defeatng i your money demons - betzel wealth...

DEFEATING YOURMONEY DEMONS DEFEATING YOURMONEY DEMONS

w w w . m a t s o n m o n e y . c o m

S a v e T h e I n v e s t o r . S a v e T h e Wo r l d .

I N V E S T O R C O A C H I N G S E R I E S

™

©2005-09 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abundance Technologies, Inc.

© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.2

All investing involves risks and costs. Your advisor can provide you with more information about the risks and costs associated with specific programs. No investment strategy (including asset allocation and diversification strategies) can ensure peace of mind, assure profit, or protect against loss.

This booklet is based on the views of Matson Money, Inc. Other persons may analyze investments and the approach to investing from a different perspective from that reflected in this booklet. Nothing included herein is intended to infer that the approach to investing espoused in this booklet will assure any particular results.

*Performance results for Matson Money Management Styles are for all accounts of each management style under Matson Money’s management for at least one quarter beginning with the first quarter of 1993, other than variable annuity accounts, with a minimum account size of $1,000 and that have fees paid directly out of the account and no other fees taken out of the account. These accounts are invested in various passive DFA mutual funds according to the objective of the management style and rebalanced periodically. Actual results of accounts under Matson Money’s management may have been materially different from results shown herein because of differences in the inception date of the account and restrictions. Results are time-weighted and dollar-weighted. Gross returns are gross of transaction costs and any custodial fees. Net results are net of investment transaction costs, investment advisory fees, and any custodial fees. Performance results and comparative indices assume reinvestment of dividends and income plus capital appreciation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page 4 STEP 1: Identifying Your Money Beliefs

page 7 STEP 2: Analyzing Your Money Beliefs

page 9 STEP 3: Unleashing Your Money Demons

page 12 STEP 4: Defeating Your Money Demons

page 15 The 20 Must-Answer Questions

STEP 1: Identifying Your Money Beliefs

STEP 2: Analyzing Your Money Beliefs

STEP 3: Unleashing Your Money Demons

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7

9

STEP 4: Defeating Your Money Demons

THE 20 MUST-ANSWER QUESTIONS

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15

©2005-09 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abundance Technologies, Inc.© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.

DEFEATING YOUR MONEY DEMONS

From the time we first become aware of money, we begin to develop certain individual and specific beliefs about it. Throughout our childhood and early adulthood, we create beliefs, thoughts, stories, attitudes, and assumptions about money that heavily influence many of the financial decisions we make throughout our lives. Most of these decisions, however, take place on a subconscious level. We create the belief in a moment, and then unknowingly continue to make decisions based on that belief, even when it may not be appropriate.

Positive money beliefs lead to peace of mind regarding financial issues. Consequently, it’s useful to define and be aware of these beliefs, so we can deliberately draw upon them as we see fit.

When we experience unhappiness, frustration, worry, anxiety, or fear about financial matters, it is usually rooted in the unquestioned patterns of thought buried within us. Once we are able to uncover the Money Demons that hold us back, we can defeat them. We can create new beliefs that allow us to control the demons, instead of allowing them to destroy our peace of mind about money.

PEACE OF MIND

Only Positive Beliefs Lead to Peace of M

ind

+–

MoneyBeliefs

+

+

+

––

–

–

–

+

++

Unha

ppin

ess

Worry

Fear

Frustration Anxiety

3


© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.

CULTURAL MESSAGES ABOUT MONEY

The first crucial step is to take a deeper look at your beliefs about money. There are two parts to this:

•ExaminingCulturalCommunication

•ExploringIndividualInterpretations

EXAMINING CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONSMany of our money beliefs are derived from the culture we live in. Just by being born into a given community, we are exposed to certain sets of already-agreed-upon truths regarding money and wealth. When we read books, magazines, newspapers, or billboards, when we listen to music or radio programs, and when we watch television shows and commercials, go to church, see plays or participate in community events, there are often subtle and not-so-subtle messages about how to make, spend, or invest our money. Your job nowis to determine which of these messages has played a role in your own set of money beliefs.

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STEP 1: IDENTIFYING YOUR MONEY BELIEFS

First, list some of the messages or beliefs about money most commonly heard in our culture. Once the list is complete, place a check mark next to the ones with which you can identify. Money doesn’t grow on trees



EXAMINING CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS Now it’s time to stop and reflect on your own individual interpretations, attitudes, and assumptions about money. Look at the beliefs that were developed early in your life that continue to affect you today. On the lines below, write about your earliest memories of money. Ultimately, the goal is for you to understand how your individual interpretations of money have affected your financial life.

