2019 Goals

I decided to publish this post just before the New Year comes in, so that my last thoughts of the 2018 will be of the goals for 2019. I know a lot of coaches and mentors teach that the goals we set for the year should be thought of and planned towards the end of the previous year; this way, we are ready to hit the ground running once the time comes for us to start acting on those plans.

I am the first to admit that I like spontaneity and I live my days based on the way I feel. If you are like me, you probably can't stick to a plan that covers every moment of your day. I started fighting schedules ever since elementary school, when my mom was trying to make sure my afternoons and evenings were all planned out.

With this said, I am an advocate of setting goals - the bigger the better. I am a strong believer in visualizing my goals and in thinking of them often. I also base my actions on my intuition, which has never let me down. I run the information through my mind over and over until ideas start forming, and then details come forth for those ideas. I also share with my closest friends and family those goals, and talk about them often.

Back in 2016 I read a book by Brian Moran who was talking about setting goals for 12 weeks instead of the entire year, as if that was a year. According to Moran, this will encourage us to stay focused on the goal; what happens with most goals that are annual is that many people lose their focus, on the one hand - others don't really do anything for a long time and then try to catch up in the last weeks or month. Neither scenario is a great one. I must confess that I'm still working with myself on following Moran's strategy. Sometimes I do it, and sometimes it is more of a challenge for me to keep up with it.

Since 2018, it is proving more appropriate for me to use the 12-week year method of Brian Moran. With the BRIL Conference in the first quarter and the last quarter being used to talk to possible sponsors for it, I only have to cover the 6 months in the middle. This is a lot less of a challenge than having to deal with 4 quarters, right? For the 6 months in the middle of the year my main goals are related to my financial services business, and it is important to me to achieve more during these months because the other 6 months I cannot stay as focused on this side of my business.

For those of you who run multiple businesses, it is a good idea to base your 12-week year plans on the cycles of your businesses. Some have cyclical tendencies, and these will dictate which goal to focus on for that specific 12 week period.

As I already mentioned, this first 12-week period of 2019 for me the main focus in my professional world is BRIL Conference. The plan is to promote the event through an email marketing campaign targeting both previous attendees and new prospects, as well as my business contacts who fit into our target market. On top of that we are also running social media campaigns to increase exposure and create a buzz in the Central Virginia area.

And here is the SMART goal for #BRIL2019: to double the number of people in the room from BRIL 2018. With this specific goal, besides the fact that it fits the SMART formula, it also fits within guidelines by Zig Ziglar - "If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?" and "If you don't know where you are, you cannot find a direction to go into."

I would love to hear from some of my readers about their goals for 2019, and also hear about the progress on those goals. Please leave me a comment so we can connect. And, if you are not scared, feel free to share your SMART goals, so I can hold you accountable.

Happy 2019 to everyone!

My Money Story

Since October is gifting us with a fifth Monday, I decided to share the interview I did for my first podcast episode, when I launched Money Mondays with Sorana. If you prefer the audio version, please check out this and all the other episodes in the player on the right side of the page at the top. Here is the transcript:

1. What is your biggest money accomplishment?  

I think that my biggest money accomplishment is the fact that I have been able to be self-employed for over 10 years now in my adoptive country; and just being able to maintain that, and not having had to depend on anyone for a paycheck, represents an accomplishment that I’m proud of. And for me coming from a background within a blue-collar family that always depended on a paycheck, I think that is a major accomplishment. I am able to sustain my lifestyle and do the things that I want to do and not really depend on a 9 to 5 or a regular steady paycheck. Once I learned about

entrepreneurial ventures and the way they can work in the 

U.S., building my own business became a no-brainer. I’m happy to see the fruits of my labor and to wake up every morning knowing that I’m one step closer to my goals and dreams. 

2.     What is a money memory from childhood that comes to your mind right now?  

Well, growing up, my parents were, like I said, blue-collar. So, they went to work and brought home a paycheck. Back then it actually used to be cash. My mom’s job was to actually give out the wages in her department within the plant. Sometimes she would bring home new bills because since she was giving out the wages, she tried to put those to the side. So, she would take the money I had saved and trade it for new, crispier bills, better looking, prettier ones than I had at that time. And, for me, that was really cool because I liked the new money. Actually, to this day, I like the new bills that have no creases, and I’m still inclined to save them. 

So if I would get any new bills – let’s say instead of what in the U.S. would be five $20 bills, I would get one $100 bill – it would help me save money. I always had some cash stashed somewhere because I liked the feel of new money and I didn’t want to part with it. The newer and the bigger the bill, the better, because I would hold on to it the longest and I would not feel compelled to spend it on trivial things. I guess you could say this was how I learned to save.  

 

3.     What is your biggest money challenge? (currently or ever) – if past, how did you overcome it?

For me, the biggest thing was coming here (to the U.S.) and having to figure out how things are done in this country. Before coming to the U.S., I didn’t even know what a credit card was. I knew what a mortgage was only because we had one of those when I was growing up (though a lot different set up than here), but not what a credit card was. I didn’t know how those interest rates can cripple your finances for many, many years. So, I learned those lessons: some of them the hard way, some of them from other people. But it was a good lesson to understand all of that.  

My husband (the one I married before coming here, and whom  I’m still married to) is of the opinion that if he didn’t have enough money to pay it off, he would not buy it. And when I first arrived in the U.S. we needed reliable cars – or at least one, since at the time I was not driving. So, we got some clunkers for cars because he didn’t want to have monthly car payments. When I finally decided that was not going to work for me anymore, I had to learn how car financing worked, because he never needed it. So I had to learn on my own.  

We had 7 cars in my first 2 years in the U.S., and that was not because we had a lot of money and we wanted to have 7 cars, but because they were dying. At the time my husband was driving me everywhere. Based on that experience, when I started driving myself, and while having a career that required transportation because of a lot of field work, plus being a woman driving mostly by myself, I had to have a reliable car.

I had to have a car that would not die on the side of the road. That was a big one for me. From my need for reliable transportation, I learned a lot about credit purchases, credit score and credit history. It was quite stressful at the time but also very educational for someone who had no experience with the U.S. credit system. 

