CHAPTER 1
Passion! As I interviewed creative people from all over America, I kept coming back to this word. Passion is what drives you, it fuels creativity. Passion makes you get up and strum a new melody into a tape recorder at midnight or play in a pool with dolphins when it's too cold for any sensible person to swim. It's the very essence of a creative person. No matter what your art form, your profession, or your success level, you are passionate. One creative person I know just refers to all creatives as passionate people and after all of my research, I can't come up with a better description. In a world where most people are content to get a paycheck, benefits, and vacation, you are passionate about your work and that makes all of the difference.
It's hard to imagine the toll-taker on the highway, the clerk at the convenience store or the guy selling cars as passionate about their work, isn't it? Are they passionate about something else? Do they just have a nine-to-five to support their real passion or is life just passing them by? The more I talked with creative people, the more I wondered what sets them apart. Why live life on the road less chosen — what compels someone to identify himself as a creative person? Even in writing this book, I read all the articles that told me not to expect to earn any money as an author, talked with consultants who told me it wouldn't help my financial planning practice, and dealt with the fear that accompanies putting your deepest thoughts out there to be judged by others. But you know what? This book was in me and it had to come out. I literally couldn't help but write it. In short, I am passionate about the people that I help and about the things I want to tell you!
THE CREATIVE CLASS
Have you been told all of your life that you are creative? Have you always liked to color outside the lines? Are you lucky enough to have a job that relies on your imagination? Or do you wish you could have a job like that? Is there an inner artist in you desperately trying to escape? Is he making you crazy? Have you tried to leave art alone, to be more "normal" but you just keep coming back to it? You are not alone, and I'm happy that I found you!
As we emerge from a manufacturing economy to one that is information-based, the number of people who are paid for their vision, their wit, and their artistic ability is growing. Richard Florida, in his book The Rise of the Creative Class, says that over thirty percent of the U.S. work force can now be defined as creative. Some of these people are fulfilled and happy, almost too busy and excited about their jobs to worry about mundane things like personal finance. Others are frustrated because the constraints of their employment are holding back their creativity. They live for the day when they can express themselves fully and without compromise. Somehow life has gotten between them and their creative process, and money poses a question they can't answer.
Traditional artists — people like painters, songwriters, actors, and authors — are no longer out of the mainstream. A person who is designing a video game based on a movie is just as creative as the person who wrote the movie and as the person who acted in it. That cultural phenomenon, "the starving artist", isn't so common or even fascinating anymore, thanks to the Internet and technology. Creative people are finding all kinds of ways to become wealthy. Those that have not become wealthy have more opportunity to get paid for their art than ever before.
CREATE NOW, PAY LATER
In my experience, many creative people have problems with their money. I don't mean they are broke, at least not all of them. I don't mean they are incapable. They definitely are intelligent and quick to catch on to things. For a variety of reasons, however, many creative people either don't care about money or don't want to deal with it. In our credit card, buy it now-pay for it years later, consumer-driven society, personal finance is not a subject that people like to dwell on. For many people whose passions are centered on their art, money is just one of those things to worry about some other time.
I wrote this book because I am fascinated by the creative process and by the amazing people who are driven by their own creativity. I love those people who color outside the lines with their lives, those people who call themselves artists. Maybe they don't all paint, or act, or sing — maybe they are hair stylists or graphic artists — but the point is something inside them has to come out. They just can't help it! These people would no sooner stop creating than stop breathing. I admire their talent, their enthusiasm and their passion. If you find someone who has liberated her inner artist, you find someone who is interesting to have in your life and an inspiration too!
WITH RESPECT
Often when you meet a truly creative person, the combination of energy and enthusiasm that bubbles up from within is infectious. As a very bad guitar picker, I envy the truly creative. I got the "good with money gene," you got the fun genes. At least I get to listen to your music while I do a financial plan. Thank God we are there for each other!
As I work with talented people like you, I've come to respect your fragility. I know how hard it is to put yourself out there and possibly have your creation rejected! It is awful to be told that something you transmitted through your soul is not acceptable because of commercial considerations. It takes courage (or at least innocence and naiveté) to put your creation out there and hope it doesn't get shoved back in your face.
