Be Smart: Ignore All The Financial Experts…

Ignore All The Financial Experts Who Advise You to Scale Back Your Expectations and Lifestyle

The chorus of gloomy financial experts is singing a ballad of restraint.  They warn that we all must adjust ourselves to a “new normal,” in which we lower our expectations and scale back our lifestyles.

The supposed villains are many and include: persistent high unemployment; the devastated real estate market; rising energy and food prices; record budget deficits; the possibility of a double-dip recession; international turmoil; and, well… you name it.

You have no choice, caution the pessimistic gurus, but to swallow:

• Earning less on your investments and savings for the foreseeable future

• Downgrading your current lifestyle to make up for the loss of investment returns

• Having less income at your disposal due to rising prices and the threat of inflation
• Getting socked with higher tax rates as the U.S. Government struggles to close its budget gap, and cash-strapped states and cities do likewise
• Pushing your retirement out – perhaps indefinitely
• Living on less if you do eventually get to retire (that is not only less than you live on now – which these downbeat financial representatives have always claimed is a retirement must – but less even than “the less” they were already advising you get by on just a few years ago)

• Sticking with the financial counselors who have been at your side all along because they remain your best source for guiding your future financial planning

To all of these bitter pills, we can only respond… B.S.

That is, Be Smart.

What the mainstream experts want to you accept as your financial destiny has very little in common with the real truth – a lesson satisfied Bank on Yourself participants regularly experience firsthand.

April marks National Financial Literacy Month in the United States as designated by the U.S. Senate in March 2004 and reaffirmed last year by Presidential proclamation.

National Financial Literacy Month is an excellent opportunity to take account of what you already know about growing and protecting your financial future and what you still need to learn to generate even better results.

Now is also a perfect time to take shelter from the daily avalanche of bad advice and downright misinformation that we are all bombarded with.

With very few exceptions, most financial literacy tests examine your knowledge of key words and concepts, as well as your adherence to widely accepted investing and savings principles.

For example, WalletPop, a leading online personal finance website, offers a 10-question quiz on financial literacy. Do you know the meaning of: a Put; Gap Insurance; a Quant Fund, the CARD act; a Reverse Mortgage, etc?

Needless to say, the quiz may be entertaining and even challenging, but getting absolutely every question correct reveals nothing about your ability to effectively navigate a pathway to financial stability and success.

True financial literacy is not just about correctly defining terms.  And it certainly is not about blind compliance with tired, ineffective mainstream money management advice.

The Bank on Yourself yardstick of financial literacy is quite different.  It seeks first and foremost to measure your ability to think and act in your own best interest.  Once you realize that you are the single best “expert” to direct your fiscal destiny, there are proven methods from which to choose to reach your financial goals and lifestyle dreams.

How do you answer these 10 true-or-false financial literacy statements?

• Much of what I’ve been taught about mainstream financial planning and the advice I’ve received hasn’t delivered as promised.  True/False

• There are millions of Americans, just like me, who are growing and securing their net worth without accepting risk and volatility.  True/False
• The rules of lifelong financial success are not complex.  I am capable of understanding and applying them. True/False
• Wealth is best built and protected using a proven and consistent strategy applied over time.  True/False
• My nest egg need not be hostage to the economy, stock market, real estate prices or events outside of my control. True/False
• I can accurately forecast my financial future. True/False
• My lifestyle can improve with each passing year – never retreat.  True/False
• I will be able to spend as much, if not more, in retirement than I do now. True/False
• For purposes of financial planning, I don’t plan to die, ever! True/False
• I am anxious to learn from others with real-life experience and proven credentials, but I trust my financial fate to my own hands. True/False

The more of these 10 questions that you answered “true” to, the higher your Bank On Yourself knowledge and self-reliance IQ.

Don’t worry if you didn’t yet respond “true” in each instance.  Many of the “false” answers have been deeply planted in us by our parents, well-intentioned family members, Wall Street, financial representatives and the media.

National Financial Literacy Month was established to remind us all to educate ourselves and our children about money, investing, and savings, as well as to encourage us to establish and maintain healthy financial habits.

Each time you visit the Bank on Yourself site and read our informative articles and blog posts, you are doing just that – staying financially fit.

And watch for an exciting announcement about a new website we’ll be unveiling to help you fearlessly navigate your personalized path to lifetime financial security and self-reliance!