Planner's pulpit
REMNDR
Posted on February 12, 2008 by Rev. John F. Harrison, CFP®
Does your to-do list include a written goal about becoming financially secure? If it does, that's great. Writing down your goals is an important first step in achieving them.
Is it written somewhere you will see it regularly? If you write it somewhere and then lose it in a stack of papers on your desk, it doesn't help much. Most people need frequent visual reminders of their goals. It's motivating.
For example, I've always loved BMW automobiles. As a young man, I wanted one before I could afford one. I hung a picture of the one I wanted (an "arrest-me red" 325i coupe) on the wall over my desk. The idea of buying my dream car helped motivate me to work a little harder.
Here's a fun visual reminder you can use. It's a bit of whimsy based on a statistical fluke, but that's okay. It doesn't have to be rocket science to produce the desired effect. Here's the statistic:
The Associated Press reports that according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, there are 9.3 million vanity plates in the United States. Vanity plates are those personalized license plates people get to say something to the world about themselves, their cars, or their passions.
What's that got to do with your financial goals, you ask? Well, it just so happens that there are 9.3 million millionaire households in the United States. You're a millionaire if your net worth - everything you own less everything you owe - is a million dollars or more. If your net worth is not a million dollars or more, and you would like it to be, vanity plates provide you a handy visual reminder. Every time you see a personalized plate, you can think, "There goes another one!"
Unfortunately, vanity plates don't happen to be distributed from state to state in the same proportion as millionaires. The numbers only match countrywide. And there's certainly no real connection between having a personalized plate and being wealthy - you knew that, right? Still, it's a convenient mental hook on which to hang an idea. Financially secure people are not a rarity in this country, even if the media is constantly suggesting otherwise. So next time you see a vanity plate - let it remind you that you could be one of them.
REMNDR
Posted on February 12, 2008 by Rev. John F. Harrison, CFP®
Does your to-do list include a written goal about becoming financially secure? If it does, that's great. Writing down your goals is an important first step in achieving them.
Is it written somewhere you will see it regularly? If you write it somewhere and then lose it in a stack of papers on your desk, it doesn't help much. Most people need frequent visual reminders of their goals. It's motivating.
For example, I've always loved BMW automobiles. As a young man, I wanted one before I could afford one. I hung a picture of the one I wanted (an "arrest-me red" 325i coupe) on the wall over my desk. The idea of buying my dream car helped motivate me to work a little harder.
Here's a fun visual reminder you can use. It's a bit of whimsy based on a statistical fluke, but that's okay. It doesn't have to be rocket science to produce the desired effect. Here's the statistic:
The Associated Press reports that according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, there are 9.3 million vanity plates in the United States. Vanity plates are those personalized license plates people get to say something to the world about themselves, their cars, or their passions.
What's that got to do with your financial goals, you ask? Well, it just so happens that there are 9.3 million millionaire households in the United States. You're a millionaire if your net worth - everything you own less everything you owe - is a million dollars or more. If your net worth is not a million dollars or more, and you would like it to be, vanity plates provide you a handy visual reminder. Every time you see a personalized plate, you can think, "There goes another one!"
Unfortunately, vanity plates don't happen to be distributed from state to state in the same proportion as millionaires. The numbers only match countrywide. And there's certainly no real connection between having a personalized plate and being wealthy - you knew that, right? Still, it's a convenient mental hook on which to hang an idea. Financially secure people are not a rarity in this country, even if the media is constantly suggesting otherwise. So next time you see a vanity plate - let it remind you that you could be one of them.
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Making Lemonade
Health Savings Accounts
REMNDR
News Flash
How bad is it?
It's no secret
Responding to market mayhem
Is there a topic you'd like us to talk about? Email your suggestions or questions to us.