Single Parents Begin Planning their Financial Future

Hi, this is Lou Alviar, President and Owner of Inevitable Financial Services.  I want to thank you for joining me for my first Single Parent Advocate blog. I look forward to working with Stacie, the board, and volunteers to help single parents of this wonderful 5013c organization.

I am so glad you have joined me because what I want to educate you on budgeting, money, finances, and investing. One of the biggest things that people do not understand, or they lack of knowledge about,  money/finances is that when you go through a life altering event like divorce, a death or something that is catastrophic, it can leave you helpless and without answers.  Most single parents find themselves in a situation of constantly living from paycheck to paycheck.

To avoid struggling financially, I am going to teach you the format of 70–10-10-10 which totals 100% of your income, seventy plus three tens. Over the next few months, we are going to teach you how to live on 70% of your income and to show you to invest wisely. We are also going to show you how to plan for your future so that your children are taken care of as well as yourself.

I am so happy that I partner with SPA because I know there are plenty of you that need help with planning your finances. I was raised by a single mom for years after divorce. When I was 14 years old, I had to go work. I actually changed my birth certificate so I could work at Kentucky Fried Chicken to support my mom (who had no education) and my three sisters. I worked while going to high school, and as I did so, it taught me very valuable lessons.

Working to support my family taught me honor, value, and love which are three important aspects of any family. It also taught me how money is such a useful tool if used properly. I want you to understand that I know where you are coming from because I have been there myself as a single child with just a mom raising me. We struggled to live on just my paycheck. My mom would gather my paycheck and give me $20 out of the 50 hours a week that I had worked. That would be my spending money. When I worked 5-6 days a week, the manager of the restaurant would allow extra chicken to be cooked so that I could take it home to feed my family. Needless to say, I do not eat at KFC very often now. I worked at KFC for a couple of years until my mom remarried. We had a phenomenal stepfather who was great with finances and always kept his word!

I want you understand in this love month, I want to look at money on an “in love” basis. As a rule, I do not look at money as a root of all evil. The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. It will only make you more of what you already are. I want you to look at money as a tool. We need those tools in order to have the means to pay rent, bills, have food on the table for your children, and those types of things which are very important.

I want you to start thinking on a higher level. We are going to think about how to not only plan for today, but for your future and the coming months. I look forward to teaching you at upcoming SPA events and being able to show you how to financially plan for your future.

In closing, I understand how this may sound unrealistic and unreachable. The 70-10-10-10 principle takes time and transformation of your mindset on how to see your money and finances grow. I look forward to meeting you at future SPA gatherings. Let us all learn to think differently on money, wealth, and healthy living.

Lou Alviar, Owner, Inevitable Financial Services