© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete 2005 revised text of Building Yourself, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's guide to living the successful life.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Building Yourself Table of Contents
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• Necessity never made a good bargain. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)

It only takes a little extra effort, perhaps a few minutes more a week, to see to your personal financial affairs in a businesslike way. The benefit you receive is far out of propor­tion to the effort you expend. You have checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, loans, investments. They all cost money, or earn you money. Like any business, you want to bring in the most money and spend the least, so you end up with more. And like any business, you want to set up systems so your paperwork goes smoothly.

For all financial services, shop around. Brokerage fees differ, and so do mortgage rates. Credit card fees, interest rates, and payment terms vary widely. Treat financial services like any other product.

Shop around for a user‑friendly bank. Banks that are on the ball will give you better and friendlier service. If your bank officer is accessible to you, it often only takes fifteen minutes to cover most of what you need to know. If it's taking you more, you might be dealing with the wrong bank.

If you have a checking account, the simplest way to keep it balanced is to strike a balance after each check. There's no mystery to this. You take what you have in the account, subtract the amount of the check, and the result is your new balance. When you get your statement each month, check it against your own records. Subtract the bank fees or add the interest the bank paid to you.

Some people are proud that they can't balance their checkbook. They think it proves they're above that kind of petty thing. But all it really proves is that they throw away their money. They incur needless fees for bounced checks or they lose money by having too much in the account without earning interest. This kind of wasteful thinking just doesn't make sense.

Over the long term you should follow financial news: matters of interest rates, inflation, stock and bond markets, home prices, mortgages, the cost of living. You can't bone up on all this the night before making an important financial decision. It's a process that calls for consistency rather than a great deal of time.

There are many sensible books on personal financial planning. Financial service companies produce informative brochures. What you want to avoid are the “get‑rich‑quick” kind of materials. The “get‑rich‑quick” way of thinking is not businesslike. What you're after is a state of being informed, aware, and organized with your financial life. If you can maintain that state, you can maximize your financial possibili­ties. The rest of this chapter will cover the nuts and bolts of how to do this.