Just in time for Christmas, Hasbro has released its newest version of the classic board game MONOPOLY, called MONOPOLY – Electronic Banking Edition. Listen to the first paragraph of the product description posted on their official website: Continue reading “All I Want for Christmas is…”
Yesterday I went to get a mammogram; the annual “boob smashing” is what I call it. The process isn’t fun so for any of you who haven’t had one, a mammogram basically consists of smashing your breast between two plates painfully stretching your skin along the way, then you are left standing there while the technician walks away. She ducks behind a machine that reminds me of the wizard of oz behind the curtain. She then tells you not to breathe (oh sure, relax!!) and hold perfectly still, all the while you are held captive in a strange kind of vice. If that isn’t enough, they do it again from a different angle and on the other side. Continue reading “Nine Key Financial Steps That Procrastinators Miss”
My daughter just got her learner’s permit. Drivers everywhere, beware! Last Sunday I let her drive as we ran errands, and she did a remarkably good job for her first time on busy roads. It wasn’t an empty parking lot this time! And…that’s not just a proud dad talking. It’s an honest evaluation of her performance. This whole “learning to drive” experience has me thinking about our capacity to learn new things. Continue reading “Financial Planning and Learning to Drive”
It was pointed out to me recently that I can be quite a geek (fortunately, my girlfriend likes geeks). It was also pointed out that when I was a kid I had to feed my pet dinosaur before I walked 10 miles, uphill, in both directions, to school in the morning. (I love my kids! Anyone want them?) I guess a little back-story might help. In an interesting twist (at least to us) of timing, my girlfriend and I share a birthday for a brief moment. Her birthday is on the 20th, mine is the 21st, and we like to spend our birthdays together doing fun stuff. Or, at least mostly fun stuff. Continue reading “Financial Planning: I’m a Geek and I can Prove it”
I’d never really thought about living in an unethical country before, until I heard Frank Abagnale speak. Frank is the subject of the film “Catch Me if You Can,” who went from being the FBI’s most wanted forger, stealing millions of dollars and flying all over the world posing as a Pan Am Pilot, to a well respected 35 year veteran FBI agent, and expert on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents. He declared, “We live in an unethical country” during the keynote address at the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference in San Diego last week. Continue reading “Identity Theft Prevention Tips from a Convicted Felon”
Employee Benefit News’ Benefits Forum and Expo is the largest event in the nation solely dedicated to employee benefits, so are you planning on attending? If so, you’ll be among many senior benefits professionals who will be traveling to Dallas, TX next week. I won’t be there myself, but make sure to look for the Financial Wellness at Work track on the conference agenda, which kicks off the day on Sunday, September 25th. Continue reading “Roll Call: 24th Annual Benefits Forum and Expo 9/25 to 9/27”
Beware the financial expert who has the answer before you have even posed the question. It’s a telltale sign that he or she isn’t really interested in the facts or circumstances of your personal situation, and has something to “sell,” whether you need it or not. As the saying goes, when all you have is a hammer, then everything (or everyone) looks like a nail.
As a CFP® professional, my usual answer to most questions is “It depends…” It depends on your tax bracket, your marital situation, your age, your objectives, etc. And then we get down to work. But I have to admit, there is one situation where I am tempted to make a recommendation no matter the question, or the personal details. Continue reading “GUEST BLOG POST: She Who Hesitates, Loses”
In my last few blog posts, I wrote about how we can manage our spending to save enough to reach our financial goals. Ideally, you’d pay yourself first by having your savings set aside before you can even spend the money. If you have retirement plan contributions deducted from your paycheck, you’re already doing this. But you can do the same thing with your other savings too. At Financial Finesse, we have the option to have a percentage of our paycheck diverted into a separate bank account. See if your company offers something similar, or have the savings transferred automatically from your checking account. Continue reading “How to Optimize and Simplify Your Daily Finances”
The worst of the recent economic recession may be behind us, but the ripple effect of its devastation lingers. Whether it’s repossessions, foreclosures, or bankruptcy, good, hard working Americans are still struggling to dig out of the mess, and recent and future unexpected events (such as Hurricane Irene) will only pour salt on the financial wound. Continue reading “Life After Bankruptcy”
When was the last time you moved? Were you amazed at the amount of “stuff” you have? I am moving this weekend (from a five bedroom three bath home to a condo about half the size) and I am shocked at how much stuff is coming out of my house. I found that I have not one, not two, but seven cameras! There is an old Minolta manual 35mm film camera with a bunch of lenses (I’ll keep that one), a Canon 35mm film camera, and a bunch of point and shoot digital cameras (which we don’t really use anymore since we use the cameras on our phones every day). Continue reading “The Joys of Moving”
