You Have the Choice: Your Path to Financial Freedom

In General Conference of October 2010, President Monson spoke to the brethren about The Three R’s of Choice. Wise council from a prophet can be applied to all areas of our lives and to all who are willing to listen. President Monson referred to Alice in Wonderland where Alice asks the Cheshire cat, “Which path shall I follow?” The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.” President Monson comments, “Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed – the courage to say no, the courage to say yes.”

We all want to reach a destination of financial freedom where we no longer have to worry about money and where money, or the lack of, is not the dominating force in all of our decisions. In order to do that we have to set realistic goals and have the courage to say no, or yes, to those important decisions in how we manage our resources. President Monson reminds us that “Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices. The prophet Mormon tells us, ‘The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.’ ” We have all the resources we need to be able to make correct choices. We have access to the Spirit. As we are righteous, obedient and prayerful,the Lord will guide us in the paths that we should take – and that includes the path to financial freedom.

With that in mind, and the beginning of the New Year, it’s a good time to assess your financial health and set or re-evaluate your financial goals. Remember how important it is to make specific and realistic goals, both short term and long term. One of your goals may be to have the funds for a family vacation, but if you don’t have an emergency fund or are struggling to pay the monthly bills, a more realistic goal may be to build up your $1000 emergency fund. So, here’s a brief summary of some steps that you can take on your path to financial freedom.

• Pay Your Tithing
• Create a Budget: Stick to it and Review it
• $1000 Emergency Fund
• Get out of Debt!
• Expand Your Emergency Fund (3-6 months living expenses)
• Fund Your Retirement
• Prepare for Upcoming Events (car, mission, college)
• Save for Your Dreams

Also keep in mind that financial goals should be set as couples and as a family. Everyone that contributes to the decision making can also contribute to the decision keeping, so involve all members of the family that are mature enough to contribute. Having the support of our families and the Lord by involving them in our decisions will help us on our path to financial freedom.