{"id":26918,"date":"2023-10-15T11:25:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T11:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/personal-finance\/the-real-meaning-of-integrity-in-financial-planning\/"},"modified":"2023-10-15T11:25:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T11:25:10","slug":"the-real-meaning-of-integrity-in-financial-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/?p=26918","title":{"rendered":"The Real Meaning Of \u201cIntegrity\u201d In Financial Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Some words get overused to the point that their true meaning is obscured. I\u2019m pretty sure if we could scan all the company mission and values statements, most of which have gathered dust since their initial articulation, the word \u201cintegrity\u201d would be among the Top 10 invoked\u2014maybe the Top 5.<\/p>\n

Of course, with the benefit of AI now, we don\u2019t have to wonder. I asked ChatGPT, \u201cWhat are the most common words used in corporate mission or values statements?\u201d Guess what was numero uno?<\/p>\n

Integrity. \ud83d\ude2c<\/p>\n

And what companies include the word in their missions? IBM
\n IBM
\n <\/fbs-ticker>, 3M, Lockheed Martin
\n LMT
\n <\/fbs-ticker>, Dupont, Pfizer
\n PFE
\n <\/fbs-ticker>, Marriott, Procter & Gamble
\n PG
\n <\/fbs-ticker>, and Walmart
\n WMT
\n <\/fbs-ticker>, to name more than a few.<\/p>\n

But what does \u201cintegrity\u201d actually mean? If we conducted a late-night show street interview series and asked people what integrity means, what do you think they would say? What would you say?<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

I think the consensus would fall somewhere in the milk-toast range of \u201cbeing a good person\u201d to \u201cdoing the right thing.\u201d But could those possibly be the defining characteristics of this word seemingly elevated to the pinnacle of human and corporate existence? Those definitions seem more like table stakes to me.<\/p>\n

I believe the true essence of this word is captured in a definition that is no less simple, but much more challenging\u2014especially in the Age of Image in which we live:<\/p>\n

Integrity is doing what you say.<\/h2>\n

Harvard social scientist, Arthur Brooks, says in his \u201cHow To Build A Life\u201d column for The Atlantic<\/em>, \u201c[Integrity] is about being consistent in your actions and your words, even when no one is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simple, but not easy. And there are few areas of life where integrity is more applicable than in our personal financial planning. Show me your credit card statement and checking account register, and I\u2019ll tell you what your priorities are.<\/p>\n

How then might we apply the true meaning of integrity in our financial planning?<\/p>\n

First, in order for our actions to be consistent with our words, we need to start with words. <\/strong>Whatever you want to call it\u2014a mission statement, statement of values, or just a list of priorities\u2014we need to have a guiding declaration of intention. You need to know what you want to be about in life to align your money. You are the CEO of You, inc., in charge of establishing the vision for your household. Your words become the plumbline, the measuring stick, for your actions\u2014your spending.<\/p>\n

Second, you need to track your spending. Like it or not, you are also your household\u2019s Chief Financial Officer.<\/strong> Imagine you were called into a Board meeting as the CFO
\n CFO
\n <\/fbs-ticker> and asked to report on the inflows and outflows. What would your response be? \u201cWell, it comes in and it goes out\u2026\u201d You\u2019d be fired on the spot. Even if you\u2019ve outsourced the CFO duties to a financial advisor, you\u2019re responsible for your spending, and as Deion Sanders says, \u201cThe only way through it is to go through it.\u201d In other words, there\u2019s no way to track your spending but to budget. (If you need a nudge, my personal favorite budgeting tool is YNAB\u2014You Need A Budget.)<\/p>\n

Lastly, there is a way to hack your budgeting and ensure your actions match your words in your spending\u2014<\/strong>automation<\/strong>.<\/strong> If generosity is a family value, automate your gifts. If saving for college is important, open a 529 and automate your savings. If recreating your income when you may not be able to work is important, make automatic contributions to your 401(k)\u2014and better yet, use the auto-escalation feature, which will increase your contribution by a set amount every year. If family experiences are important, automate your vacation savings. Want to accelerate your debt repayment? Automate. There\u2019s likely a way to automate each of the values and priorities that you articulate. You make a single decision that will replicate itself every month, and once you\u2019ve automated your most important goals, you can spend whatever\u2019s left, guiltfree.<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge we have in applying the principles of integrity in our financial planning is in not doing the work to understand and articulate our own values. There\u2019s no shortcut here. You can\u2019t borrow Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, or even Ramit Sethi\u2019s values. You can\u2019t borrow your financial advisor\u2019s values, either\u2014in fact, some of the most important work of the best financial advisors is their skillful qualitative discovery that helps you articulate your priorities.<\/p>\n

The reason borrowed priorities don\u2019t work is that, unless they are an impulsion\u2014inspired from within\u2014they won\u2019t have the necessary motivational force to help you stay the course. Yes, that means that the most important exercise in all of financial planning is to discern\u2014and regularly revisit and update\u2014what\u2019s most important to you in life. Only then can you live and spend with integrity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some words get overused to the point that their true meaning is obscured. I\u2019m pretty sure if we could scan all the company mission and values statements, most of which have gathered dust since their initial articulation, the word \u201cintegrity\u201d would be among the Top 10 invoked\u2014maybe the Top 5. Of course, with the benefit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Real Meaning Of \u201cIntegrity\u201d In Financial Planning | Micro Loan Nexus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some words get overused to the point that their true meaning is obscured. 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