Top 10 Ways Managing Your Money Is Just Like Riding a Bike
An avid cyclist and bike racing fan, I sit transfixed during the many hours of Tour de France coverage every July when the race rolls around. This year, during some of the less-than-scintillating early miles of the sprint stages, my mind wandered a bit, and it occurred to me that there are some interesting parallels between winning the Tour de France and winning at personal finance.
Having watched Lance Armstrong pull off the win for 7 years in a row, I've compiled this list of the Top 10 Ways Managing Your Money Is Just Like Riding a Bike:
1. If you take safety precautions (e.g. helmet/emergency fund), you'll feel a whole lot more relaxed and confident on the journey.
2. The better prepared you are, the greater your chances of succeeding. It's important to learn from the past, but you must also scout out the road ahead and evolve with the constantly changing environment.
3. Crashes happen. The actions of other participants, bystanders, and the media can sometimes distract you from your goal. If you expect the unexpected and are able to respond with a level head, you'll be better off.
4. If you take too many unnecessary risks, you might end up out of the race, and sometimes it can take quite a while to recover.
5. But you'll probably have to take at least some calculated risks to come out ahead. For example, you might improve your performance by using cutting edge products, e.g. ultra-light wheels for big uphill climbs or, in the financial world, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs.) But you also make some tradeoffs, e.g. less stability going downhill or, with HSAs, penalties if you withdraw the money for something besides health care.
6. There will be rainy days, and there most certainly will be ups and downs. The one who weathers the tough days the best usually comes out ahead in the end.
7. You don't have to come out on top ("beat the market," so to speak) every day ? or any particular day, for that matter ? to win the overall race, the race that really matters.
8. You can go a lot farther if the team you surround yourself with has skills, experience, a well-defined goal, and the right motivation.
9. Even if you start at a huge disadvantage, you can emerge victorious if you have the right attitude, understand the rules of the game, and persist despite setbacks.
10. A little bit of luck never hurts!
So the next time you're in doubt as to which road to take on your personal financial journey, consider looking to the peloton for guidance and inspiration. Whether your goal is a yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysées in July or a secure retirement, there's a surprising amount to learn from watching a bunch of bike racers circumnavigate France. Congratulations, Lance! Sherrill St. Germain
New Means Financial Planning
Principal
P. O. Box 666
Hollis, NH 03049
(603) 465 3485
sstgermain@newmeans.com
http://www.newmeans.com
Member, Garrett Planning Network - http://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com Offering financial planning on an hourly, as-needed basis...
No product sales! No commissions! So you're assured of unbiased advice.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Basic Bank Accounts Failing the Basic Needs of Consumers
The lists of bank and savings accounts that are available to most people are bewildering. A quick look at a comparison site like Moneynet or Moneyfacts will reveal thousands of different products. Unfortunately many of these accounts are not accessible for anyone with either a poor or even no credit history.
I Want to Buy a Home - Now What?
If you were to ask 100 women "What would you like to achieve financially?" Buying a home or apartment is usually one of the answers. Some women think that they can never own a home - which is not true! In fact, there are so many success stories of home buyers who never thought they would get there. In addition, homeowners tend to have greater financial success in the other areas of their finances life. I've seen it over and over.
How to Save for A Down Payment
Saving for a Down Payment is hard work, so it's a good idea to really want to own your own home by the time you begin your Savings Account. It's difficult to turn down a weekend in the Bahamas (or Downtown at the Clubs!) when you don't have a definite goal.
Save Money on your Clothing Budget. Tame the Closet Monster!
Reducing the clothing budget was a serious challenge for me. Two pre-teen girls and a teenage girl certainly didn't make life any easier. My son wasn't much of a challenge. Thank goodness, he's not "fashion conscious".
Students Investing in Their Future Need to Manage Their Finances Today
With the A-level results coming out, the long wait for UK school leavers hoping to go to university will soon be over. All the hard work that has been put into achieving the grades required will now pay off and the fun and freedom that is student life can begin. This may have been the case in the past, but the notion that university life is socially and financially responsibility free is now lamentably outdated. These days, if you want to study beyond the age of 18, learning becomes very expensive.