4. Share a money lesson you guide yourself by – your money mantra or belief.  

The most significant thing is to make sure that I have some money left at the end of the month. This way I know I’m OK at the beginning of the month. And the reason I’m saying this is because I’m self-employed, and I have to make sure that my months run together smoothly. I don’t know when the next check is coming, so I have to make sure that I have enough money for the next bill. That way, when I get my next paycheck, I have enough for the next bill. So that is my plan. As someone who had been working on commission for many years now, the planning from one check to the next is a little different from the employees with a predetermined amount coming to their bank account every week or every other week. 

I would not say I’m great at budgeting every dollar, but I became really good at establishing priorities and making sure the income went toward necessary expenses before going to unimportant things. Fluctuations in income (as all entrepreneurs can relate to) taught me to classify my expenses in 3 categories: fixed, flexible and discretionary. And this is how I managed my finances. 

5. If money were no object, what would your perfect day look like?  

Well, I’m an animal lover, so I would probably spend it with cats. I know that is not expensive, so it is not about the money, but that is what I would enjoy. I also like traveling so if money were no object, I would travel a lot more than I do now – and I already travel quite a bit. And if money really were no object and I had all the money I needed, I would probably take my cats with me on trips – which would be really interesting.   

I would also go back to Florida and visit the Big Cat Rescue, which is a sanctuary for big cats. And if I could have all the money that I wanted on a regular basis, and not just as a onetime lump sum but as cashflow, I would like to be able to donate to them enough to keep a tiger there. When I was there I learned that it takes about $10,000 per year just to feed the tiger – it doesn’t include housing, medicine, surgeries or whatever they might need. So I would like to literally adopt a tiger there – just feed that tiger for the rest of his or her life. 

Being able to help animals, especially cats big and small, and be a voice for them to enact changes in legislature and people’s behavior is my WHY for working on my business to grow it and make it a financial success. 

      6. Share a goal that you achieved that had a price tag.  

In 2015 I bought a brand-new car. I really needed it because my old one, even though it was still good and working, was kind of old by then. And I was able to buy the car paying it off in cash. That was really awesome because I don’t have to worry about a car note. I have a new car that hasn’t needed

(thank God) any repairs. And probably won’t need any for a long time. I’m a big fan of Corollas. I’m still in the same brand family, nothing fancy. But it is a car that I know I can rely on to take me where I need to go – and I do drive a lot. So I like to know that wherever I need to get, I can get there and I won’t risk dying on the side of the road because of the car failing.  

Achieving this goal was great not for flashy reasons and vanity but for practical reasons and because I wanted to practice what I preach. The new car was a necessity; a luxury vehicle was not. So I took care of what was necessary in setting and achieving my goal.  

For those listeners who want to get a car and cannot pay for it in cash and will have a 5- or 6-year loan, my advice to help pay that faster is to wait a little bit if you can. Look at your credit score and fix whatever you can on your credit report to raise your credit score – if it is not an emergency. If it is an emergency, then, of course, you go ahead and buy. If you don’t need to worry about your credit score, then you can buy. But most people have little bumps and bruises on their credit report. Fix your credit report as much as possible before committing to a purchase with a payment whose size is determined by your credit score. The higher you can get your credit score, the lower your interest and your monthly payments will be.  

Once you get the car, pay a little extra each month (however much you can, without putting yourself in a bind). My first car that I financed, the car I traded in last year, I had a 5-year loan on it. I wanted to pay a little more; so I actually didn’t take the whole 5 years on it. It feels really great not to have a car payment. That is why, though I wanted a new car, I was really determined not to get a new loan, because I knew how good it felt not to have a payment. So, if you can, and there is a way to ask them to put the extra toward the principal, that is what you want to do – make sure that principal goes down. 

7. If you could double your income, what would you do with the extra money?  

At this point, if I doubled my income I think that I’d probably save some of that toward purchasing my dream home. We do own the house where we live, but it is not the dream home. It is the house that we got, and we are glad to have it. It would be great to have a dream home at this time because I don’t want to be retired and cut grass and do maintenance, so by then, I would probably be ready to downsize. Therefore, if I can hurry up and get my dream home now, I can enjoy it for some years until that time comes. That would probably be what I would do with the extra money. And, of course, save some for later, because I’m always planning for my retirement. 

I need to point out that I don’t see retirement as a vegetative state – posing as a couch potato – but as a time when I work because I want to, and not because I have to. I also see retirement as a time when I focus more on giving back – through the charities that I support, and working on changing the world. Just heard the phrase “going from success to significance” recently and it spoke to me; it suggests a time when I would focus exclusively on helping the community, and most of all, the animals I love – without tracking numbers (activity and revenue) for my business. 

8. What is the one thing you wish you knew when you were 21?  

At 21 I graduated from college back in Romania, so I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, other than start a career in the travel industry. I started working for a travel agency that was owned by somebody that I didn’t really respect a lot because he didn’t seem to know what he was doing within the agency. If I could look back from where I am now and talk to myself back then, I would say “Don’t worry about working for these people, because that is not what you are going to do for the rest of your life, so you don’t really need this kind of experience.” But it is funny how we go to school… and actually my degree is in tourism – and I really wanted to work in travel agencies. My goal was to travel to different places and know more about places where I can tell people to travel. And once I moved to the U.S., even though I’m still traveling, I don’t do that for a living. So it is funny that I just am on a totally different career path. I would probably say that it is best to learn as much as you can about the business side of whatever business you are in. 

Even if it is not your own, don’t learn just how to do whatever your job is. Learn how the business is run because if at any point you want to start your own business, that is the number one thing that you are going to use. That is the most important knowledge: be an apprentice of the business, not just the craft. You can then use the knowledge with whatever craft you develop later. 

A lot of people fail in their businesses due to not knowing the business aspect, not because they are not good at whatever their business is. If you are a fantastic baker, you may have the best cupcakes or the best cakes ever, but if you don’t know how to run a business, you can still go bankrupt. Or if you are a good plumber, it doesn’t mean you know how to run a business. So that is probably what I would tell myself: “Learn as much as possible about running the business, not just the activity you are responsible for.” 

9.     What advice would you give a woman just starting her business/career?  

If she hasn’t started the business yet, I would say “Talk to somebody who is in the same business you are interested starting, someone who is already successful in that field, someone you admire and respect. And ask them if you can hang out with them, help them around their office or anywhere in their company and learn how things are run. Offer to be an unpaid intern and see what you can soak up.” You don’t have to do it forever. And don’t look at it like you are just slave labor and you have to work for free and they don’t pay you. But look at it as an opportunity to learn how the business is run. This is an opportunity to learn for free, whereas in college you have to pay for the information. Take advantage of this free education opportunity. 

