Do Better With Money

Do This Before You Set Your 2021 Goals

December 17, 2020 by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® Leave a Comment

This is a year that lots and lots of people did not hit the goals they set in January, and for good reason. Often in December we look back on the year and our goals and maybe we aren’t where we thought we’d be. This feeling of non-accomplishment sucks. It makes it hard to get excited about setting goals for the next year.

What if instead of looking at what didn’t get done or go right during the year, you focused on the things that did go well.

Even amid a global pandemic and much suffering, there are still some things that each of us can be thankful for and feel some sense of growth, progress, realization or benefit.

Here’s a simple way to focus on the good that showed up during the year.

Create a highlight reel of your year in review.

Go through the pictures in your phone and create an album of the good stuff. Chances are you’ll see some things you had forgotten about.
Spend some time with each image and the feelings they bring up.

Here’s part of my 2020 highlights album:

I trust that looking for the good will bring you some smiles too. Have fun with it!

Every good wish,

P.S. When you’re ready and the time is right, let me know if you want to have a conversation about how to listen to and understand your own thoughts and beliefs when it comes to money. Email me at ellen@ellenrogin.com and put “money thoughts” in the subject line.

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Which is Better, to Give or Receive?

December 10, 2020 by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® Leave a Comment

I know you’ve likely grown up hearing it’s better to give than receive, right? Well is it really?

Yes, clearly there are many benefits to giving. These include:

Generosity boosts happiness levels.
Generous acts inspire others to give.
Generous people tend to make more money.
Volunteering can be good for your mental and physical health.
Generous people are hot (yes there is research about how generous people are more attractive.)

Here’s my question to you …

If you are always the giver are you preventing someone else from reaping the benefits of giving to you?

Isn’t it a bit selfish to not receive? After all, there can’t be a giver without a receiver.

If you are not open to receiving this could actually hurt your relationships and your business. Who has been offering to give to you that you’ve been saying no to, or pushing away? Sometimes the most generous thing you can do is to let someone else give to you.

My mother-in-law used to always want to send us home with something when we visited her in Atlanta. Sometimes it was a bowl, or cans of tuna, or even a giant box of aluminum foil. The foil actually became part of joke during my daughter Amy’s bat mitzvah speech (10 years ago) … She was finally adult enough to care for this family “heirloom.” We almost always graciously accepted the gifts from my mother-in-law, even when we didn’t need or want them. It made her feel great to give to us. Our memory of her is that of a loving, generous woman.

Need a little practice with being a better receiver?

Try graciously accepting the next compliment you receive. Simply say thank you. Truly take it in without diminishing it in your mind or with your words.

By the way, I think you’re awesome. (Did you take that one in?!)

Every good wish,

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Why Want vs Need is Messed Up

December 3, 2020 by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® Leave a Comment

Need vs. want? You’ve heard this concept before … that you should look at your spending and decide if a purchase is a need or a want. Given what’s happening for so many people now, where their needs are not being met, perhaps it’s time for a new view on this concept.

What would it mean to serve someone else’s need vs. your want?

The social contract with cyber Monday and giving Tuesday is so interesting when viewed from this perspective. Shouldn’t the days be arranged the other way around – where you give to those in need first and then you spend money on the wants for you or people on your list second?

We can see the significance of this if we just take a look at food insecurity, one of many issues that has been made worse by the pandemic. According to a Feeding America study pre-pandemic food insecurity had already been impacting 35 million people annually in the U.S. including 11 million children. These were actually the lowest numbers in 20 years. The pandemic has reversed those improvements made over the past decade since the Great Recession. So when Feeding America now projects that 1 in 6 (more than 50 million people) are experiencing food insecurity in 2020, including 1 in 4 children (approximately 17 million), we know that millions more are newly experiencing this basic need, right now.

I’m not suggesting feeling guilty or wrong with purchases and gifting, but instead suggesting you consider how much better you might feel by also digging deeper this year to help others – whether through charitable giving or direct financial gifts to those in need.

In the words of Anne Frank:

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Every good wish,

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Is Your Money Feminine or Masculine?

November 19, 2020 by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® 1 Comment

Is money feminine or masculine?

That may sound like a weird question but play along with me a bit. If I asked you – if you had to guess – would you say “money” was more like a stereotypical male or a stereotypical female? If you find that you default to “oh, if I were to personify money it would definitely be a guy,” you might be like a lot of people. Why do you think you might say that? Maybe because for a long time money and the financial systems were run by men. I should say they are still run by mostly men. According to Morningstar, women made up only 14% of fund managers across 56 countries (in the US it’s only 11%). And yet, through September of this year women-led funds have actually outperformed their male counter parts.

Maybe you lean toward money being male because your dad was in charge of the money when you were growing up like it was in my home. My mom used to “ask” my dad for a check when she needed to pay someone. It’s not that he was controlling, it was just how they delegated those duties back then.

Possibly a lot of us think of money as masculine because of this fun fact: many languages actually assign words a gender. For example, grammatically in French, Spanish, Italian – money is considered masculine.

The fact is that many more people typically attribute a masculine energy to money.

But what if you simply added some feminine energy to your concept of money?

For the record – I don’t actually believe that money is more male or female. Money’s more they/them than he/him or she/her. However, adding some feminine to the mix will help change a lot. Money fits into our lives best when there is both masculine and feminine energy – a balance. The yin and yang. At their most positive both feminine and masculine energies are important in creating true prosperity.

Masculine and feminine energies at less stable levels lead to a lot of money disfunction. Masculine energies of aggressive competition, control, abuse, avoidance, and withdrawal are bad for your prosperity. Similarly, less than excellent feminine qualities like being overly-emotional, needy, and insecure don’t work well either.

Balance is important in all areas of life. Money is no exception.

We all have masculine and feminine energies and traits. Adding more of the feminine into your money management, goal setting, and your financial life in general will help and could be just what you need to create more prosperity on purpose.

Every good wish,

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Easy Bake Finances

November 12, 2020 by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® Leave a Comment

Was there an Easy Bake Oven in your house when you were a kid? I loved mine. I remember taking the mix, adding water, putting the batter in the small round pan, and sliding it into the oven to be baked by the light bulb. I waited… and waited… and eventually a little round cake was created. I still love to bake. My mom being a great baker was likely a bigger influence than my Easy Bake Oven, but it certainly helped.

Ellen’s Thanksgiving pies

Wouldn’t it be cool to have managing money be this easy?

Who wouldn’t want Easy Bake Finances?

Here’s how I see it working. There’s a simple mix (you get to choose the flavor). You just add a bit of money, you let it bake and rise and, if you are patient enough, at the end you have your delicious result.

It actually could be that easy. At least parts of money management could be.

The recipe is simple:

Find the investment mix you like. There are lots of places to do this – either using a financial advisor to help, going with an online service, or doing your own research (the last being less easy bake but may suit your tastes).
Add generous amounts of savings.
Sift through limiting money beliefs.
Stir in abundant thoughts.
Be patient and let it bake. Your money cake may rise or fall but with enough time you’ll likely end up with your delicious treat.

What if instead of looking at what didn’t get done or go right during the year, you focused on the things that did go well.

Create a highlight reel of your year in review.

Here’s part of my 2020 highlights album:

Yes, clearly there are many benefits to giving. These include:

If you are always the giver are you preventing someone else from reaping the benefits of giving to you?

Need a little practice with being a better receiver?

What would it mean to serve someone else’s need vs. your want?

Is money feminine or masculine?

But what if you simply added some feminine energy to your concept of money?

Balance is important in all areas of life. Money is no exception.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have managing money be this easy?

The recipe is simple:

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