The Simplest 3 Step Money Priorities System

Hey there!

I’ve been writing about Finance Concepts and Business News on LinkedIn since September 2022. 

During this time, I’ve had the chance to chat with dozens of people about their challenges.

Some were struggling to spend less. Others were worried about layoffs. A few felt they had too much cash just “sitting there” and wanted to put it to work.

I’ve faced my fair share of challenges too. Almost everyone has:

As many as 72% of adults reported being stressed about Money.

Not thinking about it, stressed.

That’s massive. And, exhausting. 

We go from one challenge to the next; constantly trying to outrun the next emergency. 

The Game Changing realization was that, of course, I need to solve the current challenge I’m facing. 

But, I also need to start thinking 3-4 steps ahead. 

So, I built a System which gives me a long term view of my Finances while keeping me focused on crushing my short term goals .

It’s been my North Star, guiding Money Decisions for the past 6 years. It works for me because I only need to review it every few months and it takes less than 20 minutes to complete.

Let’s Dive In.

Step 1: Score your Current Financial Health

Money should be doing 4 things for you:

1. Cover Living Expenses

2. Protect from Emergencies 

3. Work for you

4. Improve quality of Life

If you’re stressed about Money, it’s probably falling behind on one of these 4 Pillars.

For each of these Pillars, answer the questions in the table and, based on your answer, assign one of 2 Ratings: 

1. Needs attention: this is an area you should focus on

2. Covered: you’re satisfied with the current state of this Pillar (ex: you have enough Money to cover emergencies).

(NB: I’ve added example answers in Bold in the table. For simplicity’s sake I assigned “Needs attention” to just one pillar)

 Of course, there are more questions you can ask yourself but these are a few key ones.

Step 2: Drill Down/get specific

Once you know what Pillar you need to prioritize, it’s time to get specific about the problem.

My favorite way to do this is to compare Current State to Desired State:

In the case of this example, my Current State is “I don’t feel safe with only 3 months of living expenses and being able to just cover a $5,000 unexpected expense”. 

My Desired State would be to have 6 months of expenses covered and a $10,000 expense.

Action item: I need to double my Emergency Fund

Step 3: Decide on Actionable Next Steps WITH a Timeline 

The most important part. 

Right, so I have my priorities straight. How do I actually get there ? Where am I overspending on a monthly basis ? How big should my emergency fund be ? Am I investing enough ? 

These are just a few of the questions I would regularly ask myself.

Getting to answers required hours of analyzing my Net Worth Statement, Budget and Expenses on a regular basis.

It was overwhelming and exhausting.

So, I decided to automate the analysis to get recommended Actionable Next Steps in minutes!

I’ve been relying on this since 2019 and it has saved me hours upon hours of brain wrecking work. My Financial Peace of Mind hasn’t been the same since.

And here’s how I can help you with that as well 👇 

I’m excited to announce the imminent launch of my Busy Beginner Finance Fast Track Course. It’s only relevant to you if want :

• A Practical Personal Finance Guide (because you're tired of theory)

• Something applicable to your situation no matter your location

• A resource you can finish in 2 hours and update in minutes

If yes, this is what you'll get:

• Automated Action Plan for your Finance Priorities.  

• 4 Reports: Net Worth, Expense Tracker, Budget Tracker and most importantly the Automated Practical Next Steps sheet. (Not AI based yet ...)

• Practical Guide which explains Key concepts and how to fill the above sheets

• Personal Finance Concepts Cheat Sheet for Absolute Beginners

Want to be updated for the launch Sale ? Reply to this email and let me know!

The First 100 Clients will have access to Email support at no extra cost for the first 30 days after purchase at the special launch price of $25.

The information contained in this newsletter is for general informational purposes only. It should not be construed as financial or investment advice. Please consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.