Most people review their finances once or twice a year. Only to realize they’re completely off track, aren’t sure where their waypoints. For anyone looking to stay on top of finances and reach their goals. here is why you should start having a date night with your money more regularly:
How most people aren’t dating their money
Often people will sit down at the start of the calendar year to set out some fairly important financial goals for themselves or their family with the intention of becoming more financially free and independent. These are more than likely great goals. However, the problem is often these people are only taking an irregular glance at their finances and along their journey are completely losing track of their waypoints. This is like piloting a plane and simply hoping that you’ll land at your correct destination without steering the aircraft on the correct flightpath.
More often than not the crosswind will blow you off track and you’ll be landing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. To put this into perspective financially, host Andrew Baxter says he’s spoken with people who have a goal of retiring on $200k at age 65 for example, who yet only have a mere $20k saved up. Quite frankly, these are people who may have a destination in mind (which is great) however have failed to remain on track throughout the process. This is why having a regular date night with your money is so important.
Sharing date night with your partner and your money
For those who are in committed relationship, sitting down with both your partner and your money on a regular basis is a little tougher. Throwing mortgages, kids, school fees, budgets and everything else in the mix it can become awfully challenging to achieve your goals with so much going on leading you to lose track of where you’re at.
Host Andrew Baxter’s advice – make it fun! Sit down at a nice restaurant over a tasty bottle of wine to discuss where your goals are at and where you are as a couple are at. Not only is this a great excuse to leave the kids at home but is also a good opportunity to identify shortfalls in your financial activities and make adjustments accordingly for a better outcome next month. This is all about making sure both parties are up to speed and know exactly what is going on. Gone are the days where one party is supposed to handle the money and the other do what they’re told – the closer you work together as a team the more effective you’ll be.
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Involving kids into the discussion
This is quite a challenging exercise to provide advice given so many family dynamics are different. Needless to say, especially if you are one of those households who have a lot of money – involving and educating your kids in money will certainly teach them the value much more effectively. Involving kids into a discussion about money should be separate from your official once per month date with your partner.
Says Andrew Baxter, however involving them gradually from different ages at the dinner table on various elements like saving and investing will ensure they aren’t blowing your hard-earned fortune when they get it down the track. In this instance, it’s about leaving a legacy with your kids and the best way to do that, other than being successful and achieving your own personal goals, is to teach them how to do the same.
Dating your money as a lone wolf
As a single person catching up with your money on a regular basis is actually quite easy. At this stage in your life, you are shaping your goals for you and only you, to which your finances typically are much easier to keep track of because of this not having to worry about a partner or kids. As a lone wolf, you are really only focusing on your money and so dating yourself should be quite easy.
As host Andrew Baxter explains – when he was a single guy living and working in the city of London somewhat 25 years ago, he was able to chase very selfish goals in property and in financial markets in order to fuel his financial freedom. With this, he still believes that keeping up to your date on a regular basis is crucial, so you don’t find yourself off course. Sitting down monthly and reviewing the books on your own is a great way to stay up to date on your money to ensure you’re moving closer to your financial goals and not further away.
Sharing date night with your partner and your money
For those who are in committed relationship, sitting down with both your partner and your money on a regular basis is a little tougher. Throwing mortgages, kids, school fees, budgets and everything else in the mix it can become awfully challenging to achieve your goals with so much going on leading you to lose track of where you’re at.
Host Andrew Baxter’s advice – make it fun! Sit down at a nice restaurant over a tasty bottle of wine to discuss where your goals are at and where you are as a couple are at. Not only is this a great excuse to leave the kids at home but is also a good opportunity to identify shortfalls in your financial activities and make adjustments accordingly for a better outcome next month. This is all about making sure both parties are up to speed and know exactly what is going on. Gone are the days where one party is supposed to handle the money and the other do what they’re told – the closer you work together as a team the more effective you’ll be.
View this post on Instagram
Involving kids into the discussion
This is quite a challenging exercise to provide advice given so many family dynamics are different. Needless to say, especially if you are one of those households who have a lot of money – involving and educating your kids in money will certainly teach them the value much more effectively. Involving kids into a discussion about money should be separate from your official once per month date with your partner.
Says Andrew Baxter, however involving them gradually from different ages at the dinner table on various elements like saving and investing will ensure they aren’t blowing your hard-earned fortune when they get it down the track. In this instance, it’s about leaving a legacy with your kids and the best way to do that, other than being successful and achieving your own personal goals, is to teach them how to do the same.
