Wealth Pilgrim: Money Management Advice, Financial Stress Management, & Resources

A Few Days Left To Get Your Free Report “How to Make Sure Your Don’t Hire the Next Bernie Madoff”

Yesterday, I delivered my State of the Blog address.

In it, I offered you a free report “How to Make Sure You Don’t Hire the Next Bernie Madoff” which I’d love to send you.  Even though Bernie is behind bars, something tells me there are plenty more where he came from.

How do you get that free report?  Simple.

Just click here take a 9-question, 60 second survey and let me know that you took the survey.  If you do, I’ll not only send you my free report, I’ll also donate $1 for every survey completed (up to 100 surveys) to the American Cancer Society and I’ll enter you into the drawing for the grand prize – an autographed copy of my mega-huge bestseller blockbuster, “Why Smart People Lose A Fortune”.

The survey basically asks for your help to make Wealth Pilgrim more responsive to your needs.  My goals are to grow Wealth Pilgrim significantly and in order to do that, I need to know what you like and what you’d like to see changed.  This is your blog too!

I did make one little mistake yesterday.  Once you complete your survey, send me an email to let me know – I trust you.  The correct email address is nfrankle AT pacbell DOT net.  Replace the AT with @ and the DOT with .

I gave out an incorrect email address yesterday. Apologies.

Thanks for your support and time.

Like this article? You will love getting my free brilliant financial updates! No spam, and I won't give your email address to any other person or company.That's a personal promise. Neal Frankle, Certified Financial Planner, Los Angeles, California

What You Can Expect From Wealth Pilgrim

• You can expect me to be straightforward and provide advice that, if followed, will help you increase your net worth significantly and eliminate financial anxiety from your life.
• You can expect me to be honest.
• You can expect me not to use Wealth Pilgrim to sell you on hiring me.
• You can expect me to tell you what has and has not worked for me and for people I’ve worked with over the last 25 years.
• You can expect me to tell you when I am not an expert in a subject, like economics and taxation.
• You can expect never to hear about hot stock tips or get-rich-quick schemes.
• You can expect me to tell you that for most people, debt is no good.  I’ll encourage you to get rid of it and I’ll tell you how.

I’m excited about going on this journey with you.  I encourage you, your friends and your family to join us.  I encourage you to visit often and comment.  This is a conversation, so I would very much appreciate knowing what is uppermost on your mind.

Spread the word! Tell everyone you know about this site that aims to offer free and straightforward advice on increasing your net worth and eliminating financial anxiety.

How Wealth Pilgrim Is Different From Any Other Blog

This blog is different from any other financial blog in four important ways:

1. Like other personal finance blogs, I  write about my personal experience but I also write about the experiences of the hundreds of other people I’ve worked with over the last 25 years. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.
2. I’m a professional and a practicing Certified Financial Planner but I’m not writing this blog to get you to hire me.   I’m committed to keeping this blog impartial and educational.
3. I believe that most of us, regardless of net worth, have a strained relationship with money.  We either worship it or ignore it.  Few people are “right sized” when it comes to money.   My experience tells me  that financial problems can be a lot like addiction: They’re created by a set of habitual behaviors that can run — and ruin — your life. Money woes are the leading cause of divorce, chronic and acute stress destroys your health, and intense financial struggles often make you feel incredibly alone.  Even if you are not a money addict, I think most everybody could have a healthier relationship with money.
4. This blog will discuss how to implement a “recovery” plan for your finances.

You may have already read the popular books by well-known financial writers (people like Suze Orman and David Bach) and found yourself frustrated. Their core message is straightforward, even simple: Earn more than you spend and invest the rest. And that’s SOLID advice. Indisputable. On the money. But if you’re in a predicament financially, the glaring simplicity of it raises deeper, more difficult questions:

“Why can’t I do that?” and “What do I need to do to make it so that I can?”

Let me help you answer these questions, giving you practical wisdom along with the foundational steps for achieving financial recovery.

I’ll apply the classic 12 steps — even for people who would not otherwise consider themselves candidates for a 12-Step program – to achieve that goal.

