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How a Healthy Lifestyle Affects Your Financial Future

September 4, 2018 by Office Admin

As financial consultants, we spend a lot of time focused on the health of your financial accounts. We take deep looks at your rates of return, cash flow, investment mix, and more to determine the ideal financial model for building your life. But we don’t often talk about your physical health, something that can have a huge impact on your financial future.

As the US has found itself in the midst of an obesity epidemic, skyrocketing health care costs, and uncertainty surrounding how to solve these issues, it is more important than ever that you take care of your physical health. Not only will this help you live longer, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle can mean a huge difference in your net worth and financial legacy.

Poor Health Can Cost You More Than $150K+ Over a Lifetime

Read that heading again. We aren’t referring solely to the costs of healthcare here. A National Bureau of Economic Research paper published in 2017 found that the average difference in net worth between a healthy 65-year-old man and an unhealthy 65-year-old man to be over $150,000. They also found that workers who led unhealthy lifestyles for more than 16 years lost approximately $4,000 in annual wages.

Think of the lost opportunity to make smarter investments! Imagine how you could grow your nest egg with the savings from fewer visits to the doctor’s office. Being more active contributes to the confidence necessary to compete for and win business opportunities that can increase your cash flow and your lifestyle. Taking time to maintain and improve your physical health can transform your present as well as your financial future. Some steps you can take to begin that transformation include.

Eliminate Vices for Better Cash Flow – We all fall prey to vices sometimes. If your weakness is for smoking, alcohol, fast food, or sweets, reducing or eliminating that habit can have a twofold effect on the trajectory of your life. Not only will you have cost savings from going without, but your body’s health will improve as well. That discipline can go a long way in saving you the costs of medical treatment and expensive habits.

Investing in Healthy Food Options – Eating healthily can be intimidating – not only is there the initial cash outlay of buying better produce and ingredients, but also the labor of shopping, preparing, and cooking the meals. However, eating healthier foods keeps you fuller longer due to better, more plentiful nutrients. There are numerous free recipe websites and how-to videos online to help you make healthy choices easier to make as well. And while it will take some time to get used to, once you’ve detoxed from processed junk foods you will feel better eating these healthy options.

Alternative Transport Options – Commuting is a necessary evil in life. If you live close to your workplace, have you considered walking, jogging, or cycling to work? These options all save you money by reducing fuel and maintenance costs on your personal vehicle while pulling double-duty to help you get a little hidden exercise in your day. Sometimes this can help reduce insurance costs for your personal vehicle too, if your policy is based on an average annual mileage.

It’s not always easy to make these disciplined, healthy choices, but it’s worth it. Take some time to figure out how you can fit some healthier decisions into your daily life to help put a little juice behind your financial model.

While we aren’t certified personal trainers, we are qualified to take a look at your financial path for the future. Interested in improving your current financial situation and living the live you want today? Complete this questionnaire to get started!

Uncertain Futures and the Importance of an Abundance Mindset

August 29, 2018 by Office Admin

Turbulent times in the world can magnify troubles and make them seem even larger than they are. Whether investment woes, unexpected bills, or uncertainty in a career, these problems can dominate your mindspace and keep you trapped in a vicious cycle of pain and fear. These problems can seem even bigger in times of rapid change and uncertainty.

We’ve written at length about abundance mindsets and how to cultivate them. It’s time to reiterate and clarify what a mindset of abundance is and isn’t. There’s a lot of misinformation available online designed to get your clicks and attention. We wrote this article to help clear up what an abundance mindset is, why it matters, and how to apply it to your life in times of uncertainty and strife.

What an Abundance Mindset Isn’t

An abundance mindset is not an expectation that things will turn out okay on their own or that prosperity will fall into your lap. It is not complacency, laziness, or blind acceptance. Too many people jumping on the bandwagon of abundance seem to believe that it means the world will provide success, regardless of effort and commitment. And that just isn’t true.

If you’ve heard the old adage “God helps those who help themselves,” you’re on a good track to understanding the mindset of abundance. An abundance mindset means knowing that there is enough out there for you to live your best life and to provide for your loved ones and your dreams. Just because abundance is available, though, it doesn’t mean it will just come to you. You have to go chase that success and work for it. It is only through hard work, discipline, and resilience that we can access the abundance the world has available. By committing to the correct, repeatable behaviors, we can tap into that flow of abundance and reach a better life. But it’s not a handout – the world requires you to work for and earn the lifestyle you are trying to achieve.

Why an Abundance Mindset is So Important

The opposite of an abundance mindset is one of scarcity. A scarcity mindset says that you have to jealously protect what you have in that moment because it is yours and the world may come take it away. It says that this current salary, investment, job, or lifestyle is the best and only one available and I cannot move away from it. It’s a fear-motivated way of thinking that can derail even the strongest financial model.