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STEP 1: IDENTIFYING YOUR MONEY BELIEFS

What family stories were you told about wealth or poverty?

What beliefs did your parents hold about money?

Your Mother:

Your Father:

Which ideas did you accept? Which ones did you reject?

Accept:

Reject:

© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of MatsonMoneyTM.



Think about your first money experiences related to your first job, car, home, insurance, bank account, etc. What messages did you carry out of these experiences?

Listen closely to your immediate gut response, then complete the following statement:

Your individual beliefs about people who are very wealthy can offer insight into your current plateau of money accumulation. If, for example, you hold a belief such as “Rich people are snobs,” then it is unlikely you will ever amass the amount of money that you associate with “rich,” simply because you wouldn’t want to be a “snob” yourself.

Rich people are...

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As a child, did you ever worry or complain about money?

What did you say to yourself when you were upset?



•Fun! Funny! •Energizing •Illuminates others’ greatness •Alive and vital •Joyful •Gives personal power •Love

Positive Beliefs: A pattern of thinking that gives strength and capacity to move forward. Characteristics of Positive Beliefs include:

Positive beliefs give power and peace of mind about financial issues. It’s good to be aware of these beliefs so we can deliberately draw on them.

STEP 2: ANALYZING YOUR MONEY BELIEFS

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•No humor •Energy drain •Self-involved •“Die” to keep it •Stressful/suffering •Takes away personal power •Shame

Negative Beliefs: A pattern of thinking that reveals itself in the form of persistent complaints.Characteristics of Negative Beliefs include:

Negative beliefs cause stress, worry, confusion, and suffering. Often our negative beliefs are reflected in our persistent complaints about money.

After identifying your money beliefs (STEP 1), you need to analyze them. We will use two tools to help us do that: •BeliefChart •ComplaintChart

BELIEF CHARTThe better you understand your own money beliefs, the more power you will have to make good financial choices. The Belief Chart is designed to help you analyze whether each of your beliefs is Positive (+) or Negative (-).

Positive Beliefs

PEACE OF MIND

Positive+

Joy

Energy

Fun

Greatness Power

Vital

+

+

+

+

+

+

PassionLove

Negative Beliefs

COMPLAINTS

Negative––

Stress

Self-

involved

Doubts

Confusion Suffering

Worry

–

–

–

–

–

–

Guilt

Shame FearPain

Fromthelistofyourmoneybeliefsidentifiedonpages5and6, place a (+) sign next to the Positive Beliefs and a (-) sign next to the Negative Beliefs.




These are your Money Demons!

COMPLAINT CHART

COMPLAINT CHART Overall, human beings like to complain. It’s easy for us to talk about the things that bother us and keep us from doing, being, or having everything we want in our lives. Unfortunately, most of the time, we discuss complaints in an effort to get others to agree with and understand our position, rather than truly seeking to resolve the underlying issues and move on. The Complaint Chart is designed to help you identify the persistent complaints that cause stress and confusion about money. List your ongoing, persistent complaints about money in the Complaint Chart. These are the things that you find yourself thinking, saying, or feeling annoyed about over and over again. Reference negative money beliefs you identified previously to help you complete this chart.

Persistent Complaint

e.g. “Taxes are going to kill me.”

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

8 © 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.


STATING YOUR MONEY DEMONS

For extra clarity, specifically list below your three most prevalent, negative beliefs or persistent complaints about money. These are the demons we are going to defeat.

The complaints and underlying negative beliefs you have about money are the ones that interfere with true peace of mind. We call them your Money Demons. You have taken a very important step by bringing them to the surface to be analyzed. Once they are unleashed, you have the power to transform them. There are three parts to unleashing your Money Demons:

•StatingyourMoneyDemons •PayingthePersonalPrice •ExploringtheEmotionalGains

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STEP 3: UNLEASHING YOUR MONEY DEMONS

Money Demon 1:

Money Demon 2:

Money Demon 3:




Personal PriceThe cost at which something is obtained.

e.g. Creates stress and fear, reduces my ability to be grateful. Creates anger, destroys health and well-being.Personal Price(s) for Money Demon 1:

Personal Price(s) for Money Demon 2:

Personal Price(s) for Money Demon 3:

What is the price for continuing to perpetuate this belief? Write down the personal price(s) associated with each of your Money Demons.

