Life Skills

10 Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid

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Money, money, money.

Few things in life generate as much interest yet demand more responsibility. And while money itself will not bring happiness, mismanaging it can surely ruin a peson’s chances  for success and cause a lot ofUNhappiness.
The principles of wise financial management aren’t that tough to master. You simply need to know the basics and abide by the disciplines and key principles. It also pays to understand and avoid these ten most common financial mistakes:

  1. failure to set goals and plan for major purchases and retirement
  2. spending more than you earn and failing to budget and monitor expenses
  3. incurring too much debt, including excessive credit card usage
  4. investing too little and starting too late
  5. incurring significant fixed expenses that can’t be reduced in difficult economic times (e.g., spending too much on housing and cars)
  6. ill-timed investment decisions (“buy high, sell low” habits and market timing)
  7. poorly diversified investment portfolios (overly concentrated in high risk stocks)
  8. impulse buying and lack of value consciousness when shopping
  9. inadequate financial knowledge
  10. lack of discipline and personal responsibility

We all need to keep these principles in mind both now and in the future. Periodically review how you’re doing in each of these areas, and encourage the young people in your life to do the same.

If we can all successfully avoid these traps, we’ll be in excellent financial shape!

What are some ways you’ve learned to avoid–or overcome–costly money mistakes in your own life? Do you ideas for passing these principles on to young people? Please share your suggestions and comments below.

A Call to Love

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“All you need is love.” The famous mantra from the almost five-decade old Beatles song can still  be found carved into trees, on artwork hung around homes, printed onto T-shirts, on bumper stickers, and much more. The song itself is inspiring; asking us to look within our hearts to see how we can help change the world. However, as omnipresent as this phrase is, how big of a role does it actually have in defining us, shaping us, and influencing our actions?  If we took a moment to sit down and think about what defines our lives, would it be the love we demonstrate toward others?

Unfortunately, many people find their worth and success in power, money, status, or material things. What if—instead of by our winning percentage, job titles, or personal wealth—we were measured in terms of units of love, kindness, generosity, compassion, and encouragement offered to others? One thing’s for certain. The world would be a far better place. And, amazingly, it wouldn’t cost us anything.

People I admire most demonstrate an incredible capacity to love. It’s weaved into their very being, and you can recognize it in an instant. They put other people first. They have a heart to serve and make a difference, using what gifts they have to benefit others. People with an incredible capacity to love are joyful and bring joy to their friends, family, co-workers.

In addition to their inherent kindness, they have a special way of showing others that they’re worthy of being loved—especially when they’re not feeling very deserving. What an extraordinary gift affirmation is to give others! Helping others discover their own worth is a remarkable bestowal that one can only do with love.

Here’s a timeless truth: It’s impossible to live a life of significance without demonstrating strong character and a large capacity to love. People may achieve great success in their careers and finances, but if they lack strong intrinsic values and goodwill toward others, their legacies and reputations will have a hollow ring.

Fortunately, it isn’t rocket science. It simply requires a deliberate mindset (and “heartset”). It requires a commitment to use every opportunity to show you care. I encourage you to wake up every morning and seek every opportunity to love others that day. If you allow love to be the measure of your personal success, you will be astounded at the positive impact you make on others, and the joy you will experience in return.

If your life were measured by units of “love given,” how do you think you would rate? Who and how could you love a little more? What changes could you make to improve your score and how would you live your life differently?

Reversing the Pattern of Entitlement in Young People

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As I was enjoying a much needed three-day weekend, I was reflecting on how the employment world has become so competitive. It struck me how we have to raise the bar in order just to stay even.

 

The question is: are we even staying even?       

 

Two groups of people immediately came to mind when considering who could best answer this question: employers of young people and school counselors. After all, they’re the respective “consumers” of the nation’s schools and key leaders in guiding our students.

 

I talked to a manager of a coffee shop the other day who teaches high school “tech-ed.” He vented about the lacking social skills and work ethic of his employees and students, lamenting how they act like they’re owed something. He faces an uphill battle because their parents are routinely feeding these attitudes, enabling their child’s sense of entitlement.

