Leslie North and Annette Findling are Certified Financial Planners at Stonebridge Wealth Advisors, LLC.
Here’s their best advice to take control of your finances:
What is the biggest money mistake you made and what did you learn from it?
Leslie: A “money mistake” that affected my family is related to my father. He passed away unexpectedly when I was in college and didn’t have life insurance. This resulted in a very difficult financial situation for the family. My mother, who is still living almost 30 years later, has had to work hard to make ends meet over the years. Living through this experience has made me passionate about financial planning for families and making sure to include a discussion about life insurance as we go through the planning process with our clients.
What can I do today in 30 minutes or less to take better control of my finances?
Annette: An important place to start would be to create a list of everything you “own and owe” to have a sense of your net worth. One key to meeting your goals is to manage your cash flow and have an understanding of the big picture of your budget. How much does it cost to run your household and what do you have leftover at the end of the month/year? When working with our clients on implementing a financial plan, this is where we begin our conversation.
What is your favorite finance or money management app?
Leslie: A great app is Mint. This is an aggregation tool that will give you an idea of how you spend your money, what your cash flow is and what your assets are. This is the starting point for all financial planning. Knowing your net worth and what your lifestyle costs is the starting point for financial planning for your future.