June 24, 2010, 7:00 AM ET

Your Parents’ Money Habits and You

by Sharon Lechter

Decisions you make today about how you spend and how you invest your money will affect you for years to come. Looking at how your parents dealt with money is an important starting point. Did they save money? Did they think of ways to make more money? Or did they agonize over never having enough money? Did your parents say, “We can’t afford it!” more than they said, “How can we afford it?” One statement is scarcity mentality, while the other is abundance mentality.

A few triggers that may help you define your financial upbringing:
•    Did your parents save up for your family vacation, or was it something you did and then stressed about how to pay for when the bills came in?
•    Did one parent shoulder the bulk of the financial responsibility, and complain about it?
•    Did your parents fight about money in front of you?
•    Did your parents make sacrifices to provide for you?
•    You may have been protected from family financial traumas. Ask your parents what they would have done differently with their money at your age. Did they have a budget, a savings account for a rainy day or invest early in the stock market, or did they live paycheck to paycheck? Let them know you value their insight and give them time to prepare for the conversation. Given the current economic crisis, they may be willing to share more freely with you.

Now that you have analyzed how your parents dealt with money, how will you?
•    You have a golden opportunity. Recognize the positive lessons you learned from your parents and keep them, but also commit yourself to not repeating the negative ones.
•    Adopt the “pay as you go” plan and stay out of debt.
•    Set a goal (taking a vacation) and then when you achieve it, celebrate achieving the goal. Enjoy the well-deserved vacation! It beats the alternative—going into debt for a vacation and then fretting over how you are going to pay for it for months after the good memories have faded.
•    Start “paying yourself first” by automatically saving a percentage of your income each and every month.

Will your mindset be one of scarcity (never having enough) or abundance (planning and achieving)? It is your choice. For now, you still drive your own financial future.

Sharon Lechter is a CPA, author of “Three Feet from Gold” and co-author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad.”

I have heard this same line from speakers all over the world.  This particular speaker was fabulous. And it is true that you should not lose focus on your goal. You absolutely need to prioritize your activities. You will not get yourself out of debt watching TV. But, as I sat there listening to him rebuking the audience one more time, my guilt turned into anger and frustration.  Why was I angry when I thought the speaker was so great? I realized there is another perspective and it should be shared. 

My husband, Michael, and I enjoy those cable programs.  We use this time at night to reward ourselves. We have earned that quiet time; we got the job done! If I have created opportunity for myself during the day, I reward myself by cuddling on the sofa with my husband for a couple of hours.  The shows are irrelevant, but the time cuddling with my husband is priceless.  (However, I do give thanks for TIVO because I have lost patience for commercials!)

There are many nights where Michael will say, “Are you coming to watch television?  Should I wait for you, or not?”  He asks me this because I am in our home office furiously answering e-mails or sending new ones.  Why?  So I can say, “I’ll be there in just a minute, as soon as I finish here.”  When I turn off the lights in my office, I know I have earned the time cuddling with my husband!  And more, I have worked on my future! 

Now to the real point.  The issue isn’t the debt you are in today; the issue is what you are doing for your future!

What are you doing for your future?  There are 24 hours in the day.  You may be committed to 8 hours for your job, but that still leaves you 16 hours.  You may give 8 hours to sleep (wouldn’t that be a gift?).  That still leaves 8 hours.  Let’s assume you need 2 hours to commute back and forth to work (ugh!), 1 hour to get ready for your day, 1 hour for dinner (hopefully with your family), you still have 4 hours in your day.  Can you commit to spending 1 hour of that remaining 4 hours a day to your future? 

In other words, can you commit to spending 7 hours a week to your future?

However, if you can and will commit to spending 4 hours a week on your future, magic can and will happen in your life. It all starts with a desire and commitment to make the necessary changes to build our future.

What will you do with this new found time to work on your future? Share your vision of your future and what you are working on so we can support you with guidance and wisdom.

Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.

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Sharon Lechter

CEO – Pay Your Family First
Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad
Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA

Start by looking in the mirror. As you evaluate your situation, ask yourself how you spend your time. Do you spend your time productively? Do you get the job done?

