The first two posts of this week were focused on an overview of tolerations and your physical space tolerations. The focus for today’s tolerations post is on your financials and your career. Planning out for your future may seem like something you can always do later, but later comes sooner than you think. These are the hard decisions that are difficult to make and so people put them off. It is not easy to do, but having a plan in place allows you to not have to worry about it and removes the stress.
It is so tempting to live in the moment and buy things that you want when you see them. Do you have enough money budgeted to pay your bills and to put away for an emergency fund? What if the car breaks down or the house has something that goes wrong? How will you pay for it? I remember when I got my first “real” job, my Mom told me I needed to start putting money into my 401K account. It was really good advice. It is hard to plan out for the long term when retirement seems like a long way off. Time flies though and starting to save early will allow your money to grow over time and be something that you are grateful for later. I have always thought of this as paying myself for my future, before I spend the money on the “fun” things.
Having a financial plan includes other things as well like having insurance to cover your assets and yourself. These include auto, home, medical, life, disability just to name a few. A financial plan also includes having a will, power of attorney, guardianship for your children if you have them and end of life directives, but they are beneficial to have in place. Do you have all of your financial paperwork in order and in a safety deposit box? No one knows what can happen. You want someone to know what to do if you are not able to make decisions for yourself and where to find the paperwork should they need it. It is a bit overwhelming to think about so find a financial planner to help you with all of your options.
In the career space, do you feel like you have a job that is challenging you and that pays you what you are worth? Does it offer you reasonable stability and allow you to accomplish the plans that you have for your life? No job is completely secure, but it means being prepared for any situation. Are you doing things to stay connected to your network and ensure that you are marketable? Do you have a plan B ready to execute should you need it? What would you do if you lost your job today? Being prepared for this situation will allow you to have less stress should that occur.
I know this may all seem like it too much to deal with along with everything else you have going on in your life. The good thing about doing it now is that you do it once and then review it annually. You can then make changes as you need to and it becomes much simpler. You have the peace of mind that you have a good plan in place and you don’t have the stress of dealing with the unknowns that can happen. There is no need to tolerate this financial worry in your life if you can plan for it and be prepared.
Are there tolerations that you have been dealing with in your life? Would you be interested in working with me to eliminate them? Let’s set up some time to discuss how you can do that: http://susanmbarber.com/schedule-an-appointment/