Like I said, you may be the best baker but you have to have some business acumen. And really the only way to learn it is by soaking up from somebody else who is great at it. Because you can read books and go to school, and the professors can tell you, but ultimately, they are just professors, it is not like they have businesses – some might, but most don’t. 

So, if you talk to whoever you are working with, find a mentor that can guide you. Look for the person that you want to be when you grow up. Find that person, and then try to hang out with them as soon as possible and for as long as possible. Because that will help you learn a lot about how to achieve what they have already achieved. It is an opportunity to learn from the best. 

10. If you could spend 3 days with a millionaire/ billionaire, who would that be and why?  

One of my favorite people is Jon Bon Jovi – I really love his music. I’m not sure if he is really a multimillionaire (many times over) but I know he is very successful and I would love to spend some time with him and see how he runs his companies. If I could hang out with him for 3 days, I think I would learn a lot because it is not just about the fact that he can sing – which he can. Ladies, I hope you agree with me! But he also does have a great business mind.  

I was watching a documentary, and he was calling somebody about setting up a meeting, and they were giving him the runaround. And he said “I am the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation, I demand that we do this or otherwise I don’t care; I’m not interested.” And at that point I realized that he is absolutely right; he does run a multimillion dollar corporation.

So I would love to learn something from him. I believe he knows what he is doing. Another great point I still remember from the same documentary is him saying “this is not a democracy” – when referring to the Bon Jovi company. I took to heart the idea that someone has to make the executive decisions and take responsibility for the outcomes.  

Create More Income Month - Chapter 3

This week I would like to address those of my readers who are experienced in their field, achieved expert status and most likely have been in that industry for a long time. I'm not saying that someone who is in the first years cannot apply these ideas, I only have the opinion that an experienced person is more likely first to be interested in doing this, and second to have more confidence in their ability to go through with the plan.

One idea to make more money in your business is to start a new stream of income by teaching people in your field how to build a business in the field, or people who are interested in getting started in your field of business how to enter the industry.  

I have a friend who is an attorney, and a very good attorney with a successful practice. She came out of the big lay firm to start her own business a little while ago, and her business is growing to the point where she was able to bring in an associate. Besides growing her business in the field she operates in, the law, she has also developed a side business connected to her law firm, where she works with attorneys who are interested in opening their own practice. 

This friend has earned my respect with her business knowledge and acumen. I'm proud of her accomplishments and I feel blessed to be her friend. On top of the success she has achieved in her field, she also wants to mentor others to build businesses in the same field. Her idea to grow her business through this program comes from a place of abundance, where she understands that helping other attorneys build a practice does not affect her business - there are enough clients for everyone.

If you have a good understanding of your industry and know more than a lot of people who are in the same industry, or if you know how to build a business, you can develop a stream of income by teaching others to enter or build a business in your industry. There is no downside to this business endeavor. 

Create More Income Month - Chapter 2

This month we are talking about ways to make more money in your business. After we talked about the way to select ways to develop new revenue streams, we will talk about how to execute on starting and growing those revenue streams.

Let's first list a few revenue streams:
1. Start a new business
2. Develop a new product/service in your existing business
3. Expand in a new market: geographic or demographic
4. Develop partnerships with complimentary businesses and cross-sell
5. Write a book about your expertise

There are other ways to expand your business, so please write some of your favorite ones in the comments. This week we are exploring some ways to implement the strategies mentioned above.

The first step in working on any of these ideas is to write down the ideas you have about starting the business or the revenue stream. Once you list them all in the order you have them in your head, you start arranging them in a mind map, so you can figure out how they work together. This is a great way to make sure that you cover all the ideas that are in your head. Many times we think that the ideas we have will stay in our head - writing them down ensures that we don't lose them.

The second step is deciding what stream of income we are going to pursue first. After it passes the values test and we establish that this stream works with the mission and the vision, we figure out the actions that we need to do in order to start and grow the income stream.

If developing different products/services or expanding in new markets, your business plan is a great way to have a working action plan. The most important thing about a business plan is to use it continuously. It is not supposed to stay on a shelf, it is supposed to be worked on. A business plan is meant to be changed according to the needs of the business.

If your goal is to develop partnerships with complimentary businesses, you can consider business that are in areas that are also needed for your clients. While you can get referrals from your partners and make money from those sales, there is also the added possibility of making money by becoming an affiliate for your partners and making money from referring clients to them. You can also increase your revenue from these partnerships when your partners sell your products/services - while you pay them a commission or affiliate fee, your sales increase.

Many business people share their expertise through books they write, while also leveling up their expert status. This may not be a huge source of revenue but it can bring some money from book sales while also opening doors to new opportunities: speaking engagements, workshops and seminars related to your field of expertise.

These are a few ideas that hopefully will give you some food for thought. Please add your own ideas in the comments and let's exchange some interesting thoughts.

Keep More Money Month - Chapter 1

We will talk in the month of August about different tools, tips and tactics that can help business owners and the self-employed keep more of the money they make. If you own a business and are committed to building it, then you may be putting all your money back into it. This is considered a good practice not only because it helps grow the business with the capital you reinvest, but also because it turns into a tax deduction.

I thought about sharing some of my thoughts on tax deductions today. I have been working with many people who are looking to reduce the amount of money they pay on taxes by taking deductions for the things they do. This can be a good thing, of course, because one gets to use the money for the things they need and also pay less in taxes at the same time. The only issue I see with this strategy is when one makes purchases or spends money on unneeded stuff for the sake of the tax deductions. 

I have always believed that the most important money one should keep in their money instead of spending is the money paid on interest to other people or companies. I have come across people who don't want to pay their mortgage down faster and save the interest because they want to use the mortgage interest as a tax deduction. Well, here is the challenge with that strategy: one pays $100 in mortgage interest to save $25 in taxes (for someone in the 25% tax bracket). In this case they would be better off keeping the $75 in their pocket instead of giving it to the mortgage company. 

As a strategy to save money on taxes, many people contribute to pre-tax retirement plans, such as 401K or IRA. This is a great strategy to keep more money for the present time. For most people, it can be a good strategy long-term, given that most Americans have less money in retirement than they do while they work. However, if you plan right and build your wealth to have a worry-free retirement, you may be better off paying taxes on your current income and then receiving your retirement money tax free. This would mean a Roth account - IRA or 401K. The wisdom of this strategy comes from a popular saying that states that it is better to be tax on the seed than on the crop.

