Your Investing Checklist: Ready for Lifelong Wealth Building?

Feeling overwhelmed by investing? You’re definitely not alone—over half of investors are in the same boat, drowning in too many options and losing sleep over market uncertainties. In today’s chat, we’re diving into a super simple eight-point checklist to help you navigate the investment waters without getting lost. Your Investing Checklist: Ready for Lifelong Wealth Building? We’ve all been there, trusting friends or family for advice and ending up more confused, right? So, let's break it down and give you a solid plan to build your wealth, step by step. Grab your coffee, kick back, and let’s make sense of this investing thing together!

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Feeling overwhelmed by investing? You're not alone! Over half of Americans are totally frozen when it comes to their finances, and many are losing sleep over market uncertainties. In our latest chat, we dive into these wild stats and tackle a hot question we received: How do I simplify investing? Spoiler alert: It's not about drowning in information. Instead, I’m laying down an easy-peasy checklist for you to follow to build your wealth like a boss. We’re talking about knowing your ‘why’, starting small, and keeping it consistent. By the end of the episode, you’ll be ready to tackle your investments without the panic. Let's get ready to break the cycle of financial shame together!

Takeaways:

• Over half of investors feel totally overwhelmed by all the options out there, it's a jungle!
• Two-thirds of folks admit they make impulsive decisions when investing, which is a recipe for sleepless nights.
• Almost half of people rely on their friends or family for financial advice, but that can lead to confusion.
• Most investors don't need more info; what they really crave is clarity and a trusted guide.
• Investing can be intimidating, but starting small and knowing your 'why' can make all the difference.
• If you review your investments, do it regularly but don't obsess over every little detail.

Links referenced in this episode:

• financiallyconfidentchristian.com

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Over half of investors feeloverwhelmed by too many options.
Two thirds regard impulsivedecisions when investing, four in
ten admit they lose sleep overmarket uncertainty. And almost half
rely on friends or family forfinancial advice. I don't know about
you, but I'm not relying on myfriends and family because that leads
to confusion. Listen to this.Over half of Americans feel financially

(00:23):
frozen, unsure what to donext, and more than half wish they
had clear, simple investingplans to follow. Only 1 in 3 investors
feel confident about theirlong term Strategy and over 60% of
investors want step by stepguidance rather than more information.
What amazing statistics. Itleads us to our question for today.

(00:45):
Got this question in our emailtoday. Ralph, I feel overwhelmed
by all the advice oninvesting. Could you just give me
a simple checklist to followfor the long haul? Well, thank you
for the question. I thoughtI'd been doing that for the last
30 days, but I'm just beingfunny. We spent a whole month on
investing. Now let's wrap itup with a simple practical checklist
to guide you for lifelongwealth building. Get ready for my

(01:06):
eight point practicalchecklist. That's what I'm going
to cover on today's show.
This is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel,
grounded insight and faithdriven tips to to help you break
the cycle of financial shamewith confidence.
Hello and welcome to the show.I'm Ralph and today we're wrapping
up our month long series oninvesting. I'm going to talk about

(01:28):
a simple practical checklistfor the long haul because so many
people tell me, Ralph, I feeloverwhelmed by all the advice. So
if you feel that way, let metell you right now, you're in good
company. A lot of us feel thatway. And the truth is most investors
don't need more information.There's plenty of information out
there. There's all kinds ofwebsites and there's these financial
gurus all over TikTok andYouTube giving you all kinds of information.

(01:52):
Honestly, I think it'sinformation overload. What people
really need is clarity andthey need a trusted guy. And that's
why today I'm going to walkyou through a checklist that I've
built to help you buildconfidence, to help you take consistent
action and to keep yourinvesting journey faith driven. And
I'll tell you what, I'm goingto tell you about a story. I had
a client who was paralyzed bythis information overload. They actually

(02:13):
would call me, they'd say rap.I listened to another investment
seminar. I watched thisYouTube video. Ralph, I don't know
what to do. They came in andwe sat down, we had a meeting and
I broke it down into a fivepoint checklist. Now I've grown that
a little bit. Today I'mactually going to give you an eight
point checklist. But when Iwas able to share that with the client,
he finally felt free to takesteady action without second guessing

(02:33):
himself. And I love this quotefrom Jim Rohn. Jim said this. He
said, success is nothing morethan a few simple disciplines practice
every single day. I love it. Ilove what he says here. It's nothing
more than a few simpledisciplines practice every day. So.
All right, you ready? Here'smy eight point checklist. You ready
for this? Here we go. Numberone, you got to know your why. As

(02:58):
you started this investmentseries, we talked about understanding
why you were doing this. It isabsolutely crucial that you understand
why, why you're investing,what are your goals, what are your
fears. And then that helps youunderstand if you're going to get
to where you want to get to.Because if you don't have a goal,
you're not going to know whenyou got there. So, number one, start
with knowing where your whyis. Number two, start small, but

(03:21):
start now. A lot of people arefearful. They like Ralph, I don't
have any money to get started.You have $25, you can get started.
It starts like that. But don'tput it off to when you're ready.
Because if you put it off tillyou're ready, you be 70 years old
and say, I wish I hadinvested. So number two, start small
and start now. Number three,it's all part of the why. Match your

(03:41):
risk to comfort and yourtimeline. We've talked about that
in the last 30 days.Understand what your tolerance is
to risk. Maybe you're one ofthese people that's willing to bet
at all. Maybe you're veryconservative. You got to understand
that. Understand what'scomfortable for you. Because, listen,
I'm not at all advising you todo something that you're not comfortable
with. And at the same time,we've talked about this early in

(04:02):
the series. Understand yourtimelines. If you're 20 years old,
your investment timeline is aheck of a lot different than somebody
who's in their 60s. Sounderstand that. So number three,
match your risk to yourcomfort and your timeline. Number
four, Abby's going to laughwhen I say this. We talked about
this many times. Don't put allyour eggs in one basket. This is

(04:23):
the time to diversify anddiversify wisely. So that's number
Four, diversify wisely. Numberfive, automate and stay consistent.
If you haven't heard anythingelse I've talked about in the last
30 days, I've talked andtalked and talked about being consistent.
It's that consistency. And thebest way I think you can get that
consistency is automate this.Make it something that's automatic.

