❤️ Top Financial Moves to love yourself this Valentine’s Day
Happy Valentine’s Day to ME! 👏
I’m a believer in the Valentine’s Day focus on love. This can include the love of your partner and your family, but it should especially be LOVE OF SELF! So in honor of that, let’s highlight some financial moves you can make this year that take care of you.
Here are my top financial planning ideas for you this Valentine’s Day:
1️⃣ YOU are your number one asset. 😴🥕🏃♀️
Therefore, care of your physical and mental well-being should be your first priority. Sleep, diet and exercise are the most important aspects of caring for your body and your mind. If you have a deficit in any of these areas, please prioritize them this year. I love speaking to my clients about the money they spend on care of self, including gym and wellness coaches.
Most of my clients are either female executives or female business owners – who are driven and hard working. In order to maximize our growth and earnings potential, we must be sure we are firing on all cylinders. Further, my clients include therapists, coaches, nurses, and functional medicine experts -- if you ever need to talk to someone in the wellness space, please reach out to me so I can connect you.
2️⃣ Establish a sufficient 💵emergency fund.
I tend to be more conservative than other planners in the amount of funds I recommend having in your emergency fund. While others may tell you 3-6 months is sufficient, I believe you should have 12 months of living expenses saved.
This will give you room to look for the right fit next career opportunity or runway if your business experiences a minor slowdown. Plus, with higher interest rates today, we do not need to settle for almost 0% interest on our savings, we can aim for higher interest. In fact, for tax year 2022, you may be surprised by receiving a 1099-INT form – which means your savings accounts actually earned interest (you owe taxes on that money – but hurray for earning something while being prudent about our emergency savings).
3️⃣ Review and update your insurance needs and legal planning.👩👩👧👧
Insurance is an important aspect of financial planning, as it helps to protect you and your family from financial losses. Important coverages to review periodically include:
Life insurance. Do you have loved ones or philanthropic causes who you would like to support? Review your coverage periodically.
Disability income insurance. Attention business owners – if you do not have a private disability policy, make it a goal to get on this year. We are much more likely to have an illness or accident making it difficult or impossible to earn our living, than we are to die prematurely. I cannot stress enough how important this coverage is, as it allows us to continue to pay our bills while we get fit enough to start earning our full income again.
Property and casualty insurance. This includes home 🏡 and auto 🛺, as well as liability insurance for our businesses.
Long-term care insurance. I like my clients to address this coverage in their 40s and 50s, and NOT wait until their 60s or older, when many people have health issues that make them ineligible for insurance 👵🏽.
Do you have your legal/estate planning needs covered? ⚖️ If you’re a business owner, this includes working with an attorney to establish the correct entity for your business, as well as proper contracts for your clients. Personally, most people should have a Will, a Power of Attorney, and a Health Care Proxy at a minimum. Your attorney will help you determine what documents you should implement, as well as to review them periodically to see if they still reflect your values and goals.
4️⃣ Work with me to develop your unique Life by Design financial goal plan.🎯
We start by identifying what is important to you for your life. Have you thought about your purpose in life? Maybe not yet, but we will. When we have an idea of your values, we can develop your Life by Design. We work together to prioritize your spending and savings, and then implement an investment plan aimed at achieving your financial goals that support your values and purpose.
5️⃣ 👏 Celebrate your accomplishments.
It’s important to celebrate your life and financial achievements, no matter how small they may be. Whether it’s paying off a credit card or reaching your savings goal, it is important to take time to acknowledge and celebrate your progress. This can help to keep you motivated and on track with your financial goals.
If you’re a business owner, the Profit First method of tracking ✍🏽 and celebrating your business profits. If you haven’t already read this book, I highly recommend it. I know many bookkeepers and accountants who are happy to help you implement this for your business if you’d like to discuss it further.
6️⃣ And if you do have a partner (life and/or business) – I recommend communicating openly and regularly as you do all of the above WITH your partner.
I’m a big believer in weekly date-nights, to connect on a loving 🥰 human level. Our partners can be our best supporters as we go out and conquer the world and create the wealth and opportunities that are important to us.
In conclusion, I wish you a lovely Valentine’s Day! I hope you use today to pause and reflect on your own values and goals. And then prioritize your physical and mental health, establish a healthy emergency fund, review and update your insurance and legal needs, develop your Life by Design plan, celebrate your accomplishments and communicate with love. If you focus on these priorities, you will be working to build a strong financial foundation for your future.
Wishing you love ❤️ and joy this Valentine’s Day, Catherine
And, reminder, schedule your review so we can address my goals for 2023!
If you are an existing client, please schedule a “Client Review”. If you’re not yet a client but would like to chat, schedule a “Complimentary Consult” here.
📰 In closing, did you know that Green Bee 🐝 is often quoted in the Press?
I love to educate clients about financial topics, and I’m able to translate financial jargon into real-person language, while avoiding mansplaining that often blusters forward from men in my industry.
My first quote of 2023 was in Money’s – “5 investing tips after the stock market’s poor performance”
You can find my press on my website as well as social media accounts.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to connect with me on social media: LinkedIn and Facebook
Required Disclosures
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.