Welcome
Welcome to Wealth Skills
My name is Ilona Dolinska-Reiser. I am a founder and CEO of Wealth Skills, Inc. And I believe that anyone, and I mean everyone, can create wealth over time.
What are you thinking as you hear the words "everyone can create wealth?"
You may be remembering someone saying "you cannot have it" or "you should not have it," or you may be thinking about a time you failed or something else tells you "that is not for me!!!" I know it is not a common conversation or a statement we hear every day. You could even say there is no evidence to support it. But I did it, and I am here to tell you I know you can also do it.
At the age of 23 I came to the United States literally with a suitcase of clothes and $10 in my pocket. I did not speak English, and I did not even know how to drive a car. These things turned out to be obstacles I had to overcome when I chose to live here. When I left Poland I was a medical student and had full intention of continuing my education here. But it was easier said than done. First, I had to find a way to get a car so I can learn to drive it. No one in my family wanted to lend me a car. I wonder why? Wait, actually my uncle taught me how to operate a car. And he let me drive his car. He went with me, my very first time as a driver. Well, that was also the last time he was in a car that I was driving. My future husband loaned me the money to buy my first car and to take a few driving lessons. Now, I thought I am on my way to support myself and be able to pay for school. Well, not so fast. There are not that many jobs you can do when you do not speak the language everyone else around you speaks. What would you guess what my first job involved? If you guessed cleaning, you are right. But being ambitious as I was, I went to a vocational school so I could learn a profession that would allow me to make more money and go to college. So finally, five years later I was a college student.
At 31 I received an undergraduate degree in business administration from Georgia State University; my son was 3 years old. I remember another uncle asking me, was it really worth it? “You are 31 years old; you have a child and a good husband, who will want to hire you?” It took me three months to find a job.
So I got my first professional job, as a credit analyst for mutual funds with Bank South in Atlanta, Georgia. I don’t remember when I told myself I wanted to have $1 million when I was 55. But I do remember sitting down the day I accepted that job and calculating how much I needed to put away to have a million dollars when I reached 55 years of age. The job paid $25,000 per year, and based on my calculations I would need to put half of it away to achieve my goal. Well, that was just simply not possible. I needed more than half of my income to live. So, I decided to put away 15% of my gross pay. I knew that I may not be able to reach my goal by the time I was 55, but I was going to pursue it anyway.
I continued my education. I earned a Masters Degree of Science in Finance and received a professional investment designation, Chartered Financial Analyst. My career at the Bank progressed. I worked as an Investment Manager for high net worth individuals and later became an executive and Senior Vice President. And I achieved my goal of having a $1 million net worth at the age of 44.
Are you thinking "well, she had a great job and made a lot of money?" You are right, having a great career and being highly compensated had everything to do with me achieving that goal, at 44 years of age. But that’s all. I know even if my career did not turn out as well as it did I would have achieved that goal. It would just take me longer.
I will never forget one of my very first clients, Kathleen. She was older and retired when we met. She also had a substantial net worth. I asked her how she did it. Well, she said, I started working at 17 and from the first paycheck I started to put 15% away. What did you do? I asked. I was a secretary, she said. Now I was sure, she must have had a great career to accumulate that much money. I was amazed to find out that throughout her long career she was always a secretary. I remember leaving her house and thinking anything is possible if you are committed to doing it and are willing to do what it takes over time.
Now, I did not start this business because I think that money, or your net worth, is an answer to having a great life. Quite the opposite, it was working with people that had a lot of money that clearly demonstrated to me that the amount of money one posses has little to do with their well-being. And I define wealth as financial well-being.
So let’s look at wealth as financial well-being. In this context wealth has two components, both equally important. One of them is related to money, or specifically to your net worth. The other is related to your state of mind. If you think about people you know, you can probably find a person who has, or had, less than you do and was content. On the flip side, you can probably think of a person who has significantly more money than you do and clearly does not experience peace of mind or contentment with their life. So, clearly, there isn’t some specific dollar amount that gives people financial well-being. And yet, most of us would agree that money is important. It is just hard to live without money.
Many Americans are doing well financially, but they are a minority. Most people struggle with money.
So if anything is possible and anyone can create wealth, experience a financial well being, why aren’t we?
I think we have one common obstacle we have to overcome, the taboo of talking about money. Yes, we make some general statements about money, such as "I’m doing fine" or "I don’t have money," but mostly we really don’t talk about money in a way that makes a difference to anyone. How will we learn how to manage it or what works if we don’t talk about it?
Learning to manage money is like learning to ride a bike. Would you have learned to ride a bike if there wasn’t somebody holding the bike the first time you got on it? Would you have learned how to ride it if you were ashamed when you took a fall? Would you have learned if you stopped because you were ashamed?
Learning how to deal effectively with money, no matter where you start, is just like learning to ride a bike. You try it, you fall, and you get on it again despite the bruises until you learn how to reach your balance. And that’s how you arrive at financial well-being.
Like most people I did not speak to others about what I did with money, not even to my son or my family. They knew I was doing well, but I didn’t talk about what I made, how much I put away, how I made financial decisions or what I did with money I saved. I broke that silence just over a year ago.
As a result, over the past year I had the privilege to assist people, who, as they say, live pay check to pay check or were not financially where they wanted to be. It was through working with those that have money and those that don’t, and drawing on my own experience and knowledge, that gave me the confidence and the desire to lead people to achieving financial well-being.
I said lead, because only you can define the specifics of your financial well-being, both in the aspect of your net worth and in the aspect of your state of mind. And only you can achieve it for yourself. All I do is give you a "road map" of what works and lead you on the path to your destination. I teach you how to navigate the landscape, the circumstances, in a way that allows you to experience financial well-being now and in the future. And that skill can be acquired by anyone, in any financial circumstance.
Are you ready to break your silence?
If you are, start by registering into "Developing Your Wealth Skills" workshop and Wealth Skills will be there to support you on an on-going basis until you learn how to reach your balance and are ready to ride into your financial freedom.
May you have the financial well-being you desire. And thank you for visiting us.
Ilona Dolinska-Reiser