These tips and strategies don't work for every single person or every single situation. Everyone is different and their strategies need to be adapted to their situation. For this very reason, it is important to sit down with financial professionals - financial planner, CPA, tax attorney, estate attorney.

Money Lessons from 2 Countries - Chapter 2

We talked last week about the differences between the school systems in Romania and the US. I would like to take this post to go over some other differences within the school systems, as well as the life of the students and their families during this period.

As I mentioned, during the communism, every high school graduate was offered a job - not one that required a lot of specific training or a certification, but still a job. Also, at the time that everyone graduated university, they were offered a job in the field of their studies. For instance, doctors, teachers and engineers ended up with jobs in their field - the only "catch" was that they went to very small cities and especially in villages. The only way for them to be in a big city or close to their hometown was to ask for favors or to bribe someone.

By contrast, after the revolution, just like in the United States, many of the graduates from different universities work in jobs that are different from their field of study. Also, with the increase in new universities after 1989, there are a lot more graduates than before. With all the changes that came with the revolution, the high school graduates had more options for university, and therefore many attended classes in fields that they were not passionate about, such as going to law school - similarly with many American students getting a degree in criminal justice.

While growing up both during the communist regime and afterwards, in Romania, teenagers and college students didn't have an opportunity to work - without the fast foods and grocery stores, like the big chains in the US, we didn't have a chance to earn money and have entry-level jobs that show up as "experience" on a resume. I still remember how hard it was after graduating college when I started looking for a job and everyone was asking me about experience. Yet nobody would hire me to give me the "experience" they were all requiring. 

I guess in this I always considered the students from Western Europe and the United States as fortunate to be able to achieve a certain level of financial comfort by providing the cash they needed for the things they wanted through their own jobs and efforts. As a funny side note, I also didn't grow up with an allowance, so I didn't have a "weekly wage" as a child, with which to make plans for things to buy. I always had to earn the money I wanted by maintaining good grades - which was not a hard thing for me (fortunately). 

Going away to college gave me an opportunity to manage my money while making sure I could buy the things I wanted while also having money to go home every time I wanted. For many Romanian students college is the first chance to leave home for a number of years and become independent (or at least depend on the parents less). What happens many times after graduation though, is that the graduates return to live with their family for a while longer - unless they find opportunities for work (most often out of the country). 

I used to think that the American and Western European systems, encouraging their youth to move out form their parents' homes in their late teenage years, was such a great set up. I longed to be independent back in my adolescence...

We will explore some of the other changes in the next weeks. Stay tuned! 

Money Lessons from 2 Countries - Chapter 1

This month is dedicated to talking about the ways the financial system is different in the 2 countries where I have lived my life. I grew up in Romania, first during a communist regime that believed that all are equal in rights and possessions (except that some were more equal than others, as we found out afterwards), and then in a democratic country that was designed in bits and pieces to mirror centuries old democracies in Western Europe - and not always for the good of the people. In my early 20's, I moved to the US and had to learn all about the financial system in a country that was totally different from the one I was raised in.

I decided to write some of my thoughts and the lessons I learn through my experience, so that both the Americans and Romanians reading these posts can find out what other people have to work with and through when trying to achieve their financial goals. It is my hope that readers from both sides of the Atlantic will take some of the info I share and use it so they can build better relationships with their money, and at the same time appreciate more what they have access to.

This week, I would like to address the school and university expenses in both countries. The similarity is that both countries have both state (public) universities and private ones. The differences are many on all the levels of schooling. I would like to also cover the differences in the Romanian system now compared to how things were set up when I went through my school years. I consider myself fortunate to have been in middle-school at the time of the revolution, when Romania overthrew the communist regime. I have always felt I was born at the right time, because it gave me a chance to experience life during the communism regime while being old enough to still remember it; at the same time, I was young enough when the revolution happened to benefit from the changes and the new opportunities that became available. 

The school system set up by the communists was designed to ensure all students graduated from high school, so all the students were supposed to pass, regardless of their actual level of knowledge or ability to pass tests. Also part of the propaganda was that university studies were not encouraged, because graduating from higher education was a threat to the regime - people became individuals instead of just one of the many average workers. Graduates of higher education were known as "intellectuals" and the way the pay system was set up (all under the control of the government) encouraged factory workers to have no aspirations for university degrees.  

The good thing about the universities during the communist regime was the fact that all education was free, with the only expenses related to the dorms or any other living conditions for the students who went to school in different towns. The hard part was not the cost but the entrance exam, because of the number of candidates for the student places available. When I went to college, there were over 9 of us for each of the 25 seats open in the Tourism Department. It used to be even worse back in the 1980's for Medical School and for Law School - sometimes even over 20 candidates were fighting for each spot. 

In the recent years the criteria have changed and now the entrance exam has been eliminated for many universities, while the grades from different subjects counted for the average considered for admittance. Along with the state universities that have been around for many years (a lot of them for decades and even hundreds), many private universities were founded after the revolution - these last ones not as picky in students admitted, and asking for tuition. The tuition there is a lot lower than what the American universities charge, but it can still be high for the average income in Romania. 

The private American universities, by contrast, are more prestigious and mostly more expensive than the public ones. The main drawback to going to college (for the majority of students) is the amount of student loans one gets saddled with, for many years after graduation. I think that the biggest concern for the families sending their children to college and knowing they will be taking on a lot of debt, is the statistic showing the small percentage of them that will actually work in the field that they are qualified for. Well, this is very similar to Romanian graduates, who also go for the diploma without a real plan to work in that field. This is more obvious for such graduates of business universities (named Economic Studies) and a lot of private law schools - Romania doesn't need that many attorneys. 

Now that I realize how much I can write on the topic, I decided to continue this subject next week, when we will explore some more details of the school system - similarities and differences. 

Half-Year GOAL Checkup Point

For the month of June, my goal for the blog was to help you reconnect with the goals you set for yourself in January, and to get you to refocus on them, to check on your progress and to recommit or modify them accordingly. As we are starting the second half of the year, I would like to talk about some strategies on achieving your financial goals for 2018. And since we are getting a bonus Monday in the month for July, what better time to focus on your goals and to highlight some of the finer points from June than right here, right now?!

