Ever hear of happy money? It looks and spends exactly like the ordinary green stuff. The happy part of happy money comes from the way it`s earned.
Jim Stahel is a happy money convert. The 48-year-old certified financial planner in Naperville now helps others discover the joy of managing their money so making a living doesn`t get in the way of leading a full life. He counsels clients from first-hand experience.
Stahel had 10 employees at his Wheaton firm in 1985. The myriad of tasks that go with being the top boss made him miserable.
”I was a manager, an employer, a glorified nose wiper,” he said.
When he started the firm three years earlier with only a secretary and himself on the payroll, the business earned $20,000 a month and overhead never exceeded $10,000.
After the company expanded, ”the revenue stayed about the same,” he said, but the monthly expenses ballooned to $23,000. He saw his cash flow and his business crash and burn. The flames quickly spread to every aspect of his life.
”Luxuries once used are necessities,” he said. ”It cost me my marriage.”
Today Stahel is remarried and heads a one-man firm, leasing shared office space. He averages $15,000 a month in income with total expenses totaling less than $2,000.
”Now I`m doing what I enjoy doing, which is sitting across the table from people who want me to manage their money and put their faith and trust in me,” Stahel said. ”I`m a practitioner not a manager. Bigger was not better for me. I got caught up in the ego trip. My ego was getting fed; my back was getting slapped. Bigger is right for some people. The trick is to figure out who you are and what you are all about.
”I can`t tell you how many 50-year-old corporate executives come in with their savings and investment (records) in hand, saying `I`ve got to get out of this rat race ASAP.”`
