Skip to main content
Who's Handling Your Money, Pearl?

The theme for 2020 is making your money work for you. It is time out for spending frivolously and not preparing for retirement, children's college funds, purchasing that new home and starting that transition from employee to employer. That being said, let's start the year off right by having informative discussions about our money and how we relate to it.

Last week we discussed Pearls and Taxes. Not only do you have obligations to the Internal Revenue Service, but we also have an obligation to ourselves. One avenue to you should take seriously is the road of investing. I know you're wondering how can a Pearl apply the nacr3 tenants to investing so let me tell you.


  • Know who is managing your money: A Pearl's first step to knowing who is managing your money is understanding how your history of managing your own money. Take a sobering look at how you manage your income and what your bank account shows as being priority expenses. Once you take this step, look into understanding how to reshape your expenses and research advantageous expenses such as bonds, annuities, mutual funds, stocks and retirement accounts, etc. These are withdrawals from your bank account that will WORK FOR YOU in the long and/or short term. Don't fear, there is a plethora of free information on how to invest, definition of terms and even leads to lucrative investments. One of my favorite persons to listen to on best financial practices is Ms. Lynn Richardson, Financial Expert. She's on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I follow her Instagram account (@lynnrichardson and @lynnmillionaire) with her weekly video sessions. Understanding your money and how it moves is the start of  STRONG decisions on your financial future. 

  • Being diversified, unconstrained and informed: Research shows that Pearls tend to have a better temperament for investing which sets us apart from our male counterparts. We take the time to research a company, ask more questions to make informed discussions on whether to sell or buy. Given that women typically outlive men, making informed decisions regarding investments is directly related to long term wealth and retirement options which also makes us less impulsive when presented with market instability. Knowing these effable qualities create a resilient outlook on your financial future. Take the time to understand the differences between investments with smaller returns having lower risks and those with high returns but an increased risk. A diversified mix of increased risk and stable investments will insulate your portfolio during market fluctuations. Online tools such as MorningStar (https://www.morningstar.com/) and MotleyFool (https://www.fool.com/) offer podcasts, books, and classes to enrich your knowledge on diversifying your portfolio and different investment strategies ranging from a conservative to a very aggressive investment approach. Diversification and information will keep your portfolio RESILIENT.

  • Reassessing your portfolio and asset allocation: Reassessing or rebalancing your portfolio is to maximize your return and risk. Pearls should do this while meeting the level of return she expects. One guideline that can help you determine asset allocation, is a very simple rule in which you subtract your age from 100 to arrive at the percentage of stocks you should own (ex: 25 years old should own 75% of stocks). Another rule of thumb is that your portfolio is that it should be rebalanced to its original mix when any given asset class moves more than 5 percent from its original value. There is also an online questionnaire that assists you in having an idea of asset allocations. Vanguard Funds Investment Questionnaire If rebalancing your asset allocations sounds overwhelming to you, several free or inexpensive money management firms will do this for you such as Acorn, Stash, Ellevest and TD Ameritrade Mobile. Frequent reassessment and realignment of your investment portfolio will keep your finances LUMINOUS and yielding according to your target goals. 


As you approach investing your money this year, keep in mind your own temperament as it relates to your money moves. In addition to conducting your own research, reach out to your community for information on trusted financial advisors. Many women lack the confidence or knowledge to aptly manage their monies as it relates to long term wealth and most questions can be answered with some research or guidance from a financial expert. This year, I want you to know who is managing your money! 


                             Related image
                               

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PEARLs and TAXES

Good day Pearls , Now that the holiday season has come to an end our next big endeavor is TAX TIME! Of course, tax time tends to overwhelm the best of us but fiscal responsibility for business owners and individuals should not be frightful as long as you are preparing yourself accordingly. Though you may be quite familiar with filing your own taxes, don’t assume you are an expert with your small business tax responsibilities. In 2020, Pearls are Financially Strong, Resilient and Luminous. We, women small business owners need to ensure that we are rendering our businesses/side hustles healthy in all fiscal avenues. To prepare for this blog entry, I took the opportunity to speak with a Certified Public Accountant in the DC Metropolitan area with over 20+ years of experience to give some pointers on keeping your hustle solid and fiscally sound. Mr. Robert L. Waller, CPA/CFE , was eager to provide direction for Women Small Business Owners on a few questions regarding responsibiliti...

Reflecting on the Month and Planning Ahead

  As March ends, take time to reflect on your achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. Planning for the months ahead ensures you stay aligned with your goals while celebrating your progress and embracing new opportunities. Strength: Assessing Your Progress Reflect on your accomplishments and areas for improvement to build a solid foundation for the future. Step 1: Review your goals for March and evaluate what went well and what needs adjustment. Step 2: Create a list of priorities for the next quarter. Example: Tamara, a boutique owner, used her reflection time to identify her most successful product launches and planned for similar campaigns in Q2. Tip: Use tools like Trello to organize and track your goals. Resilience: Learning from Challenges Resilience means using setbacks as stepping stones for growth. Step 1: Identify the challenges you faced and the lessons learned. Step 2: Develop strategies to overcome similar obstacles in the future. Example: Alicia, a life c...

The Golden Life!

 Dearly Beloved,  "We're gathered here today to get through this thing called life!" 2021 has come in like a lion. 2020 was a little quieter coming into being than going out, but 2020 absolutely pales in comparison (in audacity and not as in parity) to just the first 6 days of 2021. But if there is one thing that 2020 taught us or reminded us of was to survive. Many comedians color a social crisis as something that minorities (African-Americans) don't tend to panic when times of austerity are pressing. Several of us have been figuring out a new way of life to survive this pandemic. You know that's what 2020 taught you, if nothing else. There are sisters out there that have opened their dream side hustles or kicked that 9 to 5 to pursue their dreams of selling their favorite craft or family sweet potato pie recipes. 2020 taught us how to diversify our portfolios on the stock market and diversify our squads and financial streams.  But just as a great word once said,...