By Amanda Morrall
1) Financial tune-up
A few months back I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea. Giving people a day off work to catch up on all those mundane but important personal finance matters that invariably get stuffed into the bottom drawer for a rainy day that never comes. Employers will want to lampoon me for suggesting it no doubt because I think it should be a paid day off.
Why? Because financial worries apparently occupy a disturbingly large portion of people's time at work which in turns eats into their productivity and more importantly creativity. Creativity is what spawns greatness, well at least in my humble opinion it does.
I'm not sure what compelled me to go on that rant however here's New York Times Money writer Rob Lieber's suggestions for how to go about a financial tune-up in your own time.
2) Pre-breakfast routine of champions
A few weeks ago my eight year old son decided to start an early morning exercise routine. I discovered this one morning after thinking he'd snuck back to bed to avoid going to school. I opened his door and found him doing push ups. I'm not sure what inspired him but he's been doing it religiously ever since around 630 a.m. for 15 minutes. His routine consists of push-ups, chin-ups under his bunk bed, three yoga postures and meditation. Believe it or not, I didn't put him up to this but I'm ever so inspired by his discipline. He is the best morning person I know.
What's your morning routine and are you making the most of it?
This article published by fastcompany.com offers some tips on how to structure what can be the best part of the day.
3) Counting an inheritance?
Does your retirement savings plan hinge on a inheritance? If so, you might want to contemplate what your future would look like without it. This Wall Street Journal article cautions Baby Boomers against putting too much stock into the inheritance plan given that increasing numbers of BBs are having to bail out their ageing parents instead.
4) Net earnings after expenses
When you factor in all the expenses associated with work, sometimes paid employment just doesn't stack up.
Commuting time and costs, wardrobe, lunches out, work related social obligations and functions can drain your energy and account. Naturally, take-aways and Gucci suits are not requirements of most jobs but it's true some jobs cost money because of associated expenses.
I've linked to blogs on this subject before but here's another along those lines via moneyville.ca.
While it's true, in some cases, that it makes poor economic sense to run a dual income family when the stress and money erosion are factored in, there can be other good reasons to stick with a job. That's particularly the case if you maximise the opportunities (not all jobs are created equally in this regard) available to you and if it leads to something better down the track. Only you know whether you're wasting your time.
5) Before you buy
Knowing the difference between wants and needs is a crucial stage on the path to personal finance enlightenment. Here, via goodfinancialcents.com, are five questions to ask before you buy.
To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter@amandamorrall
3 Comments
wow.
Meditation for an 8 year old?? I'm impressed.
Reminds me of when I was in a phase of experimenting with teaching a meditation technique to my kiddies. They were about 5 & 7 at the time. The technique involved focusing on the flame of a candle.
Every so often we purchased fish & chips. Which were unwrapped on a small wooden table, leaving the paper spread out . After eating our fill, my lovely wife was in the bath, and I was down the other end of the house, when I heard #1 son yelling "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!"
I raced down the house to find both kiddies, with eyes as big as fish bowls, watching the paper burning towards the table. It was just starting to get going.... #2 son had found the matches. They did enjoy lighting that candle prior to the meditation.
#2 son promptly said "I'm neve going to do that again...."
And so it was that I started my search for alternative meditation techniques.
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