Posts Tagged ‘planning your finances’

Goals and Plans For Millionaire Nurse Success!

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Goal Setting and Planning

Goal setting and planning are the foundation of becoming successful with your money management.

I am headed to a retreat today, focused on my medical practice to set goals, and plan for the next 5 years.

Long Range Goals

Making long range goals, then short term action steps to support those goals, is the key to managing your money.  So, you and your spouse, need to set aside a time soon, to plan.  Schedule a time, block out a few hours, get a baby sitter.

Turn off the TV, cell phone-get rid of all distractions.   Use a pad or even a white-board and put your dreams and aspirations in black and white.  Review your financial situation, and what needs to happen with your money to support your goals.

Planning:

If you want an advanced degree in nursing, plan your career around going back to school, begin to save the money for tuition or the decrease in income that will occur when you are taking classes.

Don’t just wake up one day-decide to go back to school-quit your job-borrow two gurneys full of money-and put your family in financial trouble, because you were too selfish, lazy, or stupid (use your own adjective)   to plan.

I will soon be introducing a template to help with goal setting and planning, to help families with this step.

So don’t let another day go by.  Stop what you are doing and make an appointment with yourself, and whoever else needs to be there.  Do a little thinking and brainstorming before that day comes and be prepared for negotiation.  Your plans have to mesh with your partners, if you are not single.  This can sometimes be difficult.  So be prepared to give a little.

If you can’t come to agreement on all items-save those for a later discussion, after each has had a chance to think it over.

And if you are single, all you have to do, is convince yourself-how easy is that!!!!

Plan a Family Financial Planning Retreat!

So, plan your own version of a retreat today.  Repeat it every year. Review your goals, and plans at least several times per year to make sure you are on track.

Good luck-and don’t bother trying to find me today-I an unavailable…..(yes- sometimes I follow my own advice!)

Let us hear your suggestions, and plans for goal setting.

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Better Watch What You Wish For!

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

At the end of this decade, and what a decade it was, it is time for a little introspection.  Just a short list of what this decade has brought us…

  • 9-11 is now a common term in our language.
  • The Tech boom
  • Two wars
  • Real Estate Boom
  • Real Estate Bust
  • Banking and Financial Crisis
  • Worst recession in 50 years

What will the next decade bring?  The only thing I know, is that the prognosticators will be wrong.

  • We have the new health care bill passing.  Those of us in this field know that changes are needed, but are these the right one, and will it cost us too much?
  • Taxes-likely to increase with all the deficit spending going on.
  • Real Estate values-with more foreclosures on the horizon, have they bottomed out or not?
  • Is the worst in job losses/displacement over?

I have a lot of questions, but of course few answers.

I was discussing “The Millionaire Nurse” book and blog on a nursing forum recently and one of the posters said something like “same old/same old!” about a few of my money-saving tips.

That actually made me feel good.  Because when you hear someone with a quick fix to  manage your finances,  a new and improved  way to wealth, or a  must-have system to massive new  savings – don’t walk-RUN to the nearest exit.

Those of us who invested heavily in tech stocks earlier in the decade, thinking of quick money/can’t miss- lost their rear-end.  So did some of us who invested in real estate at the peak of the bubble.

So my recommendations for managing your money- by goal setting and planning, avoiding debt, spending with a plan, investing wisely, diversified,  and for the long-term- is  still the best method to succeed.  It may seem boring.  It may seem like what everyone else says.   But it works.   I certainly have not invented anything new here at “The Millionaire Nurse”.

What I think I do well (I hope), is explain things in a fashion that nurses and others that are not “business minded”   can understand.  Then make recommendations to help with execution, and accountability.  Without which, even the greatest business mind will fail.  I also want to provide a forum for nurses to ask their money questions.  Learn from other nurses successes and failures.

If you want to share, all you need to do, is make a comment.

So my end of the decade recommendation for you would be-watch what you wish for!  Don’t expect schemes, even if they are  “GUARANTEED NOT TO FAIL-DOUBLE YOUR MONEY-NO MONEY DOWN-GET RICH QUICK!” to be your financial salvation.  Don’t think the lottery is financial planning.  An article in the Wall Street Journal, by Brett Arands describes Money Lessons for a Lost Decade, with his recommendations for the new year when it comes to your money.

I look forward to continuing our dialogue together as we build your money and grow your wealth here at “The Millionaire Nurse”.

And for you new readers-feed burner is the orange thingey at the top right, to get my column straight to your feed-reader.  If you don’t know what that is, ask your son or daughter who can type 100 words per minute with their two index fingers, or thumbs, while driving and eating breakfast.

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And if you haven’t yet signed up for my FREE e-book, Emergency Money Resuscitation, go here and sign up.  What are you waiting for it is free, and it will also sign you up for a free email mini-course on your managing  personal finances with tips on Credit Cards and Banking…

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New Year's Resolutions: Do Millionaire Nurses Need Em?

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

I will be honest, I am not a New Year’s resolution guy.  I do think goal setting is the first step in gaining control of your money.  So what’s the difference?

