Financial Self-Care

Christmas is the time for giving, so why not give yourself the gift of financial self-care?

Sadly I saw some very stressed new clients in the lead up to Christmas. To the outside world they are all very successful in their careers and are reasonably well off. The problem is that they were not happy or fulfilled.

Decades of doing a career that paid the bills (and more) but didn’t make them get out of bed with a spring in their step had started to take their toll. For all of them it was very difficult to take a step back with a clear mind to think about what would make them tick. My job as their new adviser is to help them to master their money rather than their money being their master!

I have a feeling that all three of these new clients are going to want to downgrade their life and therefore their stress. I set these new clients a few tasks over Christmas to complete before our next meeting in January. Perhaps these would help you too (or those close to you)?

Out of all your expenses which ones are necessary, nice to have and not necessary? Perhaps the posh holiday is necessary but your current level of eating out is not necessary? It is a very personal thing and can’t be answered by anyone other than you. Of the necessary and nice to have things, are any of these to impress other people or because you think that you should?
What is your definition of the perfect work/life balance? How would you feel if you took a MUCH lower paid job to reduce stress? Would you over justify your new role when anyone asked you “what do you do?”?
What is important to the people closest to you? Are they happy with life at the moment? How could it be improved?

When I meet these new clients in the new year, I will use their answers to help them to model what their life could look like if