Good Money Habits Make a Market Slump Less Scary

I grew up in a family that insisted a percentage of every earned dollar went to savings. Once in the workforce, I was amazed how many people I met did not have any savings. It had never occurred to them to add good money habits to their regular routine. So I'm often asked, "Can you really change your financial habits? And how?"

When the economy is humming along at a nice pace, it doesn't matter that much. In this economy it does matter.

Over the last fourteen years, I have worked with thousands of clients through Down-to-Earth Finance and previously as an analyst for Bear Stearns and Nomura Securities. Some were institutional companies, such as Wellington Management and Putnam Investments, and many were individuals, especially women. The successful ones maintained three or four key regular habits in every type of market.

I noticed that in an economic boom, luxuries and inflated expenses tend to creep into our budgets surreptitiously, and saving and investing is lower of a priority because of a false sense of security. Not being aware of these behaviors creates difficulty and stress for individuals when the economy is more challenging.

I developed the My Money Matters kit to help people develop and maintain these habits. The unusual format -- a boxed kit with cards and workbooks -- was designed to provide gentle, simple, and effective reinforcement for the development of good money habits. Whereas readers might read a book once, I wanted to create an interactive tool that could be used over and over again. The boxed kit is designed to do just that, by providing tools that work over different time periods: instant money tips provide immediate results, motivational money affirmations help overcome longstanding self-defeating money behaviors, and a complete financial coaching program in several pocket-sized workbooks provide a structured, yet nonintimidating method to incorporate good money habits into daily life.