A Word from Brian

How to balance your financial life and happiness

Life is busy so how do you keep your finances on track while feeling fulfilled? It starts with a budget; your income versus your living expenses. Let me clarify, living expenses are the bare bones requirements to get you through life such as housing, gas, groceries, and utility bills. Once you see what daily living costs you can plan for happiness inducing expenses such as entertainment, a new gadget you've been wanting, or a vacation.

But how do you stay on track towards your goals when impulse buying opportunities surround you? Remember your younger years when you were told to think before you say something you might regret later? I want you to think before you buy. Before you decide to splurge on your morning coffee, ask yourself if that $6.00 you were going to spend on coffee could help you reach your happiness goal of a dream vacation a bit sooner. Look through your receipts and bank statements, how many times in the last month did you make a purchase under $20 that wasn't necessary? Did those small purchases bring you the same joy that meeting your happiness goal might? If not, then save the money instead of spending it on purchases that don't measure up.

I challenge you to think about how purchases outside your budget make you feel before you spend your hard earned money. If you would like to dive deeper into building or managing your budget contact us at advisors@financialconceptsllc.net.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

As we begin the last quarter of the year we want to remind you how important it is to safe guard your online interactions. Whether you're accessing your bank account, email, shopping, or using social media it is important to think about cyber security.

Here are some tips to protect you in today's online driven world:

Make sure your home internet connection is password protected
Don't access your financial accounts on an unsecure network at your favorite coffee shop or other public network
Protect yourself from email hackers by not opening emails or attachments from unknown senders
When shopping online don't assume all websites are safe, stick to sites you know
If your using social media be aware of what you are posting including travel plans that could alert strangers that you're away from home

If the worst does happen and your email or computer gets hacked, immediately change your passwords. Alert your financial institutions so they are aware of a potential security breach in your accounts. Remember to think before you act when it comes to using the internet safely.

All the best,

Brian T. Kelso

** These are the views of Financial Concepts, LLC and are based on information from sources believed to be reliable. However, these opinions may change as information becomes outdated. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.