Your Financial Baseline

by Loral Langemeier

Spring is finally here – the season of renewal. Take a page from Spring’s book and think about financial renewal as a goal in your life!

When thinking about your financial conditioning, you took a look at how you think about money from a psychological perspective, based on your personal and family background. When talking about your financial baseline, you now take a look at the reality of your present financial situation. Believe me, it is not as hopeless as it may seem!
In my years of coaching others to financial independence and wealth generation, I have worked with all types of people who come from various backgrounds and different financial “stations” in life. It is possible to bounce back from just about any financial scenario. The most important thing you can do right now is to take stock of exactly what your financial picture is. You need to start from somewhere, so the best advice I can give to you is: start TODAY, from exactly where you are right now.
It is critical to have an accurate idea of where you are now, so you know in which direction to head. In order to set up a strategy, you need to know the layout of what you have to work with effective today. It’s actually a pretty simple set of questions.
1) How much money do you currently earn?
2) How much money do you spend? How are you spending it?
3) Are you in debt? For how much, and to whom are you in debt?
4) Do you have anything set aside in savings?
Once you have the basics figured out for your current situation, you have a foundation from which to make educated choices about what to do next. It’s as easy as knowing what’s coming in, versus what’s going back out.
Answering these questions may make you doubt your abilities. Remember, what you did yesterday and last month and last year does not have to be indicative of what your capabilities are for tomorrow. The most important action you can take at this point is just that: decide to take action, and then, take action!
Also, while you are taking stock of your personal financial situation, you may want to take a look at how you keep and maintain your financial records. Do you have piles of paperwork on your desk, waiting to be filed? Do you even have a filing system set up? Believe it or not, being organized in how you keep your records can help you in handling your finances better. If you don’t know where things are, it’s the old adage, “out of sight, out of mind”. It’s time to put these things in your sights, and keep them on your mind. Organized paperwork will help you in knowing where you are, and you will have a good, clear picture of your financial baseline.
Won’t you get started today?

About Loral Langemeir
Born and raised on a farm in Nebraska, Loral Langemeier did not start out in this life with money or connections. Loral, a master coach and financial strategist, built her first business in high school and, by the time she was 34, she’d established a multi-million-dollar portfolio of properties, businesses, gas/oil and notes. Read more about Loral.