Financial wellness is a key element of maintaining a high quality of life. That only makes sense, since an unhealthy relationship with your finances can lead to stressful and fearful thoughts about your economic stability and outlook for the future.
We at the Scale Collective want to assist you with your financial wellness, that’s why we invite you to check out the consulting, financial literacy, and support services that our team of experts have to offer you and your business.
What is financial wellness?
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines financial wellness as a state of being in which you can fully meet your current and future financial obligations while feeling secure in your financial future and making choices that allow you to enjoy life. And just like physical wellness helps to create peace of mind, so does financial wellness.
This is why we believe that the first step towards financial stewardship is for our clients to look inwards and really understand how they arrive at financial decisions and how those decisions impact their lives and businesses. Only with that self-awareness can they begin to make intentional changes.
How can you measure your financial well-being?
There is no single way to measure your financial well being however we all can recognize the symptoms of stress. When you start to feel stressed about your financial situation, you typically feel overwhelmed and alienated. Those feelings are clear cut indicators that your financial house is not in order.
In order to break the cycle of financial unwellness, it is necessary to analyze the underlying reasons as to why you behave the way you do with money. While it is a good idea to create a financial plan for budgeting and saving, unless you truly understand your behavior with money, most people find it difficult to stick to it unless they really are self-aware about their behaviors.
Once you have developed financial self-awareness, the next step is to analyze your current situation. What does your personal financial situation look like? What about your business? Based on these, what financial outcomes do you want for your business? For your life? Anticipating these outcomes and setting realistic goals will help you build the confidence that you need to stick with your plan.
The next step is to commit to making small but cumulative changes in the way you manage your money. Start by prioritizing a reserve fund for emergencies. You should have one for your personal finances as well as for your business. An emergency fund will give you peace of mind, knowing that your funds set aside for whatever issue will inevitably come up.
The next step is to address debt and expenses. While there are many questions that you need to ask yourself, start with following:
- How much and what type of debt are you carrying?
- Are you overspending in your personal finances, business, or both?
- How much an interest are you paying?
- What expenses can you cut back on?
This is where an understanding of both your financial persona and financial concepts can help.
If you don’t know where to start to improve your financial wellness, have no fear. Our financial literacy, mentorship, advisor, and support services are designed to foster a learning environment where you become the financial steward of your life and business. Reach out to The Scale Collective and start becoming intentional about your financial well-being today!
