Its Time To Act

Its time to act I recently read a blog from Kevin Miller titled You'll get what you expect.  Everything I read I try to understand what they are saying and see how can I apply it to my life.  I often hope for these things but dont necessarily expect them. When we do this we usually take no action and get what we expect, nothing.  Lets apply this to our finances.  We live in the most prosperous country in history.  God has richly blessed us with His material possessions and we do not manage them the best that we could.  As in the blog from Kevin Miller   we get pretty much what we expect. We expect to have a lot of things because we see others around us have a lot of things.  Therefore we manage our finances in a way that gets us a lot of things but leaves us running on the edge with our money.  My pastor, Brian Fields told us in a sermon that 1/3 of the people that made at least six figures, said they could agree with the statement, I make enough to meet my needs.  If you dont make six figures you may be thinking that's impossible you can have anything you want with that kind of money!  We do it everyday with what ever amount of money we make.  If you dont have a plan for your money the credit card companies do and that is why we run short meeting our needs.  The average income for a family in America is 40,000.00 per year.  Over a 30 year working span that is 1.2 million going through your hands. Tell it where to go before you get it each pay check.  By the way if you make 100,000.00 that would be 3 million you would get.  Notice neither one of these figures got a raise over the 30 years!  So how do we act to get what we expect?  Determine why you want to get your finances in order and then learn what to do. You must expect to reach your goals because that will determine what you do.  If you expect you cannot get out of debt and save money, guess what you will stay in debt buying stuff to make you "happy" and not  be able to save.  You have to make it a point to spend less than you make and pay yourself, or save.  So in short act like you should to get the expectations you want. Create a budget, start saving, pay off your debt, and live on less than what you make.  We must do these things over our life time. You cannot do them for a few months and go back to your old way. You must make a decision to do it and stay with the plan.  Let me know if I can help you. Go to my resources page and down load a free budget to get you started. Something to think on this week: Money is the lowest form of prosperity.  We must learn to turn money into wealth. Wade Trimmer Good Quotes:   "Life is like a ten-speed bicycle....Most of us have gears that we never use."  Charlie Brown in Peanuts   "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford   "Growth demands a temporary surrender of security."  -- Gail Sheehy - Passages Religion gives you advice on how to make amends with God.  The gospel is news that God has done something to make us right with Him.  Kenny Thacker

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Should I rent or buy a home?

Should I rent or buy? At some point in our lives we all have this question. Half of the people you talk to say rent and the other half say buy. Every situation is different and there is no one size fits all when it comes to this question. Let’s talk about a few of the issues that can arise from this question and help answer some of the problems you may run across. I will agree with most folks out there that, now is a good time to buy a house. This is true only if you can afford to pay for a house. Just because you can pay the monthly mortgage payment does not mean you can afford the house. There is more than just a mortgage payment to deal with. When you are the owner you must pay for the maintenance of your home, and any other fees that are applicable. Maintenance includes things such as heating and air conditioning systems, roofs, appliances, plumbing and everything else in your home. Just because your mortgage payment is a little cheaper than paying rent it should not be the sole reason to buy a home. If you have a major repair it can cost thousands of dollars that will cause not only a house problem but also a financial problem. Then there is the “you can use interest on your mortgage as a tax write off.” Don’t get me wrong tax write offs are great but if you are paying more in interest to the bank than you are to the IRS you are not saving money, you are actually spending more in your interest. Example, suppose you make 100,000.00 a year income, and let’s say you pay 10,000.00 in interest a year to the bank. If you are in the 30% tax bracket, with this income that means you would pay 3000.00 in income taxes on 10,000.00. Now answer the question would you rather send the mortgage company 10000.00 a year to avoid sending the IRS 3000.00? If you save your money long enough and have patients you could start off buying your first house and have it paid for. But most of us cannot wait and get a mortgage. Here are a few things that will let you know that you are ready to buy a house. If you have at least a 20% down payment when the time to buy rolls around. Since the mortgage bust a few years ago this is becoming more common when you get ready to purchase. You should also should have 3-6 months of emergency savings left after the down payment. Everyone has been told these things are impossible to do now days, but that is not true if you have the patients and a good financial plan to get you there. You should not get a mortgage payment that is more that 25-30% of your net pay, anything much higher will have the majority of your money going into your home and you will not have much fun outside of that. Also you should get a 15 year fixed rate mortgage. We tell ourselves a lot of times that we will pay extra on our 30 year but we rarely do that. A 15 year mortgage pays off in 15 years every time. If you can do these things your home will be an enjoyment to you and your family and not a source of worry and financial problems. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Will the election change your life?

