The Joy of Money

This morning I received a newsletter message from Rich Dad author Robert Kiyosaki that gave me a laugh and the thought that this is worth sharing:

Politician: “Step right up here voter. Let me tell you what I’m going to do for you. First you need to lend me a hundred dollars.”

Voter: “But will I get my money back?”

Politician: “Sure! Lend me a hundred bucks, but only give me fifty now. That way, you’ll owe me fifty bucks, I’ll owe you fifty bucks, and we’ll call it even.”

Then sober second thought took over and I began to reflect on our financial ignorance and its impact.

Some very interesting observations arose as we discussed our Homework activity:

• Why it is important to be good at reading financial statements
• Observations about our own financial statement exercise
• Our investing stories  were varied and interesting
• We have begun to identify some specific areas of interest.

Silver Coin

We did some show and tell: Actual gold and silver were displayed so we could see what it looks and feels like.  The Canadian purchasing process was explained and some resources were shared.

Gold

Homework for next time:

• Find out all you can about investing in precious metals & record in your journal.
• What are the pros & cons of each?
• What are the various ways to invest in them?
• Does this interest you?  Why?

It was suggested how important it is to gain a wide-angle view of the financial, economic world and two of Robert Kiyosaki’s books were recommended:

Prophecy- points out what we can learn by studying demographics
Conspiracy - explains how the US money system works

Our first action was to review our objectives and agree on some ground rules that will support our moving forward.

Cash Flow Game

We played the Cash Flow game and discovered that there are many strategies, depending on the occupation chosen and the income/lifestyle of each.    Angelique got out of the Rat Race and joined the Fast Track.  Way to go!!!

We were assigned some activities to cover before our next meeting:

• We will complete the financial statements (Income and Balance Sheet) to reflect our own personal situations.
• We will do some journalling that would tell our own investment story.  Using the following questions as a guide:
  • What does investing mean to you?
  • What brought about your interest in investing?
  • Describe your banking & financial experience.
  • Describe your financial education as it relates to investing.
  • Where would you like your investment experience to take you?
  • Do you have an interest in any specific investment vehicle?

We are off to an interesting and exciting beginning!

The final breakfast for this term was held on February 8th with five women attending.  Our discussion this morning was based on:

1. What attitudes block our prosperity vibration?
2. How to adjust our self-worth set point
3. Introduction to the Joy of Money Investment Club

Prosperity Symbol by De Ann

There is a lot of negativity about money and prosperity in the media these days so it’s very easy to fall into a negative rather than a prosperity head space.  We are already programmed by our up-bringing, experiences and the newspapers.  What attitudes have we picked up unconsciously?  Here are a few (as suggested by Wellington Rodrigues of Mastering Your Prosperity Codes)

• The glass is half empty -  automatic response
• I’m never good enough – low self esteem
• The “filthy” rich take it all – language has such power
• There is never enough – this often brings out extreme levels of competition and contraction rather than cooperation and expansion
• You can’t succeed without “hard work” – smart work looks lazy
• Money should not be discussed – avoid the conflict, avoid the private
• Profit is sinful – money is not spiritual

We were all able to provide stories from our own experiences that reflect these attitudes.  Discussion evolved into an exploration of concepts like selfishness, altruism, self-love and personal boundaries. How does all this relate to investing?  These attitudes need to be personally clarified because they can prevent us from taking financial action.

Martha Stokes of the TechniTrader education system suggests that there is another attitude that can limit our investing interest and action.  She refers to your self-worth set point – that point beyond which we cannot go financially.  The amount of money we earn is dependent on our internal self-worth and we need to first become aware of that amount and consciously raise it.  This is a mathematical exercise that we shared and discussed.

Investment Club for Women

Details surrounding the introduction of the Joy of Money Investment Club were shared.  The first gathering is planned for March 5th.

The Victoria Women Finding Financial Contentment MeetUp on January 11, 2010 was attended by five women who discussed questions posed by the facilitator:

1. What do we need to learn about our relationship to money?
2. First need to know what that relationship is.
3. What emotions do we feel about it?