(04:46):
We talked about setting it upso that when you get your paycheck
or when you're. You're.Whatever, whatever works for you
so that it just automaticallyhappens each time. So that's number
five. Automate and stayconsistent. Number six, we'll talk
about reviewing here, butdon't obsess about it. Actually got
an email the other day. Theysaid, ralph, I'm scared to death
about my investments. Well,that's a problem. Do you know your.

(05:07):
Why go through that checklist?Review it, but don't obsess about
it. Now, this isn't the timeto wait till the end of the year
and say, hey, what happenedlast year? We talked about looking
at this monthly, we're lookingat this quarterly. It is a good thing
to review it. But don't obsessabout it. Because if you obsess about
it, what happens? Start tobuild that emotion. We talked about
that. When that emotionstarts, guess what happens? Then
you start making baddecisions. I know for me, when I

(05:30):
make decisions out ofemotions, most of the time they turn
out to be bad decisions. Sonumber six, review, but don't obsess.
Number seven. Now, this hasabsolutely nothing to do with investing,
but I truly believe this isthe secret sauce to it. You're ready
for number seven, Givegenerously. You're thinking, wait
a minute, Ralph, you'retelling me to invest. You're telling
me to go make money formyself. Correct. But why are you

(05:51):
doing it? Bake that into thecake. Give generously. Because what
did the scripture tell us?When we give generously, we're rewarded
for that. So number seven isgive generously. And number eight,
big takeaway. Invest witheternity in mind. Don't just think
about what's going to happennext week or next month or next year.
Think about the impact thatthis is going to have for eternity.

(06:14):
And let's get right into ourBible verse today. Our Bible verse
comes from First Corinthians,chapter 4, verse 2. Now, it is required
that those who have been givena trust must prove faithful. Now,
you might be thinking, that'san interesting verse to pick today,
Ralph. What does that have todo with investing? Well, here's.
It has everything to do withinvesting. If you think about it,
we've been given a trust. Thereason I do this show is all about

(06:37):
financial stewardship. Well,Christ has given us a trust. He's
given us these resources.Investing is a way to be a financially
confident steward of thosethings. And it's right here in the
scripture. We've got to provefaithful. Well, faithfulness is being
consistent. Faithfulness isdeciding to choose wisely. All those

(06:58):
things. Now let's go backthrough our eight point checklist
again because I want to makesure we don't miss any of that. Let's
get right to number one. Sonumber one, again, know your why.
Number two, start small, butstart now. Number three, match risk
to comfort and look at thattimeline. Number four, diversify
wisely. Number five, automateand stay consistent. Number six,
review, but again, don'tobsess about it. Number seven, give

(07:21):
generously. And number eight,the top of the cake, where the candle
goes. Invest with eternity inmind. How about we pray together
now, Lord, as we wrap up this30 day investment series, Truth is,
we feel a little overwhelmedsometimes we have fear about things
we don't understand, Lord. Soright now we ask you to just help
us be faithful with theresources you've given us. Help us

(07:42):
to be wise in those things.Help us to be faithful in those things,
Lord. And as we consider thesethings, give us wisdom. Help us to
create this personal checklistthat honors you, Lord. Help us to
be consistent. Help us tostick with this over the long haul
and think about eternity. AndLord, we ask this in confidence in
the name of Jesus. Amen. Allright, you ready for your action

(08:03):
item? I don't expect you to doall eight items, but I want you to
write your own personalinvesting checklist. Pick three to
five points for the long haul.Keep it simple, keep it faith driven
and let that be your compasswhen things feel overwhelming. Because
guess what, things will becomeoverwhelming at times. And then just
follow with consistency,trusting God, step by step. Well,

(08:24):
listen, as we end this series,I just want to thank you for joining
me this month as we walkthrough investing together. You might
have thought the beginning, Ihad no idea about investing. Well,
now you have confidence. Andif you've missed any of our episodes,
you can go back and listen toall of them. Go right to our website,
that's financiallyconfidentChristian.com and you can
get all of our past episodes.And I hope you're leaving after this

(08:45):
with more clarity, moreconfidence and today a checklist
to help you keep consistent.Because remember this wealth isn't
just built for today, it'sentrusted for eternity. Now, you
ready for some excitement?Tomorrow we're going to launch a
brand new series. Christmas iscoming. Yes. It's only two months
away or only a month and ahalf away kind of set. So we're going
to start off with a bigquestion for next month and that

(09:06):
is will you enjoy the holidayseason or end up buried in debt?
Man, I've gotten a ton ofquestions with this. So next month
starting tomorrow, we're goingto tackle that in our new series,
Holiday Survival. Enjoy theseason without the debt. So I encourage
you to check that out. Westart that tomorrow. Encourage your
friends to join us as well.And now I want to tell you, go out
there today and be afinancially confident Christian.

(09:28):
I have confidence in you. Haveconfidence in yourself. Stay financially
savvy. God bless you. And I'llsee you tomorrow on our new series
about enjoying the seasonwithout going into debt.