Why I Created This Blog

I created Wealth Pilgrim because people need to have a different relationship with money.  Despite all the books, blogs, magazines, TV shows and professional advisers, a lot of people are frightened to death about their financial situation.

Even though we’ve got a lot of information, we don’t know what to do, we don’t know how to do it … and we don’t know why we don’t do what we know we should be doing.

I struggled with money when I was broke and when I was well-off.  I’ve seen lots of people experience the same thing.

In this blog, I share my personal and professional experience so you can make smarter financial decisions and have a peaceful relationship with money, no matter what.  I’d like  this to be a meeting place where people can share ideas and learn from each other in order to enhance their lives and eliminate financial stress.

My Story: From Financial Fear to Financial Recovery

I don’t think my story is any more or less important than anyone else’s.  But I think you may get more value out of this blog if you know the road I’ve traveled.

When I was young, my father was a real estate speculator who took big risks.  Sometimes, he didn’t  consider all the potential consequences.  My family lived in constant financial fear and stress, and eventually, we lost everything.  We were evicted from a beautiful big house in the suburbs of Los Angeles and moved into a dinky apartment in a lousy part of town.  Shortly before we were evicted, my mother died.  Within two years of this, my father was killed in an airplane crash.

I was 17 then, and for a short time thereafter, I was homeless and broke.

Unexpectedly, I received a $25,000 death benefit from a life insurance policy. (Which was kind of a miracle, because my dad NEVER carried insurance–but when his bank had insisted on it as part of a business deal, he’d bought this one policy, on which he’d made a grand total of one payment.) I took the money to a broker and explained that my goal was to use it to get through college.  Back in 1974, it was a reasonable feat.  Unfortunate for me, the broker had different ideas.  He thought it would be better to use the money to send his kid through college.  He tried to churn the account.  I didn’t know anything about investments at the time, but I knew a rat when I smelled one.

I fired the broker and got my degree in accounting. I finished college in four years and had $15,000 left over. I never took out any student loans, and I did not receive any scholarships.  I was frugal, to say the least.

As soon as I graduated college, I started working.  Once I got married and started having children, I became a little compulsive about financial security.  I worked 15 hours a day or longer. I was determined to keep my family from living through the fear and insecurity I had known when I was growing up.

I thought that once I created some financial success, this compulsive worry about money would subside, but I was wrong.  Somewhere inside I still carried the fear of being homeless again. It drove me like an obsession.

Money did solve some of my problems, but it didn’t solve all of them.  In 1999 I started participating in a men’s  group.  This was a group of successful men who wanted to deal with their fears and issues in all areas of their lives.  Our leader used the 12-Step program to help us deal with our demons, and I’ve seen how powerful this approach can be.  It has been nothing short of transformational in my case.

Working as a financial adviser, I get to talk to many people. I’ve learned how they’ve made or lost money.  Over and over, I’ve seen how successful people invest and relate to money.  I’ve also seen the common mistakes that folks make, both with their investments and in their relationship with money.  I’ve learned (through my own experiences and from my clients) that true wealth requires both financial and emotional skill.

At this point in my life, I consider myself financially successful.  My family is in the upper levels of income and wealth in the United States. I am very blessed and I have a lot of gratitude.

I’m sharing this with you to demonstrate a few important concepts:

1. I’m a person just like you who has seen good and who has also had to overcome challenges.

2. You can be successful financially and emotionally if you do the work. I believe that you can be at peace with your life, no matter what.

3. This “Wealth Pilgrim” stuff is not a hypothetical exercise. I know what it’s like to have financial fear.  I know what it’s like to live in the dark and cold because there  was no money to pay the utility bill.  I also know what it’s like to live in the darkness of my own mind, even after achieving financial success.

And since I’ve worked with hundreds of clients over the years, chances are good that I’ve seen situations similar to the one you find yourself in now.  I’ve seen different approaches to financial issues (and the emotions that come with those financial issues).  I know what works and what doesn’t.