Page 5 - MidWeek - Feb 15, 2023

Ability To Wait Paulette Ito
Being patient, doing the right things and waiting for the right opportunities was the basic, but strategic approach that guided most of my parents decisions. That same approach enabled them to purchase our home and be good providers for our family. My parents were smart, frugal and family focused enough to know that had they used their disposable income for other things, their financial goals would have been pushed further from reach. According to investopedia. com, the average disposable personal income (DPI) in 1971 was $4,002, the average DPI at the end of 2021 was $55,710. Learning the skills required
to manage your disposable income is vitally important to the financial security your entire ohana. The total DPI may seem higher, but now there is much more competition for your hard earned resources such as dance & music lessons, streaming services and foodie pursuits. Identifying your needs and wants are crucial to your financial plan and Getting Your House In Order.
What are your financial goals? We at Hawaiian Financial Federal Credit Union collaborate closely with INPAC Wealth Solutions to provide FREE financial planning to our members. INPAC is well known for taking an
independent, objective and unbiased planning approach. Start working on your financial roadmap and you too can see how a comprehensive financial plan can help you achieve your financial goals.
Ho’okele guidebook helps you document your legacy and informs you on items you may need to “Get Your House In Order.” This initiative is designed to enhance your financial, physical, spiritual and mental well being.
Ho’okele 1.1 and 1.2 guidebooks are now available at hificu.com/GYHO. Ho’okele is free to download and only available here. Look out for Ho’okele 1.3 and 1.4 in the
coming quarters to complete the series. At the website you will also find a link to INPAC for Financial Planning.
For more information about “Get Your House In Order” email us at: GYHO@hificu. com. Also, tune in to KITV at 7:00 pm every Saturday evening to watch the “Get Your House In Order” TV show. Join Hawaii journalist Yunji DeNeis as she dives deeper into why we should, and how we can all “Get Our Houses In Order.”
Securities offered through SagePoint Financial, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. SagePoint Financial, Inc. is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of SagePoint Financial, Inc.
When my parents first married they had little in terms of financial resources. They were rich in love but very poor in money. Luckily, I was the third child born eight years after the first born. During the early years, my parents worked extremely hard, saving everything they could. They and my siblings had to live without simple luxuries, enduring only on the bare necessities. I remember my mom telling stories about dividing up the ground beef into quarters, and making lots of stews and soups to stretch their monthly food budget.
My sisters always got our relatives hand-me-down clothing. Both my sisters remember wearing shoes that were either being too big or too small, never just right. We all like to reminisce and laugh about such things today, but life was tough back then. But, over time our family survived and eventually thrived because my parents had clear goals in mind.
I was seven when my parents bought our first family home. I thought it was going to be huge a mansion with a pool, but it turned out to be a regular three bedroom house with a cesspool. Nonetheless, everything was new and much bigger than our rental. My father was doing well at work and often worked overtime to provide for his family. During this time, our family had very little disposable income, or the amount of money an individual or household has to spend or save after income taxes.
As the years passed things became financially easier for our family, but we always lived within our means. The biggest splurge we had was going out to family dinners on Friday nights. We would all get dressed up to go out and enjoy a full course meal together. Those were the days where every meal came with dessert. Choosing between a pie, jello, pudding or ice cream was my biggest decision each week.
February 15, 2023 MIDWEEK 5
PAULETTE ITO
SVP Marketing
Hawaiian Financial Federal Credit Union
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