Carl Richards is a Financial Planner in Utah and is also known as Sketch Guy, a regular contributor in Business Day. His February 2015 article Rethinking Money, Not as Good or Bad but as a Tool in Business Day really caught my eye. The reason? He changed his way of thinking about money. And he’s hit the mark.
Money is tied to emotional baggage – status, guilt, dreams, worry, you name it. We develop attitudes and emotions toward it throughout our lives, and we’re all different. This emotional baggage affects our behaviors and decisions, and sometimes even rules our lives. As Carl Richards suggests, money should be a tool, not coveted as a possession. Instead of money using you – by having you chase more, try imagining what it can truly get you – choices, time-saving conveniences, fun, important goals.
How to Use Your Money
Carl Richards has been a Financial Planner working with people for years; and has written a book about money. Even with his experience and knowledge, his perspective is just changing now. It’s only natural that a lot of us haven’t reached that same mindset yet. Here’s one way to tackle it:
1. Start with what’s important to YOU and your family. What are your personal dreams? What are your personal values? Do you wish to give to charities? Do you want to pay for your children’s college education?
2. Assess Your Current Status: What are you earning & spending, what assets do you have? Do you have short term needs and longer term needs? How much money is flowing to appease other people’s expectations?
3. Begin prioritizing where the money goes based on your dreams. They won’t all be realized in one day and that’s OK! Just getting started is the trick.
Related Article: How to Manage Your Money Buckets & Behaviors
Look for an Advisor with this Approach
Not all advisors work this way. Jaimie Blackman of BH Wealth Management uses his MoneyCapsules ® tool to walk his clients through this process. He believes that your dreams and values are most important, and pushing product is a far second.
It’s nice to see advisors are slowly coming around to what really matters to clients and not their own wallets.
Carrie Rattle is a Financial Therapist and the CEO at BehavioralCents. She is an executive veteran of the financial services industry and works with professional women on their mind and money behaviors to help them build an equal voice in the world. Thoughts always welcome: carrierattle@behavioralcents.com.
Carrie Rattle is a Principal at BehavioralCents.com, a website for women focused on mind and money behaviors. She has worked in the financial services industry for 20+ years and hopes to inspire women to better prepare themselves for financial independence.