Personal Price

• Income • Savings • Confidence• Satisfaction• Relationships• Communication • Personal Happiness• Health and Well-being

When it comes to Money Demons, the costs are extensive. In your own life, look to see the price you pay for your beliefs in the following areas:

As we unleash the demons, we are able to get to know them better. It’s possible to understand both the personal price and emotional gain of each Money Demon. By clarifying what our beliefs cost us, we improve our motivation to overcome them once and for all. Yet, we must also take a brutally honest look at the emotional gains derived from keeping our beliefs in place. Once we understand both the personal price and the emotional gains, we have the ability to defeat the demons.

PAYING THE PERSONAL PRICE

10 © 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.


Emotional GainInternally gratifying advantage or benefit.

e.g. Control, righteousness, blame others, avoid responsibilities, being the martyr.

Emotional Gain(s) for Money Demon 1:



Honestly confront the emotional gains you obtain from your Money Demons and write them below.

Emotional Gains

• Control • Righteousness

• Justification

• A Sense of Safety

• Avoid Real Communication

• Blaming Others

• Avoiding Responsibility

• Playing Small

• Being the Martyr

The primary types of emotional gains include:

Next, recognize that you wouldn’t pay this hefty price without receiving some kind of benefit. Owning up to what we’ve been getting out of our long-standing beliefs is probably the toughest part of this battle and, although it is often hard to see inside ourselves, once we take responsibility for the emotional gains we get from our demons, we gain freedom from them.

EXPLORING THE EMOTIONAL GAINS

Now that you know the personal price you have paid for those Money Demons and understand the emotional gains you’ve been deriving by keeping them around, you have new power to defeat them.

11© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.



There are three parts to Defeating Your Money Demons:

•AlteringyourDestiny •CreatingGuardianBeliefs •TakingPositiveAction

ALTERING YOUR DESTINY

Before you can defeat the demons, it’s crucial to recognize your own power over your beliefs.

Ultimately, there is a chain reaction beginning with your beliefs and ending with your destiny. You will find that, in every instance, it is your beliefs that dictate your actions. Actions then determine your outcomes. The set of outcomes you have in your life determines your future or your destiny.

For many people, this process remains mysterious and hidden throughout their lives. They have accumulated a certain set of existing beliefs, which direct the actions they will take. Based upon those beliefs and actions, a certain set of outcomes are revealed in the form of career choices, relationships, financial decisions, etc. Most people will make certain limited changes determined by the results or outcomes in their lives. If they are happy with the outcomes, they typically continue to do more of the same. If they are unhappy with the results, they try something different. Either way, the changes are limited by a pre-existing set of beliefs. When people respond to belief systems that they have only accepted, but never really chosen, it diminishes potential actions and outcomes, thereby creating a limited destiny over which they have very little control.

Once you understand this chain reaction, you can see that you really do have control of your destiny. By recognizing and changing your beliefs, new and different actions become possible. These unprecedented actions then lead to new, different outcomes which create the potential for an unlimited destiny!

“I don’t know if we each have a destiny or if we’re all just floatin’ around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both are happening at the same time.”

-Forrest Gump

ExistingBeliefs Actions

Change of

Beliefs

New, DifferentActions

LimitedDestiny

Outcomes Limited Change

New,DifferentOutcomes

UnlimitedDestiny!

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STEP 4: DEFEATING YOUR MONEY DEMONS



To create a Guardian Belief for each of your Money Demons, simply devise a new interpretation of each of your old Money Demons. Write a new Guardian Belief to defeat each of your Money Demons below.

The wonderful thing about beliefs is that once they are clearly identified, they are malleable. We can choose to accept or reject our current beliefs. Therefore, we also have the ability to alter them by choosing different beliefs. Unfortunately, we often allow our beliefs to be shaped by the external elements of our lives, rather than authoring them ourselves.

So, now you are going to create a new, positive belief called a Guardian Belief. A Guardian Belief is a positive belief that makes you feel strong and enables you to move forward; it has the power to slay the Money Demon each and every time it rears its ugly head. This is extremely important because your Money Demons are long-standing beliefs, and they will come back to visit you frequently. Unless you have a Guardian Belief to battle off the demon, you’ll continue to find yourself at its mercy.

