How to Manage Your Individual Finances Efficiently

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Each adult in this world has a personal financial world to manage and nurture as they move through life. Ideally, this world grows and develops at a steady and stable pace – but sometimes it’s difficult to manage, what with life’s many difficult obstacles. This article is all about managing those finances efficiently. It’s about making your cash go further, understanding your spending habits, and preventing your life from slipping into the world of debt that can quickly lead to a spiraling decline to your financial health. The tips below are relevant to every individual looking to sustain a healthier economic life into the future.

Budget and Account

Perhaps the most pivotal piece of advice for long-term financial efficiency on a personal level is to account for your spending, and budget out what portions of your salary you are happy to be spent on things like rent, food, and entertainment. Whether you choose to hire an accountant, you draw up your accounts yourself, or you engage with a smart bank that collates your spending data into handy reports automatically, you should always have an eye firmly on your ins and outs in order to understand where you can cut your spending to save more cash.

Avoid Debt

For many people across the US, a paycheck is whittled down to nearly nothing each month, which means that at times it’s difficult to emerge from your overdraft. Of course, there are varying degrees of debt, all with their own level of seriousness for you and your financial health. For instance, debt to your landlord can result in your eviction, with incredibly serious knock-on effects for your ability to earn and live in the future. That’s why it’s advisable to get quick cash loans in serious debt situations such as not being able to afford your rent, but you should ensure that you are paying these back as soon as you get your next paycheck.

See a Financial Advisor

Some individuals feel that they’re not extremely well trained in the world of finance and money management. As it’s not something taught at schools, this is no surprise. Whether you’re wondering how mortgages work, whether you should take out multiple credit cards, or how to optimize your tax, there are individuals out there who can answer these questions for you. Demystifying the financial world is one of the best remedies to confused citizens unsure of how to manage their cash – so find an advisor today.

Find Tips Online

The internet is an incredible resource for anyone looking to find expert advice, for free, on how to operate more efficiently in the world of finance. You can find tips on how to choose the right bank account or the best insurance provider. Or if you’re looking for more long-term strategic planning that takes into account your lifestyle, your family and your projected earnings, you’ll be able to see things from a clearer perspective by finding some of the internet’s most trusted and accurate financial advice pages to help you plan your economically bright future.

Finances are sometimes impenetrable and difficult to manage. This article aims to help individuals achieve better financial health, operating more economically efficiently going forwards into the future.

What Does Your Email Reveal About Your Leadership Style?

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Fewer, Faster, Better Emails | What Does Your Email Reveal About Your Leadership Style?“I don’t know that there’s necessarily a correlation between leadership style and their email writing. I’ve never researched that specific connection.”

“Understood,” my CEO client responded. “Just review what my admin sends you and give me a one-page opinion on each of the four VPs. That’s all I ask.”

This conversation happened early in my career, and frankly, I feared that I might disappoint him in not being able to draw conclusions.

Within a few days, the CEO’s bundle of emails arrived, basically restating what he’d said on the phone. His executive assistant had collected emails from four of his VPs. Specifically, the emails were representative of those the four VPs had sent to 1) peers 2) their direct reports and 3) those higher-ups in the chain (the CEO himself or EVPs).

My mission: To describe their leadership style and general attitudes about their work as reflected in their emails. So I pushed through the pile of VP documents carefully labeled by his assistant.

After submitting my one-page opinions on each, the CEO phoned again. “You’ve pegged them exactly! … Now, I want you to meet with them one on one to debrief them. Tell them what’s apparent in their writing. Give them the details about what you found. See what they might want to change.”

The first three meetings went well. The VPs seemed quite shocked that their writing revealed so much about their personalities, attitudes, and leadership style. But basically, they agreed with my evaluations and the emails discussed as examples.

But the fourth meeting (scheduled last because I dreaded it) didn’t go so smoothly. As I suspected, the SVP reacted quite differently. Mac listened in almost total silence as I delivered my conclusions.

As tactfully as possible, I pointed out that his emails to the executive team sounded friendly, but vague and cavalier. On the other hand, emails to his staff sounded indifferent at best and harsh and dictatorial at worst.

His general response that day: “Not interested in making changes.”

A few months later, I learned that Mac was no longer with the organization. Although I don’t know all that contributed to his termination, I do know that his writing did not add to his credibility, influence, or results with clients, coworkers, or higher-ups.

4 Ways Your Leadership Style Is on Display in Your Email

What can you apply to your own situation?

Unwillingness to Share Reasoning

When Mac presented a recommendation to higher-ups, he supported it with data or at least his reasoning. Not so, with staff. With them, he simply announced his decisions and expected compliance.

An Attempt to Bluff

When answering questions from higher executives about projects, budgets, or problems, Mac often responded with sketchy details. The tone was, “All is well, just trust me, and don’t probe.” A reader easily got the feeling that Mac took offense if the boss asked about any skeletons in the closet.

