This weekend, we sprang forward an hour in an attempt to have more daylight during the hours that most people are awake and active, However, as my friend Cody pointed out, some people seem to be having difficulty getting the name right. (Don’t worry about his Twitter name. I have no idea what it means, either.)
Lafferty, Daniel on Twitter
Daylight SAVING Time not Daylight SAVINGS Time
I wish there were a Daylight Savings Time. Maybe it would look like a time of the year when everyone focuses on personal finance education and doing things to make their own personal situations better. Although that’s something that I believe should be a focus throughout the entire year, it would still be an improvement on what we have now.
Education
Most of us never received any sort of formal personal finance education and never even had the opportunity to do so. The only reason I ever learned about personal finances was through personal research and finding the Certified Financial Planner Board certified program at Indiana State University. Otherwise, I’m certain I never would have been educated on the topics that I write about on a weekly basis.
It shouldn’t take a topic being your major in college to learn about it. Especially when it’s something that every single person will use in life and skills that far too many of us lack. Statistics tell us that even most of those who make more than comfortable incomes are one emergency away from potential financial disaster.
Maybe a Daylight Savings Time would be when reputable financial planning groups such as the CFP Board or NAPFA would be put on a gold pedestal to share their information with the world rather the companies who are in it for themselves. We still want good information getting to those who need it even though something is probably better than nothing considering the severe lack of financial education and skills in our country. These would be two great organizations to serve in leading a day like this and that I recommend everyone utilize to learn more about personal finance.
Education Isn’t Enough
However, educating yourself isn’t enough. There are plenty of people who go so far in their financial lives as to hire a financial planner to help them, but it’s still up to them to implement that financial planner’s recommendations and make changes in their life. You would think that someone who is serious enough to hire someone else to help them would be motivated to make changes to ensure a better future, but this isn’t always the case.
Hiring someone to help you with your personal finances doesn’t mean that they will (or can) do everything for you. You have to be willing and ready to help yourself and improve your situation before anyone else can help you along the way.
Most people look for help after something significant happens in their life – they get married, get a new job, have a kid, buy a new home, etc. What would have been better for them to do would have been to consult with a financial professional to help them work through the financial side of those things. Many times, people say things like, “I’ll start being serious about my financial situation when I get a new job in a couple of months” or “We’ll start getting serious when we get married.”
Wouldn’t you rather know what steps you need to take now, and what you should do on day 1 of that new job or marriage, or whatever it is, to be successful and make your financial resources work for you? Do something today to be proactive about making sure that you reach your goals rather than waiting until you feel like you’re being forced to take action.
Although Daylight Savings Time isn’t actually something that we have in this country, Cody’s tweet did make me think. My hope for this blog is that it helps at least one person and provides education that they may not have otherwise. Hopefully Certifiably Financial is a weekly reminder of Daylight Savings Time for you.
