Tried Playing Sudoku lately? How does your financial plan look? Does creating and editing your financial plan feel like playing Sudoku? Good…It should. Many people get excited when they start to invest & buy products to help secure their future, but rarely do they look to see if they pieces of their financial puzzle fit together. Are you investments complementary of each other? Maybe… Just maybe, all of those hours you spent struggling over that numerical word puzzle will be worth something after all!
To make sure everyone is on the same page, Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9, only
one time each (that is, exclusively). The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid. So with any game, there is already something in play. What do you have to work with? What are already going in your financial plan? Maybe you have term life insurance or maybe you threw a couple bucks into a mutual fund. Do you know why you did it? Average rationale is for financial security later on in life or because you got a great tip from your buddy… Either way, have you thought about what you want to do with your money? Do you already have a financial plan? If so, do these current investments work for your plan? Your financial plan is going to be an always evolving and changing Sudoku puzzle. Why? Easy, because your situation is always changing and evolving. Your wants for today will probably change tomorrow.
So maybe we already have a few things working for us but let’s start at the very beginning. Look at your monthly or annual income. Do you spend more than you make? Easy Question. Simple Question. But this is probably the most important question you’ll have to ask. Leverage is an interesting concept. We all leverage ourselves to buy a house or a new car but does it make sense to leverage yourself to be able to invest? If you carry a balance on your credit card(s) while putting money away for investments, your all washed up. The average credit card balance for American’s is over $8,000! With interest rates on unsecured debt averaging 15% to 30%, the idea of investing in stocks to earn 8% to 12% is an oxymoron. Long story short, pay off unsecured debt before investing.
Next piece of solving the puzzle is to read, read, and read! The beauty of the Financial Markets is that they are a combination of politics, social factors, human psychology and more… There are dozens of magazines available for ever topic and they all help you to gain a more rounded picture of the domestic and global economy as a whole. The key is to get educated! Remember, if investing was easy everyone would be a millionaire! There are many financial advisors each with their own specialties that are available to assist you, but my advice is to shop advisors until you find someone that you trust! Find out what products are available and what the prices are. Remember, there’s no such thing as a free lunch! Each product sounds great, but they all cost you something. Ask, does this product, meet my goals in the short run or the long run?
It is important with investments and in life in general to look and see if what you are doing makes sense. It’s easy to get caught up in emotion and rush to make a decision. Take my advice, don’t make any decision the same day. Take your plan and turn it upside down. Does it still make sense? Look at each corner from a different perspective and maybe you can see things a little more clearly.
Just like when you began playing Sudoku, it takes time to learn a new thought process. Hang on, you’ll get it. Clean up unsecured debt and pick up a magazine or turn on a business news channel for a while. Relax, life’s journey, plan for the long run and enjoy the ride! Later Folks!