New Year’s Resolutions are usually:

  1. Poorly thought out-How many resolutions have you heard your friends and co-workers spout out as they had their third glass of champagne or beer-”I am going to quit drinking…..(insert- lose weight, exercise, get out of debt, write a journal….)
  2. Non-specific-”Losing weight is a thought, not a goal or a plan-” I am going to lose 15 lbs. this year”- better.  I am going to lose 15 lbs. this year by losing 1/4 pound a week, by cutting out my starch’s, while exercising 30 minutes per day/5 days a week-Now you are getting it!
  3. Superficial-Many New Year’s Resolutions are done because you are supposed to do em.  So the smoker says he is going to quit smoking, the drinker says he will quit drinking, the spender says he will quit spending-not because he wants to change, but because he thinks society/friends/co-workers think he should.
  4. Short-term/short sighted-Spending less is a good fleeting notion, but why-what is it about your relationship with  money that you would like to change?  Do you want a comfortable retirement, send your kids to college, buy a car?  A clear long term definition/vision of where you want to be is necessary.

So, do I think New Years Resolutions are evil?  Of course not.  Do I think they have about as much value as opening a fortune cookie-yep, thats about right.

So instead of a New Years Resolution, how about developing your goals and a plan.  See this post about goal setting.

When you have done a thoughtful/deliberate job of goal setting, then the next step is accountability-”How do I do that, Dr Dean?”

I am so glad you asked!

  • Set up a monthly accountability session-a time you set aside to review your goals and how you stand-if your goals are of a very long-term nature-quarterly or semi-annual reviews are ok. Make an appointment with yourself and spouse/partner.
  • Publish your goals-except maybe the one about taking your bosses job,–that one may need to be your little secret goal…. You needed something to do with that refrigerator magnet you got for Christmas last year.
  • Write them down-not quite the same as publish-publish means put them out for others to see, writing them down means the process of making them real-you need to do both.
  • An accountability partner-no that is not the same as a CPA lover-just someone to hold your feet to the fire.  If your goal is to be a better public speaker-join Toastmaster and let them abuse you.  Lose weight-Weight Watchers comes to mind. Hire a coach-if you can afford one.  The YMCA here used to have a wandering personal trainer-believe me I worked harder when he was yelling-”one more, one more!”

So go forth and make a plan, Stan.  Try to do more, Roy!  Set yourself free, Lee!

Sorry, got carried away.  Let me know if you are setting goals to improve your financial situation, and if you need an accountability partner, you can probably find one here. Good Luck!

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Goal Setting: Time to Get Started

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

In my soon to be released book, “The Millionaire Nurse“, I emphasize that goal setting is the number one attribute of successful people.  If you don’t have direction in your life, you will get lost-that part is simple.

While the idea of goal setting makes sense, doing so is  difficult.  Just as no smoking, eating too much, not exercising are obvious behaviors we need to change-doing so is hard.

So consider today your kick in the pants moment-write down your goals for next year-if you can’t stop what you are doing, right now, then set a time, right now, do it, don’t put it off.  You need time for thinking for yourself, then time with your spouse.

Now my recommendation is to develop and write  down your  family goals first.  Use those personal goals to help you develop your financial priorities.

For example, you are a two-year RN and would like to move up in management-that is your personal goal this year. To do so, you need a BSN.  So do you buy a new car, boat, or have plastic surgery this year?  NOOOOO.

What should your financial goals look like?

  1. You put money aside this year for tuition-have a written number, do your homework.
  2. You look at the amount of hours you will be able to work, while going to school, and be setting aside money to live on to supplement your smaller paycheck.
  3. You cut back on your other expenses, less eating out, cut down from 200 channels to 45 (yea, I know, what a sacrifice-45 channels of nothing….)

I think you get the picture, you develop your goals for your life, then see how they affect your personal finances and adjust those goals accordingly.  The financial goals-say saving $1500 for tuition- then get broken down to monthly goals-say$125/month into your tuition savings account-not to be spent on a big-screen TV.

Now your goals and plans for life obviously can change-maybe you decide instead of being a nurse manager, you and your husband want to open a restaurant or other small business.  You use the same process-break the big picture into small action items, and scratch them off one at the time.

So, use the time between Christmas and New Years to do your goal setting.  A few of my goals for the year:

  1. To grow this blog audience-(I have a number written down).
  2. To sell 1,000 copies of my book (minimum).
  3. To speak to at least two nursing groups per month in 2009.
  4. Increase my giving-by 5%.

Now these are just preliminary goals, as I have to sit down with my bride of 29 years. We will fine-tune them to make them our’s (not mine or her’s) and I strongly suggest you do the same.

So let me know your goals for the new year, and if you have questions or suggestions for topics of discussion please make a comment.

If you need help with saving money, my free ebook, “Emergency Money Rescucitation” is available here, with a follow-up mini-course on suggestions on credit card management, banking, and other financial management tools.  My early Christmas present for you…..

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Posted in personal finance, Planned spending aka budget, Quality of Life, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »