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As a Certified Public Accountant, To help with prioritizing in terms To see the effects of stress
I have seen a lot of disasters occur of numbers, the AARP website has a on your blood oxygen, some
from poor financial planning, but I lot of nifty tools, such as rent versus smartphones have blood oxygen
have also talked with a lot of happy mortgage, credit card payoff, and saturation sensors. If your phone
customers who made the time to retirement calculators for traditional has the fingerprint spot for
make a few intentional decisions. IRA and 401k plans (www.aarp.org/ unlocking the phone or an infrared
In this article, I review a few life money/money_tools/). The last time I signal, you may have access to
lessons and classic textbook finance checked the website, a person did an app that activates the sensor.
tools. (Note: I am not a certified not need to be an AARP member to (Samsung Health app allows for
financial planner, thus this is not use their calculators. that on Samsung phones.) Some
professional financial advice.) smartwatches and fitness trackers
Remember to Take Full also have this nifty bio-feedback
Know What Is More and Breaths and Stretch When tool, and pulse oximeters can be
Less Important in Your Life. 2. Making Big Decisions found at drugstores like Walmart
1. As an addict in recovery, one Stress from decision-making can and CVS.
of the first tools that helped me to cause the body to tense up, leading To alleviate a lack of oxygen
organize was creating a list of what to shallow breathing. This, in turn, caused by stress, there are several
was more important versus what leads to less oxygen in the blood great breathing exercises out there.
was less important—and reviewing and can result in headaches and My favorite is this: For one minute,
that priority list when making other health issues. It becomes a count to three seconds breathing in,
decisions. First, I wrote down horrible cycle of stressful thoughts holding for one second, and then
everything that mattered most to causing a stressed body creating a counting to three seconds breathing
me. Then, on a new page, I started stress headache, then adding more out (repeat 10 times). There are
ranking them. stress to the body! many other variations to be found
One might think “Ok, that is on the internet and books.
obvious; drugs should be at the
bottom; but what about the electric Know Your Investment
bill compared to the rent? Or taking Limits and Accept Them.
a class in philosophy compared to …SOME DAYS 3. When investing—whether
buying new boots?” The rankings it be mutual funds, company stocks,
may change over time, but carrying or even rental properties—prices
that go-to list in a purse or wallet YOU MAY NEED TO may go up and down, and the
can be helpful, especially for spur- current price may not be the price
of-the-moment purchases. you want. My favorite way to buy a
For example, you suddenly crave PRACTICE PATIENCE stock is by setting a limit price.
ice cream, but are saving for a car. For example, let’s say that the
That reminder list can help reinforce price on 1/1/2022 was $175 for
your commitment to putting the HypotheticalCompany, but one
money in a savings jar instead of OR RECONFIGURE sees a bit of variation in the stock
spending it on a snack. That is, price. There is a chance (but what
if you decide snacks are not as percent is speculation) that it will
important as a new car. Only you YOUR PRIORITIES… likely again fluctuate, and placing
can create your own priority list. a limit order for $174 makes it such
that the broker only buys it when
it gets that low. However, it could

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