When asked about the services I provide, depending on the situation at the time, there is my short answer or the long one. That being, "I teach people how to make better financial decisions, one person at a time", or "I help people to stop doing stupid things with their financial lives and teach them how to take smart steps, that will bring them greater prosperity and security". In short, I am in the instruction business. I help people build, rebuild, or remodel their financial lives. Inevitably, any further discussion turns to examples and anecdotes, so I decided to give an sample list of skills and outcomes of my mentor work with people. This is by no means a complete compilation, but rather a representation of real life learning achievement.

• Create a financial roadmap.
• Identify financial blind spots
• Improve your credit rating.
• Buy a car without being 'taken'.
• Learn vital money life behaviors & right actions.
• Evaluate pros & cons for better financial decision making.
• Establish greater communication over money matters between spouses.
  
• Acquire sudden lump sum wealth, windfall, or inheritance stewardship skills.
• Interpretation & translation of difficult or confusing financial terms and forms.
• Engage in creating a greater net worth and financial resilience & independence.

As a bonus, this transformational learning very often results in a dialing down of financial life frustration, anxiety, and worry. Hope this short list gives an initial idea of what can be accomplished with personal, hands on instruction. ~Steve

We have crossed the threshold of yet again a brand new year. History has again been made, with the peaceful transfer of power in our country, to a new president and administration. As of today, 2018 is before us like a book with only the introduction written so far. The closing of a now previous year of our lives, and the process of starting anew, is traditionally a time of reflection. This is both good and appropriate. In the busyness of life, it does not always happen much. The Bible gives us two gems of truth to ponder, as we begin to write new pages of our life in 2018:

• ​PROVERBS 19:20  Hear counsel, receive instruction, and accept correction, that you may be wise in the time to come.
• ​​PROVERBS 23:12 Apply your mind to instruction and correction and your ears to words of knowledge.

(The Amplified Bible Version)
​So, are you content to end this year of 2018 we have entered, in the exact same financial place as you are now? The master key to increased financial well-being is not only knowing what to do, as important as that is-- but actually getting it done. Implementation of positive change, that is a big part of what a financial coach produces--real life results. There is no better investment than your own improvement. Personal financial literacy is one of the most foundational life skills you could ever obtain, in terms of impact on your future. What are you waiting for? ~Steve

• JOHN 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
  

​(King James Bible Version)

Last week, after a particularly long and frustrating day, I decided to do something I had not done for some time. That being, watching a movie on Netflix as a mindless  diversion. Selecting an appropriate distraction, I settled in for one & 1/2 hours of removal from the fray, before hitting the sack. The basic plot of this sci-fi script was about a huge tech company involved in developing sophisticated combat robots to replace live troops---in this case marines.

​A squad leader of the group that was to train with these robo-destroyers was unimpressed. He felt that a machine with a software program was not the same as a living person with a reasoned cause. A representative from the manufacturer tried to make the point, that they were doing all this so that people like him didn't have to risk their lives. To which the character in this movie replies, "This is a choice I make, and I do so in part so that people like you don't have to." Wow. I thought, yes, this is true, and I am so glad for the many ordinary, but valiant souls that have made that choice. Thankful for those both in the past and presently, that have had this very personal aspiration.

​Further, as the story moved on, the name of these 'intelligent' bots kept coming up, which was SAR units, or SARs. This stood for Study-Adapt-Reprogram. Again I thought.....Wow. This is exactly what the average person today doesn't do in their lifetime. There is no new learning, no applying of fresh knowledge, and no course correction to take one's life in the direction of their ideal. Only the same routine of endless mediocrity and non-achievement of life fulfillment. But this SAR acronym is a simple version of the process I take my student/clients through. Creating positive financial life momentum toward a chosen life direction ideal.

​May we all be grateful for those who choose to protect and defend our collective freedom. What personal growth choices are you making to fulfill your life potential; seeing as how we have this fragile gift of freedom to actually do so? A good question might be: How deep is any life rut you happen to be in? And also: Can you even still see over the edges? Time is a finite commodity. That which is used cannot be renewed. What are you waiting for?
​~Steve