The excess we often attribute to artists is this fragility brought to life. Your creative existence often depends upon the subjective whims of others. Somehow, we have come to think of the "true artist" as someone who doesn't care what other people think. They are satisfied with the purity of their creation and don't care if they find an audience. This great conflict between artistic integrity and finding a market for your art is a powerful dynamic. Is it any wonder that creative people can be a little eccentric? I appreciate your fears.
What if your gift has an expiration date? Dancers, like all athletes, know that their bodies will only hold up for so long. Writers worry, "What if this is the only book that ever comes to me?" Actresses, how long can you play an ingénue? And for all of you, what if you are only given the gift temporarily? How many bands were one hit wonders? How many painters became famous only after they died? And, "What if the world changes and I become yesterday's style? Please, God, don't let me end up singing at dinner theater in Daytona Beach!" (Dinner theater in Daytona Beach is probably a perfectly lovely experience. Try the veal — it's the best in town!) And then, there's the whole question of abundance: I believe your gift is limitless and you can have every material possession that you desire. I believe the Universe is at your disposal. You just have to be open to possibility and the Law of Attraction. In interviewing my artists, almost without exception, I found that they attribute their source of inspiration to something or someone beyond themselves. Whether it is God, the Universe, or whatever, few artists take credit for their creativity. My belief is that the same source that you draw from creativity from is also available to you financially. No matter what your experience has been, no matter what your well-meaning friends tell you, be open to the possibility, as you read this book, that you can attract wealth into your life.
Where are you on this issue? Has money been there when you've needed it in the past? The theme of this book, really, is Financial Independence. It's about getting to a point where your money can take care of you because you have taken care of your money and I believe that anyone can reach this point. So: why not you?
If you believe in abundance, if you believe you can achieve financial independence, these are some questions you should have about money and I want to answer some of them: "How do I know enough, just enough, to know that people are not taking advantage of me and my money? What good could I do if I wrote that bestseller? Who could I help if my script is picked up by a Hollywood?" And here's the big one — here's the question that I believe every single creative person needs to ask:
"HOW CREATIVE COULD I BE IF MONEY WASN'T AN ISSUE?"
I am a Certified Financial Planner and in my almost twenty-five years in the financial services industry, I've developed a niche working with people who consider themselves creative. It's a lot of fun. I never really know what fascinating person will come into my life next. It might be a dance teacher, an animal trainer, a Broadway actress, or the creator of a national line of hair care products. Someone (or something) has sent them to me for help with their personal finances because they know I speak English (not the Wall Street version) and that I can make all of this money stuff a little easier to digest. It's that approachability that I want to bring to you here. I want to lift some of the fog that surrounds money and invite you to the party. Oh yeah, I am pretty much a smartass, and I'll make you laugh any chance I get. Sometimes I'll be very absurd in my examples — my kids hate this — but I'm writing the anti-Wall Street financial book for you, and playfulness is not plentiful in the financial community. It's okay if you think I'm not that funny, I'm used to that. I've raised four kids who tell me how un-funny I am all the time (sigh).
DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY
As I said, Americans in general are not real good at personal finance: more than sixty-seven percent of adults, in a recent survey, admitted they are not saving enough for retirement. Obviously money worries are not limited to creative people, but I've always wondered why a person who can memorize five minutes of complex dance steps with very little explanation has trouble balancing a checkbook. And I wonder why a person who can produce a successful Broadway show can demonstrate little or no interest in saving for retirement. I wonder how someone who never concentrated on anything but their art can be expected to become a financial genius suddenly when they hit it big. There is no preparation for some of the things that come along with fame and fortune! If you just wrote a hit record and have spent your life at the piano, how are you supposed to know about estimated tax payments, retirement plans, stocks, bonds or any of the other nine thousand things that are suddenly concerns when you get your first royalty check?
