10 Factors for Financial Success

Today, as a society we tend to view financial success in rather cut and dry ways.  A few things we tend to get hung up on when we try to achieve financial success include: a big house, fancy cars, flashy jewelry, or the highest paying job.  Are these the things that are really going to make you happy in the long run?  Before you decide whether or not you are financially successful, take a step back.  Define your own personal version of success.  Then see what you can do to achieve it.  You may be surprised to realize that you are more successful than you think.

Listed below are ten factors we at Lighthouse Financial Advisors feel can help you achieve the ultimate goal of financial freedom.

1. Health: Your health and the health of your loved ones are the most important part of success.  With disease, illness, and uncontrollable health concerns out there, simply living a healthy, long life is a huge success in itself.
2. Invest in YOU: Spending your time on individual passion projects can lead to true financial success.  When you make the commitment to invest in yourself, the return on investment will begin to multiply exponentially over time.
3. How Much You Save: Saving money is worth the effort.  It gives you peace of mind, it gives you options, and the more you save, the easier it becomes to accumulate additional savings.
   • Always have an Emergency Reserve!! We recommend at least 3 to 6 months of expenses saved somewhere that’s both easy to access and safe.
4. Take Full Advantage of Retirement Plans: Retirement plans are a valuable benefit that impacts the present and future lives of employees.  You can receive significant tax savings for funding your “Tax-Deferred” retirement accounts.
5. Minimize Taxes Paid: Paying taxes is unavoidable, but we feel that ample opportunities do exist to help achieve a lower tax bill.  At LFA minimizing taxes paid is always a top priority.
6. Diversification of Assets: Diversification is a technique that reduces risk by allocating investments among various financial instruments, industries and other categories.  It is an important component of reaching long-term financial goals while minimizing your risk.
7. Healthy Relationships: Learning how to approach, attain, and maximize the different types of relationships in your life is crucial to success.  Having and maintaining healthy, happy relationships will bolster your quality of life and give you renewed meaning.
8. Live Within Your Means: One of the first steps to find out if you’re living within your means is to create a budget.  Once you’ve a clear understanding of your current budget, your challenge is to find places where you can spend less and earn more in order to achieve your financial goals.
9. Avoid Bad Habits & Horrible Mistakes: Everyone makes mistakes in their lives.  There are a lot of financial habits that can lead an individual into debt.  We want to assist in helping you avoid the pitfalls looming out there in the financial world.
10. Investment Rate of Return: Consistent investing over a long period of time can be an effective strategy to accumulate wealth.  Even the smallest deposits can add up over time.