If you operate from a place of abundance, you know that there are always alternative solutions and methods available to hit your goals and achieve the life you want. Whereas a scarcity mindset says “don’t look for a better investment mix, a 4% return is steady and good,” an abundance mindset knows that exploring a different mix can help you hack your future and achieve a greater, sustainable growth. Abundance knows that the opportunity for greatness is out there, so long as you do the work and research to earn it.

How To Commit to a Mindset of Abundance

To build an abundance mindset, you need to change your relationship with money. Many people suffering from a scarcity mindset have an overly emotional relationship to their money. You need to accept that money is a tool, a means to an end, and a way to help you achieve your best life. Don’t play fast and loose with your decision-making, but be patient and determined. Move with confidence and do the day-in and day-out work needed to commit to a financial lifestyle today that enables the lifestyle you want to live in the future.

It’s an ever-changing journey, but building a lifestyle committed to abundance can create great change for you and your loved ones. We can help you build the right financial model to get there.

Are you interested in radically improving your financial mindset and building a brigh financial future? Complete this questionnaire today and start working with our world-class team of advisors.

Unique Challenges in Wealth-Building for Physicians

July 31, 2018 by Office Admin

Doctors are frequent subjects for television, books, and other forms of cultural reflection. They’ve been glamorized and satirized and held in great esteem. They’re trusted advisors and spokespeople for improving health. Along with all of this acclaim comes one of the highest salaries in America- averaging just under $300,000 in 2017.

There’s more to a physician’s life than respect and a paycheck, though.

High patient loads. Long hours. Paperwork. Lengthy reimbursement processes. Conference attendance. High debt levels from medical school. A physician’s work can be incredibly stressful for their body, mind, and bank account balance. Doctors face many of the same challenges as your average professional, as well as some unique hurdles to building a wealthy, healthy life and financial future.

Student Debt

The debt carried by Americans in the form of student loans is becoming a national crisis. While the average college graduate has $37,000 in loans, a new physician averages $190,000 in debt, according to the American Medical Association in 2017. These huge amounts can make payment plans and managing income seem insurmountable. Depending on a physician’s specialty, they can expect that average salary to be far lower. Couple high payments with associated necessities (such as malpractice insurance) and doctors face some very big obstacles. As in all cases, though, the right financial model can help you build positive momentum and push past those high debt loads. It just takes the right planning and commitment.

Disability Risks

Physicians depends on their bodies and their minds to secure their livelihoods. Should you become injured and unable to work for a time, it can be devastating to your practice and your income. Add that to high debt loads and required monthly payments and it can spell disaster for your personal finance. Doctors should carefully explore disability insurance options to make sure that their entire life value is covered in case of an extreme injury. As always, weigh your options and pay special attention to the elimination period (the span of time you must wait before receiving payments from the policy.)

Stress and Burnout

It’s not just the risk of being injured on the job that physicians have to contend with. Healthcare workers are under incredible stress due to the nature of their work. It is often filled with the highest highs and lowest lows of patients’ lives. That stress can cause severe burnout for those workers who struggle with the demands of the job and the impacts on their everyday life. Rates of depression, burnout, and other psychological issues are prevalent in healthcare professionals, making the right mindset even more important and difficult to attain. Practicing self-care, seeking balance, and focusing on gratitude and abundance mindsets can help, particularly when pushing against these huge peaks of stress and demands on your time and attention.

Luckily, you don’t have to be alone in managing the financial side of things. JarredBunch is ready to be your partner in alleviating the financial stresses of this life. Our experience in building effective, proven financial models and guiding our clients towards financial independence and prosperity can help ease your mind and keep you focused on the work only you can do for your patients, your loved ones, and yourself.

Complete this questionnaire to get the conversation started – we’re ready to help you.

The Four Challenges to Building Wealth: Financial Organization and Coordination

March 2, 2018 by Office Admin

You’ve made it to our final segment of our series concerning the four challenges to building wealth. We’ve explored hurdles like financial institutions and ways to adopt their strategies, lost opportunity cost, and the velocity of money. Your biggest challenge to building wealth though?

It’s you.

No matter how savvy and dedicated you may be to growing your wealth, it won’t work if you are not approaching it in an organized and coordinated way.

You Can’t Grow What You Don’t Know

The biggest reason financial organization and coordination matters is because if you can’t track your financial life you can’t determine its performance. So many people let their accounts, bills, mortgage, and more stay separate and unassociated in their minds that it’s a miracle they can pay their taxes every year, let alone handle their bills every month. Without a centralized hub for your finances that makes it simple to check your financial health, it can be almost impossible to grow your wealth effectively.

Determine What Works for You

There are plenty of ways to build that hub. Some people opt for spreadsheets that track net worth and monthly bills. These can be powerful, since they’re self-driven and require you to interact with your money in an active manner. Other people opt for web-based applications that aggregate your financial data in one place. Some utilize desktop-based software to great effect. The secret is in determining what system best meets your needs and helps you along your path to financial wellness.