 

This insightful insider commented that when parents do things like make last-minute absentee calls on behalf of their teen, give teachers flak when their students aren’t doing well in a class, or make nasty phone calls to employers when their child doesn’t get the promotion, raise, or extra hours he/she “deserved,” they’re doing their children a huge disservice in the long run.

 

Another person I spoke with, a veteran school counselor, shared how the first week of school has already had its share of student disrespect and parental entitlement issues. Regrettably, this is consistent with a survey of school counselors I conducted a few months ago. Student apathy, “entitlement mentality,” and lack of parental support were among the top five issues they cited.

 

Juxtapose this with a conversation I had with a determined Indonesian high school student after my talk, “Developing the Great Leaders of Tomorrow” during my book  tour.

 

“Mr. Dennis,” he said, “I’m not as smart at academics as I’d like to be. But, can I still become a great leader?” he asked with great concern.

 

This kid gets it. It’s not just about “book smarts.” It’s about being smart about life, without an attitude of entitlement. It’s about having the willingness to work hard and deliver excellence in all you do.

 

All of us—parents, school teachers, politicians, and media/culture drivers, have a stake in reversing this trend of entitlement. This means honoring and modeling hard work, strong ethics, perseverance, and preparing young people for a life that isn’t always fair. It means teaching that failure is part of life and self-esteem is something best earned. It means that as parents, our value isn’t defined by a perfect performance from our children, but whether they are people of excellence who strive to do their best.

 

So, now that Labor Day is over, it’s time to get to work…on this!

 

Positioning Students for Workplace Success

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Are the young people under your supervision—children, students, or employees—prepared to soar in their eventual career? Not just to land the job, but to be a workplace MVP?

 

With high youth unemployment and all-consuming scholastics and activities driving their schedules and priorities, many of today’s young adults are entering the work force sorely lacking the skills and maturity they need to thrive in the real world. We hear from employers all the time: “They may be book smart, but they’re certainly not life smart,” or, “They can write a resume and complete an application, but they lack the intrinsic qualities and life skills we need in our employees.” Many students understand how to succeed in the “front end” (resume and interview skills), but aren’t trained to succeed once they land the job.

 

At LifeSmart, we’re excited to announce our newest resource designed to help create future workplace superstars! Our new DVD, How to Be an MVP Employee. offers invaluable perspectives from employers and four road-tested strategies for succeeding in any career:

  • Selecting a career that plays to their natural strengths and interests
  • Modeling the qualities employers value
  • Delivering on-the-job excellence
  • Contributing to their employer’s success

 

This 45-minute live presentation at Appleton West High School includes illustrations, skits, training, and strategic insights to promote career readiness and workplace excellence. Viewers will gain practical wisdom about what separates those who soar from those who stagnate in their careers.

 

For $79, you can bring this valuable training into your own classroom or group. How to Be an MVP Employee will help prepare the young people in your life to reach their career heights and to succeed in the increasingly competitive landscape of today’s workplace.

 

For more information or to order, call (920) 319-3169 or email at dtrittin@dennistrittin.com.

Are You Financially Prepared for Life’s Lemons?

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We’ve all experienced unexpected curveballs at some point in our lives, and realistically, we’ll probably experience many more. A lost job. A broken dishwasher. A pay cut. Medical bills. An injury that prevents you from working for several months. A leaky roof. The question is, what will you do in these situations. How will you handle them? Hopefully you’ve planned for emergencies.

 

 64% of Americans don’t have enough cash on-hand to handle a $1,000 emergency. This means that if a crisis strikes, big or small, and you DON’T have money put away for emergencies—you could be in for some real stress and heartache.

 

An “emergency fund” is an account set aside with money earmarked solely for high impact situations that could substantially affect your well being or quality of life. As a rule of thumb, a fund that contains four to six months worth of average monthly expenses (invested in safe, accessible, short-term investments) will help serve as a buffer in these unfortunate situations. During periods when the economy is weak and your job may be in jeopardy, it’s sensible to build a six to twelve-month emergency fund to give you an extra cushion. Establishing an emergency fund should be your first financial priority once you begin your career.

