It’s no secret that women view money differently than men. Meriflor Toneatto is an entrepreneur and certified business and life coach. She states, “A woman’s emotional relationship with money directly impacts her overall level of satisfaction in life – or lack of it.”

Toneatto continues, “Wealth isn’t just about money; it’s about the quality of a woman’s overall life. Greater awareness of how you feel about your life can yield helpful insights regarding your relationship with money, which can immediately change for the better.”

Below are 8 ways women can help with their confidence dealing with money and being successful with their own financial management.

1) Be honest. Total honesty is the best way to get to the root of your feelings, beliefs and attitudes about money. Women often keep secrets about our true feelings, especially regarding money.

2) Give yourself permission. For better or worse, women tend to seek support or permission for significant life decisions. Skip a step and give yourself permission. It’s important to have an open mind and heart as you proceed with financial self-improvement, which includes being grateful for who you are right now, warts and all, for arriving at this moment in your life.

3) Practice forgiveness. A key way to move beyond your emotional obstacles with money is to let them go and forgive. Practicing forgiveness is a powerful way to remove what’s standing between you and having more money in your life.

4) Celebrate the big and small – have fun! We always notice the big things in life, but we tend to overlook the little steps we took to get there. They all count! And, take heart in your journey – an adventure of self-discovery, love, courage and possibility. This is at the heart of true, lifelong self-improvement.

5) Put yourself first. Commit to taking care of yourself and putting your needs at the top of your priority list. Think of it as “self-full” rather than “selfish.” When you love yourself, you’ll experience positive changes that will benefit those around you; you will operate better. “Self-fullness” may include scheduling uninterrupted time alone for reflection, reading, meditation, physical training and other ways to get in touch with your emotions.

6) Start a money journal. Consider keeping a gratitude journal and, taking it a steep further, a financial journal. What you focus on will grow, so focus on being grateful about money and you’ll start to see positive changes in your life.

7) Pay attention to synchronicities. As you begin to work on transforming your relationship with money, pay attention to what comes back to you as a result of your intention. Be aware of coincidences, synchronicities and opportunities that come your way. This may include new clients at unexpected places, hearing references to new books or even a mentor, or the possibility that you’re at the right place at the right time.

8) Feel prosperous and rich now. Prosperity and wealth is a state of mind. It’s essential that you don’t feel poor because that brings your thoughts toward poverty. Your goal is to take stock of what you have now, embellish it with gratitude, and enjoy the return.

We hope you enjoyed reading the 8 Ways Women Can Improve Dealing With Money article. If you are in need of help with your finances or investments but don’t have someone to work with, please contact us today. We can refer you to a qualified financial advisor. Educate yourself on financial industry news by following this popular luxury blog.

Protecting your identity and credit should be a top priority for everyone. Identity thieves work hard to steal your personal information to commit fraud, so be careful and prepared to protect your security.

Recently big retailers have been hit by hackers including both Target and Neiman Marcus. At least 110 million consumers were affected by the hack and the numbers may rise as the investigations continue to unfold.

It’s important to prevent identity theft from occurring by managing your personal information carefully and staying one step ahead of the thieves. Take precautions and don’t become an identity theft victim!

CEO of Merritt Ventures, Inc, Scott A. Merritt has put together a list titled “7 Tips for Protecting Your Identity & Money.” Merritt knows first hand the troubles one must deal with because he was a victim of identity theft himself back in 2006.

Before you become an identity theft victim yourself, take the important steps now to prevent a financial disaster from happening down the road. Here are Merritt’s seven ways to guard against becoming an identity theft victim.

1) Secure your wallet’s information. Photocopy everything in your wallet: photos, credit cards (front and back), membership cards – everything. Put the copies in the order the cards are arranged in your wallet, staple the pictures and place them in a strong box or safe.

2) Understand how and where it happens. Identity theft is like being robbed when you are away from home; most thefts occur in places where you do business every day. Either a place of business is robbed, a bad employee acts improperly or a hacker breaches the office through the computer.

3) Protect your banking information. While in the bank, keep account numbers and other data out of sight, and avoid stating account numbers, Social Security numbers and similar information out loud. When planning a bank visit, have items such as deposits and withdrawal slips prepared in advance.

4) Account for your interactions with vendors. Every time you speak to someone with whom you do business, write down the time, date, name and the purpose or outcome of the call. If an identity theft occurs on the vendor’s end, you will be able to reference these prior conversations effectively. Be sure to note any animosity or reluctance from the vendor.

5) Secure your digital habits and data. Change your passwords at least twice a year on a non-scheduled basis – don’t be predictable. Have a strong firewall if you shop online, and only access sites that are protected by a strong firewall and high industry standards. Access accounts of a financial nature only from your personal computer.

6) Don’t carry around your birth certificate or Social Security card. Unless it’s necessary, keep those vital items in a safe, or at least a firebox. If you know someone is going to need a copy of your tax returns or your driver’s license, for example, make the copies ahead of time. This avoids the need for a firm’s employee to leave the room with such information.

7) Make sure your information is consistent. For all of your identity and financial documents, make absolutely sure, to the smallest detail, that all of your personal information is accurate and consistent! Discrepancies such as using your middle initial on some documents, and not others, or having different addresses, can wreck havoc in proving your identity, and can compromise your credit score.