It’s been said that time is our most precious resource. We can always make more money or replace what we have lost, but there’s absolutely no way to replace the past minute of time we just spent. If you grasp how precious time really is, then you won’t waste it.

Just as monitoring your money flow – the making and spending of money – is important, even more important is to take a real hard look at where and how you spend your time. Most people have no idea of how much time they lose every day, every week or every month. This lost time when put to productive activities could add a much needed part time income or be just enough to start a new business.

Take action and record where you spend your time each day for the next month. Evaluate and consider where you could be more productive. Watch out for time wasters and limit your focus on those activities. Just by monitoring and being aware you’ll gain productivity as you choose to be more efficient.

Share your thoughts with us so we can guide you to your success.

Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.

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Sharon Lechter

CEO – Pay Your Family First
Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad
Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA

I thought I’d share a few simple guidelines to expand your awareness and get you back on track.

1. Establish a budget. You may have heard, “What gets measured gets managed.” Sit down and record your monthly expenses. Prioritize them so you can see what might be addressed to tighten the budget as necessary. Many people don’t realize where their money goes each month because they don’t take time to detail all the areas their money is applied.
2. Stick to your decision. If you really want to change your current financial picture, you need to establish guidelines. Your budget is a guideline established to help you meet your goals. Measure everything that comes in and goes out. Ask yourself if you really need the things you purchase on a regular basis. Can you cut the spending to have more than enough coming in each month? If you can delay or postpone all together a purchase that’s not necessary, this one act will put you closer to your goal.
3. Pay attention and be open to learning new habits. Notice the types of things you are spending your money on. Can you shift buying patterns to give you more value? Perhaps you can plan to make coffee at home instead of purchasing an individual cup of coffee everyday. Cook meals on the weekend and reheat leftovers during the week to reduce food costs. Watch for instant gratification purchases. Ask yourself how you might shift to create a situation that fits with your budget.

A better financial picture starts with you choosing that you want to get control over your current financial situation. Taking action and working each month will strengthen your ability each month. The planning you’ve done on making your budget will give you a great foundation to build upon.

We’re here to help you. What questions do you have?

Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.

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Sharon Lechter

CEO – Pay Your Family First
Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad
Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA

Our world persuades us to want what we don’t really need. We are encouraged to want instant financial gratification. The only way to gain control is to become educated and aware of how to quit reacting and decide our powerful response. If we don’t prepare ahead of time, we fall prey to our emotions.

You maintain control when you don’t let your emotions run your life. To gain control, you must notice the emotion and not let it rule your actions. As you notice emotions powering you to want instant financial gratification reaching for the credit card, stop and allow the logical side of your brain to think. As you delay the emotional response and suspend reaction, you can train yourself to become a powerful responder and stay focused on your goals.

Stressful pressures leave us with a well worn out response to ourselves and our children: “No, we don’t have the money for that!” The world answers for us if we are not careful with, “Just charge it!  Put it on one of your credit cards!” Many adults seem to have forgotten how credit cards work and fallen into a financial trap that is hard to overcome. Falling prey to “just charge it” impulses, we become victims and behaviorally teach our children the wrong message. 94% of young people surveyed say they learn their financial habits from their parents (that’s us). So let’s stop for a minute and have a little reality check. After all, it’s more powerful to show your children so they can follow rather than try to convince them to do as you say not as you do.

What do YOU believe about money?

Where does YOUR money come from and where does it go?

Where does YOUR money grow?

Take Action Now:

You can contemplate each of the questions above to begin raising your awareness of your current financial situation. Your belief will set your limits. Knowing where your money comes from  will help guide your focus. Detailing and being honest about where your money goes will identify holes in your financial bucket that may need to be patched. And lastly, but most importantly, tending to the financial garden and knowing where your money grows will allow you to get money working for you instead of you always working for money.

