Cash Flow Management Is Everything

The number one thing people say when they call to make an appointment is, “ok, it’s time to learn how to invest.” As my other blogs have talked about, the world makes us think that investing is king. The industry makes us think that somehow this mystical investing thing will be the answer to our money ills.

The truth is that investing couldn’t be further down the list of money priorities, and as most clients find as they work with us, getting control of money is everything. It helps them save for everything from retirement to tires. It helps them sleep at night.

We spent years at Aptus in search of the system that would work for clients. Sometimes apps were really promising, and we would get a few clients to adopt them pretty quickly. But inevitably they would fall by the wayside. The problem was that cash flow management, or budgeting, seemed to be like being on a diet. Money had to be a constant focus, a constant obsession. Clients had to check out at Kroger, and while the kids were literally throwing things at each other in the grocery cart, they are supposed to dutifully pause and enter in what they just spent on groceries.

It did not take us long to figure out that there had to be a better way. At a conference several years ago, I heard a talk by Marty Kurtz, a financial planner who was teaching his clients a simple pay yourself first (PYF) system. It was a system that simply planned out long-term and near-term savings; accounted for, automated and levelized all bill payments; and then transferred a weekly spending amount into a separate account to be spent to zero every week.

At the time I had been using an elaborate system that I had created in Excel. That system was my lifeline, and I lived in it, obsessed over it, reluctantly plugged in that Starbuck’s latte. You know that latte—the thing that women do that is singlehandedly responsible for the entire country’s retirement crisis? (I digress—but if you haven’t read it, I could not recommend more "Just Buy the F'ing Latte" by Sallie Krawcheck)

Ok, so I gave it a shot. Got the hubby on board, and we used the same numbers from our Excel budget to set up the PYF system. After the first month, it was bizarre. But after several years of trying to edge our spending down to the point where I didn’t think it could go any further, I found that I actually had money leftover at the end of the week. Month two was the same. Also, the savings accounts for near-term expenses started piling money in them, and that felt good. I knew the money was there for Christmas and birthdays, and then if I needed new tires then money was in a different account but still accumulating. So, no more worries about separately accounting for how much I had saved for what expense.

And the workload? — I went from spending hours a month on “budgeting” to minutes. Wait—what? All this and No work?

And then no judgement. What I heard from Marty but didn’t believe was that we don’t have to judge our expenses. Those days are over. Who gives an “f” (to again quote Krawcheck) if I bought a latte this week? Doesn’t matter. Because I saved for retirement first, saved for near-term expenses second and paid my bills third. How I spent the rest didn’t actually matter. At. All.

It is true that saving is hard--unless you do it this way.

Saving is hard in this day and age because lives are complicated. We have freaking payments for everything, and they hit at different times of the month. We can’t keep it all balanced in our heads—and getting financial through the month feels like dodging punches in a ring.

Imagine a world where saving became easy. No lie. Easy.

You spend a few hours setting up a pay yourself first system, using just your own bank accounts. No app. No frills. Just your bank. And then you let it ride. You live your life spending like you want to spend within the actual means you have. You never have to wonder what those means are. The retirement account gets funded automatically, to the point you just accidentally do it and wake up able to retire. You break out in a cold sweat when the personal property tax bill shows up in the spring, only to fumble into your bank app to see that the money is there—tucked neatly away in a savings account. You had been saving for it all year but had forgotten.

Make life easy. Get this system. It will change your life.

And I could not be prouder, more excited, absolutely thrilled to announce that we have a financial wellness coach whose goal in life is to help everyone get on this system. Mary Tellez is a master budgeter, herself, and came at this as organically. She worked with me a while back to get her own family on a cash flow system. It was life changing for her, but more importantly she mastered the process more than I ever had. She then became fairly evangelical about it, helping friends and family to get on it. And then realized it was her life’s passion and ambition to do it for a living. Her compassion for her clients and empathy for failed past attempts make her incomparably effective at helping people take the plunge.

The question is whether this is your time? Is it time to take the plunge? Read here for more info on how to adopt our cash management system. You can do this yourself! But, seriously, if you are the kind of person who benefits from a little structure and some gentle nudges to get over the finish line, send Mary an email. You can reach her at mary@aptusfinancial.com.

Mary Tellez

Financial Wellness Coach