Your financial health matters
The Federal Reserve Board of New York recently reported that a record 7,000,000 Americans are 90 days or more past due on their car payments. This is a higher number than during the financial crisis several years ago. Since car payments are usually top priority-right behind housing payments-when people have to make choices about which bills to pay, this indicates that a lot of people are struggling, even during these times of relative economic growth. Full story in this article.
I am sharing this with you because it highlights a couple of important things:
- Finances and problems with money management can be very hard to talk about, or even think about during times of stress. Financial issues bring up a lot of shame and fear, and people often don't know where to turn for help before things get severe.
- There is no shame in going to a "financial doctor" for help and strategic advice. In fact, it's the most sensible thing to do-but many people wait until the symptoms have reached crisis level.
For whatever reason, we often try to hide financial worries from those around us in ways we wouldn't think of concealing symptoms of a cold or some more serious disease.
Have you ever showed up at work sneezing and coughing and had your co-workers say, "You need to get to the doctor and then go home to rest!"? No one thinks ill of you for taking care of your body.
We need to approach our financial health in a similar way.
Rather than wait until a "money flu" turns into financial pneumonia, it makes a lot of sense to sit down with a professional who can take an objective look and give you advice that will cure the situation and relieve a lot of stress.
Unfortunately, I have seen too many cases where people avoided the topic until their credit was badly damaged and their options were limited. Sometimes this meant that they couldn't qualify for a restructuring loan or, if they could, they had to pay much higher rates.
After I saw this report from the Federal Reserve, I felt like I should address this sensitive topic. I hope that you are not quietly struggling with your finances, but if you are, please get in touch so I can provide a thorough checkup and advise you on your options. This process is completely confidential and I am committed to your privacy.
This invitation also applies to your friends, family members, and work associates. Let's catch that first financial sneeze or sniffle so we can use all of our available resources to provide relief!
If you or those you care about need private advice, I'm a phone call or email away. Please let me know how I can be of service.