When you’re young, retirement seems so very far away. No need to worry much about that now. When you’re 30-40 retirement becomes a concern but you’re too busy to worry about it. And then, when retirement is getting close you begin to wonder, “Am I prepared? Is it too late?”

When you reach retirement, will you have money for. . .

Living expenses?

Medical bills?

Traveling?

Enjoying the kids and grandkids?

A comfortable home?

Toys for old folks? (Hmm, what are those?)

And, if so, where will it come from?

Think about it. If you stopped working today, how much income would you have next month? Or next year?

Do you have investments earning income? How about savings? Or, have you created a business that is generating funds for you?

If not, where will the money come from? Social Security? Will that be enough to maintain a comfortable life style?

These are serious questions. They requre serious answers.

You see, one of the biggest money problems we face today is that, throughout our education and careers, it is, or perhaps was, all about “making” money. No one taught us how to manage money.

So when faced with a money management situation, how do we handle it? Let’s look at a typical scenario.

Was There A Management Principle or Strategy Guiding US?

Let’s suppose that 2 weeks or two years ago a buying decision was being considered. Your spouse or someone in the family asked, “Can we afford it?”
No matter what “IT” was, the likely consideration was:

1. Is there enough money in our account today? or

2. Is there enough room on a credit card today? or

3. Am I making enough to add a monthly payment of X amount to my monthly bills?

4. Or, can I borrow some funds and hope to pay them back?

Notice the focus on now. Rarely did we ever consider, “What effect will this have on my goals and financial plan?”

“Am I willing to jeopardize some of my retirement for the thing(s) I want now?”

Moreover, “How do I take the long term impact into consideration when I am making a decision for something I want now?” Well, we have a very helpful and easy solution.

So the real question is, “What are the principles of managing money, and how do I learn them?”

Thought you’ld never ask.

Probably the best place to start is to take the quiz and discover your financial fitness score. The quiz will help you determine which areas you are good at already, and where you good use some help.

Just click here to take the quiz and have some fun.