By Kristina Kuprina, Founder & CEO, Sequoia Wealth Advisors (CA Insurance Lic. #0F11184)

To be financially conscious is to understand how the manifold aspects of your money fit together. It’s an awareness of how your personal system interfaces with the greater systems.

First steps toward financial consciousness include awareness and understanding. Take a long look at where your money is scattered. Pull it together. Organize it. How is your money interacting in the world? How is it affecting you personally, even spiritually?

Are you comfortable with risk or uncertainty? Unnecessary stress, in my opinion, is overrated. I ensure my clients understand the precise route the bus is going to take before they climb aboard. Bumps in the road are far less disturbing when they’re expected.

Ultimately, financial consciousness is empowering. It dispels financial anxiety like the first light of dawn. Once all the data is on the table and clearly understood, we have a powerful tool capable of creating your future. 

I often ask new clients what they’d change, if anything, about their financial situation. Cast the net wide, I tell them. Open your minds to the possibilities. Have some fun. Financial planning should be an opportunity for creativity.

Kristina Kuprina is a Registered Representative with, and Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC. Financial Planning may be offered through Sequoia Wealth Advisors & Investment Management Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.