A Man Is Not a Financial Plan

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Ever since I was really young I've wanted to be financially independent. I don't know where that came from, but for as long as I can remember I've wanted to be successful on my own, not rely on anyone else, and never have to worry about money.

Get a piggy bank girls!

I can't say I've never had money worries, but what's helped me has been getting into action and finding strategies that have worked for me. I think we can sometimes dig our heads into the sand and hope that our money problems will go away, but they don't. In fact, it gets harder as time passes and you get older and you realize that you could've started building wealth a long time ago.

When I was 19 I met with a financial planner and she asked me how much of my wage I wanted to invest. When I told her enthusiastically "90%!" she kind of laughed at me and told me that was highly unrealistic. With the benefit of hindsight I can see that my goal was ambitious, but an aggressive savings or investment strategy starting from a young age is such a boost for future wealth.

I bought my first property when I was 19 and started a managed fund at about the same time. I lived in that property with my partner at the time and together we worked hard to pay down the mortgage. My managed fund was a way to force savings - money simply came out of my account each month before I could spend it and the bank chipped in the same amount, leveraging the total amount that got invested.

As an entrepreneur my greatest opportunity for wealth creation is going to be my business so naturally my time is invested there, but the properties, (I now own a few and my husband and I bought our home together), and the shares are great ways to have my money working for me, without needing an investment of time (which none of us really have.)

I'm really passionate about seeing women improve their financial literacy and show personal leadership when it comes to creating wealth. It's all about educating yourself, asking a million questions (and not being embarrassed to re-ask if you still don't get it, which I do all the time - this stuff does not come naturally to me), and surrounding yourself with people who can assist and support you. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.












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