Thread by @davevsamuel

10 simple steps to boost your financial health!

You just need a focused day: let's call it the "financial health day".

🧵👇

1.

Just as you plan your vacations, you should devote a day on your calendar to reorganizing your finances:

a financial day is just as important and lets you get your life in order when you have enough decision-making bandwidth.

2.

The first focus should be on your cash flow statement:

.fixed expenses: bills, housing payment, car and cell phone provider
.revenue streams: do you have just one full-time job or other positive cash flow?

Check consistency between your costs/revenues structure.

3.

Second, your personal balance sheet with assets and liabilities.

This is maybe a slightly technical notion, but there is a difference btw cash flow and assets/liabilities:

.the first one records the cash activities for the period,
.the latter shows what you own and owe.

4.

So, do you have any assets?
Rented house, equities, piece of business or whatever.

And what about the liabilities?
Maybe a mortgage, or credit cards...

As with the cash flow statement, you should check the consistency in your assets/liabilities structure.

5.

Number three, sign up for the boring-but-necessary stuff.

Do you have life insurance? please, get one.

Are you enrolled in some kind of pension fund? Are you contributing enough?

6.

Number four, create a savings goal.

You can start by setting up an automatic plan so that a portion of every paycheck goes directly into your savings account.

7.

Number five, start paying off your "non-productive" debt.

Debt is not always bad: if you use leverage to buy a new apartment to rent, this is not a bad financial move.

But you should reduce credit cards debt and other loans without any positive effects.

8.

Number six, renegotiate what is possible:

.your credit card interest rate or payment due date,
.your rent,
.any other consumer contracts.

9.

Number seven, use technology to your advantage.

Redesign your online environment by unsubscribing from all your shopping newsletters and installing an ad blocker.

You can't spend on what you can't see.

10.

Number eight, no more food delivery apps.

In this case is a no brainer: you spend less and eat better cooking at home.

11.

Number nine: not just cutting back on spending, but also spending on things that increase your happiness.

So focus on experiences, rather than on products.

And spend time outside and with others: that will boost your happiness.

12.

Number ten, share with your partner your financial situation, and schedule together the next "financial health day".

thanks to behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa, for this 2012 TED talks 👇

ted.com/talks/wendy_de…

In summary:

1. Cash flow statement
2. Assets/liabilities
3. Life insurance
4. Saving goals
5. Paying off non-productive debt
6. Renegotiate what is possible
7. Redesign online environment
8. No more food delivery
9. Focus on experiences
10. Schedule next "financial health day"

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