Which Financial Tools Are Right For You?

As we continue the Mid Year’s Resolutions journey, I wanted to address one of the biggest goals people have – financial independence. For nearly five years, I sold financial services by meeting with people, usually in their homes or offices, to help them accomplish their financial goals.

I met with individuals, families , and business owners to review where they currently stood and where they wanted to go.

As I evaluated the financial products that people had, I noticed that most of them had the same thing in common. They only used the financial tools that their agents presented them with. It’s not that those tools were bad, but I usually found that they were not the best tools to help them hit their goals.

I do not believe that there are good or bad financial products; anymore than I believe that the tools in my tool box are good or bad. I do believe that each tool serves a specific purpose and if you use it the right way, you stand a better chance of getting the job done correctly. You wouldn’t use a screwdriver to drive a nail into the wall, would you? Ok, it might work a little, but your best chance for success is to use the right tool. Financial products operate the same way. Mortgages, life insurance , mutual funds, stock, bonds, and annuities, to name a few, all serve specific purposes. All have pros and cons. Look any of them up on the internet and you will see people who love them and people who hate them.

Each of these products may have many variations, such as life insurance . You can purchase, term insurance , whole life, universal life, variable universal life, equity indexed universal life, etc. Choices, choices, choices!!!!

The biggest problem with “financial planning” today, is the lack of finding out what a client’s goals are.

Too many agents sell products to make the commission – that’s the only goal they are truly concerned about. Other agents are not licensed to sell the products which would be best for hitting their client’s goals and often bad-mouth those products to steer their clients away from them. I have sat with clients who were “brainwashed” by their current agent about how “evil” certain products were, yet most of them could not tell me how those products truly operated. I was fortunate enough to open their eyes to the positive benefits of those products and helped change the direction of many financial households.

Deciding which financial products to use is a big decision and should never be taken lightly. Always base your decision to purchase a financial product on its ability to help you accomplish your financial goals.

Here are a few of the most common financial goals:

1. Buy a home
2. Retire – with a great lifestyle
3. Increase cash flow
4. Minimize taxation
5. Eliminate debt
6. Build savings
7. Create financial security

There is no perfect financial product. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!