It was interesting to hear responses from two perspectives:

Some right brained answer were: “I hate it when I don’t have it, and love it when I do.”   Fear and desperation also came up also.

What do I love about it?

The left brained answers included:  curiosity,  interest in the macro level, boredom on the micro level, interest in patterns and systems.

Where does the fear about money come from?  Not wanting to repeat mistakes made in the past, yet being afraid of falling into old habits.  Buyer’s remorse often brings on a recognition that we are not always in control. The need for security makes us fearful that there won’t be enough to cover the basics (baglady syndrome) Yet there was a recognition that fear is our friend, that it is a survival mechanism.   Perhaps the fear helps us stay focused on our financial goals.

A discussion on the concept of security followed, and it was recognized that although we look for it, it may just be an illusion. We all recognized that fear and desire for security can sometimes prevent us from following our dreams and passions.

Our relationship to money has a tendency to change as we pass through different stages of our lives. One participant said she wanted a Bentley in her youth, but now could care less about cars as long as they run without problems. Our vlaue systems do change over time.  Today, we are becoming more aware of what we can get by on.  Reducing the need for things can sometimes give us back our time.

In the end we all agreed that the most important aspect of security is our health and our abilities. When we have these, our fears are diminished. Many examples of illnes or injury showed how money has little or no impact on health and ability. It was also decided that money is not security, but it does allow us to do what we want to do; what it represents is  freedom.

Lowell Ann shared the 2010 predictions in Kiyosaki’s recent submission to Yahoo:

• This will be the best year for those prepared and will be the worst year for those who are not prepared. He emphasized again the difference between good and bad debt.
  

  Cut Debt

• This year the large real estate markets (malls) will collapse. It will be a good year for credit financing with low interest if you are ready.
• Now is the time to invest in gold, silver and oil. He says cash is trash – cash in hand is not income – MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!

These predictions prompted participants to consider and share some financial goals for the coming year:

Pay them down

• Focus on developing my business
• Put money into RRSP toward buying a home
• Sell stocks and pay down line fo credit

On December 14,  six women weathered the threat of snow in Victoria for a lively breakfast discussion.  Three questions were posed to stimulate dialogue:

• Is it wise to sell/take out money from investment account to cover the cost of Christmas or other commitments?
  

  Holiday Spending

• How should we make that decision?
• How does this relate to keeping emotions out of investing?

It was agreed that it never makes sense to either go into debt or sell investments for the sake of Christmas, even though there is tremendous pressure and lots of emotion around the season.

However, it might be a good idea to sell in favour of paying down debt.  It all depends on current interest rates, what you are invested in, and how your taxes would be impacted.  General consensus says DO THE MATH.

DO THE MATH

Right now gold is high and may go higher, and here’s where the emotions come in:  Don’t want to sell and miss out on potential gains (greed).  Or, the interest rates may go up making it difficult to service the debt (fear).

All agreed, it is easier to see what others “should” do,    than it is to see what “I” should do. Having a trusted,  objective sounding board is a huge advantage.

We discussed the importance of money management and how important it is to get into the habit of putting money aside for investing, even if it’s a small amount.

NEWS - In the new year the Million Dollar Women will be introducing a Program that will teach women what investing is, how it works and how to develop customized personal investing strategies.

On November 9th, nine women met for a breakfast discussion centered around three questions:

1. What is your money personality?  We provided 14 styles, and invited participants to react and/or add to the list.
2. How does this personality relate to you as an investor?
3. What did you hear about investing at home while growing up?

