"THE ABCs OF MONEY IN A RECESSION": A BLUEPRINT FOR SHIFTING FROM A "DEBT CONSCIOUSNESS" TO A "PROSPERITY CONSCIOUSNESS"

        For Natalie Wynne Pace (www.nataliepace.com), money is personal. The death by suicide of a friend  fueled by making bad investments and lending money to a soul who took an inordinate amount of time to repay her which she viewed as unforgivable mistakes and not teachable moments, changed the trajectory of Ms. Pace’s life.   Ms. Pace was nudged to embrace her soul’s mission – empowering and helping others.   She educated herself about money and is sharing  what she learned with other souls.   Through her best-selling books, Ms. Pace has created sustainable living and financial literacy blueprints that are lifelines for millions of souls hounded unmercifully by debt collectors, on the brink of homelessness due to eviction or foreclosure, or who own investment portfolios bludgeoned by a volatile stock market.  The bestselling author, who is viewed by many as the “Sustainable Living and Basic Financial Literacy Guru,” has made frequent appearances on Good Morning America, CNBC, Fox, Forbes.com, and NPR.  She is a top-ranked blogger for Thrive Global (http://thriveglobal.com), a platform that promotes mental resilience, productivity, and good health; co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project (www.earthgratitude.com);  and founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Investment Network, LLC.

         Through her best-selling book, The ABCs of Money In A Recession (www.amazon.com), Ms. Pace moves us to rethink every concept we have been taught or believe about money.  With a “take-no-prisoners” approach, in Chapter One entitled “How Can I Pay Off My Credit Cards”, Ms. Pace dispels the myth we have all bought into about how timely regular payments of credit card debt will ensure that we have good credit scores. Surprisingly, she points out that the “amount owed” on credit card debt only accounts for 20% of your score.  The amount that you owe which she defines as the “debt to assets ratio” accounts for 30% of your score which increases if you are only making minimum payments “and/or if the value of what you purchased is declining . . .”.   Ms. Pace points out that we should be traveling down parallel tracks – making payments on our debts and simultaneously contributing to our own wealth.  She cogently reminds us that we need to figure out how we got into debt in the first place.  We do that by taking a critical look at our lifestyle and money habits.  She states:  “ If you don’t’ fix the leaks in your budget first, you’ll never really get out of debt.  Debt is, at its heart, a budgeting problem.”   Pace offers an empowering 10-Step Plan For Getting Out Of Debt Forever.  In case you are wondering, the first step is to “pay yourself first”.  

         The ABCs of Money In A Recession schools us about good debt –yes there is such a thing as “good debt”; bad debt; real estate – how homeownership translates into wealth;  housing unaffordability and what you can do about it; investment vehicles; “limiting your basic needs expenditures to 50% of your budget and investing the remaining 50% of your budget in thriving”;  wealth myths and prosperity truths; safe investment vehicles; and income-producing hard assets.

            We live in a world that is replete with uncertainties.  Perhaps the Universe is nudging each of us to reset and rethink.  The ABCs of Money In A Recession gives us the tools – and the courage – we need to step out of our comfort zone and rethink everything we have been taught and believed about money; reset our lifestyles and spending habits; and rethink by shifting from a “debt consciousness” to a “prosperity consciousness”.