Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Develop Good Money Habits BEFORE You Win the Lottery



Welcome to The Finance Gym Action Plan for a Better Life with Money video series. My name is Stacey Powell, and if you’re ready not just to know better but do better with your money, then you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve been talking about our relationship with money and today’s topic is going to be about winning the lottery or getting a large inheritance.

Have you ever heard that 70% of the people who win large lotteries, 5 years after they win, are in a significantly worse financial position than before they won the lottery?

It’s crazy! Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, 50 Cent, MC Hammer all have bankruptcies. Wynonna Judd, and I love how she talks about it rather famously, had a ton of bad money habits!

So when she became popular and was making just a ton of money, it didn’t matter. Her problems got worse because she had exponentially more money to make problems with.

What really, really matters in our financial life is our habits. I had clients tell me before we started, “Oh when I make it, I’m really going to take what you’re teaching me and implement.” No! What you really need to do is implement now when you have nothing. The person that puts $5 in a savings account when they have nothing is the person who will then put $50 in his savings, $100, $500, $1000.

When you practice how to do something and create healthy habits, even when you feel like you have nothing, it has a huge impact and exponential growth on your financial life. You don’t need to wait to win the lottery. You don’t need to wait to get an inheritance, to start creating good habits.

I’ve had a number of clients over the years come to me, really disappointed in themselves and what they called frittering away an inheritance. I have this – one client, in particular, had a really sizable inheritance, and she specifically came to work with me because she wanted to honor the money that her mother left her.

She worried whether she was going to be able to honor the money her mom left her and that was the subject of our financial coaching. She looks back on the decisions she made and even though – I’m not saying that she didn’t fritter here and there. She did, but she did it mindfully and by using really good habits around her money.

So that’s what I’m going to leave you with today. A little more serious than the typical “I won the lottery” conversations might be but it’s true. Work on your habits and then when you get that next pocket of money, do something great with it.

If you want to talk about this anymore, come join us over on Facebook. We have a private group called Team Do Better. Ask to join. We'll let you in. Subscribe to these videos below right here on YouTube or sign up for our newsletter at TheFinanceGym.com. Thanks and have a great day.

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