If your main goal for 2018 is not tied to money, don't worry! You can apply some of these strategies as well. I will also state that all goals you set can help you improve your finances in some way. For example, if your goal is related to health and fitness, once you achieve the level of health and fitness you want, you will feel better about yourself and be able to monetize your business at a higher level. Even if you don't have a business and bring home a regular paycheck, you will be able to stand tall when you ask for a raise when you feel better about your self-image.

With all that said, let's move into some quick ideas on how you can raise your balance in your bank account by the end of the year. If you are already doing some of these things, congratulations! Please share this post with a friend and help her build her savings, investments and financial serenity.

1. If you are already saving 10% of your revenue for retirement, or for a big goal, make sure you are also setting aside 10% of any bonuses you receive, or from any other unexpected income - such as: tax refunds, refunds from stuff you may return to stores, little side jobs you may do while you grow your business, etc. 

2. If you handle cash, make it a practice to set aside in an envelope a certain denomination banknote (like $10, $20 or $50) anytime one comes to you, and then periodically put that cash into your savings account - and don't touch it until the event happens that you are saving for. This can be for your retirement or for a big purchase goal. 

3. If you want to teach your children how to save, consider starting them with setting aside the change they get anytime they spend a part of their allowance. That money can be then added into a savings account for them. Or if you are more determined and can shoot higher than that, veer a percentage of the allowance straight into a savings account.

If you have plans to take time off this week and spend it with your family, I hope you enjoy that time. I also hope you find a few minutes in the mornings to look over your 2018 goals, refocus and plan the second half of the year, so you can achieve those goals. Make 2018 the last year when you set these particular goals, so that 2019 can build on them and you (and your business) can get to the next level. 

Happy 4th of July! See you here next week for more ideas on how to build your financial serenity.

Goal Achievement Month - Chapter 4

STEP 4: Follow your plan and adjust or pivot when necessary

I realized that the path to achieving my goal was through building a business. I always believed this to be true: you can either be a star in your own movie or an extra in someone else’s. I always knew I was a superstar. The first action I took was to study about money and business from the greats in the field. I learned about the American financial system, most importantly how to keep more of the money I made, because I realized that making a lot of money was not sufficient when it fell through my fingers. I learned how to make the right financial decisions, how to send out a dollar that would bring back friends, not one that would follow its friends away from my pocketbook.

I also had to learn a whole new business language and to understand what business ownership actually meant. I started like many others with a home-based business in direct sales with a well-known network marketing company. It didn't get me too far on my way to financial independence, but it gave me the first basic knowledge about business, and I'm grateful to this day to my mentor who showed me the first steps. Especially because I had a huge disadvantage over Richmond natives - I didn't have any friends or relatives in the city who had known me my whole life. So I had to learn very quick to become good at talking to strangers.

When I was offered a position as an independent contractor with a life insurance company, I jumped at the chance of making my own hours and writing my own paycheck, based on the effort I was willing to put in. I doubled my income and within less than a year, achieved my first major goal I had set since arriving to the US: home ownership. 

I understood that knowing what to do from reading books was not enough, unless I acted on that acquired knowledge. Therefore, I built a few solopreneurship businesses, some more successful than others. I learned from each experience and I adapted. I felt stronger with each lesson and new doors opened with each pivoting moment. The field that attracted me was always the financial one because I learned that by sharing my knowledge in this field with others looking to build businesses in other fields, can lead to their success and set them on a path to their own financial serenity.

The hardest lesson to digest, when talking to other women about their finances, was the fact that most women are uncomfortable even thinking about their money, let alone talking about it. I made it my mission to help women (and a few good men) build better relationships with their money.  

STEP 5: Teach others how to achieve their goals, and partner up for accountability

Goal Achievement Month - Chapter 3

STEP 3: Make a flexible plan on how you will get it done

Armed with the knowledge on what we needed to get us to live together in the US, my husband and I got married and applied for my spousal visa, all in one day. And less than 3 months later, I was landing in Richmond, VA - my new home across the Atlantic. 

After I landed in the United States, I had a steep learning curve to adapt to a new country, new rules and new people. Many things that I had been used to for my entire life were done differently here. I adapted to most changes in a short period of time, the easiest thing to adapt to being the American version of the English language that I had studied throughout school. In my quest to build a life in my new country, I left behind everything and everyone who had been important to me. So I made a decision to make that sacrifice worth it by building a life of financial serenity. My definition for it at the time was to be able to do what I wanted when I wanted.

Coming from a country where everyone had a job working for a state-owned company, and then seeing a few "adventurous souls" be brave enough to become entrepreneurs - the foreign word was adopted into the Romanian language, since we did not have a term for it - I thought that finding a corporate ladder to climb on will take me to the ultimate goal of financial serenity. I was also naive enough at the time to believe that I was now in a country where my own achievements would be recognized and I would get rewarded for them with the jobs of my choice and the salary that I wanted. Coming form a country where it is more important who child, nephew or friend you are, that your competence in the field, I thought I was in a place where the fact that I didn't know people was not going to be an obstacle.

Wow, was I wrong?! I had to learn very quick that the corporate ladder was not the spot where I wanted to hang out, and that people promote you or not based on them liking you (or not) just as much as back home. And I also learned that I could not stand incompetence anymore than with my former employers back in Romania. So, after biting my tongue one too many times, I started looking for a better way. I had learned even before coming to the US that this is the land of opportunity, and I was convinced that mine was out there - I just hadn't found it yet. So I crossed off corporate career from my plan and moved on to the next idea. 

Goal Achievement Month - Chapter 2

1    STEP 2: Acquire the knowledge of what you need to accomplish the goal

I had a goal and I had a vision on why I wanted to achieve my goal. I could see myself living in another country and - most importantly to me at that time - not living in Romania. I was speaking this into being, I was acting as though it was a given. Even though initially I had no idea how I was going to accomplish my goal, I was convinced I would do it. At the time I had conversations with a friend and we both said we would leave the country, but we had different visions of what that would look like: I said I would live in another country for the rest of my life and only come back to visit; she said she would go work and return with the money to live in Romania. And we both got our wishes.

After coming home from the college experience in England, I started sharing first with my parents, then with my friends, my intention to leave the country after college, at some point. The strange thing about sharing my goal was that as I was repeating it, I kept getting more certain of the outcome – still without knowing when, where or how. And the interesting thing is that once they saw me so determined and sure of my idea, my parents started believing it would come true; and they also started acting like it was going to happen. Because of my college experience, the first logical choice was England, or somewhere else in Western Europe. After all, there were a lot of Romanians living abroad in that area, including a few of my friends. My ultimate goal became moving to the United States later in life, alter some years in another country or two.

