Tag Archives: Financial Goals

Procrastinate at your peril

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“Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.” – Victor Kiam

The failure to finish important tasks is one of the major challenges that can stop you from achieving your financial goals. Many persons truly desire to improve their finances, but their dreams fade away because they make little effort to carry them out. Talking about your goals is great, but you have to take action in order to achieve them.

Years ago, I realised that my habit of procrastinating was seriously hindering my ability to create the financial lifestyle that I desired. Although I learned the right steps to make with money, many times I put them off for a later time that never arrived. I have regretted instances in the past where opportunities remained unfulfilled just because I didn’t act in time.

I had attempted to conquer my habit of procrastination by reading about ways to become more efficient in my use of time. My attempts to change were largely unsuccessful as I would often put off doing the recommended action items!

However, I knew that if I was going to be successful with money, I would have to learn to slay the dragon of procrastination, once and for all. Continue reading Procrastinate at your peril →

Multiple Streams of Income

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“Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches.” – Genesis 2: 8, 10 NLT

When it comes to their finances, many people are currently experiencing severe drought conditions. The reservoirs of their bank accounts are running dangerously low, as the constant outflows of money are not being replenished by new inflows of savings. The Jamaican proverb, “Rain a fall, but de dutty tough,” aptly describes the inability of their scattered income showers to nourish their parched budgets.

Some persons whose steady earnings have regularly flowed from their work pipelines, now find their taps painfully dry. Everywhere you look, people are engaged in a desperate search for fresh income sources to meet basic requirements and to store up for the future.

While the drought analogy might be appropriate for the financial challenges that many of us are facing today, remember that money is still in abundant supply even though it might not be obvious in our pockets. Continue reading Multiple Streams of Income →

Developing Financial Literacy in Jamaica

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Over the past eight years, I have been actively involved in writing, training and coaching on topics relating to financial education. Through interaction with thousands of Jamaicans from all walks of life, I have realised that the number one problem that prevents most people from achieving their financial goals is their lack of understanding of basic money principles.

Financial literacy is defined as the ability of individuals to make appropriate money decisions by learning the principles that relate to the management, growth and preservation of their money. When people are educated about the appropriate actions to take with their money, then they are more likely to save towards their goals, manage their debt, purchase assets such as a home, and make positive contributions to the economic development of the country.

Anecdotal evidence points to an overwhelming demand from Jamaicans for practical information on or about basic financial strategies such as budgeting, debt control, investing options and retirement and estate planning.

Although some financial institutions have been offering public seminars to address some of these issues, their initiatives have been insufficient to meet the country’s requirements. Continue reading Developing Financial Literacy in Jamaica →

We Will Rise Again in 2010!

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Most of us welcomed in 2010 with sighs of relief; giving thanks that the challenges of the past year were finally behind us. However, despite offering best wishes to friends and family, we may actually doubt that the aspiration “Have a Prosperous New Year” can be realised over the next 12 months.

Even if we managed to ignore the discussions about Jamaica’s economic crisis during the festive season, reality was abruptly thrust upon us on January 1 when the new tax increases were implemented. As I noted the dramatic jump in petrol prices, it became even more obvious to me that we were in for a financially challenging time this year.

The pragmatists and pessimists are warning us about impending job losses, increasing poverty levels and inevitable social upheavals. At the same time, some business and political leaders are declaring that Jamaica is poised to benefit from myriad opportunities that always abound in periods of crisis. Where does our future really lie? Continue reading We Will Rise Again in 2010! →

The Basics of a Business Plan

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Establishing your own business can be one avenue to increasing wealth, as it gives you the opportunity to control and expand your earning capacity. So why is it that some business owners end up in less advantageous financial positions, sometimes losing everything they own?

One factor that can help to determine the success of your venture is the planning that you do before starting, and during the lifetime of your business. A business plan is basically a document that provides a thorough description of your venture.

It gives information about the type of operation, the products or services offered, the industry in which it exists and the target market, its objectives and the strategies to be used to accomplish its goals, and financial details about the business. Continue reading The Basics of a Business Plan →