When your next credit card bill comes in, review it completely. Think about what it felt like when you bought something on the bill. Are you still enjoying it? Do you still have it? Did you really need it immediately or could you have planned to save the money and purchased the item fully instead of charging it? Examine the bill to be certain of what you purchased. You may be surprised to find that there are automatic charges for products you don’t have a clue as to what they are. You may have thought they were cancelled and they weren’t. Identify holes in your financial bucket and repair them quickly! How much might you be losing in a month? How does it feel to pay for something AFTER the fact?  Is it as much fun paying for it as it was buying it? Could you plan for upcoming purchases and then carry no debt? Could you see making fewer purchases for a month, six months, or even a year?

Study the buying and paying sides of your own life and share this experience to educate your children about both sides of the money equation—buying and paying. Knowledge is power. And as you act on the knowledge you create freedom for yourself to respond powerfully.

Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.

- – - – - -
Sharon Lechter

CEO – Pay Your Family First
Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad
Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA

Everything I learned about money, I learned from my Dad.  His rule was simple. Half of every thing I earned from my part-time jobs went into a savings account.  Every other week, my parents drove me to the bank to deposit that 50% into a passbook savings account. I would never have even thought about withdrawing money from that account. When I started driving, the habit continued, and, yes, my parents would check up on me. 

Did I like putting the 50% in the bank at the time?  Of course not, but after tithing 10% to my church, I could spend the other 40% any way I liked.  My parents didn’t “control” how I spent it.  I realize now that my saving, giving, investing and spending habits today became habits when I was still at home under consistent guidance from my parents.  (I cannot stress the word consistent strongly enough.)

Consistency is imperative in forming a habit, good or bad.  Repetition creates the pattern of behavior.  For instance,

•  Alcoholics drink consistently
• Smokers smoke consistently
• People in debt spend consistently
• Philanthropists give consistently
• Savers save money consistently
• Investors invest money consistently

Definition: “Habit – an acquired pattern of behavior that has become almost involuntary as a result of frequent repetition.”

In order to change your life, you need to start by changing your habits.  In order to teach our children to be productive and successful adults, we need to help them form habits that produce positive results for them consistently at a young age.  It is easy to look at the list above and know that you would prefer your children to be savers, investors, and philanthropists instead of alcoholics, smokers, or debtors.  It is much more difficult as a parent to find the time to take the action NOW to help instill the habits that will propel your children toward a financial future of successful investing instead of a financial future plagued with drowning in debt.

The cost to our children and our society is getting too high not to take action NOW.  It is time for parents, grandparents, and other interested adults to start educating our children today…so they can live a happy and healthy tomorrow.

Pay Your Family First is a company dedicated to providing financial education for families. Our goal is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and a love for learning. Join us! www.payyourfamilyfirst.com.

- – - – - – -
Sharon Lechter

CEO – Pay Your Family First
Co-author of Three Feet From Gold and Rich Dad Poor Dad
Member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy
Member of the National CPA’s Commission on Financial Literacy of the AICPA

by Jeff D. Opdyke
Monday, March 29, 2010

No single job hunting skill outranks knowing how to interview successfully. When pilots fly, they step through a rigorous preparation checklist before each take off. Apply the same procedure in landing a job. The choice between a job interview being a picture-perfect three-point touch-down and a gruesome crash-and-burn is totally up to you.

Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door does interviewing head to toe, but this seven-point checklist will go a long way toward scoring your precious at-bat into a base hit.

