Are You Putting Your Financial Security At Risk?

Conventional wisdom has led us to believe the false notion that financial security comes from a job that commands the highest pay based on our level of education, skills or experience.

Unfortunately, few realize that the real joy of financial security is in the ability to enjoy freedom of time, good health, loving what you do, and living a life free of financial pressures due to a lack of money.

Accepting the premise that you are responsible for your own financial future usually precedes this accomplishment.

Here are 4 warning signs that you are actually putting your financial security at risk:

1.  You can’t survive for more than a month without a paycheck

If you always find yourself in a situation where there is too much month left at the end of the money, you have to take the time to carefully examine the underlying cause.

Strange enough, this predicament is also prevalent among high-income earners.

They fail to manage their money and start looking for quick fixes, ending up in debt, which happens to be easily accessible.

2.  You do not have a solid workable plan to get out of debt

Getting into debt to buy things you don’t really need or to appear rich in front of your peers, can only lead to financial destruction.

Funding your lifestyle from the liabilities side of your personal financial statement is a sure way to end up burdened with more debt than you believe you can ever pay off.

Forget about instant solutions to getting out of debt, change your financial habits and start working deliberately towards being free of consumer debt.

3.  You anticipate poverty in retirement and you’ve accepted it as the norm

One of the biggest fears retirees face is not having enough retirement income to survive.

Your retirement savings will surely be depleted if you keep drawing out more money than you put in. That is why the concept of saving for retirement is flawed.

Instead, the focus should be on establishing how much income you need to live the life you desire in retirement, and then start investing in assets that can generate such an income.

Retirement is not a good time to discover that the plan you hoped would work is so defective that you have to shrink your dreams to fit them into your income.

4.  You do not have a written financial plan

A financial plan helps you get clear on the gap between where you are financially and where you want to be, so you can devise means of bridging that gap.

As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail.

Taking the time to commit yourself on paper enables you to keep score of your financial accomplishments as you work towards your financial goals.

Most people spend more time planning a party, a weekend getaway, or a holiday than they do when it comes to planning their finances.

If you spend less than an hour a week planning your finances, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of failing to have a say about where your money should go.

This will keep you from achieving the freedom and fun that comes with spending your time doing things you enjoy, without putting your financial security at stake.

To find out more about how to create your own customized written financial plan, click here to download ‘How To Create Your Financial Plan In Four Quick and Easy Steps’.