Happy New Year ~ my resolution to you …



On behalf of Resnn, I want to welcome you to 2013 and wish you a Happy New Year!  May it be full of health, happiness and prosperity.  

Time for those pesky resolutions – This past week I had the good fortune to get some quiet time to do what most of us of do this time of year and reflect on the successes and failures of the previous year and set goals for the upcoming one.  

I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post, I hope you will find it helpful, If it doesn’t apply to you, please help me by forwarding it to someone that could benefit by getting their financial plan in order … we would love to help them.

My resolution to you – I want to share a goal that I have (that I made exactly one year ago, and renewed my commitment to this week) is to help my clients achieve their financial goals.  I don’t mean just making you more money and keeping it safe in volatile markets (although that is obviously of paramount importance); I am referring to helping YOU to realize YOUR non-financial goals that require money to achieve.  Things like paying for your kids college, retiring at a certain age, planning for life ‘after you are gone’ plan ~ creating a trust and will, taking your grandkids on a cruise, planning an ‘exotic’ trip, heck … sky diving … anything that you’ve always wanted to accomplish and have yet to.

What is WEALTH to me? – As many of you have heard me say already, Wealth to me is NOT about driving a Ferrari, but is about having enough to be able to spend it on (and with) the people you love ~ Enough money to be able to create memories for the ones you love, to provide for people, and do the things you have always wanted to do.  

The top ten resolutions – So, with that said, I want to offer my help in achieving YOUR New Year resolutions (see top ten list below).  In fact, I want to help you check off items 1, 5, 7, and 10 on this list, and you can help me check off number 9 on my list 🙂
According to about.com, the top ten resolutions are:

1)      Spend more time with family & friends
2)      Exercise more and get fit
3)      Lose Weight
4)      Quit Smoking
5)      Enjoy Life More
6)      Quit Drinking
7)      Get out of Debt
8)      Learn Something New
9)      Help Others
10)   Get Organized

Most people fail at their resolutions – Unfortunately, most resolutions we make are destined for failure.  In fact, a 2007 study by the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.

What was interesting about the results of the study was that people achieved their goal 22% more often when they engage in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), and 10% more succeeded when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

“Resolutions are more sustainable when shared, both in terms of with whom you share the benefits of your resolution, and with whom you share the path of maintaining your resolution.”

How to success at your resolution – So, don’t just set a resolution and stop there, but sit down over the next week to create a “game plan” as to how to achieve the goal.  The important point is to set very small achievable “mini” goals.  You want to lose 20 lbs … create a plan to lose 2 lbs. a month.  Include in your game plan the following to improve your odds of success …

  1. A “sustainable” fitness and diet plan (nothing too hard or intense since this will make it hard to achieve … remember it needs to be sustainable).
  2.  Friends that will get out and walk/run with you … hard work is more fun when you have people to go through it with you.
  3. Get your spouse involved so that the food in the house is geared toward health and you are held accountable when you finish off that pizza.

You get the idea … try to break each project down into easy to achieve mini-goals that will keep you motivated and get help and support. 
How can Resnn help you achieve your financial goals? – So, how can Resnn help you?  We want to give you direction and help you to create YOUR ‘Financial Game Plan’.  In fact, for our clients, we do this AT NO CHARGE as a standard part of our business.
What is the most important first step – The first step in the process is to “get organized” … how many of you have a “Financial Inventory Worksheet”?      A Financial Inventory Worksheet (FIW) is a document that shows all of your investments / assets along with all recurring bills / liabilities coupled with their corresponding account numbers and contact information to make it incredibly easy for your beneficiaries to get up to speed on your financial situation instantly.
Imagine, instead of having to call credit card companies and mortgage companies and basically try to guess at things, your loved ones had a simple document to reference that listed all account information to make it easy for them to pick up the pieces.
This document is a MUST if you have children under 18, but even if not … If you’ve ever been through a parent or grandparent passing away, you know how difficult it can be to figure out their financial situation at a time when you really just want to grieve.  I personally take care of all our financial matters in our household, so imagine how difficult it would be for my wife if something were to happen to me without having a road map of our assets and liabilities … our FIW will help her get through a difficult with ease.  
After you have your FIW created and stored in a safe place, we then can move on to the next step in getting “financially fit”, which I will document in a future post.  
I apologize for the length of this post, and hope you found it worth your time.  I am looking forward to 2013, especially in regard to my goals listed above … at helping each and every one of you to get your ‘financial game plan’ in order and to helping you to achieve your financial goals.
Please give me a call (or email) to discuss the above and how we can get you on track.
A very warm wish of Happiness and Prosperity in 2013,
Respectfully, 
Randall Mauro
Resnn Investments, LLC

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