Will the election change your life? November 6th is approaching quickly and, as the news always says, this is the most critical election in history. I do believe it is critical anytime we elect someone to lead the country. I always wonder who would really want to lead a country where nearly half of the people you are leading are already against you before you even take office. How much will this election change your life? Or I guess the better question would be; how much will President Obama change your life if he is re-elected, or how much will Governor Romney change your life is he is elected? I believe that no matter who is elected the responsibility for changing your life is yours. Policies and procedures and laws, they implement may help in your path, but it is ultimately all up to you. No elected official sends anyone a check, finds them a job, or starts a business for them. No official will improve your finances, health, or attitude for you. They will take the money you earn and spend if for you, through taxes, but you have to go out and get the money for them and your family. I would hope that most Americans would see that their life is not someone else’s responsibility. Politicians will tell you what you want to hear for a vote but it is impossible for them to do for all of their constituents what they must do for themselves. Why not try and change your own life, become extraordinary. What has ordinary got us? I have tried and failed and keep trying. I have learned a lot and am really challenged and changed. Remember no candidate will do things just like you all the time. I do urge you to go and vote because many Americans sacrificed a lot to give us the right to vote. So go ahead and make up your mind before the election to change your life. May be you want to lose weight, get your finances under control, or find a job that you really like and are passionate about or start a new business that you have always dreamed about. Don’t let who is in office determine what you do or don’t do. It’s up to you to manage your life. To expect someone in Washington to manage your life the way you think they should is to expect too much from them. God has this whole thing under control whether we believe it or not. Go vote and live your life!! Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Marketing Season

Marketing Season Here in America we are the best in the world in this category, marketing! An American will see, hear, or be exposed somehow to 3000-4000 advertisements per day. An American child will see as many as 40,000 television ads per year. Marketers have trained us in this country to chase happiness with stuff, and it robs us of our money and peace because we are trained to get the latest and greatest product. China knows how to make money in the U.S., make a bunch of cheap junk and sell it to Americans. Now they have our money and we are borrowing it back from them to buy more of their goods. There is not a product we do not want if we hear about it enough. We need to wise up when it comes to marketing. Marketers want to do everything to get your money and your vote in the political arena. Since Christmas is just a little over 2 months away the marketers will be getting geared up for the season. They start with Halloween in August, and I have already seen Christmas stuff on the shelves. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with marketing, but we need to not spend all we have because we think we need something. We need marketers to find out what is out there, but we also need control over our money. Here are a few tips for you to get control of your finances. 1. Just learn to say no. Sometimes you may get a pushy sales person and you say yes to shut them up. Then you realize after you have bought something that you didn’t really need it after all. Say no and walk away. Develop a power over purchase. 2. Wait overnight before you purchase something, especially if it is a want. You will cool off and think more rational about the purchase when it is not staring you in the face. 3. Never buy anything you don’t really understand. Don’t just get the highlights but study the fine print, especially on insurance and financial products and services. 4. Consider the opportunity cost of your purchase. What will spending the money now cost you in the future. Could you wait a few months to get the latest greatest Apple product when the frenzy and cost may come down? And yes they make more products after they are sold out the first day. 5. Always ask someone’s advice who has purchased the product you want to buy before you purchase it. Buy wisdom as cheap as possible! 6. Men, listen to your wife! They have that woman thing going on that tells them no, don’t ignore it! We don’t have that ability. 7. Women never tell your husband you want it in front of the sales person, they know your husband has to buy it then and you lose your negotiating power. 8. Know what you want to buy when you go into the store and use cash so you don’t get something extra! Have a great week!! I will be doing a free budgeting class, Checkbook checkup on October 6th. Let me know if you are interested. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Get started