• Do your homework. An interview is an exam. Thoroughly research the firm on the Internet. Use all of your personal contacts to learn about your potential boss and this person’s likes and dislikes.
• Think timing. Often timing is something beyond your control, but, if you have the chance, influencing two factors can prove powerful advantages. If a company will see a roster of candidates for a particular job, it’s often better to be considered in the middle or toward the tail end of the process. Sure that’s a risk, but companies also usually have a better idea of what they want once they’ve seen several candidates. If you’re on the docket later, they’re also more likely to have a fresher impression at decision time. Another consideration: If you’re definitely a morning or evening person, you may not want to broadcast that fact. That said, you still may want to schedule your meeting for the time of day you really shine.
• Check out a company’s reception area and an interviewer’s office. If company softball trophies dominate the lobby . . . or if the exec’s bookshelves are lined with dog-eared copies of the complete works of Peter Drucker, that should tell you something.
• When you go to an interview lunch, forget the grub. You’re there to land a meal ticket, not to wolf down a free lunch. Eat a power bar before you go.
• Don’t pressure the prospect company for an immediate decision. Showing a sense of urgency never hurts, but an increasing number of job offers hinge on at least two sets of interviews and often more. Think of yourself as a guest in someone’s home. You want your host to eagerly invite you back to continue your conversations.
• Anticipate a dialogue. Always come to the interview armed with intelligent questions about the job and the company. Ask the interviewer about their most important experiences at this firm. Not only is this politically smart, you can also learn key cues about the person’s values and motivations. Somewhere in the conversation, there’s bound to be small talk. It’s up to you to make that small talk big by being up to speed on the latest business news, industry trends, and – increasingly – personal technology you need to do your job.
• After the interview, do two things immediately: (1) key in or record your debriefing of what you learned in the interview, and how you believe it went well . . . and badly. (2) Then handwrite (and personally deliver to the receptionist) a thank you note for the person who interviewed you and why you are even surer now you are the best person for this job.

What if you sense the pressure and scrutiny grow in an interview? Take it as a compliment. Always remember, the closer you get, the harder they’ll look.

I am so excited to share with you that our friend, DC Cordova,
a Global Entrepreneur, and CEO of Excellerated Business Schools®
and the Money & You® Program, and I recorded a Tele-class where we shared
about the powerful tools that have been used by some of the most successful
mentors and business leaders worldwide which can support you in creating a
great business and move you to a whole other level in this New Economy.

On this call you’ll learn specific principles of the Business Success Model
that work each and every time, without fail, and have been used by millions
to help create THEIR fortunes.

Access this great Tele-class by login:
http://www.MoneyandYou.com/sharon

One of her (and many others’) key to success is the ability to do business
globally and to have access to international markets through powerful
networks of successful entrepreneurs from not only North America, but
also from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan,
Hong Kong and all throughout China!

Let me share a bit about her work and her world-famous
Money & You® program…

Over the past 30 years, through programs, her organization has
shown many successful entrepreneurs how to discover untapped
markets during turbulent financial times.

Many of her graduates discovered new business strategies after
the 1987 market adjustment, the recession in the early 1990’s
and during the high-tech bubble a few years ago.  Their graduates
are creating new opportunities right now, in this market, as you
read these words.

Entrepreneurship involves finding niche opportunities where
others are afraid to look.

Her Money & You® Program has been attended by many of
today’s wealth/business leaders and “gurus”.  

Consider joining  her February 25 – 28 in San Diego,
and learn the inside strategies that took the likes of (and many other)
entrepreneurs to new heights in their businesses by making them
immune to economic fluctuations:

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for Soul Series
Anthony Robbins, world-renown Success Coach
T. Harv Eker, best selling author The Millionaire Mind
Alex Mandossian, renown Marketing Expert
Janet Switzer, renown Marketing and Publishing Expert
Loral Langemeier, best selling author, Wealth/Business builder
Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
Paul Mitchell co-founder of the billion-dollar hair products company
Spencer Johnson, author of the One-Minute Manager & Who Moved my Cheese
Mari Smith, Social Media Expert
Myself, Sharon Lechter, CPA, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, co-author Rich Dad Series

The program is experiential, and in three-and-half days, you’ll learn
44 hours of Entrepreneurship and how to become a business leader.

Once you attend this program, you have a lifetime membership to attend
any Money & You® program for FREE any where in the world.  
You’ll have a ready made network for you to promote your products
and services – you can easily connect with companies and successful
Entrepreneurs from those countries.

If you would like to learn more about the program now, you can login:
http://www.moneyandyou.com/sharon

Right now they are offering a special where you can bring a second
person for half the regular tuition of $1,995.
That is only $997 each when two people register together!

If you would like to speak to one of her Money & You® team members,
you are welcome to call: 1-619-224-8880  or e-mail:  info@MoneyandYou.com

Wishing you tremendous success!

Sharon Lechter

Read more: www.time.com