They say information is power. This is especially true for your financial life. Organizing your finances can be overwhelming. Maybe a little scary. But knowing your complete financial picture helps you plan for the future. It can also assure that you have enough money to live the life you want.
We at New York Financial Organizers are Daily Money Managers. We’re not investors or financial advisors. However, we are an essential part of our client’s money management team. Our job is to educate our clients in understanding how they spend their money.
Helping our clients understand where their income is coming from and where it is going to is the backbone of our business. We assist with categorizing their spending. These categories allow us to prepare detailed reports and create an accurate budget to ensure our clients don’t find themselves at a deficit.
To do this, we use Quicken as a financial management tool. Quicken allows us to consolidate all financial accounts into a comprehensive view of our clients’ financial life. We download updated information from bank accounts, credit accounts, and investments into Quicken. At the end of the month, we generate an all-inclusive report and review it with each client.
These reports can be very eye-opening, especially in the beginning. Some clients are surprised at just how much they are spending, especially in certain categories. In some cases, these reports have saved our clients from fraud.
After reviewing a Quicken report with one client, we discovered that a relative had been forging our client’s name and writing checks from their account. We contacted the district attorney’s office and they began an investigation. Over time, more than $70,000 was spent from our client’s checking account. The DA’s involvement forced the relative to stop taking money. Had we not reviewed the transactions with our client, their relative could have gone on to spend even more money, leaving our client with little to live off of.
Understanding how you spend your money allows you to make adjustments as needed. The information we gather and organize will give you the knowledge you need to live the life you want. Now and into the future.