Consistency is Key

Once you’ve figured out your system of financial tracking, you have to build that into your life. Set calendar reminders. Create appointments with yourself. If your tracking and managing does not remain consistent, your progress will suffer for it. Being able to observe trends such as ballooning restaurant spending or growing interest on credit card debts can help alert you to issues before they get out of hand. You should do whatever it takes to make your financial health check part of your regular routine.

Coordinate Your Financial Goals and Strategies

Once you’ve found a method that works for you and made it part of your routine, you need to use it to track your net worth as well as your additional financial goals. By tracking goals such as paying off student loans, building home equity, or eliminating high interest debts, you can begin to coordinate your finances to support those goals.

If your equity growth isn’t outpacing growing interest, you should shift your focus and capital to eliminate those debts. Need to grow an emergency fund more quickly? Consider shifting funds away from your investment accounts and toward liquid savings funds.

By putting your financial health in one accessible, trackable space and tying overall performance to your goal progress, you put yourself firmly in the driver’s seat. It can be eye-opening, intimidating, and uncomfortable, but growth comes from discomfort. The difficulties you experience now can either teach you important lessons for your future well-being or you can ignore them, as so many people choose to.

Ready to tackle those financial goals and build a future to be excited about? Contact us to get started.

Four Challenges to Building Wealth: Rules of Financial Institutions

February 23, 2018 by Office Admin

In continuing our exploration of the four challenges to building wealth, we’re looking into the rules of financial institutions today. We’ve written at length before about how financial institutions operate to get and keep more of your money. Take the time to educate yourself on these behaviors and how they get hold of your money and keep your finances operating in their ecosystem. These are definite hurdles for your wealth, but these principles can be adapted so you can grow your own personal finance.

Treat Your Finance Like a Bank

One way you can apply the rules of financial institutions to your own wealth growth is to remove some of the “personal” from your thinking about personal finance. Think of your funds as though you are a bank:

You want your money

Banks want you in their ecosystem. They want you to keep your funds with them, as much as possible. Work to hold onto your money with the same dogged determination. Eliminate high-interest debts and reduce what bills you can.

You want your money systematically

Sure, automatic deposits are convenient and secure, but that systematic deposit is more fuel for the bank to use while they hold your funds. Use these systems to your advantage, but keep track of your automatic payments and deposits. Cancel those you don’t use and keep your money systematically storing away for the future.

You want to hold your cash for a long time

Your balance year-over-year should be a gradual march upwards. Holding onto your funds and committing to the security of that growth will provide your life the security and abundance you deserve.

You want to give as little away as possible.

You never know when you’re going to need your emergency fund. You never know when the opportunity to invest in your dreams will arrive. Keep your funds around for when lighting strikes- good or bad.

Know All of the Details

Do you know your accounts’ rate of return? What about the annual percentage rate? Do you know if your mortgage or other loans have a prepayment penalty? Banks and other financial institutions don’t enter into a financial agreement or partnership without knowing every detail, and neither should you.

The details you don’t know can be what leads to financial disaster. Take the time to read, know, and clarify the details that the banks love to hide in the small print – it can be eye-opening.

Make Your Money Do Multiple Things at a Time

Sticking all of your savings in one account doesn’t make sense. In today’s uncertain world, you need to use a diversified strategy to make your money work harder for you. Other methods of saving your money include:

An Emergency Fund: This should be kept separate from your main checking and savings account. Keep the funds hard to access to prevent impulsive use and take advantage of automatic transfers to keep it juiced up. Most experts recommend that you have 3-6 minimum of living expenses in your emergency fund.
Investment Accounts: Exchange traded funds and mutual funds are ways to invest your money in shares of companies’ stock. You’re buying a piece of their business, in the hopes that the performance improves and more value is generated for your account over time.
Retirement Accounts: 401Ks, the now-rare pension, and IRAs are types of deferred-income retirement accounts. Different types have different tax-incentives, and each offer crucial ways to build your nest egg for eventual retirement.

If you can find ways to accomplish more than one thing with a dollar, you’re hitting the big leagues alongside those institutions that are too big to fail. Spreading your investments out amongst these different accounts helps shield you from market volatility that can eat your returns, as well as providing vehicles to achieve different goals with your money.

Don’t Accept the Status Quo

The real secret to making your personal finance work as hard for you as the banks’ treasury does? Arm yourself with ambition and an abundance mindset. Know that there is always another option to explore that can benefit you in different ways. Don’t accept the current situation or enter into lopsided agreements that offer no benefit to you. If you are not growing or improving in your current financial situation, or career, or hobby, or workout routine why stay there? The world is full of alternatives worth exploring until you find something that works best for you.

Ready to conquer the traditionally lopsided relationships between individuals and institutions? Learn more about personal finance with us at JB Wealthfit.

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