And then my plans got changed when I met my now husband, and we wanted to be together. The goal now became moving to the US, without spending time in other countries, so we could be together. This also started as an idea and was soon developed into a plan. In a time where the information was not as easily accessible on the internet, I managed to find out details on immigration and the INS (now USCIS) rules. Following the online directions on their official website, my husband and I got married in Romania and applied for my spousal visa. Thus, 2 months later I joined him in Richmond, Virginia; and have been here ever since.

It was a stressful 3-4 month period once we decided to get married because we had to figure out the legal requirements for my transition from Romania to the US. I found lots of horror stories online about how hard it was and how long it took to be able to get there. All we knew at the time was that we wanted to be together and him living in Romania was not an option - language barrier, work challenge and lack of a personal place to live. 

I relentlessly scoured the internet and connected to people within Yahoo groups (Facebook was not even a dream at the time) and learn from their experiences what not to do. I also read anything and everything there was to know about immigrating in the US as a dependent of a US citizen. And then, armed with that information, I coached my husband on the documents he needed and on the steps we had to take. 

Goal Achievement Month - Chapter 1

STEP 1: Figure out what you want – beyond doubt (a.k.a. your WHY)

   
    When sharing my recipe for achieving goals, I want to start with the biggest goal that I set for myself and describe the way I managed to reach the goal. Of course, as they say “hindsight is 20/20”… so after reading many books on how to get things done, I realize that I had followed the steps without even being aware of them at the time.

When asked what my greatest achievement is, I always say that moving across the Atlantic and building a life for myself in a country where I only knew my husband. It may sound crazy, or scary, or too hard. Well, 15 years later, I am here to tell the story. I have achieved numerous goals since then but still feel this to be the greatest one, since it brought about the most radical change.

I was born in a small country in South-East Europe, Romania, in one of its largest cities. After finishing college and working for a couple of years, I moved to the United States to follow my husband. I was always an overachiever, I guess people would call me. Through my school years I was always at the top of the class and passed all my exams with flying colors. These seemed like reasonable things to do at the time, so I never really considered these major goals to be achieved. After a scholarship earned in college that sent me to England for 3 months, I realized there were things I wanted to achieve and a life style I wanted to live that were outside Romania.

The first step toward achieving my goal was setting it. And the very first thing to do in this case, was to get the idea – I found the one major thing I wanted to accomplish: moving to another country to build a career or a business. At the time this idea first came to mind I had no clue where, when or how I was going to do this. Looking back I understand that when you are young everything seems in a far distant future. And that was my first thought.

Once I came home from the college experience in England, I started sharing first with my parents, then with my friends, my intention to leave the country after college, at some point. The strange thing about sharing my goal was that once I started repeating it, I kept getting more certain of the outcome – still without knowing when, where or how. Because of my college experience, the first logical choice was England, or somewhere else in Western Europe. After all, there were a lot of Romanians living abroad in that area, including a few of my friends. My ultimate goal became moving to the United States later in life, after some years in another country or two.

Prosperity Mindset Month - Chapter 2

Now that you are all excited about getting out of student loan debt (see last week's post), let's talk about getting rid of another big chunk of debt that you may have hanging over your head, a.k.a. wedding expenses. If you are already shaking your head and telling me that you DESERVE a big wedding because it is your ONLY ONE, and because it is your special day... I'm not here to argue with your point. I have no intention to tell you that you should not get a big wedding. Nor am I saying that your should not give your daughter a big wedding. I'm simply suggesting that you plan beforehand, that you execute during and that you stick with the plan afterwards.

From a financial standpoint, I truly believe that you deserve to have anything your heart desires. I just also believe that planning for it is the best way to ensure you don't have regrets afterwards. When it comes to your big day, your wedding day, usually you have a long time to plan - it is not an impulse buy and it is not a small chunk of change. This is why you can make the wedding account your priority when it comes to saving during the year prior to the big event, so you can pay with your money instead of the bank's money (which you will be repaying with interest).  

Another suggestion for the entrepreneurs reading this post, is to check into bartering different things you need for your big day. If there are some services you can provide in exchange for photography, videography or even flowers and cake, this can be a way to lower your final bill. Many times it also helps to deal with smaller local companies - like the dress designer, the tailor for the bridesmaid dresses - because they may be willing to give you discounts, or you may be able to make arrangements for future collaboration and/or sponsorship.

If you already have a house and many of the items you need inside, you may not want to register at the traditional stores for the brides. One way to lower the price tag for the wedding, or to have more money left after your big day, is to register for honeymoon registry so you don't have to use your own money for any traveling you want to do. 

Money Friendship Month - Chapter 4

As we are building better relationships with our money and we are becoming friends, we want more of it to hang out in our own bank account instead of the credit card company. Most people know that interest can work in your favor or against you. That may be a cliche but it is also a truth. Every dollar bill you have wants to hang out with its friends - other dollar bills - so either it brings you more of said friends and they hand out in big groups in your wallet or your bank account, or it goes to a bigger company - credit card company, store - to find friends to hang out with.

If you want to build a friendship with your money, you need to make sure you give as little as possible to the creditors. Now, I'm not suggesting to lower your payments, just to shorten the time you pay - this in turn will reduce your paid interest. This same method applies to credit cards, as well as car payments or even mortgage. The faster you eliminate a debt, the less interest you are paying on that debt.

There are 2 ways to tackle debt, each with its pros and cons. One is based on paying the highest interest first, and the other one is based on paying the lowest balance first (known as the snowball effect).

They are both efficient and can be followed by anyone. The challenge is that we are humans, and we naturally procrastinate, and we also naturally get side-tracked even when we are working on the project. Therefore, when making the decision on which way works best for you, the most important to keep in mind is your personality and your motivation.

If you know you can stay focused, and if you want to pay as little as possible in interest, the “highest interest first” method may be your best choice. For the rest of us however, the most likely way to succeed may be the “lowest balance first” method. The reason is the increased motivation once a debt is paid off.

Either way you decide to tackle your debt, it is important to keep working on it and never give up. The best approach is to pay the minimum required on all credit cards and other loans, except for the one you are working on at the time – whether that is the lowest balance or the highest interest. On that one, you want to put as much money as you can, in order to pay it off as soon as possible.

