Homeschool.com's Interview with Karen McCall

Debt can be a big problem for families, but just because a family is not in debt doesn't mean the family is living an optimal financial life. Every homeschooling family can benefit from gaining clarity about their financial health. Karen McCall, the founder of the Financial Recovery Institute, shares her wisdom on how you CAN take control of your family’s financial future.

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Homeschool.com's Interview with Karen McCall

Editor: What is the secret to financial well-being and peace of mind about money?

McCall: In fact, there is no "secret" to financial well-being. I have published a book that outlines exactly what a person needs to do to create a solid financial future, and the peace of mind that comes with it! Often this process leads people to achieve more financially than they had ever dreamed possible.

This process begins with building a foundation of healthy money habits. These habits are not difficult to learn. They include tracking income and expenses, creating a monthly spending plan and exploring the feelings and beliefs that motivate financial behavior. This foundation creates clarity and understanding, and from this position of self-knowledge, a person can build a financially sound lifestyle.

After these healthy habits are established, the next stage in this process is what I call "Setting the Cornerstones." The solid cornerstones of your financial home insure that your lifestyle is protected from disaster in the future. In this stage, it is important to assess savings, investments and insurance. Often people need to learn more about these financial lifesavers, but taking the time to do so develops clarity about financial security. Knowing we are protecting our financial future not only leads to peace of mind, but also increased self-esteem as well.

The third level in this hierarchy, "Building the Framework," is about clarifying long-term values about spending, saving and earnings. At this level, we create an "Annual Spending Plan." The annual plan helps increase savings, decrease debt, and identify what kind of financial structure we will build in the long-run. During this stage of development, people identify some of the financial goals they would like to achieve, and exactly how they will be able to achieve them.

The fourth stage, which I call the "Bricks and Mortar," is about examining our money behaviors in personal and professional relationships. From this examination, we gain the benefit of more genuine relationships with others.

Developing each of these stages creates a truly sound financial structure. This sound financial structure is what gives you peace of mind and financial well-being.

Editor: Can all families benefit from gaining clarity about their spending or just families that are in debt?

McCall: Debt can be a big problem for families, because its cost often keeps them from feeling free to achieve their goals. So, families in debt can definitely benefit from learning how to live a debt-free lifestyle. But just because a family is not in debt does not mean the family is living an optimal financial life. Every family can benefit from understanding its financial resources, and using them with clarity and purpose.

Editor: In your opinion can a family prosper on one or one-and-a-half incomes as many homeschooling families must do?

McCall: Absolutely. When I work with clients and introduce them to the principals, we use in Financial Recovery they are often able to accomplish much more than they believed was possible.

It is through prioritizing what their true needs are that families are able to accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves. Prioritizing in a realistic way-accomplished through the clarity gained in creating their financial structure and developing a spending plan can show them how to accomplish their goals.

With a clarity-based spending plan, they have the opportunity to work out the consequences of their money choices before it is too late. Without achieving clarity, it is all just guesswork.

Editor: In your counseling practice, do your clients often need "more" money or better money management and tools for the money they do have?

McCall: More money as a solution to money problems is often a fantasy. But, if there is a problem with vagueness, debt or overspending these behaviors need to be addressed first.

Money management is the key to success in this area. Once you have effectively learned to manage what money you do have then, if there is more money, it will truly make a difference.

Editor: How can parents teach these good financial habits to their children?

McCall: The main thing is for parents to get started themselves. As the parents get clearer about their spending habits and their money values, they will be able to communicate these ideas and values to their children clearly and honestly. Often our self-defeating financial behavior is modeled on messages we picked up from our parents unconsciously. Once parents have clarity they not only give their kids sound financial information, but it is coupled with an emotional honesty, which will resonate through their lives.

Editor: You created a very successful program that has helped thousands of individuals solve their financial issues. What is it?

McCall: Our MoneyMinder System is a systematic process for identifying the behaviors that have caused money problems AND a tool set for developing powerful new skills for managing money successfully. It grew out of my 14 years experience in counseling individuals, families and small businesses with problems about money.

It is very effective. Because it focuses on the relationship between our money feelings and our money behaviors it really is unique.

Editor: Does using MoneyMinder require a good knowledge of bookkeeping or accounting? And, can you use it on a computer as well?

McCall: You do not need any kind of bookkeeping or accounting knowledge to use our System. When I started to develop this process, I knew that it had to be simple and easy to use. If I had to understand complex math or accounting issues I never would have been able to do it, and I certainly could not have taught others how to do it.

To make it even easier, last year we put the entire spending plan process on CD-ROM so you can do it right on the computer. It really speeds things up. That is important for busy families.

Editor: Does keeping track of all your expenses really affect a family's ability to gain control of their finances? What if all their expenses are predictable?

McCall: Tracking is the key. Tracking does two things:

1. It helps get you consciously connected with your money

2. It gives you the information you need to start making strong choices.

No matter how predictable you think your expenses are, tracking will open your eyes to things that were not on your radar. Even "small" expenses can have a major impact on your long-term spending goals when they are added up.

Many people I have worked with really believed there was no need to keep track of what they did with money. Once they started to do this in a systematic way, they were amazed at what tracking did for them. They uniformly report that it began to feel as though they had more money. When their perception of what they were doing was focused through the tools we use in the MoneyMinder System it changed something about what they did with their money. This change created the feeling of more money in their lives. They could see how to address the areas of deprivation they may have been unconsciously experiencing.

Editor: Would you recommend that families that have home based businesses use MoneyMinder as well?

McCall: People usually handle the finances of their business in much the same way as their personal finances. We have designed a Small Business Owners CD-ROM that will help entrepreneurs incorporate the same principals of Financial Recovery into their businesses. Clients who use these principals in their businesses report increases in their businesses because of using this system. Just this month I began working with a new client who started using these principals. In less than a month, he is on track to make 2 times more than he considered he could when he began this process.

To Learn more about Karen McCall and the Financial Recovery Institute click here: http://www.financialrecovery.com

Karen McCall's Program, MoneyMinder:

MoneyMinder™ is a systematic process for identifying the behaviors that have caused your money problems and developing powerful new skills for managing your money successfully.

The process starts wherever your money problems have brought you and supports your growth toward a more fulfilling financial life.

No matter how large or small your debt, or how desperate your financial situation, the process will move you upward.

In just one section of one part of the System you will learn:

• How money problems tend to multiply and how you can identify the "red flags" that signal where you are on the slippery slope to disaster.

• The steps on the upward path of recovery.

• How to identify self-defeating money behaviors and understand their sources.

• The role of clarity in helping you take control of your money situation.

• The six tools for gaining clarity.

As you use the system, you will have a deeper understanding of the behaviors that create money problems, and a road map for recovering from them. You will then be ready to learn the core money management skills taught in a step by step easy to understand manner.

See what is also included in MoneyMinder, click below.
http://www.financialrecovery.com