2023 New Year’s Resolution
What a cliché title. Sad. This will be the last Tuesday blog post of the year, so when better than now to discuss New Year’s resolutions. Common resolutions include exercise, weight loss, saving money, traveling, and new hobbies. No one says you are limited to just one resolution, so be bold. Pick a few and make them ambitious. Starting this blog met one of my 2022 resolutions. My 2023 resolution for The Financial Cocktail is to continue posting every Tuesday and expand the financial coaching. Despite the utter embarrassment of seeing my personal writing online, I feel fulfilled when members of the CRNA community find a pearl in one of my posts. The ultimate goal has nothing to do with this blog, and everything to do with advancing the profession by empowering CRNAs and increasing financial literacy.
Financial literacy, not dollars or trust funds, is what one generation passes to the next creating a strong financial family tree. What’s better than a group of intelligent individuals with a surplus of capital. It doesn’t make sense to wait until you are 70 years old to receive an inheritance. Work hard, invest intelligently, live meaningfully, and teach humbly. I have helped quite a few people get their financial feet beneath them. Ideally, this blog extends my reach beyond the limitations of those I know personally and those who feel comfortable enough being vulnerable about their financial situation.
Finance is scary. Hopefully this blog serves as a resource for answers as you sail the unpredictable waters of life where unpredictability is the only predictability. Being surrounded by the CRNA community, I am confident that over time, anyone who seeks financial independence and applies themselves will prevail. Be persistent and put this amazing CRNA compensation to good use. I can only imagine how each of you will give back to the profession and community after achieving financial independence.
A combination of short and long-term goals is the most effective way to reach any given long-term goal. My financial outreach goal for 2022 was simply to start an outlet to share information about personal finance. I considered a few avenues, but The Financial Cocktail in the form of a blog is where I ended up. 2023 is filled with short-term goals to encourage regular content such as a post every Tuesday, rain or shine. I field general inquiries as they come. I add to the must-read list as I cover something remarkable, which lately has not been great. I tried a couple outdated books from Peter Lynch and George Soros, but nothing worth adding. Now, I recently read A Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins and that was great. Added to the list.
Looking ahead, I am considering increasing my reach. Perhaps speaking for a group of SRNAs or CRNAs or anyone for that matter. The financial coaching has been exclusively for individuals (and sometimes their spouses), but perhaps a group environment would be fun. After all, I am enjoying learning what others find difficult with their finances and what questions they have. Where do people find themselves at a dead end? What kind of knowledge do CRNAs have about personal finance? Big shoutout and THANK YOU to the CRNA Business and TNAG pages for allowing my solicitations. This blog is for the community and actually costs me $278 annually, so it’s not a great income stream, but a solicitation none the less.
It is unfortunate that the moderators for the largest CRNA/SRNA Facebook page restricted my posting to the CRNA business page, because I suspect there are individuals on that page who could benefits from the basics of personal finance, which by definition differs greatly from business.
Enough ranting and on to the next resolution. My wife and I have a financial resolution. We have a set dollar amount that we plan to invest each month. Just like I recommend in other writings, this dollar amount comes off the top. The trick is to have enough left over to live. To accomplish (and likely exceed) this mark, I will look to add a bit more anesthesia time to my schedule. I say this because we have a couple short trips planned for 2023 and only so much discretionary spending each month. Either make more or spend less, and we don’t want to compromise our time away, so work it is. And no, reinvested dividends from our current investments do not count towards this monthly investment.
If you want a financial resolution, there are endless options. Start with something straight forward such as a monthly written budget and net worth calculation. Maybe match the employer 401(k) match and pay off some debt. Perhaps you are in the wealth building phase like my wife and I, so investment contributions are your goal. If nothing else, speaking about a resolution will get you thinking and talking about finances.
As for our 2023 financial goals, we are looking to be aggressively investing throughout the next year because historically market returns following bear markets are substantial. I view this bear market as a prime time to invest in all sorts of low cost index funds. Time is on our side both in terms of compounding interest and time for the market to recover.
In the short term, I move the necessary amount from my paycheck into my money market account the Monday after I get paid. We have started revieing our finances monthly to evaluate our expenses, investments, and net worth. This seems to be a bit easier than doing it quarterly, but either works. I guess monthly write ups will allow us to identify changes and outliers more quickly, so we can make necessary changes. Those are the quantifiable resolutions I/we have for 2023. I do not typically end my blog posts with a call-to-action request, but I am curious to know what your resolutions are and how you plan to accomplish them. Feel free to comment below. Thank you for reading and best of luck!