Get Started To get anything accomplished in our lives we must have a starting point. Once we get started we must continue the journey. I have noticed getting started can be extremely hard at times. When working with people and their finances everyone wants to have a monthly plan to get control of their money, but we can always find an excuse or something else to do instead of a budget. It can be the same in losing weight or even cleaning the yard. All of these tasks can look overwhelming before we start but we will never finish them if we don’t start. We know if we don’t start we will not finish, that’s obvious. But that still does not motivate us to start, so we have to be reminded. If you are doing a budget it can take about three months to get all of the kinks worked out. When we hear that we tend to want to not get started. Or we think we can’t do a budget until we get more money to work with. We must start where we are at with what we have. Doing a budget for the first time can be a little time consuming. Most of the time we don’t know how much we spend in certain areas, this is why it takes about three months to get a budget to flow. If you are married sit down with your spouse and go line by line and put in an amount for the areas that you will need to spend money on for the month. Don’t panic if you don’t have enough money to go in all of the item categories. Feel free to download a budget here for free. If you run out of steam the first time you sit down, don’t panic, just pick back up later and continue. After about three months you can do your budget in about 15 minutes. Now remember the next most important thing in this process is tracking what you actually spend. This can be a part that is hard to follow up on but it is vital to get your finances under control. If you don’t know how much you are spending you will all ways chase your expenses and guess how much you spend. I suggest you pick one day a week and enter all that you spend in your budget and that will let you know how much you have left in each category to spend each week. If you like you can save all of your receipts and go through them weekly. Remember to just get started! You will never finish if you never start. I will be doing a free budgeting 101 workshop this fall. Let me know if you are interested. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Life Insurance: What do I need and how much?

Life Insurance: What do I need and how much? Insurance is that thing you spend money on every month and see no results, until there is an accident! The only time we appreciate insurance is when they do what they are designed to do, protect us from risk. Insurance transfers the financial risk from you to the insurance company. Proper insurance is very important. If you do not have proper insurance you might have a huge bill that will cause you financial difficulty or even bankruptcy. I will discuss different types of insurance in several blogs. Today we will talk about life insurance. Life insurance is one of those things we put off until we realize we will die one day. It is not as pressing as automobile and home insurance because you are not required by law to have life insurance. We need to view life insurance as taking care of our family or loved ones, financially, after we are gone. The goal of life insurance is to replace you financially when you die. There are two types of life insurance, term-life and whole life, also called cash value or universal life. Term life is for a specified amount of time, it is cheaper and it has no savings plan built into it like whole life. Now, whole life, cash value, or universal gives you a payout when you die but it also has a savings plan built in to it as well. It costs more monthly because you are saving in the process. I never recommend whole life, universal, or cash value unless you cannot get any term life. Insurance sales people will tell you that you can convert it so you can have permanent life insurance. You don’t need permanent life insurance if you have a solid financial plan and save and invest through good mutual funds and Roth IRA’s and not cash value insurance. You should be able to self-insure if you save and invest throughout your life. The reason why so many insurance sales people push whole life is because it pays them quite well or they don’t understand what they are selling. I prefer using term life. The goal with term life is to buy it for 10, 20, or even 30 year term. You should get 8-10 times your annual income. The reason for 8-10 times is because you can invest that whole amount and get a 10% annual return and replace your income. Example- if you make 50,000.00 a year you would get 500,000.00 in term life insurance. If you were to die your loved ones would get the 500,000 and invest it at 10% annual return, which would be 50,000 a year. You would have replaced your income if you were to die and your family would be able to financially continue on. A 35-40 year old can get 500,000 for 30-40 dollars a month. Most people will tell you that you cannot get 10% returns on an investment, but the average return for the stock market is almost 12% over the last 75 years. You have to take some time and make an effort to get the results you want. You may ask why not whole life if they can make 12%? The returns are historically low on cash value insurance. They have a lot of hidden fees and costs. That’s why it’s a good deal for them when you buy it. They may make the 12% but you get only get 3- 5%. If you have cash value insurance when you die, and let’s say it is a 50000.00 policy; when you die lets say you have built up 65,000 in the account, you get 50,000.00 they get the rest. Not a bad deal for them. They use your money to make money for them. Like I said the only time to get whole life is if you cannot get term. I recommend buying only term for you and your spouse. If you have children only get enough to cover funeral costs. Let me know if you have any questions. Also be sure you buy from an agent who can fully explain the product you are buying so you fully understand it. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Money Problem If we are having a money problem do we need more of what we are having a problem with? Would it be like being in a tornado and wishing a strong wind would come along and blow the tornado out? Sure if we were having money problems and someone gave us a lump sum amount of cash it would help out temporarily. But I have said this along with others, if I ever get out of this situation I will never let it happen again. Then some time later we find our self in a similar situation. So how do we change a money problem or any problem in our life and not return? With a plan! We most of the time get into these situations by not paying attention to what we are doing and follow the banks financial plan they have for us. So I suggest that we learn how to handle a little money and manage it so we can learn how to handle a lot. If we cannot handle a small amount and do irresponsible things with it, we will just do it on a larger scale with more money. If you are having problem weather its money or something else make a detailed plan and start from where you are at and determine where you want to go. It’s just like unpacking a suitcase, one item at a time. Sit down and spend every dollar you have on paper and follow your plan out. Get yourself in good shape so you can handle more if you get it. Remember it’s a life style not something you will just do for a few months. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Tough Times or Learning Opportunity

