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What Is Cash Flow and How Can Investing Help? Wealth Management Tips

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and many individuals were laid off, a new focus on personal finances crashed to the forefront. For many, this meant tightening their spending and cutting some extras. 

But for others, it was devastating. Some found they hadn’t managed money well or saved enough for a rainy day, and they faced serious hardship.

Pandemic aside, learning the important strategies of wealth management are key to saving and planning for the future. Understanding the role of cash flow in your finances is key to building a strong money management plan. 

Read on to learn more about cash flow and how it can build a strong wealth management strategy for you.

The Role of Cash Flow in Wealth Management 

Before we get into semantics, let’s use an example to understand the role of cash flow in your overall financial picture. 

Have you ever sat down with someone younger and tried to build something with Legos? If the person was a toddler, the Legos were big clunky pieces and you probably didn’t need a lot of direction. They fit together and you made simple towers.

This is much like your financial picture early in life. You get your first real job and start making money.

You probably don’t have investments yet, or much debt either. The big Legos are your current cash flow. You use them, but you aren’t building anything too specific and your financial picture isn’t too complicated. 

As time goes by, that changes. Now sit down to build Legos with a 10-year old. It’s a whole kit with complicated, step-by-step directions. 

Each of those pieces is part of your overall financial picture. The key to making all those pieces fit into something relies on the directions. The directions represent your cash flow. 

Without a clear handle on your own cash flow, it becomes difficult to create a strong wealth management plan. The same would be true in building that difficult Lego kit. No directions make it very challenging. 

What Is Cash Flow?

The key to your whole financial wealth management plan is understanding your personal cash flow. 

Some people assume that cash flow is simply where their personal money goes. It comes into their accounts. It goes out to pay debts, savings, and maybe investments. 

There’s a belief that where the money travels through a monthly budget is the cash flow

Actually, cash flow is bigger than that. Imagine it like moving two big steps away from the budget. 

Go back to the Lego example for a minute.

Remember, those directions were key to building the structure. The directions represent your cash flow. It is key to building your overall wealth management plan.

Where you put your cash flow, how you spend it, invest it, and designate its use determines your wealth management strategy.

Why a Cash Flow Strategy Matters

It can be beneficial to step back and look at how you manage wealth through your cash flow. 

If you’re on top of your financial game, you start with a budget. Budgets tend to be detailed and show more specifically where your money goes. 

It doesn’t account for how your money can grow when you use cash flow in certain ways. This turns your simple line-item budget into wealth management. 

Of course, it can be hard to have control of your actual cash flow without a firm handle on spending, debts, and your budget. 

For example, if you spend more than you make and constantly juggle payments and credit card balances, you can’t garner a firm grip on cash flow. In most cases, you don’t feel like you have any.

50-30-20 Rule

Let’s take a step back and make sure you have a firm budget in place. This will help you to understand your personal cash flow. 

In the simplest of terms, the cash flow represents your income minus the expenses you have over a period of time. The key is the period of time. 

You want to be able to take your cash flow and use it over a period of time to make wealth for yourself and achieve your financial goals. 

Many experts suggest starting with the 50-30-20 rule. Start by tracking your expenses for several months so you can see where you spend your money. 

Start with the 20. Have you ever heard someone say to pay yourself first? Start by taking 20% of your take-home pay and putting it into savings or investments. 

50% of your income will cover those basic required needs. This will include things like: 

  • Mortgage or rent
  • Food
  • Transportation costs
  • Utilities
  • Insurance costs
  • Loan payments

Then you have the 30% left. This is where you must do some goal setting as part of your financial plan.

Do you have other needs? Do you have long-term goals that require you to save that extra 30% for a period of time?

Creating Your Financial Plan Based on Cash Flow

Most businesses use cash flow statements and balance sheets to manage their money. You should create a personal cash flow statement and a personal balance sheet. 

These documents will become key to understanding your cash flow and the goals that come with it. 

The cash flow statement can look a lot like a budget, except it should be a continuous statement that shows the money that comes into your life and the money that goes out.  

Remember, you want to use your cash flow to help you achieve those long-term financial goals. This might include things like planning for retirement or saving for college. 

You should also have a personal balance sheet. Your balance sheet should provide you with an overall snapshot of your wealth at any given time. This will help you to see how you’re doing using the cash flow you have to reach those goals.

Cash Flow Wealth Management Tips

Having a concrete wealth management strategy means understanding your personal cash flow and the role it plays in helping you to achieve your goals.

At Bogart Wealth, we can help you plan this strategy for the future. Contact us today to get started working on your financial plan.  

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION:

Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Bogart Wealth, LLC [“Bogart Wealth”]), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful.  Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions.  Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Bogart Wealth. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. Bogart Wealth is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of the Bogart Wealth’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request or at www.bogartwealth.comPlease Note: Bogart Wealth does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to Bogart Wealth’s web site or blog or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please Remember: If you are a Bogart Wealth client, please contact Bogart Wealth, in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services, or if you would like to impose, add, or to modify any reasonable restrictions to our investment advisory services.  Unless, and until, you notify us, in writing, to the contrary, we shall continue to provide services as we do currently. Please Also Remember to advise us if you have not been receiving account statements (at least quarterly) from the account custodian.

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