Knowing where you are financially gives you the piece of mind to know that you make enough money to live on and manage your debt. It also helps us to see where you may need to make adjustments or find ways to improve your finances. We all get up to go to work everyday, but why? Is it to just pay the bills or is there more to our hard earned cash?

Throughout your lifetime, you will find yourself in one of three financial categories: Productive, Preventive or Remedial. Knowing which category you fall into will give you the correct perspective of where you are financially and help you to direct your efforts. The following are the three categories.

Productive Category
Productive means that you have plenty of money left over after expenses are paid. You are not concerned about your income, and you want to find productive ways to manage your money such as savings and retirement plans. Meeting with a financial advisor or other professionals can help you plan for your financial future.

Preventive Category
Preventive means you are starting to worry about your financial situation, which may be affecting your life. You are not in a crisis, but may be headed in that direction. Your finances could be causing stress on your family and making it difficult to sleep at night. The preventive category tends to leave you feeling stuck and unproductive.

Remedial Category
The final category is remedial. In this situation, your finances are in crisis because there is not enough money coming in to handle existing expenses. An intervention is needed to stop debt collection, repossession or foreclosure.