There were many stories and experiences shared and some lessons learned:

• There are many sources of seed money over and above the usual employment:    inheritance,   capital gain from property,   piggy banks and change trays,   mlm part time business
•  We must understand compounding and make it work for us
•  Money is easy to replace, provided we have our health.  Money is afterall just a tool.
•  What we believe about our possibilities for success is all important.
• Intention and action are critical.  The difference between “I want” and “I choose”.
• Many women abdicate and let someone else handle finances – but it was noted there are also men who do the same.
• Some stereotypes:  “Men are the earners; women are the spenders” 
• Importance of understanding certain concepts: economy, growth, banking systems
• Importance of women being financially independent with our own bank account, credit card and investment account.    We have to be assertive about this sometimes.
• Being in business is one of the most vlauable financial learning experiences, though sometimes scary.
• The importance of teaching our children about financial independence. But we must first educate ourselves.  
• Finance and money have their own language; there are lots of resources for learning it:
    - Read financial pages (Globe and Mail Report on Business)
    - Read business magazines (Canadian Business Magazine)
    - Watch prices of commodities (gold,oil,etc), currency ( Canadian/US/Euro) and stocks (Business News Network)
    - Attend financial seminars (TD Waterhouse)
    - Read books on the subject ( Rich Dad Poor Dad, Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver,  Women and Money)
• Independence also means exercising the priviledge of voting
• Discussing economic trends:  understanding product cycle, watching for emerging industries and companies, understanding the debt between countries, tracking employment stats, watching what happens when the US dollar loses strength, tracking the economic impact of environmental issues.
• Importance of understanding and studying the difference between technicals and fundamentals (study with TechniTrader)

Resources for Learning

Monday, October 5, six women, Lowell Ann, Chrystyanna, Angelique, Robyn,
Jessy and Nat, met at the Avalon Restaurant in downtown Victoria, to discuss
“Financial Contentment”.

After introductions, there was a lively discussion relative to our personal attitudes toward money, i.e. like not enough money, money needs to flow like the blood in our bodies, do we deserve money? Are we worthy? Some people don’t want to talk about money and believe money is difficult, hard earned – hard to talk about – some don’t want to touch it.

The conversation then moved to old belief systems, we all learned regarding money. .. like “money doesn’t grow on trees” etc.  We moved into dialoguing about new ideas relative to investing (KIVA & REIT).

Some book titles also came up like The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth and It’s Not About The  Money by Brent Kessel

We explored the subject of risk tolerance – the higher the risk the higher the potential
return.. Also we delved into the passive income topic. The “Rich Dad Poor Dad” books and game boards as learning tools. We decided as a group, the you can’t play the system of money and investing, if you don’t know how it works.

We realized investing has a special language which for some can be painful to learn.  Also, we questioned what we need to know right now in order for us to fully explore the investments and money subject with ease and contentment.

Chrystyanna Queensley

After a six month hiatus of investment study and discussion, the three of us have been thinking about the kinds of support  we can provide women in these “interesting” economic times.  Here’s what we will offer:

WOMEN FINDING FINANCIAL CONTENTMENT

A feminine opportunity to gain strength through connection, support & dialogue

Meeting the first Monday of the month for a breakfast discussion

beginning October 5th,  7:00 to 8:30 am

Where: Avalon Restaurant, 1075 Fort St.

Breakfast Possibilities:

• Fruit plate with yogurt & granola – $7.95
• Muffin/coffee combo – $3.95
• Order from the extensive menu – various prices

Reservations: Will be required in advance

Go to www.meetup.com

register and search for

The Victoria Women Finding Financial Contentment

With all the doom and gloom in our media regarding our economy, how does this affect your feelings around money?

• Does it make you sad, angry, confused, anxious or are you avoiding thinking
  about it altogether?
• Do you have fearful memories from your past regarding finances?

All these questions and emotions are swirling around in your mind. It’s good to stop and ask questions, “Is this true right now”? (yes or no)  is what I am anxious or confused about “real” now? (yes or no)
Thoughts can torment you. The more you think about something the more real it seems to become.

Change your story. Turn it around. Most of us have been pointing our criticism and judgements at ourselves and others for years – now we do it more as we look out there into a crazy world. Instead, look for all the things for which you feel grateful.  Search out the things you enjoy, laugh and have fun. These things do not cost money and they really do improve your attitude.  Spending time focusing on the so called negative things only brings more of them.

The old law is “like attracts like”.  First move into neutral territory, then gradually move your thoughts to pleasant, happy stories. We all have them but how quickly we forget them.

Today is a good day to take stock – what is your money attitude?