Stronger. Better. Faster.

The purpose of this article is to introduce you to another SME in another field. So far we have brought a Lawyer, A sports Psychologist, Doctors of Physical Therapy, a kinesiologist and now for another area of health can be addressed. Having financial stability can be a huge asset in the shooting sports. After all, if you can sponsor yourself you do not have to answer to anyone. -Ash

Quantified Performance mission, as well as content, is oriented around member’s quantifiable progression in their shooting discipline, whatever that may be. But as we have seen in recent posts, being a better shooter incorporates not only practicing the shooting discipline itself, but also having other aspects of your life in order, such as physical fitness and mindset.

As much as we hate to recognize it, this hobby is not inexpensive. We all have personal and financial responsibilities outside of our shooting obsession that need to be addressed with a solid plan. If you are not managing your financial life properly, you are probably going to be missing range sessions and matches.            

My name is Kyle Bird. Professionally, I work as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner partnering with clients to get on track, or stay on track, towards their financial goals. I have been in the industry for 16 years.

What I find in working with people is that the personal finance and investing world is intimidating. Not much different from the first time I tried a USPSA match or the first SPR match I ran when I had no clue about bullet drop and wind calling.

When we do not have a base of knowledge on any topic it creates fear. How do we handle that fear? Most often, we ignore, it will get looked at eventually. Eventually turns into months, years, etc., you know where I am going. Many never try a QP or local match because they fear they will look stupid, they do not know enough to place high, or whatever excuse they dream up. I do not fault them because we all have been that person at some point.

What I am going to provide is a base to get started if you have a fear of words like budgeting, 401k, or asset allocation. Part of getting over the fear is taking that first step towards knowledge and understanding.

Start off by putting on paper or spreadsheet your financial life.

WHAT DO YOU OWN? (Assets)

  • checking and savings accounts
  • cash
  • taxable investment accounts
  • retirement accounts (401k/403b/457/TSP/IRA/Roth IRA)
  • value of a business ownership interest
  • personal residence
  • real estate
  • life insurance policies (if they have cash value)
  • annuities
  • value of personal assets
    • vehicles
    • jewelry
    • firearms
    • gold & silver
    • collectibles

These are your assets; next we need to account for liabilities.

WHAT DO YOU OWE? (Liabilities)

  • mortgage
  • loans outstanding
    • real estate
    • personal
    • vehicle
    • education
  • credit cards

Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth

From here, we have a fantastic starting point to identifying your financial health. If you finished 48th out of 50 shooters in a competition, there is going to be room for improvement. If you finish 4th out of 50 there’s room for improvement, but your approach will be different from the person who finished 48th.

So, my first step is to get the bird’s eye view (pun intended) not only for myself,

but for you as well. It is not always pretty and other times it can add peace of mind that

you are on the right course, doing the right behaviors.

If you have any questions or have a specific question or need you can reach me:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbird/

Phone: 813-269-6788