What Will You Sacrifice to Get What You Want?

Today, I was reading an article about slowing down and I wanted to share it with you. Mostly, I wanted to get your feedback: what will you sacrifice to get what you want?

For some reason, people equate working hard with getting ahead. As I’ve mentioned before, that’s not how the world works. You have to work smart. You have to leverage your networks. You have to build a solid foundation for yourself and your family. The questions is …. what will you give up to create the life you want?

What’s more important, time with your loved ones or having a huge house that costs an arm and a leg in upkeep? I travel because I love having experiences. I’ve been to 9 countries (Japan, France, Netherlands, Spain, UK, Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Canada) but I drive a crappy car. To me, it’s worth it. When you’re on your deathbed you probably won’t think about the reports you didn’t finish or 3% raise you got you’ll think of your experiences. I want to be able to say that my family was comfortable monetarily, but I also want to be able to say I spent time with them. I showed them that I loved them. I laughed and cried with them.

My goal is to work smarter and build the life that I want, I’m willing to forgo some of the things that people tell me I should have. What about you?

Shay Olivarria is the most dynamic financial education speaker working today. She has written three books on personal finance, contributes to multiple online media platforms, and is a foster care alumni. She’s been quoted on Bankrate.com, FoxBusiness.com, and The Credit Union Times, among others. Visit http://www.BiggerThanYourBlock.com to find out more about her work.

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The Bank Fees Are Coming!

As you know, I’m a weekly columnist for Black Voices News. This week’s article is about the new fees that are going into effect from Wells Fargo. If you’re a Wells Fargo customer you definitely want to keep reading:

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the news that Wells Fargo debit card customers in Oregon, New Mexico, Georgia, Washington and Nevada will be charged a $3 monthly fee for using their debit cards beginning Oct. 14, 2011. The new fee is due a change in the ways that interchange fees are collected. If you’re not sure what an interchange fee is or why it matters, please keep reading.

Interchange fees are a small percentage of each transaction when you use your debit card. Someone has to pay to process that electronic swipe or hand-written signature and that costs money. The fee was $0.44 before the Federal Reserve ruling. The Fed wanted to lower it to $0.12, but after a lot of heated discussion from financial institutions the fee was lowered to $0.21 instead. The great part of this, for those of us that use credit unions, is that “financial institutions under $10 billion (like SCE FCU) are exempt” according to SCE Credit Union’s Chief Operating Officer, George Poitou. You probably don’t care what the fee is as long as you don’t have to pay it, and for those of you that choose to use large financial institutions, this is where it gets interesting.

Read the whole article here

Shay Olivarria is the most dynamic financial education speaker working today. She has written three books on personal finance, contributes to multiple online media platforms, and is a foster care alumni. She’s been quoted on Bankrate.com, FoxBusiness.com, and The Credit Union Times, among others. Visit http://www.BiggerThanYourBlock.com to find out more about her work.

Join the conversation

Your Job is NOT Your Wealth

New article from the Money Matters series on BlackVoiceNews.com:

I’ve run across many people that seem to think that having a job is the best way to create financial stability. I’m aware that it’s a common idea, but it always floors me when I hear it. Owning a business and having passive income are much better ways to create financial stability for you, your family, and your community.

Let’s look at the idea that your job is a stable source of income. Ha! Your job is not as stable as you might think. We all know people that have been laid off for no reason other than it was best for the company’s bottom line. You will be hired or fired based on the needs of the company. Your employment, from the business’ perspective, has nothing to do with your needs.

What about the idea that having a job brings in “good” money? A job provides x amount of money for y amount of time. Usually you’re trading your time for a specific amount of money without understanding the affect our specific work has on the company’s overall bottom line. Businesses are in business to make money, so it makes sense that whatever amount you are being paid is obviously much less than that work is actually valued at.

A job is a critical piece for most people, but not because of the reasons that most people think. A job provides

…. click here to read the whole article.

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Make Today Your Financial Independence Day

This week’s personal finance column at Black Voice News gives steps to become wealthy:

With so many people celebrating our country’s Independence Day, it seems only appropriate that we should take a moment to consider how to create personal, financial independence. There are five simple steps that can help you create, and manage, generational wealth. Remember, it’s not how much you bring in that determines your net worth. How to use your money is what separates the wealthy from the mediocre.

Step 1: Know your net worth
have to know where you stand financially if you want to grow. Take a moment to make a list of all your assets (things that you own) and subtract all your liabilities (debt you owe) to find your net worth. My first book Money Matters: The Get It Done in 1 Minute Workbook ($12) has a really simple worksheet to help you understand where you’re starting from.

Step 2: Create a spending plan
Once you understand what you have (assets), what you owe (liabilities), and what your financial value is you can start to plan where and how you spend your money. Most of us waste more money than we realize on small purchases. We have to find opportunities to make small changes that make a big difference. For example, once you notice that you spend $20 a month on sodas at work (that’s $240 a year) you can choose to bring sodas from home or better yet start drinking water and start investing the money you were wasting.

Step 3: Invest and plan for generational wealth
Now that you’ve found a few places where you can save a few dollars, you’re going to start investing that money for your retirement with the goal of leaving an inheritance for your loved ones. Differences between retirement accounts are explained in my book 10 Things College Students Need to Know About Money ($15). If you’re wondering why planning to leave generational wealth to your loved ones is important, download my free eBook “You Shouldn’t Take It With You”.

Step 4: Talk openly
Realizing that your net worth is negative or that you’re spending way too much money on things that are not helping you build wealth …. Click here to read the full article.

Mavs teach money lessons

As we all know, the Dallas Mavericks beat out the Miami Heat to become the 2011 NBA Champions. Most people had their money on the Heat winning due to the hype about the “Big 3”, the perceived skill of the team members, and the age of the players on the Maverics. The only thing that was not taken into account was who wanted it more.

Never give up
There was a lot of focus on LeBron getting a ring, but no one took the time to consider that if the Dallas Mavericks won it would be the first Championship ring for Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki too. Some thought that the Mavericks had no chance to win because of their finals defeat to the Heat in 2006. No matter how far gone you think you are in regard to your financial solvency, it’s …. read the rest of the article here.

To view more articles from Shay on BlackVoices.com click here.

Invest in Yourself

Read Shay's new weekly personal finance column on Black Voice News.

Starting this week the most dynamic financial education speaker working today has a weekly column on personal finance at Black Voice News! You can read her pithy insights and personal views on all things money in the physical paper and online. Check out this excerpt from her first article “Invest in Yourself” and leave a comment on BlackVoiceNews.com:

Every day we make decisions about how we will spend our money. Most of the time we spend our money investing in things that will not increase the value of ourselves, our families, and our communities. In 2010 African-American buying power was valued at $836 Billion by the U.S. Census. How much of that money went into purchasing things that increases the net worth of African-American households?

There is an idea that you’ve had for a while now about generating more income. It could be starting a business. It could be furthering your education. It could be cutting unnecessary costs to create, or add to, your emergency account or retirement account.

What’s stopping you from investing in yourself? I bet you invest ….

Read the entire article here.