The total monthly payments should stay fixed (or increase if possible – if you want to pay everything off faster). Once a card is paid off all the money that was going on it should be redirected to the next debt, thus keeping the monthly at the same amount but increasing always the payment on one debt until it is paid off. 

Remember we talked last week about building an emergency fund that would take care of unexpected bills. When you have that in place, you don't have to worry about higher credit card balances due to things you could not budget for. And after you obliterate credit card debt, make sure to tackle all your other debts, such as car loan, mortgage and student loans. None of them are your friends, even though your tax preparer may suggest you keep a mortgage in order to deduct the interest on your taxes. Chances are slim to none that you would be able to use that, especially if you have been paying for 5 years or more. Not worth making your mortgage company rich.

If you want your money to be your friend, don't pass it on to creditors! Encourage it to hang out with you more.

Money Friendship Month - Chapter 2

We are talking about a better relationship with our money this month. And we cannot express good feelings towards our money without protecting it from the unexpected. Illness and accidents can put a dent in our finances, therefore we need protection in place to take care of our loved ones and to provide for the family, so the life style can be maintained. And that protection is covered through life insurance. 

Even though life insurance is an uncomfortable topic for many people, and it may scare some visitors away from today's post, I will ask that you power through the next lines, as you learn some information that will help you build your relationship with money on a friendly level. I will cover some basic points regarding life insurance, with a promise not to bore you by the use of jargon.

There are multiple types of life insurance available, and mainly they fit in 2 categories: term and whole life. The term lasts for a number of years (usually 10, 20 or 30 years), while the whole life lasts until age 100 or 120 – depending of the company and the product selected.

Most people believe they lose the protection at the end of the term; in fact, most of the term life insurance is guaranteed renewable and convertible. It sounds more complicated than it is. It means that you can re-new the coverage at the end of the term without answering medical questions again. It can also be converted into a whole life policy anytime during the term, or just before expiration – also without answering medical questions a second time.

There are 2 ways to figure out the amount of protection necessary: the expenses the family needs to cover when someone dies, and the value of the in-come the person would have earned had they lived. 

The first method is more popular, and the one most frequently used by financial professionals with their clients. The best known way of calculating the need for coverage is the DIME method. It stands for Debt (how much debt the family has to pay off), Income (how much money would have been earned until the youngest child turns 18), Mortgage (balance on the mortgage for the family home) and Education (cost for college for all children).

The second way is by multiplying the annual income by the years left to earn it. One other popular way is to use the children's ages and the number of years until they can provide for themselves. In this case, please keep in mind that your children will probably not be able to provide for 100% of their financial needs at age 18, or even at 21-22 immediately out of college.

My intention in writing this post was not to frighten you or to make dire predictions. I simply wish for you to put the protection in place that will provide peace of mind for yourself and your family, so the unexpected doesn't hurt you, your family or your life style. And if this post raises more questions for you, please don't hesitate to reach out; I'm always willing to answer questions and provide the guidance you need.

Financial Serenity Month - Chapter 4

This is the last post in the Financial Serenity Month. We have been talking about retirement planning. Before we conclude this month's theme, I would like to underline the fact that financial serenity does not have to happen at the "traditional retirement age" - it is exclusively about the ability to live according to one's wishes and standards without having to work; that is, you don't have to work in order to generate the income you need. Retirement planning is discussed in this context because that means you only work if you choose to, and not because you have to.

And if I have convinced you to start setting money aside, you may now start worrying where that money is going to go. The main objective is for the money you set aside to come back to you with friends – the more, the better. And in order for that to happen, you cannot leave it parked in a savings account. Nothing against banks, they are just not a great vehicle for increasing your net worth through savings; not with an interest rate pretty close to 0%. 

The type of investment and the company, as well as the status (qualified funds versus non-qualified funds), will depend on your needs, risk tolerance and when you need to have access to the money. All investments should be personalized for you. Therefore, either you are an expert, become an expert, or hire an expert to help you. 

The one sure way to figure out which investment will bring you the most money is using the Rule of 72. This will show you how many years it will take for your investment to double. No matter the amount you invest, don’t you want to know how long it would take for your money to double? To find this out, you would take the interest rate you receive and divide it into 72. This number signifies the number of years it would take you before your money doubles without your adding anything extra. For a 1% interest it takes 72 years to double the money you deposit – let’s not even look at under 1% (which is what you get from your regular savings account at the bank). For an 8% interest rate – the average growth of the market – it would take your money 9 years to double. Would you rather wait almost a lifetime, or would you like to double it in 9 years?

Now that you understand why it is important to have a plan to exit your business into retirement, you are ready to set a system in place. And the best thing to do is to make saving for retirement a priority. If you ever heard any financial experts talk about saving money, you are probably familiar with the phrase “pay yourself first”. There is no better recipe for retirement. Whether you can direct 10% of your income towards retirement, or you need to start with a smaller amount, it is always best to start. As you get into the habit of saving, you will find it easier and more rewarding. If you struggle in the beginning and are afraid you might run out of money for current expenses, don’t worry: you are not alone.

You will find creative ways to take care of current needs as soon as you have the system in place to redirect the money from current expenses to future serenity. Since not everyone has the discipline to set money aside for retirement on a regular basis, the best thing to do is to automate it – a set date, maybe a set amount. You can always change and adjust, you only need a starting point. And remember, you can always count on help from a financial professional if you lack the knowledge, the will or the discipline to follow through.

Financial Serenity Month - Chapter 1

There are so many financial gurus who advocate for financial freedom – the ability to maintain your lifestyle without having to work – either by accumulating a certain amount of money that is invested to generate the income, or by generating a passive cash flow that is equal or higher to the salary/commission received from the current work.

I started my financial education in the US with Suze Orman and Robert Kiyosaki, and I always thrived to achieve the financial freedom they taught me about. And through my journey toward financial freedom I heard Tony Robbins explaining about “the science of achievement” and “the art of fulfillment”. And this cemented my commitment to achieve financial serenity.

What is financial serenity to me?
Financial serenity is a combination of financial freedom and the serenity brought on by feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment. This is the result of achieving worthy goals and reaching significance by being able to give freely to a cause one is passionate about (may that be time or money). I learned from Zig Ziglar that financial independence means you can do what you want when you want. My goal then became taking women – and a few good men – to the next level, and guiding them to financial serenity: a step beyond freedom and independence.

