The Statue of Liberty & the Concept of Hope

September 17, 2010

On a recent trip to New York City, I took a quick 1-hour boat tour of the New York Harbor.  It was an incredible view of an incredible city!  The most significant part of the tour (at least for me) was when the engines slowed down, the boat stopped, and we slowly drifted past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  At the same time, the pre-recorded voice of the tour guide talked about the immigrants who came into Ellis Island filled with hopes and dreams of making a new life in the United States.  Virtually every story we heard on that tour was one of people who came here without anything, worked hard, believed in what they were doing and why they were doing it, and achieved success.  It was very inspiring. Continue reading “The Statue of Liberty & the Concept of Hope”

The Cost of Necessity

September 15, 2010

Twice a year I have the opportunity to speak at the local crisis pregnancy center to a group of young men and women about managing their finances.  Now I don’t care how old or how young you are; whether you make a lot of money or just a little—we ALL need help when it comes to managing our money.  Most of us learned to manage money watching our parents, and I think many of you would agree that they could probably use some help too.  But among the things we talk about, the one that I often get a kick over is the subject of ‘wants vs. needs’.  Now you might think that wants and needs are fairly easy to determine, and in many cases you’d be right, but there are several instances when it may not be as black and white as it first appears. Continue reading “The Cost of Necessity”

When You Want Something Done Right, You May Have to Do it Yourself

September 10, 2010

Over the last few months I have talked to a lot of people who are concerned that their company’s pension plan has changed for the worse.  These are people from many different employers all across the country.   Many others have seen an employer’s pension plan get frozen, terminated, or taken over by the PBGC.  What was just a generation ago almost a “given” has become increasingly rare, and even when it exists there is ever increasing skepticism about the long term viability of the pension plan.  So, what can be done? Continue reading “When You Want Something Done Right, You May Have to Do it Yourself”

Are You Financially Strong Enough to Accept Charity?

September 08, 2010

Recently, my life group at church went to a local gas station to pump gas and wash windows for the customers, and I learned something very interesting: sometimes it is difficult to receive charity.  Our goal that day was to be nice, and to offer kindness to strangers in the form of service.  We were not asking for donations, we were not raising money for some upcoming event.  We were simply being charitable.  Now in the defense of those we met that day, I will say that in today’s world someone coming up to you at the gas station and offering to pump your gas and wash your windows seems a bit odd, but when we explained that we were simply providing service as an act of kindness, there were many who allowed us to proceed. Continue reading “Are You Financially Strong Enough to Accept Charity?”

How We Can Learn a Valuable Lesson from Wesley Snipes

August 27, 2010

Wesley Snipes was recently sentenced to three years in prison for failing to pay over $15,000,000 in taxes.  It could have been worse for him; the sentence was considered light because “jurors accepted his argument that he was innocently duped by errant tax advisers.”

That makes me ask a few questions: Wesley, what exactly were you thinking? You hired tax advisors who told you it was acceptable to NOT FILE TAX RETURNS???  Did that not sound suspicious? Continue reading “How We Can Learn a Valuable Lesson from Wesley Snipes”

Health Savings Accounts for Health and Wealth

July 27, 2010

Can the Health Savings Account double as a retirement account?  In some ways it can and no one is talking about it.  Why?  We tend to look at things from our own perspective.  It is natural for employers to look at it through a health benefits angle and financial advisors who manage money tend to look at it from an investment point of view.  As financial educators, we look at benefits from the financial planning point of view.  We are looking at how employees can maximize all of their benefits not just ones we manage (because we don’t manage any).

Here is an example of how the HSA can serve two purposes:

I recently sat down with a 38 year old woman who was worried she wasn’t saving enough for retirement.  After running a retirement projection together based on her salary deferral to her 401(k), I unfortunately had to confirm her concern.  She needed to save about 5% more than her current 6% to get her to where she needed to be.

We started talking about where she could come up with the extra savings and she then mentioned she was maxing out her Health Savings Account (HSA), but was thinking about lowering her deferral Continue reading “Health Savings Accounts for Health and Wealth”

Heath and Wealth—A Great Wellness Program Combination

July 26, 2010

It makes sense that the same skills are required to make changes in our health and to make changes in our wealth – especially in the day to day cash management.  This was really brought to light when I sat down with 7 people for ‘Ask a Planner’ meetings because the meetings were in the wellness center at the company I was visiting – not just a wellness center but basically in an office right off the employee gym.  The receptionist was shared and the meeting room I got to use was literally 5 steps from the gym.  It was definitely a healthy atmosphere.

As I met with the employees one by one, I found out that 6 of the 7 employees were working with a personal trainer in the wellness center and coincidentally they all were working on cash management/ budgeting issues. This made it a really smooth transition to talk about making small behavior changes that work. Continue reading “Heath and Wealth—A Great Wellness Program Combination”

Does Your Wellness Program Include a Wealth Factor?

July 13, 2010

I just got off the phone today with an employee who remembered a quote I had made during a recent Retirement Readiness workshop he had attended where I talked about the 3 ingredients to a secure retirement – Health, Wealth, and Happiness. I was so amazed he remembered it, but he said he had never thought about how his health could impact his retirement, and it had really struck a chord with him. Our health is very important, since all the money in the world can’t buy back our physical well-being. However, our finances DO have an impact: money problems are the number one cause of stress and stress-related illness.

Continue reading “Does Your Wellness Program Include a Wealth Factor?”