I find that when it comes to money, people are either a Gunna or a Doer.

Most people I come across say they want to save for the future, they want to do something about their mortgage and their super, they want to plan for the future, they want to start investing, they want to get serious.

Have you ever found yourself saying things like this, but never getting around to actually doing something about it?

“I’ll do something about it next year” and before you know it, 5 or 10 years have passed by.

If you’ve been a Money Gunna, it’s time to become a Money Doer… the cost of being a Gunna is too high to just keep talking about doing something.

What sort of cost? Well, we only have to look at the evidence…

The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported on research from Curtin University and RMIT University showing a huge rise in older Australians with mortgage debt damaging the mental health of those who struggle to make loan repayments.

They found the mental health effects are “comparable to those resulting from long-term health conditions”.

Scarily, the average mortgage debt of those aged 55 and older has grown by almost seven times in real terms since the late 1980s, according to a research report by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Money is the number one cause of stress and the longer planning for the future is put to the side, consequences continue to magnify.

When it comes to your financial future, you can be a Gunna or a Doer and the difference will impact on what sort of lifestyle you will get to enjoy in the future.

I can tell you from experience, that the Doers get results and the Gunnas are left to contemplate what might have been. There’s a big difference between the choices they have available to them in the future and this often leads to a big difference in happiness levels. I’m sure you can guess whose levels are higher!

Consequently, the higher the levels of happiness, the lower the levels of stress.

The responses to YourLifeChoices’ most recent annual Retirement Insights survey revealed the greatest concerns of retirees seem to be money, money and money:

• Uncertain financial security
• Running out of money before they die
• Spending savings too quickly
• Unable to afford a comfortable lifestyle
• Concerned they won’t have an adequate income
• Outlasting super

The key to reducing or eliminating these concerns is to take financial planning seriously when you are making your most important financial decisions… in your 30s and 40s!

So, who are you right now?

Up until now, have you been a Money Gunna or a Money Doer? Only you can answer that question honestly. You may have been a bit of both.

Who are you going to be going forward?

If you want to be a Money Doer, then let’s make it happen!

There are still some seats left for my free ‘Mortgage, Money, Millions’ seminar in Orange on Wednesday 25 September. If you want to learn how a lifetime of paying high fees, interest and commissions to the big end of town can cost you upwards of $1,000,000 AND you want to do something about it, then click here and book your seat.

Cheers,

Daniel