According to statistics, getting out of debt or saving more money – or even financial freedom – is a popular New Year’s resolution, second only to losing weight. The problem with setting this as an annual goal – over and over again – is that it really is wishful thinking, and not a well thought out plan. Therefore, the resolution is renewed the following year, rarely with any significant success. Most people want to make a leap from the have-not to the have column when it comes to their finances. They feel that they can triple their income, or annihilate their debt within the year. Tony Robbins wisely said that “most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade”.

The most likely approach to achieve a financial goal is the “slight edge” – per Jeff Olson, in his book with the same title. He talks about doing small things every day that will compound over time to achieve big results. While this approach can work with any goals, from health and fitness, to relationships and personal improvement, I believe it is the only sustainable path to achieve lasting financial goals.

It is my hope that more people will have financial goals for this year than the previous, and that even more will have these goals the next year. While anyone can achieve his/her financial serenity with proper planning and a focus on the long term goal in order to stay on track, I believe that the most likely path to lead to this accomplishment is through your own business.

I'm not suggesting that an employee cannot achieve such a goal, I'm merely expressing my opinion that self-employment or business ownership can be a simpler path to it. And with that, I must explain that I am by no means saying it is easy - just a simpler formula because you hold all the cards when you own your source of income.

Let's look at some ideas on how to accomplish such a goal next week!

What are you grateful for TODAY?

This is the month of Thanksgiving – the month of Gratitude. Not that we should not be grateful all year long… But in case you kind of forgot this year… let’s talk GRATITUDE today. It is not too late to start now. And if you read this post, I hope you take me up on the challenge I will issue at the end of it.

For now, let’s get started on what is the connection between money and gratitude. And how can your gratitude and appreciation for the things you have and the things you are able to do in life can translate in more money for you.

Tony Robbins often says “Where your energy goes, that grows.” That is true. We are beings made of energy and can influence the energy of our surroundings. Therefore, if you focus on plenty you will have plenty, and if you focus on scarcity, you will have scarcity. I know that I always say that my focus on sharing my thoughts is more on the practical side of money and I will get to that in a second. Though I need to make clear the fact that if you believe you have enough, that there is enough out there for you, then you will have it. Sometimes it may not seem like it, and that is the toughest time to believe. However, that is necessary for you to achieve.

When you believe it, then you can achieve it – may IT be money, a career or any personal goal. So that is why it is important to not just do the mechanics, but also get our brains and our feelings involved. When we start the day off with a good thought and happiness for the things that will come our way, we get more things that can make us happy. When we are grateful for what we currently have in our life – and we all can find at least one thing that we like and we appreciate – we will attract more things that we like and appreciate.

Zig Ziglar always said that if you want to lose weight, you cannot think like a fat person. Your brain does not understand the word NO, so it will bring into your life more of the things you are thinking about. So you cannot think like a poor person, and I believe we are all rich in our lives. You may say that is not the case with you but I know that money is not the only thing that measures the riches. And I will be the last person to tell you that you should not focus on money – after all, this is a blog about MONEY. All I’m saying is that you need to start somewhere.

Think about the things you have in your life that you are grateful for, and not the debt or the bills or the worries. Think of the good you will do with the money coming into your life, and be grateful you are here today to have a chance to work towards that good. And more good will come your way.

So my November challenge for you is to write down 3 things you are grateful for. And not just one time but every morning before starting your day, for the rest of the month; or the rest of the year if you are even more courageous. And then, come back and leave a comment with the 3 things that are on your list that day, or the most frequent ones. I would like to know and be your cheerleader.    

Money Mondays Episode 6

spreaker.com/show/money-mondays

Check out the new episode to learn more about a topic you might find scary... Budgeting. We are helping you make friends with your budget, so you can achieve your goals and take confident steps toward your financial serenity. Emerald Sparks shares her money story, and you can learn how a young woman was able to buy her first car while in college, without having to take on a car payment. Can you learn anything from her story?

SMART Goals for Financial Freedom

There are 2 ways to work towards your financial freedom:

1.    Figure out how much money you need annually to live comfortably, to at least maintain your current standard of living. Then, take that number and divide it by 0.4% to find out the total amount of money you need to have set aside. When you invest this money (once your reached your number) and generate at least 4% interest, it will generate the income you need.

2.    Figure out how much money you need annually to live comfortably, to at least maintain your current standard of living. Then, work on building assets that generate enough money annually to provide that amount without you holding a job. These assets can be: real estate investments, businesses, investments.

Visualization of your goals is important, and so is planning. You either plan your work, and then work your plan; or you fail to plan, and then you plan to fail. The reason why planning your finances is probably your most important plan, is that all your dreams and goals will be in some way connected to money.

Writing down your goals and having a vision board will help you find ways to achieve your goals; your brain will come up with ways to lead you to what you most desire. Which also means you must be very certain that your really desire those things you claim to want. Part of the planning and mapping of your goals will include coming up with the money to achieve some of your goals. Of course some goals like happiness and health don’t have a price tag. Others like a trip, college education or a new house or car, come with a price tag that must be known.

It may seem simplistic to say that if you know how much something costs you can start working on achieving that. However, even though it is simple, that is how it is done. I’m not saying it is easy – otherwise everyone would achieve their goals. But it is simple – in 3 steps: see it, map it and plan it. All that is left is the hardest part: doing it.

When setting your goals, keep in mind that they must be SMART in order for you to reach them: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. In order for you to achieve your goals, they have to fit in this SMART description. So if your goals are vague - ie. I want more clients, I want to make lots of money - you need to redefine those goals. It is not good enough to want more money; your brain does not work on anything so vague. So think instead: How much money? ("a lot" is not a number - therefore it is neither Specific, nor Measurable) When do you want to have the money by? (give yourself a deadline) And, perhaps most importantly, make sure your goals are Relevant: do you really want it? Is it Relevant to you?

If you are a successful business woman, whether you own the business or lead a corporation, you probably rely on a board of advisers. You may call them mentors, business partners or directors. They are your sounding board when it comes to ideas regarding business growth and what is the best way to implement new ideas to achieve the objectives. But how about your financial life? Do you have a board of directors to run your ideas by? Do you have an accountant who knows your like and your story to help you lower your taxes? Do you have an investment adviser who looks out for your best interest in a fiduciary capacity?