Do You Know What Tomorrow Will Bring?
I've been sharing the following idea with people for a few years now, and realized recently that I had never written specifically about it. So here it is:
The Good and the Bad of Money Management
Good money management needn't be difficult. In fact, there a number of
easy steps recommended by most financial professionals to help manage
your finances better.
Live Green; Save Green!
Have you seen the recent article on a new "green" residential high rise in Battery Park? It's called The Solaire. For a look at the hopeful future of architectural efficiency, check out the myriad of cost saving and environmentally-friendly features of the building:
Why We Are Never Satisfied with What We Have
I have to admit, I do it too. I complain. Seek better. Complain again. Ridiculous cycle. It's more of a condition really. A humanity disease, I think we are born with it. It is almost as physical and useful as a regular appendage. Don't get me wrong, being dissatisfied with here, has got us all to a lot of great theres. Otherwise America would still be in dreary old England and we wouldn't have the 4th of July.
Affording a Home
Can you really afford a house? If so, how much house can you afford? To determine this answer will take serious financial planning, and the best time to start is at least six months before buying the home.
How To Get Ahead On A Low Income
Do you struggle from week to week trying to make ends meet? Are you consistently going without things that you really wish you could afford? Well I have some possible and practical solutions to your dilemma:
Planning Ahead with Your Finances
If you, like most people, have not seriously considered what steps you should take for planning your finances and are now planning on buying a house, getting married or having children, you will do well to read David Chilton's book 'The Wealthy Barber'.
Saving Money - Are You Doing Enough?
It is estimated that we, as consumers, waste an average of 30% of our paychecks on items we don't need or pay way too much for the items we buy. Since 1990, spending is up 30% and debt is up an astounding 80%. What this tells us is, the average consumer is not only buying more but putting much more of a strain on their parcheck, forcing most to overextend themselves with their credit cards.
Financial Readiness: Preparing for BRAC (Base Realignment And Closing)
The recommendations for military base closings have been released and the news is not good. If the recommendations are accepted, you will lose your job. So what do you do? Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
Debt Management ? More Ways to Save on Gas Consumption
The price of gas continues to climb, and with continued uncertainty in the Middle East, they will probably continue to do so. In California and elsewhere, prices for some grades of gas have now reached the previously unthinkable three dollars a gallon. Granted, that is lower than the inflation-adjusted prices of early 1981, but that doesn't make anyone feel better when they've just paid nearly $100 to fill the tank of their sport utility vehicle.
Vesting and Your 401(k)
Do you have a 401(k) retirement account? Are you vested yet? Before you move on to your next job, it is critical for you to find out if you are fully vested in your retirement account before you make the move. If you are not, you could lose hundreds if not thousands of dollars in employer contributions.
The World is Not Enough - Calling for a More Ethical Approach to Personal Finance
At a time when the entire world's attention is focused on the problems of world debt, with the Live 8 concerts, the G8 summit in Scotland, the Make Poverty History Campaign (MPH) and the various anti-poverty marches, it seems that everyone wants the world's governments to behave more ethically towards the manner in which international finance is conducted. This is obviously a laudable attitude to take, and has gained immense momentum with such a groundswell of public opinion that even the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has stated he is planning to participate in the Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh during the G8 summit.
Honor Those Who Serve with Checking Account Supplies
Our global society has had a wake up call in the last five years regarding our safety. But there are those in our communities that fight to keep us safe from day to day. They are take charge people and we like to honor them as our heroes. What better way than on your checking supplies?
Financing Collectibles for Fun and Profit
With the advent of the internet and especially auction services like those provided by Yahoo and E-bay, serious collectors have much larger arenas in which to buy and sell their wares. This provides the opportunity for quick discovery of hard-to-find items that previously might have taken years to find.
Creating A Household Budget
Creating a budget can be a very difficult task. Although we as consumers know that we need to pay our bills, buy our necessities, and put money away for savings, we don't really know how to start.
|