 

To determine how much you should have in your emergency fund, you should first identify what constitutes six months’ worth of expenses for you. Add up what you spend each month on normal household budget items and multiply by six. Make sure you include what you pay for your mortgage, utilities, loans, insurance, gas, groceries, and other essential expenses, allowing a small amount for incidentals and entertainment, etc. And, don’t forget those seasonal items like vacations and gifts!

 

Then, to avoid being tempted to spend the money you need to use to build your emergency fund, it may be helpful to set up automatic account transfers (or automatic deposits from your paycheck if your employer offers this). You’ll also need to be disciplined and NOT give into the temptation to withdraw from your emergency fund for vacations, high tech toys you think you can’t live without, or for any other non-emergency expenses or indulgences.

 

Ultimately, what an emergency fund buys you is peace of mind. If something comes up, you won’t have to scramble to come up with the money you need and you won’t have to turn to credit cards or other debt. It’s like having a free insurance policy when life throws you a big fat lemon!

 

How have you created an emergency fund? It’s never to soon or too late to start. Do you have any other tips, ideas, or experiences to share?

4 Steps for Choosing the Right College Major and Career for you

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Which situation would you rather experience? Working for a company you admire, fully utilizing your skills, building life-long friendships, and having the opportunity to grow professionally, OR hating your job, spending most of your waking hours bored, frustrated, and stressed out, and working for an employer you don’t care for, where you’re not rewarded for a job well done?

 

Obviously the first situation is the right answer, but, unfortunately, far too many people get stuck in a job or career rut.  

 

Often, people end up with career misery because they don’t do their homework. Choosing your major and career should be one of the most fully researched decisions of your life, yet not everyone approaches it this way.  Doing your homework on these four steps will help you select a well-suited career.

 

Step 1: Conduct a comprehensive self-assessment. This involves taking an honest and objective inventory of your:

  • Interests and passions
  • Skills and aptitudes
  • Lifestyle and workplace preferences
  • Willingness and ability to obtain the necessary qualifications

 

Step 2:  Develop a list of potential careers that align with the above four areas. Meet with admissions counselors and professors. Attend career fairs. Review the recommendations from any aptitude tests you’ve completed. Meet with actual practitioners in each career area to gain invaluable inside scoop. Speak with others who know you best to gain their perspectives.

 

Step 3:  Investigate the demand outlook for the careers you’re considering. Research which careers are experiencing strong job growth and which majors will qualify you. For every major you’re considering, thoroughly evaluate the employment prospects for their respective careers. If the job outlook is weak, go elsewhere. Have frank conversations with the college Department Heads regarding the employment outcomes of recent graduates. How many found work in their field?

 

Step 4:  Seek out work-study, internship, and job shadowing opportunities to get a taste of what the career is like. This will provide a firsthand reality check and either confirm or reject your preliminary conclusions.

 

            Once you complete this four-step process, you’ll have narrowed down your major/career choices to a few finalists. Don’t be surprised, though, if your thinking changes as you take more advanced classes and learn more about that career. After all, most college students change their major at least once. I did twice!   

 

A great research tool is the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, which you can find at www.bls.gov/oco. On this site you will find the descriptions for hundreds of occupations, in addition to their education and training requirements. Also listed are average earnings and future projections for growth in each profession. Need help starting to identify which jobs and careers might be a good fit for you?  Also check out this website: http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm. It’s called, “What Do You Like?” and can help you narrow down your options based on your own interests.

 

Parents, youth mentors, and educators: Please consider sharing this email with the career-bound students in your life. Use it as a bridge to opening conversations about life direction, career options, and preparation for life as an adult. Then feel free to share your comments and testimonials with our online community; we’d love to hear your thoughts!

My Best Tip for Meeting New People

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Do you thrive on meeting new people? Or, do your palms break into sweat just by the very thought of introducing yourself to a stranger? Whether you like it, love it, or detest it, meeting new people if something we all have to do, and the more comfortable we become with it, the better.

