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By
Sherrill St. Germain
August 2007
Quick poll: Raise your hand if you have more money than you'll ever need to afford all the things you want in life -- for yourself, loved ones, and worthy causes. OK, there are a few hands, but most of us have the opposite problem: too many goals, too few resources. In my 5 years as a financial planner, I've noticed that almost everyone (planners too!) approaches this problem by trying to prioritize their goals and divert their funds to what's most important, often leaving so-called "lesser priorities" to fall by the wayside. For sure, making conscious spending choices IS an important part of the process. But what about that other side of the coin (so to speak): What if we could earn more? Well, now, that might make a difference!
But most of us don't even stop to consider whether or how it might be possible to earn more, dismissing the idea out of hand based on the assumption that the only way to increase income is to work day and night. Who wants to do that?? So we simply accept the fact that our income is more or less set, give or take anemic cost-of-living increases along the way, and scale back our dreams (and/or fantasize about winning the lottery.)
But what if it were possible to earn more without working yourself into the ground or selling out? Nationally acclaimed author Barbara Stanny thinks it is and, since becoming familiar with her work, I'm inclined to agree. If you suspect that you are earning less than your potential, less than others with similar qualifications, or simply less than you want or need to earn, you owe it to yourself to check out Barbara's research about how, by shifting our attitudes and belief systems, each of us has the power to significantly increase our earnings.
Even if you don't consider yourself an underearner, you may be unknowingly falling victim to what I call "creeping underearning." This is the situation whereby you start out with a pretty good salary, but each year, more and more of it gets whittled away by pay freezes and cuts, ever-decreasing employee benefits, and ever-increasing costs passed on to employees. Either way, I'd encourage you to pick up Barbara's book, Overcoming Underearning®: Overcome Your Money Fears and Earn What You Deserve, and give it a read. You may find you can fund more of those dreams than you ever thought possible.
To you women in the audience, statistics show that, unfortunately, we harbor many underearners in our ranks, so a more hands-on approach may be in order. If you're local, you're in luck! Although she usually sticks to big cities, I've arranged for Barbara Stanny to come to Nashua to deliver her Overcoming Underearning® workshop here on October 1 and 2, and I invite you to join me for what I'm certain will be a very empowering experience. To learn more about this rare opportunity, click here or give me a shout.
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