Personal Financial Health
| Author | Cynthia Sharp |
| Pages | 32-35 |
32 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org
If your nances are intertwined with someone else’s (such
as a spouse or partner), it is recommended that you work
together in creating the nancial mission statement and
subsequently participate in a regularly scheduled “business
meeting” (at least quarterly) to discuss short- and long-term
goals, savings, cash ow, and spending issues. Needless to say,
complete candor with a partner about nances is a nonnego-
tiable prerequisite.
STEP 3. Set Specic Financial Goals
Whether the objective is to fund retirement, get out of debt,
buy a vacation home, or send the kids to college, it must be
set forth in writing with specicity.
First, project the exact amount that you need. Second,
determine the date by which you must accumulate the
“Fortune favours the prepared mind”—Louis Pasteur
All too often, lawyers are so busy tending to
the needs of others that their own lives
(nancial and otherwise) suer. My
purpose in writing this article is to provide
guidance to those seeking to take charge of
their own personal nancial health.
By way of background, in 2009 (after thirty years in
practice), I was able to sell my interest in the law rm and
follow my dream of becoming a speaker, coach, and writer. It
was not a matter of luck. Rather, it was a matter of planning,
preparation, and execution on many levels.
While there are many paths to nancial success, please
consider the six steps and special considerations outlined
below as you move forward to the next level in your nancial
growth.
STEP 1. Assess Your Current Financial Health
Determine your net worth by gathering up all of your
statements and entering the data onto a spreadsheet. Al-
though it seems simple, the “leg work” requires an invest-
ment of a little time and eort. Please don’t let that be an
obstacle to getting started. While you are at it, check your
credit report for accuracy because approximately 20 percent
of all reports have at least one error.
STEP 2. Identify Values and Cr eate a Financial
Mission Statement
Create a personal or family nancial mission statement, which
will serve a s a guiding light with respect to all f uture nancial
decisions. For example, some people want to own large homes
and drive the latest model of luxu ry car, while others aspire to
a lifestyle of thre e-day weekends spent hiking, canoeing, a nd
exploring the outdoors—al l on a shoestring budget. Every-
one’s relationship with money is dierent.
Personal
Financial Health
BY CYNTHIA SHARP
Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 3, Winter 2021. © 2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof
may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
To continue reading
Request your trial