The #1 Secret to Keep Your Finances on Track: Money Meetings

Do you start out the year intending to get your finances in order, but you get off track? Or do you create a detailed budget, or get your financial plan from your advisor, but nothing ends up happening?

What you are missing are Money Meetings.

Whether you are trying to create wealth, get out of debt, or grow your small business, your finances are something that must be attended to regularly, or they will get off track — and require tons of time and energy to fix. The #1 secret is to troubleshoot problems before they start, when its easy to make small changes that will have drastic effects on reaching your goals. 

What's a Money Meeting? 

Its simply an appointment with yourself that you schedule on your calendar, just like a client or doctor's appointment. During this Money Meeting, you review your financial "state of the union" and decide how to make changes to prevent problems or help you reach your goals faster or easier. 

How often do you schedule Money Meetings?  

There are four different types of Money Meetings. Your weekly Money Meeting is just a 15 minute check on your trouble areas (personal overspending categories, like shoes or eating out, or income and sales figures for small business owners or salespeople). Your monthly Money Meeting is a short (30-90 minute) check of your income and expenses for the past month, and your progress towards short term goals, like getting out of debt or saving for a down payment on a house. These meetings you may just have with yourself.

On a quarterly and annual basis, your Money Meetings should be held with your spouse, partner, or business partners. These Money Meetings include creating a Net Worth Statement of your assets and debts, looking at your income and expenses, and planning for the next quarter or year. You may make adjustments to your future plans or create New Year's Resolution's to make major changes to your life. This is also a great time to discuss the goals for the family (purchasing a new home, starting a business, retirement, college) and to rebalance your investment portfolio.

What's the Secret of Money Meetings?

The Secret is that Money Meetings are not just about reviewing statements or creating reports. It's about deciding on an Action Plan or To Do List of changes you are going to make in your behavior so you can reach your goals faster, and troubleshoot problems before they start.

Take Action!

Schedule a 30 minute meeting at the end of this month with yourself to review your personal and/or business finances.