How do we take inventory of our financial lives? Are you 100% satisfied with your money situation? If not, what’s keeping you from having that satisfaction?

Suppose you are happy. Could you be languishing in a safe zone missing opportunities to earn, save, or give more?

I think we’ve got three basic stages in our financial lives. Managing, growing, and giving. Which stage are you living and how do you plan to move forward?

Stage 1- Managing Your Money

Ideally we should learn the basics of managing money as children or young adults. The sad reality: Most of us learn ‘on the job’. And we screw up, sometimes hugely. In the management stage we need to develop the habits and knowledge that will allow us to create a basic level of financial security. Unfortunately, past mistakes can keep us on a financial hamster wheel if we aren’t careful. Using credit, understanding taxes, budgeting, paying debt, and having an emergency fund are milestones we need to reach before we can hope to effectively move on to growing our money.

Stage 2- Growing Your Money

You’re a master at managing your money. Now what? Time to tackle investing and taking some risks so your money can grow. This can be intimidating. Remember you want to grow your money, not lose it. If you’re clueless don’t be afraid to admit it. It’s easier than ever to broaden your financial horizons through online resources. Get over your fear of talking to a financial planner and clearly define your long-term goals.

Stage 3- Giving Your Money

Americans have a hard time with the concept of enough. We want more. I like that about us. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to amass a huge fortune. But aren’t we all here to make the world better in some way? When you have more than enough it’s thrilling to consider how surplus can be used to enrich the lives of others. Be an angel investor for a company that will create jobs. Give your grandchildren a secure financial future. Create your own organization to focus on the causes you care about. The opportunities to give are limitless and the rewards are priceless.

No matter which stage you’re living remember the point is to learn, grow, and move on.

Further Reading

• How to Be the Family CFO: 4 Simple Steps (0)
• The ABC’s of Budgeting and Finance : F – J (0)
• Why Your Credit Card Isn’t an Emergency Fund (1)
• Learn to Paper Trade – For Free! (0)
• Overcome This Major Financial Mistake (0)

Tags: budgeting, charity, Finance, Financial planner, giving, home, Investing, Investment, money, Personal finance, Stock market

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.