Being skilled at getting to know new people isn’t about winning a popularity contest, being intellectual or funny, or even about being remarkably interesting.  Here’s the scoop: to be well-received (and liked) when meeting new people, your best bet is to ask questions and be a good listener. Put even simpler? Use more of your ears and less of your mouth.

My mother-in-law Lea likes to talk about the parties she attended with her rocket scientist husband, Dale. She was far less educated than her husband’s “high tech” peers. Theoretically, these should have been intimidating situations but, for Lea, they were a piece of cake. Her Dale would receive one compliment after another about his wife’s graciousness and intelligence! She was excellent at conversations, and was a joy to be around!

That’s because Lea had a secret when meeting new people. She figured she couldn’t compete with their smarts, so she listened intently and asked them lots of questions. Lea instinctively knew that if they did most of the talking (which most people like to do!) her encounters would be a success. And, that’s exactly what happened, time and again. Lea built up quite the wonderful reputation for herself.

When you meet new people (whether it’s at college, a new job, a networking event, or a party) or are in a social setting where you don’t know the others very well, take a page from Lea’s playbook. Take the pressure off yourself by letting them do most of the talking (I recommend a 40/60 rule of you/them).

This tip works especially well for those who are shy by nature and for young people who are now on their own and building their networks. Start with questions about the context of your introduction (event/person), listen intently, and show a keen interest in them with good, open ended follow up questions. Soon, they’ll be the ones asking you questions and you’re on your way!

Do you have a secret for meeting new people you’d like to share? When you’re in a social situation, do you try and ask more questions and do less talking? How has it been received? As always, please share your tips, advice, or thoughts. And feel free to share this with your friends, too!

The Mother of All Financial Musts

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We’ve all heard the age-old saying that money will never truly make you happy. However, mismanaging your money and making poor financial decisions can be a life wrecker!
 
Believe it or not, money problems are among the top reasons for divorce, alcoholism, and suicide in the United States. Therefore, it is crucial to become a wise manager of your financial resources. Financial literacy should be one of your greatest learning priorities, and it should be a core requirement for our nation’s educational institutions.
 
Fortunately, having a positive (and growing) net worth is not rocket science. If you follow this one tip, you will be on the path to responsibly managing your finances and avoiding major financial pitfalls. Are you ready for it?
 
Live within your means by spending less than you earn—no matter what your income level. It’s that simple!
 
In order to generate positive cash flow, you must spend less than you make. This means conservatively estimating your income and ensuring you have funds leftover after all of your spending. Major trouble can set in when you overestimate your income (common in careers with cyclical earnings), underestimate your spending, or charge more stuff on credit cards that you can’t afford to pay off each month.
 
When determining how much you earn (and therefore the limit of what you can spend), here is where some people run into trouble. You will want to avoid these mistakes at all costs to enable you to live within your means:

  1. They forget that their take-home pay is roughly 60 percent of their gross salary (after taking into account deductions like federal and state income taxes and Social Security)
  2. They assume that a spike in their income is the new “normal” level of earnings and ratchet up their spending accordingly.
  3. They assume their strong investment returns in the recent past will persist.

 
It’s important to recognize whether your career provides a steady or volatile income. Generally speaking, the more your income is tied to sales (e.g., real estate agents, commission-based retail sales) or project work (e.g., writers, architects, actors) the more it will fluctuate over time. This income pattern presents unique challenges in your financial planning because you can’t forecast the next few years based on the recent past. Therefore it pays to average peak and trough earnings to calculate “normal” earnings more conservatively.
 
Consequently, people often overestimate their future income when they just had a great year. Then, they increase their spending just when their income falls back to normal. Not good!
 
Another helpful rule of thumb is to earmark your income first to charitable giving and investments and then to spending. It adds discipline when you force yourself to save 15+ percent of each paycheck. By thinking of your spending as the “leftovers” rather than your savings, you’ll avoid the trap of living paycheck to paycheck.
 
Plan your income conservatively and spend accordingly—it’s far better to be positively surprised than disappointed! 

4 Ways to Avoid Being Socially Awkward

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Have you ever noticed that there are some people who seem to have it all (good looks, book smarts, sense of humor), but come across as socially awkward in business or social settings?