If you feel you have become a hacking or identity theft victim, take immediate action. You can contact The Life of Luxury and we can help put you in touch with a professional who can help.

As 2014 is well underway, many people are still in a financial mess and trying to dig themselves out of a mountain of debt. Well make 2014 the year of your financial independence.

Rick Rodgers is a Certified Financial Planner and president of Rodgers & Associates, and is offering “5 Steps to Take Toward Financial Independence in 2014.” Your goal should be to save something from every work paycheck this year. Keep increasing it until you are saving at least 10 percent of your pay.

You will need to make some changes in 2014 that you can stick with for the rest of your life. It’s never too late to begin. Gain your financial independence and make positive changes in your financial life.

Here are five helpful financial tips that can make a significant impact on your financial future:

1) Credit cards should be a last resort. Spending less than you earn will cause your savings to grow. The savings account will be there when the car breaks down or the washing machine goes out, so you don’t have to turn to credit to handle the emergency. Most Americans are not prepared financially for any type of unexpected financial burden. Your goal should be to have three to six months of living expenses set aside in a liquid account for emergencies.

2) Spend less than you earn. If you take home $1,000 per week, you cannot spend more than $1,000 per week. That seems simple, but a survey released by Bankrate.com in 2013 found 76 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Resolve to live on a budget that’s below your means. You will never be able to out-earn your capacity to spend, so get your spending under control this year.

3) Pay less in taxes. Anyone looking for a place to cut expenses might start with their own tax return. Too many Americans pay more taxes than they should. Take advantage of tax retirement accounts through work and health savings accounts, if they’re offered. There are tax credits available for children, higher education, dependent care and retirement savings. Many of these credits go unclaimed each year. Resolve to minimize your income taxes this year and put the savings into your new financial plan.

4) Invest for financial independence. This is not the same as saving for retirement. The goal here is to get to the point financially where you no longer have to work to support yourself. Set aside some of the money you’ve worked for today. Allow it to accumulate and grow so one day that money will be working for you. Start by controlling spending so you have money to save and invest. Continue the process until the return on your investments exceeds what you earn by working. Financial independence gives you the freedom to choose to continue working, change jobs, work part-time or not at all. It is the ultimate financial goal.

5) Make a plan. Baseball great Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you wind up someplace else.” This is especially true if you want to be financially independent. You need a short-term financial plan for controlling spending — a budget. You also need a long-term plan that establishes the level of savings you maintain, a plan to get out of debt and an investment plan that will take you to financial independence. The plan becomes your road map. There will be detours along the way; your goals and plan will need adjusting as you progress in life. Keep working at it. Don’t be distracted by outside influences you can’t control. You don’t want to get to the end of your working career only to find you haven’t saved enough to maintain
your lifestyle and you still have a mortgage on your home.

Remember, it’s never too late to start. Financial independence may seem like a pipe dream, but begin the journey in 2014 and keep it going.

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, said “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

If you are in need of financial assistance, please contact The Life of Luxury and we can help put you in touch with a financial professional in your area.

Many people choose to handle their debts through a process known as debt consolidation. The objective of consolidation is to turn many debts into a single one with a lower rate of interest.

Debt consolidation is an excellent way for someone with a lot of high interest debt from credit cards, car loans, or other high-interest loans to save money in the long run, as well as improve their credit rating.

It does not, however, absolve them of the debt, and in fact it requires them to offer up some form of collateral or other item of demonstrable value in order to justify the loan.

Still, the reduced rate of interest tends to not only make the buyer’s payments much lower and more affordable, it allows the borrower to save money in the long run by paying off more of the money they actually owe and less of the interest on the initial amount.

When someone chooses to consolidate their loans, they go to a bank or other lending institution and bring information regarding all of their extant loans. This can be everything from credit card bills to car loans to gambling debts.

Most of these loans are known as “unsecured loans” because the borrower does not have to offer up anything as collateral in the event that they are unable to pay off the loan. As such, the lender needs to have a high rate of interest on the loan in order to make sure that they will gain back the amount the originally spent, plus a profit.

The rate needs to be so high that even if many of the borrowers do not pay back the loan, the company still makes money. This is why credit card debt and gambling debt are famous for their high rates of interest, since it is common for borrowers to default on them.

A consolidated loan then pays off all those extant loans and replaces them with a single large loan that is secured, in that the lender asks for collateral in the form of goods, properties or investments that they can collect on should the borrower be unable to pay.

While this means that the consolidated loan cannot be larger than the value a borrower can offer in collateral, it does mean that they can replace high-interest, unsecured debt with low-interest secured debt.

This has the downside of meaning that they lose their house or other property if they fail to pay off the new loan, however, and it also requires that the borrower own valuable and unmortgaged property that is more valuable than their extant debt.

Still, consolidation is considered better than bankruptcy for one both financially and in terms of credit rating in the long term, since it shows that one is willing and able to pay off one’s debts through one means or another.

It also means that the borrower will be able to access credit cards and take out other loans while paying off their consolidated loan, although financial expediency becomes much more important when paying off a large consolidated loan.

If you need financial advice to help you with debt consolidation or retirement planning, please contact The Life of Luxury and we can refer a certied financial planner to help your needs.