I just got off a call to our financial helpline with an amazing young woman. It is funny how sometimes you get a caller who should be teaching financial planning instead of calling the helpline; this was one of those calls. I was struck by her insight and maturity for such a young woman. She had a good idea of what she needed to do but was trying to do everything at once. I helped her take a step back and look at things a bit differently. She had all the right pieces but wasn’t sure how to put them together. The pieces themselves aren’t the important part of this story, but the wisdom behind how she was making her decisions. Continue reading “Financial Lessons from a 23 Year Old”
If you have read more than two of my blogs, you probably already know that while I take your financial lives pretty seriously, I don’t take myself seriously. At all. So, in the spirit of having a little bit of fun with this (it’s summer after all), and answering some REAL questions that I’ve been asked over the last few years, here’s a little “unconventional financial education” Q&A session: Continue reading “An Unconventional Q&A Session with a Financial Planner”
Driving to Lake Tahoe last weekend, I heard a radio ad from a mortgage company going on and on about how we should call them immediately to refinance our fixed rate mortgages since the variable rates are dirt cheap right now. It said, “You can save thousands of dollars in interest by switching to a variable rate loan,” and intimated that the bank was ripping you off by charging such high interest on fixed rate loans. I did something very uncharacteristic of me and started yelling at the radio. At first my husband thought I had a strange case of radio road rage, and I guess he is right. Continue reading “How I Got Road Rage From a Radio Ad”
Let’s get to the root of the problem. Our national problem with debt belongs to us all. It is a startling fact that the aggregate amount owed by U.S. consumers to their creditors is approximately equal to, if not slightly greater than, our government-held debt, according to various official estimates. So, while Congress and the Administration works to clean up our national act, we could all do some housekeeping of our own. Continue reading “GUEST BLOG POST: 4 Lessons from the Debt Ceiling Debate”
Since I specialize in workplace financial education, I typically write about what’s going on in the HR world. But, last month something happened to my family that’s so shocking I just had to share our experience. My father had just celebrated his 78th birthday, and my parents got a call from my 25 year old nephew, Matt. Now, you may be thinking, “isn’t that nice that he’d call to wish his granddad a happy birthday,” but instead he told an elaborate story that went like this:
Continue reading “Don’t Be Fooled By the Grandparents Scam!”
Last Friday, I talked about how each generation’s retirement income is increasingly at risk and the factors (longer life spans, shrinking pensions, uncertainty with Social Security, rising health care costs and declining investment returns) behind that trend. While all of these factors exist and are real reasons for concern, I also see hopeful signs out there as well. Today, and next Friday, I’ll talk about why I am hopeful and some of the things you can do, small things that may seem inconsequential, to take control of your financial life and buck the negative trends that I showed you last week. Continue reading “I WAS Officially Depressed, but Feeling Better Now”
Once upon a time, there was such a thing as a “risk-free” rate of interest. This was the rate at which the federal government could borrow money from lenders, who happily went to sleep at night because, after all, the United States government could always pay its bills. Unlike mortgage lenders Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, Uncle Sam really was “too big to fail.” (His unique ability to tax and print money helped, too…) Continue reading “GUEST BLOG POST: Is the Government Going to Shutdown or Increase Our National Debt?”
I recently read an article talking about something we don’t like to talk about. It was written by a hospice nurse and is about the regrets of the dying. It was interesting to me to read what the five most mentioned regrets were from those who realized that their time on this earth was coming to an end. I wasn’t surprised to find that one of the top five was, “I wish I didn’t work so hard.” (In case my boss is reading this…I wish I could find a way to work even harder! Is that sucking up too blatant?) Continue reading “Poorer Can Actually Be Richer – Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream”
One of the questions I ask the attendees of my workshops is, “Where do you think interest rates will be going in the future?” The overwhelming majority state that they feel rates are going nowhere but up. Now, I certainly appreciate that there could be an outside chance that rates may dip from where they are, but that is not as likely as rates going up (in my humble opinion). So, if in fact we are moving to higher rates, what are some things you can do now to take advantage of the current rate environment? Check out the tips below to see if any of these apply. Note: while they may seem like a “no-brainer,” it’s those types of actions that we often don’t take. Continue reading “When Short Term Interest Rates Rise – What Should I Do?”
At work recently I’ve been assigned something completely different than anything I’ve ever done before, so I’m doing a whole lot of training to learn some new things. This has been a test of “can an old dog learn new tricks?” The good news is that it looks like it’s possible! Continue reading “Achieve Financial Success by Managing Someone Important – You!”
