Which Money Journey Are You Currently On?  – Hawaii Business Magazine

Join financial experts on Nov. 9 to learn about budgeting basics, building credit, retirement planning, buying your first home, financial strategies for small businesses and more.

These days, everyone in my family has a different perspective on personal finance.

After more than a decade working for different companies, my son is starting his own business for the first time. My daughter has worked for the same company since college graduation and is able to save money and invest despite living in high-cost San Francisco. My wife retired last year but has worked part time on several projects since then. And I am still working but planning for retirement and part-time work in a few years.

None of us are in what I think are the most difficult decades of the typical personal finance journey, when seemingly everything financial hits you at once: paying down a home mortgage while raising children while saving for their education while saving for your retirement while (add your needs here).

No matter where you are on that money journey, two of Hawaii Business Magazine’s latest initiatives can help. In September, we launched a free weekly email newsletter called the Hawaii Business Personal Finance Report that aims to provide advice and information from local and national experts.

And on Saturday, Nov. 9, we’re holding the all-day Money Matters Financial Conference at Mid-Pacific Institute. You can choose from five tracks depending on where you are in your personal finance journey: Getting Started, Getting Back on Track, Small Business Owners, Retirement Planning, and Kūpuna. Register at moneymatters.hawaiibusiness.com.

Advice for Your Financial Success

In the opening keynote session, Shannon Okinaka, until recently the longtime CFO at Hawaiian Airlines, and I will have a conversation about the many important personal money management lessons we can all learn from Hawaiian, including how an airline handles incredibly complex operations and the accompanying uncertainty, price volatility, customer demands, black swan events and more. Virtually everything you face in your personal journey, airlines deal with constantly – and their responses and coping strategies can help you build your own strategies.

Each workshop is designed to give you important information and actionable advice. The topics cover a wide range and here are just some of the sessions:

• The Possible Dream: Buying Your First Home in Hawai‘i
• Budgeting to Get Back on Track
• Family, Fraud & Finances, a session aimed at kūpuna but open to anybody
• Financial Management 101 for Small Businesses
• Best Strategies for the 401(k)/ IRA Novice
• Protect Yourself from Sneaky Schemes, Scams and Fraud
• Leveraging Your Assets for Loan Power
• Building Your Credit from Scratch
• Balancing Act: Strategies for Generating Income from Retirement Savings
• YOU Matter! Do You Have a CareReceiving Plan?
• Annuities and Self-Directed IRAs as Part of a Retirement Strategy

Defining Goals and Steps to Take

Our closing keynote speaker is national financial expert Colin Ryan, who’ll talk about “Embracing the Human Side of Money.” His goal is to help you define and achieve your vision of financial success so you can have the life you want.

I’m confident that no matter where your personal finances stand, you’ll learn plenty at the Money Matters Financial Conference. Tickets are $50 for the entire day and include free parking at Mid-Pacific Institute in Mānoa, access to any session you choose and a bento lunch. Register at moneymatters.hawaiibusiness.com.

I’m excited because there’s so much I want to learn from the experts in these sessions. Frankly, there will be a couple of times when I’ll want to be in two sessions at once, so I think my wife and I will be splitting up to cover more ground.

Unless you are a member of the richest 1%, I suggest you save that Saturday for a valuable day of learning. The payoff could be enormous.