If you really believe in them, your Guardian Beliefs have the power to protect you from worry, complaints, and fear about money. These empowering beliefs can help you break through to peace of mind.

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CREATING GUARDIAN BELIEFS

e.g. Paying taxes is a great privilege. I am lucky to have created so much wealth and income. I can double my income faster than the government can confiscate it.

Guardian Belief for Money Demon 1:





© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.© 2005-2012 McGriff Video Production, LLC., an Ohio limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Matson Money, Inc.

TAKING POSITIVE ACTION The best way to defeat those Money Demons is to take action. Review your list of Guardian Beliefs. What is the first action that someone holding each of these beliefs could take? Write your positive actions below.

Congratulations! Today you have started the process of Defeating Your Money Demons!

You have begun a very useful process by identifying your beliefs about money and analyzing them as either positive or negative. You have unleashed three of your own personal Money Demons and gained access to defeating them with your newly devised Guardian Beliefs. The most important thing you can do now is to actually implement the positive actions you wrote down. Action is the surest way to crush those ugly Demons time and time again.

Your Money Demons have been around for a long while. They are certain to show themselves on a regular basis. The point of this exercise is not to eradicate them forever, but rather to give you new power to face them. As with anything in life, we are weakest at the outset. The best way to continue to defeat your Demons is to strengthen your Guardian Beliefs. And your most assured approach to this involves seeking outside support over time. Your financial coach can be your greatest ally in battling your Money Demons.

References:McWilliams, John-Roger and Peter McWilliams, Wealth 101: Wealth Is Much More Than Money, Los Angeles: Prelude Press, 1992.

Kinder, George, The Seven Stages of Money Maturity: Understanding the Spirit and Value of Money in Your Life, New York: Delacorte Press Random House, Inc., 1999.

Matson, Mark and Michelle Matson, FlashPoint: Mastering the Art of Economic Matson Money, Cincinnati: McGriff Publishing, 2000.

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e.g. Calculate how much my taxes will raise and develop a plan for offsetting the effects by growing m.u.m. Meet with attorney and explore methods to control taxes.

Positive Action for Guardian Belief 1:




THE 20 MUST-ANSWER QUESTIONS FOR YOUR JOURNEY TOWARD PEACE OF MIND

1. Have you discovered your True Purpose for Money, that which is more important than money itself?

q YES q NO

2. Are you invested in the Market?

q YES q NO

3. Do you know how markets work?

q YES q NO

4. Have you defined your Investment Philosophy?

q YES q NO

5. Have you identified your personal risk tolerance?

q YES q NO

6. Do you know how to measure diversification in your portfolio?

q YES q NO

7. Do you consistently and predictably achieve market returns?

q YES q NO

8. Have you measured the total amount of commissions and costs in your portfolio?

q YES q NO

9. Do you know where you fall on the Markowitz Efficient Frontier?

q YES q NO

10. When it comes to building your investment portfolio, do you know exactly what you are doing and why?

q YES q NO

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11. Are you working with a financial coach versus a financial planner?

q YES q NO

12. Do you have a customized lifelong game plan to guide all of your investing and spending decisions?

q YES q NO

13. Do you have an Investment Policy Statement?

q YES q NO

14. Have you devised a clear-cut method for measuring the success or failure of your portfolio?

q YES q NO

15. Do you fully understand the implications and applications of diversification in your portfolio?

q YES q NO

16.Do you have a system to measure portfolio volatility?

q YES q NO

17. Are you aware of the incentives brokerage firms and the financial community have when selling commission- based products?

q YES q NO

18. Do you know the three warning signs that you are gambling and speculating with your money versus prudently investing it?

q YES q NO

19. Can you identify the cultural messages and personal mind-sets about money that destroy your peace of mind?

q YES q NO

20. Are you ready to shift your personal experience of money and investing from a scarcity mode to an abundance mode?

q YES q NO

When you have achieved the ability to answer “yes” to all of these questions, you will be on your way to a high level of peace of mind.

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w w w . m a t s o n m o n e y . c o m

S a v e T h e I n v e s t o r . S a v e T h e Wo r l d .

I N V E S T O R C O A C H I N G S E R I E S

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