Tough Times or learning opportunity If you are human you go through tough times and problems. Dozens of books have been sold with techniques and principles to help you avoid them. But, somehow we still have tough times no matter what advice we follow. If you are a Christian, like me, we sometimes have been led to believe that if we try hard enough or believe more we will be rescued from trouble and tough times. In the book, When Hard times come, Dudley Hall says God doesn’t offer escape as His solution to difficulty, but rather grace. The grace provided through the gospel of Jesus Christ embraces trouble and transforms it into a display case for Gods glory. That is one thing I need to do is embrace trouble and learn to grow from its training. We should look at our tough times as training; instead we view them as an obstacle we cannot get over and begin to count it as an injury and walk with a limp. We make excuses such as; I will save money when I make more. I will look for work I like better, when the job market improves. If you listen to the news as your indicator of when things get better they never will. Bad news makes the headlines juicier. We think everyone who has reached the levels we want to reach did it without many problems. Something encouraging, for me, was Dan Millers Living Loving Working, Dan and Joanne share a lot of problems they faced that prepared them for what they do today. I want to encourage you to look at the problems you have today and recognize that no matter how long you have been going through them that you are getting the strength to handle the success you have been dreaming of your whole life. Another thing I have to recognize is that you are either going into a trial, in the middle of one or coming out of one. Professional athletes don’t have to get in shape one time for their whole career; they have to do it every year and battle through the injuries. Don’t just focus on the problem but on where you are going. If we focus on the problem, that is all we see and it becomes an idol. Keep on keeping on and learn from your tough times. Also share them, it helps us who are going through similar issues and gives us hope!! As Dennis Peacocke says “Power is guarded by Problems.” "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears." Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Taking Responsibility

Taking Responsibility We have heard this statement since we were kids; you have to take responsibility for your life. There is a lot in life that we have to take responsibility for. It is easy to get on cruise control and let the status quo take over and run things. For example, we can depend on the government to take care of us with social security. We all know how good the government is at handling money! Do you really want them saving for your retirement? We also depend on our employer to take care of our pension and our health insurance. I have determined one thing; other people looking out for their best interest will not make decisions in you, or your families, best interest. During the current economic times we hear about a lot of companies who have realized the promises they made to their employees, to provide a pension and health insurance, after they retire are not in the company’s best interest. When they determine this, they begin to take away the benefits from the employees because they cannot afford to support them or the retirees. If you have found yourself in this situation, or you have a job that does not provide these benefits you have to get a plan to provide these things yourself. I know most of us don’t like to do the uncomfortable things like, calling and get insurance quotes, learning about saving for retirement, but it’s worth the trouble when you need these things. Only you have you and your family’s best interest in mind. Determine what you need and create a plan to get there. There is no use in staying mad at the company or the government, which may have taken those benefits away because that doesn’t make you better but, it makes you bitter. Bitterness is like you drinking poison and hoping it hurts someone else. Determine what you need, map out your plan to get there and most importantly execute your plan! If you need some help with it let me know. I want you to get control of your life and make the best decision for your family. Tim West Go West Coaching 6-9-12 Go West coaching offers hourly coaching or 90-120 day coaching packages. Email or call 706-840-0992 for more information or a 30min free consultation. You're getting emails from me either b/c you signed up for them or we interacted on-line and I thought you'd like to get some insight from me. You can unsubscribe and it won't hurt my feelings. Just reply stop to this email. Or you can stay subscribed and help my self-esteem. Totally up to you.

