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I know that title may sound strange but there is some sense in there – honestly! People tend to take personal finance very personally, to the extent that they won’t even ask for help if they have any issues.

Money is still a taboo subject in some families and even close friends don’t always talk about it. But we’re not taught personal finance in schools so why do we seem to assume that we’ll be great at it? Some of us may be taught personal finance at home but those ideas may be out dated or very basic. I certainly wasn’t taught about property investment or share option trading from my family or friends. Once I found out that there were easier ways of making money other than a 9 -5 job that I didn’t enjoy, I had to find out the rest for myself. I’ve read books, attended seminars, taught seminars and put it into practice.

Why did I do all this? Because I was (and still am) determined not to rely on the state for my future income. There is a pension time bomb waiting to go off, where there will be too many people claiming pensions in relation to the number of people working.  People have been writing about the pension time bomb for years but governments are doing very little. At the moment most governments are focussed on beating the recession as quickly as possible and not on pensions.  So if the governments aren’t doing anything then you need to be responsible for your personal finances so that in a down turn you won’t be too badly affected.

If you know people who are financially secure and you feel comfortable talking to them about personal finance then ask them what they do. They may be willing to share information about how they became to be secure financially.  If you don’t feel comfortable talking to people that you know then there are other solutions such as personal finance books, courses, teleseminars and even personal coaching. I learnt a lot from books and seminars but I really started to learn when I was around like minded people and started to put what I had learnt into practice. Be prepared that you may (almost certainly) make some mistakes but that’s okay. Yes it is okay to make mistakes it really is the way we learn. What you can do is minimise your risk so that any financial mistakes you make will be small ones. When it comes to share trading most online share platforms have virtual trading systems where you can practice.  I used virtual trading for months before I actually placed a live trade. I also used spreadsheets to make sure that I knew what I was placing and what my profits could be, before placing the trade.  

Remember that in personal finance it’s good to be committed but not attached. This means that you are committed to taking responsibility for your personal finances, but not so attached that it keeps you from taking necessary steps. When we become attached we can often let fear get in the way of what we want to do.

So don’t take personal finance too personally, simply decide what you want and then find out how you get there. 

Whether you agree with it or not, in several major countries the governments are giving stimulus money to help stimulate the economy. The idea behind this is that you will stimulate the economy by spending the money and if you’re in the USA then two-thirds on your economy is based on consumerism. However if you are successful in personal finance then you would think twice before spending any stimulus money.  

Australia is one of these countries that has already given out one handout and now wants to give every eligible adult up to A$950 (Household stimulus money bill 2009 ) for them to spend to help the economy. However the first handout was used mostly for savings so will this second handout do any better?

It’s hardly surprising that most people chose to spend the money on savings considering what the media tells us, and the media is where most people get their financial information. What we have to remember is that in most cases the media is selling advertising space, and bad news sells.

People need to work out how to use the stimulus money to their best advantage since it doesn’t make sense to spend the money if you’re already in debt or you’re in fear of losing your job. Successful personal finance isn’t really that difficult. At the very basic level work out your income and your expenses over a month and see what you have left. If you don’t have anything left then you need to one of two things – decrease or spending or increase your income.

Don’t just decide to spend the stimulus money because it’s what the government expects – they don’t know your individual circumstances and you do. No-one actually cares about your money as much as you do which is why successful personal finance is so important.

If you decide to save the money look around for the best interest rate you can get. Even though interest rates are going down there are still some good interest rates around in reliable banking institutions. If you’re in a relationship maybe you can put the money together and open a joint account with more money that may attract more interest.

What would I do with my stimulus money? I would invest in shares but that’s because I’m a share option trader and there are some shares that I’m interested in.

To achieve successful personal finance you could always chose to invest in yourself, to improve your own financial knowledge so that you are not relying on anyone else to look after you no matter what the economy is doing.