There have been times that each of us has lost an audience for one reason or another. Whether it is from talking too much about ourselves, excessive detail, arrogance, bad body language, or even an unappealing communication style, we sometimes miss the mark. It’s never fun for the people involved, but the good news is we can reduce the odds and limit the damage when it happens.

Here are four markers of great communicators.

  1. Great communicators analyze nonverbal cues. By studying your audience’s facial and body language, you will be able to gauge the impression you’re making. If they seem bored or disinterested (their eyes will show it!), raise your enthusiasm level or change the topic to something about them. This brings us to our second point.
  2. Great communicators are good listeners. No one wants to listen to a 10-minute monologue about your great grandpa’s bubblegum business[DT2] . When talking with others, be sure to engage them in the conversation and ask lots of questions about themselves. (Here, it’s wise to use the 60/40 rule…let the other party do 60% of the talking.) Where did you grow up? How did you meet your spouse? How do you spend your free time? These questions are easy to answer and can take uneasy tension away from a conversation. People love to talk about themselves!
  3. Great communicators make sure to clarify. Some of the best conversations can get detailed or technical, especially in professional settings. In order to hit the mark, be sure you’re clear and don’t talk over their head. Just because you know what you’re talking about doesn’t mean your audience does. Check in during conversations, or pause and allow time for them to ask questions.
  4. Great communicators learn from the best. Let’s face it, some people just “get it” when it comes to communicating with others in social and professional settings. Carefully observe them and learn from their secrets. It’s easy and it’s huge! Also, if you’re really feeling insecure about your social skills, ask your BFF how you can come across better. They’re on your side!

Your ability to successfully communicate is a vitally important skill to master. By being sensitive to your audience’s nonverbal cues, listening well, and being a clear communicator, you’ll improve your odds immensely. With these tips, hopefully you will end up not only appearing like you have it all, but communicating like you do, too!

Have you learned how to monitor others’ reactions to you? What do you feel is your best communication asset? Do you have any other personal tips you’d like to share?

Handling Situations You Can’t Control

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As much as we hate to admit it, most of us like to be in control. Control gives us freedom, power, and even confidence. It allows us to steer our own course. Be the captain of our own ship.

But what happens when we lose it? Click here to read more…

As young adults head off to college or into the workforce, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for the first time; free from their parents’ day-to-day oversight. At last, they will experience the sweet feeling of “control.” They’re excited about their newfound freedom. But is it really this easy? Of course not. After all, much will still remain outside of their control. How will they handle this new reality? Have you prepared them well?

Consider these real-world scenarios:

  • They don’t get along with their roommate
  • They just bombed their first science final—so much for majoring in biology!
  • Just when they’re about to graduate and search for a job, the economy tanks
  • They don’t land the job they desperately wanted
  • They don’t care for their new supervisor
  • It rains on their wedding day
  • Their car broke down
  • A boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with them
  • Someone they love is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness

Control? Think again! Although young adults are becoming more independent, they’ll quickly learn that this idea of control is a myth. Unexpected road bumps are the norm and will continue to be for the rest of their lives. They’ll have to deal with each unique situation the best they can, like we all do. Incidentally, most of the above examples happened to me!

Essentially, we all have two choices in facing tough, out-of-control situations: 1) stew and sulk about the circumstances and be consumed with self-pity or 2) accept the things you can’t control, work the problem, and make the best of it. You may not like the circumstances, but you can focus on what you can control, and try to glean something positive from it.

For example, you can’t control a roommate who you don’t get along with. However, you can choose to accept the situation and control the way you communicate with him or her. You can’t control not getting your dream job, but you can control your resume and sharpen your interview skills. See where I’m going?

It’s important for young people—for all of us, really—to understand that we have a choice in how to deal with matters beyond our control. For your own sake and for those around you, adopt the second approach. It’s not always easy but it’s far better than the alternative!
Remember, control what you can, but accept the things you can’t!

How do you handle things when life doesn’t go your way? Do you have a strategy that works well for you? If you have young people in your life, please share your ideas and thoughts with them so they are properly equipped, too.