Where Are You in the Financial Lifecycle?

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financial lifecycleMy recent article, Are You a Financial Adult or Toddler?, was recently featured at credit.com here.  I’m not going to link to the Yahoo Finance site this week because they didn’t take the time to include the pictures which complement this piece – not that the most popular personal finance website cares what I do.

I’ve been working on developing this column for a long, long time.  I wanted to write about this because it’s so clear to me that we are never done – there is no finish line. People will find their own ways to develop financial maturity. Some will become financial experts and other will delegate to experts they can trust. But you can’t delegate the fundamentals. Here is quick bite from the article:

Financial maturity is developed in stages. As with all skills, you must begin at the beginning. Skipping ahead before mastering fundamentals will lead to glaring deficiencies, like the time I tried snowboarding a black diamond trail before taking any lessons. A permanently damaged knee proves this strategy doesn’t work out so well.

This may be considered a get rich slowly article but it has more to do with learning to manage your resources and emotions around money. And here are my closing remarks:

If, after reading this, you know that it’s time to grow up, then you are ready for the challenge of mastering new skills. Those who are willing to put in the hard work will be rewarded an emotional ease that comes with money maturity.

May your own journey be rewarding!

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Matthew Illian was a Wealth Manager at Marotta Wealth Management from 2007 to 2016. He specialized in small business consulting, college planning, and retirement plans.