No Requests for Input

Mac wrote to his staff almost entirely in directives. He requested no opinions or ideas from them. When he informed them of a decision and upcoming action, the tone was, “Make it happen and don’t bother me with questions.” The difference between Mac and a mafia boss? Mac dealt in mortgages. Mafia bosses deal in murder and other mayhem.

Lack of Personal Accountability

Even though I analyzed more than a hundred of Mac’s emails, none contained an “accountability” statement – not even close.

  • No statements of goals (specific goals would have set him up to explain any shortfall)
  • No acknowledgement or apology for a mistake or misunderstanding
  • No ownership for poor outcomes – his or those related to his team’s performance
  • No feedback or praise to his team or colleagues

Granted, Mac didn’t send his entire email stash for the CEO’s evaluation. But reason would suggest that he’d sent his best – a collection aptly reflecting his leadership style.
Just as Mac’s writing did, your email can alter the trajectory of your career. Leaders master strategies to improve what they say, how they say it, and what NOT to say in email. And in my three decades of experience, I’ve observed that clear communicators become leaders in every industry.

Find out what secrets your own emails reveal about your leadership.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Dianna BooherDianna Booher’s latest books include Faster, Fewer, Better Emails; Communicate Like a Leader; What MORE Can I Say?; and Creating Personal Presence. She’s the bestselling author of 48 books, published in 61 foreign editions. Dianna helps organizations communicate clearly and leaders to expand their influence by a strong executive presence.

Tips For A Successful Conference

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | Conference Room | Tips For A Successful ConferenceIf organisation is not your strong point then planning a conference can be particularly tricky. You need to start off with a vision and then carefully implement steps along the way in order to reap success. The trouble is that a lot of people don’t know where to start and they struggle with direction. If only you had a step by step guide that could see you through. Well, now you do! Read on to make your conference planning a lot easier.

What is your vision?

First of all, you need to be clear about your vision. What is the purpose of your conference? What is the message you are trying to convey? Never ever lose sight of this. Every part of the organisation needs to be central to your main goal. When you find a venue for example, you need to think; is this the perfect place for a conference on *subject A*, rather than is the venue fancy and stylish. Develop your purpose into a vision – how many people do you want to reach? When do you want this conference to take place? And so on and so forth. You cannot plan anything effectively without set targets in mind.

The budget

So you have your targets, but do you have the budget? In truth; as long as your aims aren’t ridiculously unrealistic, then any target can be met. In the current day and age it is all about searching, comparing, and hunting down the best deals. But set a budget in mind nonetheless – this is crucial. Then roughly estimate how much money is going to be dedicated to what areas. You’ll need to do your research in order to find figures for the average price range of things, such as; venue hire, equipment, and so on and so forth.

Purchasing process

You now have a clear focus; your goals and the means you have to achieve them. Now you need to begin the purchase process. Start with your venue. There are some great and diverse conference venues. You should search on the internet in order to unearth locations meeting the requirements you have set. Once you have got the venue and date sorted you can begin with invitations, equipment hire, and other aspects you may need, such as catering.

Venue

When you search for the perfect venue for your conference, there are lots of factors you need to consider. You want to ensure that the venue you select is impressive. You want to ensure that the venue is fully equipped with everything you need and that you get to hire it for a reasonable price. Nevertheless, one thing you must consider, that has a knock-on impact on everything else, is where the venue is situated.

Before you even begin to look for a conference venue, you should make a list of all of those who are going to be invited to the occasion. Get yourself a map and write each person’s initials on the area they are based. This will help you to determine a central location that would be easy for all of your guests to get to. After all, you do not want to pick somewhere resulting in a long drive for your attendees. This may deter your guests from even making the journey – let’s be realistic; not everybody wants to drive for several hours for business.

In addition to this, don’t take for granted the fact that not everybody drives. You need to pick somewhere easily accessible via public transport. Most cities are generally good for this. Nevertheless, you should make sure that the venue is within walking distance from the nearest public transport drop off point. This is all about convenience. At the end of the day, if your guests have had to experience a long hike in order to get to your venue then they are going to turn up in a bad mood, and that is the last thing you want when trying to impress.

The day itself

All the initial plans and organisation have now been put into place. You can zoom in on the day itself now. This is all of the little particular points that you shouldn’t forget. Make sure your guests know where to go to when they get to the venue. Make sure you have refreshments on offer. Don’t forget to practise your presentation in front of other people. You can make powerful presentations using Beautiful.AI. Make sure you familiarise yourself with where the disabled access is. Visit the venue and visualise where you are going to set everything up. All these little aspects are underestimated but vital in the grand scheme of things.

