February is fast approaching and many of us are already craving a nice... neck massage! 

But, before you do just that, take a quick read of the cool hacks from fellow Finny community members on how to meet your financial goals this year. 

5 hacks to motivate you to meet your money goals

💡 Find an accountability buddy to keep you in check. Better yet, announce your goals to family and friends so they know not to invite you to any activities that would cost a lot of money.  You'll create some pressure that way and wind up being more motivated to stay on track.

💡 Take a bite-sized approach towards the goals you want to tackle.  Coming off of a stressful year where many of us may not have been able to complete a single goal, it's best to take it step-by-step.  It's also a lot easier to make progress when you're taking small bites. 

💡 Gamify your goals to boost your motivation. Consider something like a six-month "savings challenge" or a one-month "spending freeze" with your friends, family, partner, or co-workers.  Adding some competition and fun towards saving more, spending less, or paying off debt can go a long way without it feeling like work.

💡 Trust your gut to course correct and get back on track. If something feels off, more often than not, it likely is. Think you're paying too much interest on your credit card?  You probably are. 

💡 Habit-stack by building new good habits on top of your existing ones. The biggest outcomes in life seldom happen out of the blue.  They are usually the result of our habits and consistent actions ingrained in our everyday routines. The framework is: every time/after/before I [current habit], I will [new habit].  Here's an example: "every time I buy something on Amazon, I'll put $10 into my savings account." 

When you hear people talk about building wealth and becoming a millionaire, you likely hear more often about aspirations and dreams than actionable steps they are taking.  The typical millionaire is portrayed as a fast-car-driving, designer-clothes-wearing wheeler-dealer who loves showing off their money.  

“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” say, Chihee Kim and Milan Kovacevic, co-founders of Finny, who in their careers have met many millionaires of various walks of life.  So what’s the anatomy of a typical millionaire? 

Here are the five most overlooked millionaire behaviors they observed.

Spending discipline

Most millionaires avoid status objects and lifestyles like the plague.  They typically spend significantly less than they earn (e.g., take the subway instead of a black car).  They also think ahead about their major expenses and make sure they aren’t over-extending themselves. 

Always be investing

What happens if you make $100K a year and spend only $30K?  You invest the rest!  Also, have a long-term mindset and let compounding do its job.  Millionaires also focus on investment strategies that maximize non-taxable and minimize taxable income.  This allows them to continue building up their earnings over time.

Investing in proven, but boring strategies

Millionaires tend to avoid hot shiny stocks, fancy options and instead direct most of their money towards ‘boring’ investments such as low-cost index funds and real estate.  When they decide to invest in something off the beaten path, they spend a lot of time researching it and invest only the money they can afford to lose.  

Hard work

About two-thirds of millionaires work between forty-five and fifty-five hours per week, well above the average. They also tend to sleep less (about 8 hours less a week) and rise early, based on a Business Insider study.  Getting up early in the morning to tackle the top three things you want to accomplish in your day sets you up for success!

Constantly be learning

Millionaires don't settle with what they have or who they are today.  They work hard to build skills for tomorrow.  The wealthy also tends to think more, oftentimes in isolation, and spends more time focusing on personal growth. For example, they read 5.5 hours a week on average—vs. 2 hours a week for the average American.

Think you already have these millionaire traits?  Then check out your net worth using this tool from Personal Capital—you may be surprised by what you’ll find out!

Beware of the unintended effects here folks.  We say so because one of Finny's co-founders, Milan Kovacevic, lost over 15 pounds and had this extra step in his stride.  We all thought something must have been off, and sure enough, he started fist-pumping, elbow bumping, and grinning from ear-to-ear.

But hey, this is exactly the kind of stuff that happens when you're feeling good about yourself! And it's all thanks to Noom!

A Noom year for a Noom you

Noom makes it super easy to change your eating habits by focusing on 3 super simple approaches:

☀️ Learn at your own pace—what to eat, why you make the choices you do, and how to build new lasting habits.

☀️ Accommodates to your lifestyle—Noom includes your favorite foods and existing schedule in a way that's not overwhelming.

☀️ Supportive one-on-one coach + Noom community to help you succeed and stick with it.  

And for those money geeks thinking ahead and about healthcare costs... Did you know people suffering from chronic and pre-chronic conditions have incremental healthcare costs of $500 - $12,000 per year?  Over 70% of adults have at least one such condition, and almost half have two or more!  Noom has already worked with over 45 million users to help them take control of their health-related habits.

Want to try Noom for yourself?

[Medium] How to use habit-stacking to be financially free by Finny Co-founder, Chihee

[Bloomberg] Global Covid-19 vaccine tracker

[Finny] Top bond mutual funds searched on Finny: SPAXX and FZFXX