Question-Week ending Sunday 04/20/03:
Why do you think so few people have a written financial plan for their future? Please read our Poll Commentary before taking this poll.
Pre-Poll Commentary:
Show me a person with a written financial plan for their future and I'd be willing to bet this person is a good time manager. All planning requires time and effort and financial planning is no exception. So our poll question this week is "Why do so few people have written financial plans?"
Our question stems from two prior polls we conducted on Financial Management. In one we asked our respondents "How much time they devoted per month to Financial Management?" Our top response was 2-4 hours per month or an average of about 6 minutes a day. This answer was 1/35 the amount of time our top respondents reported they watched TV per day.
In our second past poll we asked "Do you believe if you invested 20 minutes a day devoted to some aspect of Financial Management, you could improve the quality of your life?" Virtually everyone agrees positively to this question.
From the above two polls we could conclude that our respondents believe that investing time in Financial Management can make a huge difference, but they can't seem to get around to doing so. Thus our current poll question evolved.
How we manage our time has a direct result on our entire life. What we do, where we go, what we learn and what we achieve. Everyday we make either the right choices and decisions or the wrong one's!
Due to the fact that I can't buy time with any amount of money, I view my time as an asset more valuable than money. I always question whether I'm investing my time properly or squandering it like a pocketful of loose change?
I sincerely believe that the time I invest on meaningful, planned activities, including the art of Financial Management, creates value and money for the future.
In this week's poll, let us know why you think so few people have a written financial plan for their future? This poll will end on Sunday 04/20/03, when the results will be displayed.
Results:
- 30% voted that people are too lazy to plan for future
- 28% voted that people don't know how to plan for future
- 19% voted that people don't have time to plan for future
- 17% voted that people are not aware of a plan's benefits
- 06% voted that people believe it's too hard to plan
Post-Poll Commentary:
Based on our poll results, 30% of our respondents, believed that laziness was the root cause for people not investing time on a financial plan, followed by 28% believing that people just don't know how to plan. Both reasons are fixable if people only believed in the benefits they can enjoy if they invested time on their finances right now. There just aren't enough words that could explain the feeling of being financially independent.
The reason for most success in life comes from planned actions, executing a system that has a proven track record. None of us has the time to invent new systems for everything we do in life. The trial and error method takes too long and most people will become discouraged long before they reach their goals. That's why it is so important to read and seek knowledge from others who have experienced success using some proven system. This is not to say that you have to buy into the first system you come across. But you need to research what has worked for others, choose the right system for you and then TAKE ACTION!
I post links to many magazine articles on this website, in an effort to lead our visitors to information that I believe is worth reading. Included in these articles are systems worth investigating and trying. If you sit on the sidelines throughout life and do nothing about your financial future, you will have a good chance of ending up with very little when it comes time to retire and stop working. You need to invest time in financial management and you need to start RIGHT NOW! Don't be lazy. And if you don't know what to do, go to the library and start reading and learning. No one will do this for you.
As a productivity tool, get a financial management software package like Quicken or Microsoft Money and start using this software to track all your finances. You must have good data to plan well. You must become a student of your own well being.
Don't wait another minute to act. After reading this commentary, write down what you are going to do about learning and improving your finances right now. Get a plan going and start on it right away. Five or ten years from now you will begin reaping the rewards of the efforts you made today.