. – Have  a goal of at least 12-20% of your income.

5.)    Dream Account – Think big.  Use online banks like INGdirect.com or etrade.com

6.)    College/University Account for kids – Need I say more? Your kids could be contributors for this account too.  This could be used to set up 529 accounts for example.

7.)    Vacation Account – Be realistic here – don’t go on vacation without being able to afford it – figure out how much you’ll need and divide it by payments – then forget about it until vacation time.

8.)    Christmas/Holiday/Birthday Account – You know these days will arrive – again, prepare so that you may stick to your plan and not go overboard.

9.)    Investment Accounts – Use brokerage houses like Sharebuilder.com, which make it very easy to set up automatic investments.  It’s so simple, you could kick yourself  for not doing it sooner.

10.) Savings Account – Use this account as back up for your primary checking account, which we will refer to later.

11.) House Account – Are you saving up for a house?  Do you have a home already?  Use this account to save for or put in extra payments instead of sending it to the mortgage directly – yes, it makes sense.

12.) Wife Account for her shopping needs (groceries, clothes, etc.)  – The love of your life has financial needs – use this account for her stuff (figure out between the two of you what she would be responsible for).

13.) Business Account – If you own a business, you’ll need a business account.  If you want to own a business, guess what – you’ll need a business account.

14.) Family Papi Account for your needs – Finally an account for your needs!  Yes, those golfing outings would come from here.

Category: Them

15.) Primary Checking Account for household bills – Ah, yes, these must be paid.  When you do your Measurement step, should be able to figure out what you need to pay and when.  Make sure you have enough directly deposited in to handle automatic payments out. 

Notice that the Category “Them” is last.  Look who’s first.  Nice, huh? 

Now, the less bills you have the higher percentages you can put on the other more important accounts. 

Given all these accounts, you have to:

A. Find banks/brokerages you can start free accounts with and name them any way you want. 

B. Link them all either from your checking account or using direct deposit for all of them.

The percentages or $ amounts you do for each is up to you. 

The important thing is that you are not relying on remembering to do things – it’s all automatic. 

Also, since, you have all separate accounts, you will know what account to use when any situation arrives. 

This helps you stay focused, minimizes your risks, and keeps you on that prosperous path you need. 

Sound good? Now, get it done, and then – forget about it.

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Managing money is like feeding sharks – if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can lose more than a finger.

That’s why, as a family dad, continuing to learn and staying up-to-date with how best to handle money situations is critical.

First things first, do YOU manage your bills, savings, and everything financial – or does your wife/significant other?

If the answer is yes, great!  If the answer is both of you do, great too!   If the answer is no, does the statement “Houston, we have a Problem” mean anything to you?

It is important that, as the family dad, as the CEO of your organization, as the head or the household – you either take the lead or be intensely involved with household money matters. 

You can’t just stay in the dark and let someone else drive this thing.

If your excuse is you’re not good in Math then go here and then come back when you’re done!

Back, great!  Let’s continue…

3 Steps

There are at least 3 steps a family dad takes when it comes to prospering with personal finance.  These 3 are necessities, not options.  They are Measurement, Planning, and Automate/Diversify.

Measurement – Measurement is taking a look at a snapshot of your finances.  How much comes in and how much goes out (Cashflow). 

The dreaded budget word is associated within this step.  Also, do you own more than you owe and how much (Net Worth)? 

Before I lose you, please note that since this step is not as easy to do right now, we will not talk about it anymore – it will be at another time.  But remember, you will need to honestly and accurately measure your status regardless of any circumstances.

Planning – Shouldn’t it come first?  Not really, you need to know where you stand first before you start mapping out where you’re headed. 

Under planning, you really identify your goals and dreams – it’s fun, but we are not going to talk about this either – it also can wait for another time.

Automate/Diversify – In the next post, will start here.  By the time people start these steps, they rarely get to this most important part – the part where you are actually doing something. 

Before you check out the next post though, please note that the Automate/Diversify step is directed for those who generate more income than what they pay out. 

If, for any reason, that’s not you at this time, it may still be helpful to think about how you’ll move your money around once you get there (and you will!).

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