Brad Tinnon

Brad Tinnon

How To Manage Your Finances

Last year we remodeled our house to get it ready to sell.  It took us a lot longer than we thought.  2 ½ months to be exact.  If you know me, you know that I’m not much of a handyman.  I often times joke that I get really anxious / angry when in a home improvement store; it takes me way too much time to figure out what I need to buy in order to tackle a project.  And then there are too many brands to sort through which only increases the amount of time and frustration in the store.

Projects that take an expert 1 hour to complete can easily take me a whole season to get done.

I am not passionate about handyman work.  And I never have been.  To be honest, I absolutely hate it. That is not how I am wired (no pun intended).

A GREAT NEIGHBOR FRIEND

Thank God for my neighbor.  He grew up in the construction world and fixing things is first nature for him.  He spent many, many hours at our house to which my wife and I are very grateful.  It’s funny how things work out sometimes.  He was getting married later in the year and needed some extra money and we needed help; in a different sense, it was a perfect marriage.  And despite my lack of affinity for home improvement projects, I discovered a great friend!!

PROCRASTINATION

Have you ever needed to start a task only to put it off because you knew the frustration that lied ahead? That was me regarding our house.

I lived in the house for 14 years before any major renovations were made.  I knew things needed to be done, but didn’t know where to start (or how to start).  I knew how angry and frustrated I would get once the project(s) were started.  I knew that nothing would go according to plan.  And I knew it would take much longer than estimated.  And probably the most important reason of all for not starting sooner was because there was more than one project to do.

I don’t know about you, but when I see a seemingly endless list of projects, it is completely paralyzing. So much so that I never get started at all.  My neighbor would see it is a fun challenge, but for me it would be a painful journey.

FINANCIAL STRESS

Let me hone in on the financial world for a minute.  Many people hate / despise the thought of managing their own finances.  It causes their stomach to turn and anxiety to set in.  They procrastinate which can actually do more harm than good.

Take a house for example, if you don’t keep up with the maintenance on your house, then a small issue could turn into a huge financial burden.  The same goes with your finances.  If your finances don’t get attention, then you could find yourself digging out of a very large hole.  I know from talking with clients that getting a late start, lack of planning, lack of savings, lack of knowing where to start, etc. are all stress inducing components.

THE INGREDIENTS

There are ultimately 3 things you need in order to joyfully handle any task on your own.  If you have the Time, Desire, and Knowledge then doing any task will likely be pleasant for you (concept originally learned from Ric Edelman of Edelman Financial Services).  And it won’t seem like a chore.  If you are lacking any of these 3 traits, then it might be time to consider bringing someone in to help you; if nothing else than for your own sanity.

We have a lot of really smart clients who delegate their investment management and financial planning to us.  It’s not that they don’t know how to manage their finances; instead, they recognize that they would rather spend their time elsewhere (family, vacation, business, job, hobby, etc.).

If you feel as though you’ve neglected your finances, don’t know how to manage your finances, or aren’t sure what to do next, then feel free to reach out to us to see if we might be able to help out.  Otherwise, if you have the Time, Desire, and Knowledge to handle your own financial planning and investments then you don’t need to hire a financial planner.

Could I have figured out how to remodel my house on my own?  Yes, but not without much difficulty.  Sometimes having an outside expert step in to help out can save you time, money, and headache.

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Brad E.S. Tinnon
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Photo courtesy of Ryan Hyde

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