Financial Assistance Resources
The Pet Fund – Donor Resources
The Pet Fund would like to recommend the following resources for donors and pet owners. Links to financial services are listed below, and we encourage you to find out more about these organizations and their available programs.
The following articles are provided by Ross Levin of Accredited Investors, Inc.
Accredited Investors, Inc. is nationally acclaimed for its delivery of comprehensive financial planning. Started in 1986, Accredited Investors has built its practice by focusing individually on their clients. They believe the purpose of financial planning is to improve the quality of your life. Accredited Investors, Inc. will work with you to help define and reach your financial and life objectives.
Minneapolis
Star Tribune
September 17, 2006
CHOOSING A FINANCIAL PATH
Wise spending decisions require a frame of reference and, often, some new
ways of thinking......
While all of us are plotting the course of our kids'
lives to get them into the best colleges so they can get the best jobs so
they can find the best partners and raise the best children in the best
communities, we lose sight of the big picture. We don't want our kids to
have lives like ours, we want them to have lives like theirs. And maybe
that means not sending them to the "best" schools, but sending them to
schools that are best for them -- schools where the students have shared
values and similar interests. Often in my business, we see that the things
people work the hardest for are things that they ultimately end up not
wanting......
While this pattern describes any number of scenarios, it aptly depicts how
our financial planning lives can turn cruel. We think that once we reach a
certain level, we can turn this thing off -- we'll spend less, work less,
find a new job that we think will make us happier. But we keep
over-reaching, losing a little control and making it more and more
difficult to stop.
Or maybe we deprive ourselves of something that we can easily afford
because we are so afraid to spend the money. We have built a vast fortune
that is far too precious to spend or give away. It gets harder each day.
We can't make a decision. And we can't make a change.
At the tail end of one of our regular meetings, a longtime client talked
about a certain car that he wanted to buy. He'd brought up the subject
countless times over the years. He heard that while this car is expensive
to buy, if you keep it long enough, it turns out to be extremely
inexpensive to own. But he has never bought it. He has the money. He
really values quality things. He would love it every time he closed
himself inside. It makes sense for him to buy it. He is in his 60s and he
will drive this car for 20 years. Buy the car.
We get to decide what we want. We get to decide if more is better. But we
need to make these choices from our own sense of ourselves. We shouldn't
choose them based on greed or envy. And we need to decide when what we
have is enough.
The hard part is that we usually don't have a frame of reference. If we
are fear-based, we don't spend or give because we are worried that we
don't (or won't) have enough.
To develop a reference point, it's time to turn your thinking upside down.
The best way to appreciate all that you have is by giving some of it away.
If you haven't done much of this before, you can start small by finding a
charity that is meaningful to you or a cause that is important to you.
Take a look at how you are making your choices. Are they really based on
reality?
Spend your life wisely.
To contact Accredited Investors, Inc.
click here.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
November 20, 2005
MANAGING ACCOUNTS
My wife and I took a long walk one day while our girls were at basketball
tryouts. We were talking about the things that are most important to us
and whether the time we are spending on them matched those priorities. As
we talked about spending time, it hit me: I want to be a compulsive
spender. I want to spend everything I have fully, completely,
exhaustively.
I realized that when we are born, we have a deposit of hours made into our
life's "bank" accounts. We don't get a receipt, so we never really know
how much time we have. Some of those hours can be spent on your job or
your kids or the television, but ultimately, they are all spent. Every
last one.
That being the case, don't you think the most important part of your
financial plan should focus on how you can earn the greatest return on
this life account? Here is how you may want to think going about this.
Who and where are you? The first step in any financial plan is an
understanding of who you are and where you want to go. The rest of the
planning relationship is developing strategies and ideas and then
executing them in order for you to meet these goals.
A well-crafted financial plan is really a life plan. Since your money is
simply something to help you actualize your vision, then all financial
planning needs to tie into it. Making money is not a purpose; it is a tool
to help you realize your vision. Clarifying this purpose is the best way
to set your direction. In Stanford Business School Professor Michael Ray's
book, "The Highest Goal,'' he writes: "You achieve true prosperity by
having a full, rich feeling of self-worth." Do you know your highest goal?
Diversify. Anyone who has read my column in the past knows that I believe
you should own large stocks, small stocks, international stocks, growth
stocks and value stocks. You have a much better opportunity to generate
consistent returns over time. But don't mindlessly diversify or fearfully
put the same amount into each category. Diversify into the things and in
the amounts that give you the best chance of meeting your long-term
spending objectives.
The same holds true in your life account. Diversify among the many things
that matter to you. All of us place importance on different things and at
different magnitudes. But as you think about the categories of your life
account, make sure that they will help you meet your long-term life
objectives. Your family, your friends, your work, your health, your
spirituality, your community, yourself, all represent important
investments at different stages.
Rebalance. Rebalancing means that you are taking away from the areas that
have too much money because they have done extremely well, and give some
to the areas that have underperformed. This essentially helps you buy low
and sell high.
Rebalancing is critical for your life account as well. Don't look at life
balance on a day-to-day basis. Your teenagers at various times may require
a little more attention than your friendships. There may be short periods
of time when your job requires most of your focus. Try to look at things
on a quarterly basis to see where you need to recalibrate.
Review regularly. Your financial plan is never on autopilot. You need to
look at its various components regularly to be sure that your insurance
deductibles are correct, that you are raising cash for short-term needs,
or that you lock in the long-term mortgage. And when something doesn't
seem right, you want to trust your instincts and ask questions.
Pay attention to your life account as well. Sometimes we want our
withdrawals to be used in front of the television, but be sure that this
is a choice we are making, not a way to avoid other things that matter.
Ray says that there are "three ways that people deal with fear: move away
from it, fight it or move toward it." He contends that only through moving
toward fear can you learn from where it comes and ultimately overcome it.
Enjoy all that you have. No matter what you have in that investment
account, or how small your apartment is, or how old that car is, it's
yours. And there is something to be said for being grateful for all that
we have rather than coveting that which is not ours. In our financial
planning practice, we encourage clients to celebrate what has worked for
them while we continue to work with the areas that need attention.
As for your life account, you may not have used all of your withdrawals
exactly as you had hoped. You may not have had as much deposited as you
expected. But when you actively manage your life account, you have a
better chance of realizing appreciation both on and with your life's
hours. Spend all that you have in your life account and you will live
richly.
To contact Accredited Investors, Inc. click here.
To donate to The Pet Fund, click here.
You may also donate to The Pet Fund online by clicking on the link for www.justgive.org. We are also registered with www.guidestar.org.
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