Our schools do a terrible job of teaching us anything about money and success. You might cover American and European history a half a dozen times in your schooling, but I bet you never had a course that made finance come alive for you, one that alerted you to the wonderful possibilities that await you if you take care of your money. Our textbooks are rooted in the great depression: money is evil or it's something that's not to be discussed in polite society! Somehow we get the message that money and finance are something other people need to know, not us! In the greatest economy in the history of the world, no one gives us the message that we can have it all, that abundance is ours for the asking, that financial success is something we should expect and go after!
WHAT'S WITH CREATIVITY?
At some point I wondered how the whole creative thing works, so I began to do some research and ask some questions. What is that particular combination of inspiration, ego, and talent that tells somebody to just go with the feeling, to trust that what they have to express is so good that other people must see it? I wondered if some people were just so overly blessed and endowed in one area that the mere details concerning other aspects of life were beyond them. That didn't turn out to be true. In my research, I met plenty of creative people who were just fine at managing money and other details of life. They make good livings and have normal families, live in suburbia and barbecue out by the pool alongside their neighbors with normal jobs. The difference: they get to go to work and create really cool stuff! I don't think that the concept of managing money is beyond people who are creative. I believe it is a matter of choice.
I wondered about that whole starving artist thing. What if your particular creativity doesn't result in something that is marketable? One busy message board for creatives featured the topic "I'm finally free to create but no one wants to buy my art!" If you do find someone to buy your art or to pay you to create something, how do you feel about money during that process? Is your integrity somehow challenged? Or does money motivate you? Does it help you to create on an even higher level? There is no consensus here, either: I've talked with people who freeze the minute someone wants to buy their work and others who prefer only to create when there is a paycheck at hand.
Some of the creative people I know are just consumed by their work and the creative process. Their passion does not have a volume dial. (I don't mean in a crazy way, they aren't lopping off their own ears!) They are what the rest of us would call really, really busy, always thinking about work when they are at home and always coming up with new ideas and improvements for their projects. They are so into their work and so caught up in the next task that trivial things such as paychecks, 401(k)s, and benefits are something to be dealt with later. Always later! I envy these people in a lot of ways. They get to play in the sandbox, never coming out to be with the adults. For many of them, a loving life partner is there to take care of life's small details, like money, but for others the real world of finance is something they never get around to dealing with.
AND YOU?
What about you? How do you feel about money? Do you attract it when you most need it? Do you think that whole power of attraction thing works for you? Maybe you have an inner artist, an artist who is dying to break out but who just can't do it right now because of money concerns. Are you waiting tables or working for a big corporation? Are you allowed to be somewhat creative, within the context of the company's needs, but feeling like the creative voice within you is screaming to come out?
Maybe, you've made it. Maybe you have written a best-selling book, or your design company has just gone public, or people actually pay to hear you sing! But you still wonder about all this financial stuff and whether the people you hired to help you are doing a good job. That's natural: the difference between a financial planner and an opera star is pretty dramatic. There are gifts, personality traits, and training that go into mastering either. It's pretty hard to be good at both. (If you need further proof, I will now sing from The Barber of Seville while Bernardo, the tenor, does my taxes.)
YOUR HALL PASS
This book is your hall pass — you can wander all over the financial campus with it and ask whatever you've been afraid to bring up about money. You may only vaguely know the difference between a stock and bond. Your pass will allow you to skip around hearing different lectures, even if you suspect this thing called saving money is only a rumor and that income taxes are a problem that you only wish you had! It's okay, you are safe on this campus. Be curious — you can even be creative — we appreciate you being here. We are going to do everything we can to help you be more successful. We'll help you construct a financial foundation that you can build on for the rest of your life. If you haven't paid a lot of attention to money or to investing and you really don't want to start now, that's OK, you get a hall pass, too!
I'm going to ease you through the process. I'm going to tell you why it's OK to be friendly with your money (You don't have to love it, but you do need to be on speaking terms!). I'm going to tell you how and when to ask someone for help (and when not to). I'm going to give you permission to get past the whole starving artist thing. You will no longer have to feel like a tortured soul who is selling out if you're getting paid to pass your creativity on to others. At the very least I hope my experience and some of my stories will stir an interest in personal finance and let you know that there are others out there just like you!