If you use this guide then you are bound to have a smoother organisation of your conference. Outline your goal, set your budget, find conference venues, get your equipment, and then deal with the finishing touches.

Specialist Or Generalist: Pros & Cons

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |specialist or generalist|Specialist Or Generalist: Pros & ConsIf you run a service based business or are planning to set one up at some point, then one of the key things you’re going to need to ask yourself is whether or not you want to position yourself as a specialist or a generalist.

Whilst there’s certainly no right or wrong because every business is unique and has different goals, it’s one of those things you should try to establish right at the beginning because you’ll need to be able to know how to market yourself effectively and you can only do this once you know what your positioning will be.

The thing will the specialist versus generalist argument is that people really have strong opinions on each side and as well meaning as they may be when trying to advise you on which path to take, this can really lead to you making a decision that’s not quite right for you, so in this post we’re going to share with you some pros and cons for each option, so that you can make the best decision for you.

Specialist:

  • Less competition: One of the main reasons that people often give when deciding whether or not to specialize in a specific area is that they’re afraid of limiting themselves and think they’ll have less chances to find clients, but the opposite is actually true and when you specialize, then you narrow yourself down to clients who are looking for your specific skills and who will happily pay more for your experience.
  • More money: Specialists in general will always have more earning potential because of the time, money and energy they’ve invested into their professional development, so if you have bigger financial goals and want to earn what you feel you’re worth, then positioning yourself as a specialist instead of a generalist is definitely going to be more advantageous financially for you.
  • Better clients: When it comes to clients, whilst it’s certainly not the case that all of them who are looking for specialists will be paying well, and those looking for generalists don’t have as much of an interest in hiring people based on value versus price, this is unfortunately often the case. The good clients who know what your services are truly worth are typically looking for people who are highly specialized in a certain area – for example, if you focus on a specialized part of the medical industry or you’re a copywriter who knows all there is to know about an electroplater.

Generalist:

  • More variety: Of course, being a generalist certainly has its good points, namely that if you’re someone who gets bored easily by working on the same type of stuff day after day, then being a generalist could be the right choice for you because there’s so much variety in the types of things you’ll be working on. This can be especially true for those who are in creative fields such as writing or design.
  • Easier to niche down later: Sometimes picking a niche to specialize in doesn’t come naturally to everyone and it takes a bit of time to find your true passion and your zone of genius, so if you’re not quite sure yet then working as a generalist for a while could be a good strategy to help you get experience in different areas and find what you want to focus on eventually.

The Best Ways to Prepare for Retirement

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | The Best Ways to Prepare for RetirementRetirement can be daunting, especially when considering a pension at the start of your working life. However, with the right preparation, you can make retirement a simple and relaxing process, devoid of money worries and other concerns that you will want to leave behind in the working world.

Your Workplace’s Pension Scheme

Firstly, you should ensure that you auto-enroll in your companies’ pension scheme, where possible. Although it may be tempting to opt out and receive the extra money now, employers contribute 0.8% of their gross income into your pension scheme. In the long run, this means that you benefit extensively by waiting to reap the rewards of your hard work.

Your Home’s Equity

Many people would suggest that relying on your home’s equity in retirement is a good idea. However, although a popular way to gain extra money during retirement, there are both negatives and benefits to releasing your home’s equity for this purpose. Instead, it is best to save beforehand and ensure that you are already prepared for retirement by the time your working life is over.

Save Throughout Your Life

Although your quarter-life crisis may seem too soon to start saving for your distance future, the best way to prepare for retirement is to start saving as soon as possible. Whether this is your first pay-check or a little bit later, saving early can give you the best rates on compound interest which can drastically increase your retirement fund.

For instance, if you save £100 a month over 40 years rather than double that amount over 20, you can make almost £48,000 more in interest.

Prepare for a State Pension

Although state pensions may feel as if you are being paid back for your hard work, state pensions only provide you with £115 a week to live on, which can be difficult if you are paying rent and other bills alongside this. You may also have to wait longer than expected for this, with the age correlating to current life expectancy, which means that the boundaries are constantly changing. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you have multiple funds to support you in your old age by starting an independent pension fund.

Check Your Pension’s Performance

Next, you should always check your pension’s performance to ensure that it is growing at the pace which you expect. Many pension schemes can change over time and affect the amount that you are putting away, and so ensuring that you track your pension’s performance over time is important to prepare for your retirement.

Compare the Best Annuities

The best annuities can often be found on the open market than through your current provider. Although many people rush into buying an annuity with their pension company, there are often 60% differences in annuity rates between the best and worst annuities available, meaning that it is important to look around for the best one.
For more pension advice, contact Portafina, or follow their social media on Portafina’s Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter.

Disclaimer: The above information is not financial advice. For any financial decisions you need to make, please talk to a qualified financial advisor.