Money Musings 💠Don’t waste your biggest benefit
What you’ll find below:
Reflection: Make your salary work for you
Money Move: This step makes your goals more likely to happen
You Gotta See This: Find out your money personality
Reel of the Week: Renting is NOT throwing away money
If you earn a salary, it's probably your largest form of compensation (or benefit) offered through work.
Yet many of us don’t learn how to maximize that benefit. And to make matters worse, we aren’t sure who to turn to when we need help.
And that’s just budgeting. There are also the other very important parts of our financial lives like investing, debt pay down, credit scores, and the list goes on and on.
Not only does this impact our own well-being, it also impacts the companies we work for.
A recent survey from PwC showed that:
Financially stressed employees are 2x as likely to be looking for a new job (one where their employer cares more about their financial well-being)
It's 7x more likely that financial stress severely impacts stressed employees attendance at work
And 55% of stressed employees spend 3+ hours per week at work dealing with their finances
I’ve been following this survey for years and this is nothing new.
So what can be done?
Employers can bring in speakers to give an informative, actionable, accessible and (gasp!) fun talk about financial wellness.
And I know just the gal for the job. Hello!
Some of my recent-ish favorites were a keynote at UnderArmour’s Women in Leadership Summit, Live Nation’s Women’s Summit (you can see a fun recap here!) and did an investing workshop for theSkimm.
What better time than Women’s History Month, which is coming up in March!?
If that sounds like a win-win, forward this along to your company. I promise to make you look good.
The best contact can vary but you can start with the head of your team, someone who runs events or planning, someone in HR, or you know your company best.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
GOAL SETTING SERIES: STEP #4 - CELEBRATE GOAL MILESTONES.
Over the last few weeks we’ve done a lot of work around goals (here, here and here). Now comes the fun.
We get to track the results and celebrate our progress.
It might feel silly to celebrate our progress. Isn’t accomplishing the goal enough?
I get that… BUT we have a sneaky way of moving the goalpost on ourselves so we don’t get the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal. Then we end up feeling like we haven’t accomplished anything at all.
For example, you pay down $1,000 of debt - huge! But if you aren’t tracking, it might feel like your debt balance was there all along.
Have you ever experienced this?
Break down any financial goal you have into chunks. If you want to save $5,000, you might decide to break that down into $500 steps.
Every time you save another $500, celebrate in some way. That might mean, a happy dance, getting to color in your goal chart, grabbing a matcha, or texting your money buddy.
For larger milestones, like the halfway mark and when you complete your goal, you can build in some bigger celebrations!
Check in on your progress towards your goals at each of your money parties.
What did you think of this goal series? I’d love to hear what you got from it and how your goals are going. Hit reply and let me know.
You gotta see this
WHAT'S YOUR MONEY TYPE?
Financial advice works best when it factors in our unique money personality. What makes us tick? What are our values? What do we fear most? Where do we tend to get into trouble?
Well I have good news. Our friends at HerMoney put together an amazing (completely free) MoneyType™️ Personality Test.
Just answer some multiple choice questions to get your results.
You’ll get a breakdown of your money type including your strengths and weaknesses, things you might think, say and do around money, as well as some personalized tips.
My results were spot on. I’m 91% “The Producer.” Here are some things The Producer might think or say:
Let me research that purchase first
I don’t know where I would be without excel
My peace of mind is worth everything to me
I feel seen.
I also love that it lets you peruse the other money types too.
Want to find out your money type?
your weekly money wins
Here are all the amazing money moves you made this week:
Dani: I closed on my first home! So so grateful!
Emily: Used my university's interlibrary loan program to source my graduate school textbooks this semester instead of buying them
Tiffany M: Started a job that offers $1,500 to my health expenses and pays $85 towards my health insurance each pay period
Nicole B: Just took the quiz and signed up for Empower. Will really help me keep on top of things now that mint has run its course
Ari: Quit the coffee spending and started putting the money saved in kids' investment accounts
Phoenix: $1,000 back in my HYSA
Aynella: Invested the most money I've ever invested at a time this month! Over $2,000
Jessi: Instead of buying a book *that I have no room for* I got a free ebook on Libby!
Sarah T: Started investing in index funds! Finally!
Valerie P: Shaved 10% off monthly spending this month, all extra moved towards emergency fund!
SRF: Got a 0% loan through county program to build a garage / ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Can pay it off / have passive income