Cost Versus Value

Cost versus Value Most of us have heard the saying we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We can apply that to many areas of our lives. Sometimes we have paid more money than we have intended when purchasing something but received a lot of value out of the purchase. To value something, is to esteem and put worth on the item. What are you doing that will or will not bring value to your life now and in the future? Small deposits whether, financially or relationally cost us something. We may deposit a small amount of money to save for something in the future. It will cost us a trip out to eat or a little “thingy” we feel we must have, but it is worth it if you are saving for your golden years or you children s college fund. We fail to plan our lives because it cost to much time and is costly to stick to the plans we make. Sometimes it just doesn't feel good. As Dave Ramsey says “children do what feels good, adults devise a plan and follow it.” It may not be just a financial cost, but a time and energy cost as well. We all have 168 hours a week to invest in our lives. Please if someone can find more than that I need to know where! Subtract 40 hours a week for work, say 56 hours a week for sleep. According to Nielsen Co. we watch 28 hours of T.V. A week! That would leave you 44 hours a week left to live. Our time is very valuable! How you spend it will determine what you value and determine what you get in return. When coaching people we set goals and priorities. Just like when making a budget, telling your money what to do, you can do that with your time and invest in things that will bring you value in your life. So what are you doing now that will bring you value down the road? What do you need to eliminate that is costing a lot and not bringing any value? (28 hours a week of television would be something good to eliminate) Is what you are spending your time on going to bring value to your life? Is your work worth spending your life on? Is your money being spent the best way it can be to bring you things of value in your life? Are things in life costing you everything and bringing little value? Remember you are in charge of you, make the necessary changes. Let me know if I can help. Tim West Go West Coaching 2-20-12

Whats a coach??

What is a coach?

When people hear the word coach, they either think of a sport or think about a counselor. Can a coach help you? Lets find out. I help coach people in personal and small business finance .I also work with people in finding the right career to match their calling or to find their calling. Now a counselor is someone who deals mainly with the past and events that have happened to people in the past to lead you to where you are today. Consulting is objective observation of where the individual or organization is and gives specific recommendations on where to go. A Coach is someone who actively listens and focuses on where the client wants be, understanding the past, but moves with a plan to where the individual is going. The client is the initiator of direction. A coach has a partnership with the client. The coach assists the client in maximizing skills, talents and gifts already there that they may not recognize or have been forgotten about or overlooked. A coach listens observes an shapes the process for the individual. Or to put it in a football application, the coach designs the play to the abilities of the athlete and walks them through it while cheering for them on the sidelines.

There are many areas where coaching can be beneficial. I am constantly running across new fields where coaches are emerging. If you decide you want to be coached by someone in a particular area that you want to improve and prosper in make sure you and the coach are compatible. Are you comfortable with them, do you trust them, do they really care about you and helping you win in the area you seek help. Set up a meeting to see if the coach fits you and your personality. You are investing in yourself when you hire a coach and it should produce returns the rest of your life. So determine if you need a coach, counselor or a consultant. It can change your life! As Robert Kiyosaki said amateurs don't have coaches, professionals do. Let me know if I can help.
Tim West 11-8-11

Go West Coaching

Master Your Budget Part II

Master Your Budget Pt. II
4-13-11


Well the Masters Golf tournament is over and it was great, if you like golf. So this week let’s try to finish off mastering your budget. We stated last week that personal finance was 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. Our first step was to sit down with your spouse or an accountability partner and plan your budget. Our second step was to determine what is most important, such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation and utilities etc. Always pay the most important first, these are your necessities.

After you have determined how much you bring in and how much each item costs start allocating the money. Now once you set the budget it is the boss of you, so don’t steal form the gas category to get a cheeseburger and fries. Your goal is to have a zero based budget. A zero based budget means income and outgo should equal zero. Every dollar should have a place to go such as groceries, gas, blow money, savings etc. If you tell it where to go it will be there when you need it, as long as you stick to your game plan. Now here is a critical step, you MUST track what you spend. Most of the time we do not know how much to budget because we have never done it before, this is where tracking your expenses will help. When you track them it gives you an exact number so you can budget better. If you don’t track them it will be a guessing game every month. If you don’t know exactly how much to budget for some categories, you may want to fund it a little heavy, such as groceries and gas. The way gas prices go up they should have an odometer on the pricing sign. Don’t worry it’s easy to forget stuff like birthdays and children’s activities; you will get better at it as you go. One thing that sneaks up on you every year is Christmas and the Thanksgiving grocery bill, try not to for get them. Don’t worry; no one budgets perfectly every month. It takes about three months before you budget starts working out smoothly. I guarantee you it will not work if you don’t do one and track you’re spending. Once you get the hang of it you can do your budget in 20-30 minutes with no problems. Feel free to email me with any questions. Start to master your finances. Budget forms

Tim West
Go West Coaching