Financial Education: Confessions of a Coupon Hater

November 29, 2010

Boy did I get an education.  Have you ever had one of those experiences where you realize that you have based a huge aspect of your life on a lie?  Well I guess that is a bit strong to say a lie but at least incorrect or wrong information?  I suspect this happens to many people – especially to those who are introspective.

I thought coupons were a waste of time. My thinking went along these lines:

“Really?  I am going to spend hours going through the Sunday paper to save 50 cents on a can of tuna?  Is that really worth my time?  It is a better use of my time to spend that hour working on a project to increase my income and enhance a bonus at work than to save 35 cents on a toothbrush.” Continue reading “Financial Education: Confessions of a Coupon Hater”

Target Fund: Glide To or Glide Through

November 22, 2010

I heard a statistic the other day that the average employee spends 30 minutes choosing their benefits at open enrollment.  I cringe to think how some people choose the funds in their 401(k) plans and I’ve seen the resulting disaster from people choosing the wrong funds especially funds they thought were safe and turned out to be much more aggressive than they thought.  Many of these were Target Funds. Continue reading “Target Fund: Glide To or Glide Through”

“Behavioral Judo” – Don’t Stop at the Minimum Auto-enrollment

November 15, 2010

I never practiced Judo but I’ve been on the receiving end where I said, “What just happened here?  Why am I flat on my back on the mat?”  That is what happens when you are the mother of three boys!  Judo practitioners use the opponent’s motion to keep them going in the direction they are going and in the case, take them down to win a match. Continue reading ““Behavioral Judo” – Don’t Stop at the Minimum Auto-enrollment”

An Underutilized Employee Benefit – Tuition Reimbursement

November 08, 2010

Over the weekend, like many people, I ran errands, saw dear friends, went to Mass, and watched football.  What I didn’t do was study and I really needed to because I postponed my next exam for my CEBS (Certified Employee Benefits Specialist) designation for next quarter.  So I better get cracking. Continue reading “An Underutilized Employee Benefit – Tuition Reimbursement”

A Gift is Still a Dollar

November 01, 2010

Why do we tend to splurge on a bonus check or birthday gift check?  Why do gamblers who just won a jackpot go across the street and buy a Rolex watch – something they never would have done otherwise?  Traveling back East today, I am reading, Why Smart People Make Bad Money Decisions by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilvoch.  The book essentially enlightens us about human nature and how it relates to money and what we can do about it.  I learned a few new things and validated some things I already knew. Continue reading “A Gift is Still a Dollar”

The Blame Game

October 25, 2010

In our office we have these fake motivational posters because we all have a very odd sense of humor (starting at the top I might add).  We don’t need the real motivational posters because our company hires motivated people. The one above the desk where I sit says, “The secret of success is knowing who to blame for your failures.”  I know.  It is hilarious. Different ones are all over the office all with beautiful pictures so they look real until you read the captions.

The reason this comes to mind is my caller last week, who had so many financial problems, didn’t know where to start and certainly had some people to blame.  Continue reading “The Blame Game”

Financial Decisions – Where to Start?

October 18, 2010

Did you ever feel like you had so many financial problems that it was no use?  There is no possible way to get out of them.  I had a caller like that yesterday and it was a tough call. She had a long list of financial issues similar to the following: a low credit score, unable to pay the minimum on credit cards, unpaid medical bills, past due utility payments and past due loans that her significant other was responsible to pay but are in her name.  She’s also living with relatives and wants to move out but can’t and does not have an emergency fund.  Where to start? Continue reading “Financial Decisions – Where to Start?”

Cash Management: Yard Sale or Donation?

October 11, 2010

I have to confess that I really hate yard sales.  Oh I have no problem going to other people’s yard sales to snap up bargains but I can’t stand putting them on.  Like many other people especially these days, I work hard during the week and the last thing I want to do on the weekend is to get up in the wee hours Saturday morning to put little stickers on my books and glassware and set them up on tables only to have people walk up and try to haggle me down from $1 to 10 cents for my used books.  “Are you kidding?  This is Tolstoy!  You should be paying me to read this book,” is how I handle it.  So in other words, not well.

Maybe it is better to just donate the whole thing to charity and forget the yard sale.  Continue reading “Cash Management: Yard Sale or Donation?”

Cash Management: Confessions of a Coupon Hater

October 04, 2010

To me it always seemed like a major hassle to look through the Wednesday paper for the weekly sales and cut out the coupons.  Half the time, I ended up buying things I didn’t need just because there was a “savings” and more commonly I went to the store and forgot them altogether along with the reusable grocery bags gathering dust in my pantry. Continue reading “Cash Management: Confessions of a Coupon Hater”

Retirement Decisions: What a Difference a Month Makes

September 27, 2010

I got a call the other day on the financial helpline from an employee who is retiring next year.  He had always planned on retiring in the month of June and noticed a trend this year of managers in his company retiring in August.  Now this gentleman had over 35 years of service so you wouldn’t think two months would have made much difference.

So we did some digging and here is what we found.  Continue reading “Retirement Decisions: What a Difference a Month Makes”

What We Can Learn about Investing from Generation Y

September 20, 2010

People poke fun at Gen Y’ers because this was the generation where everyone got a trophy just for participating in a sport or activity.  At the Little League “end of season” team parties, even the team that was dead last and the player that barely sniffed the field, went home with their trophy.  While these parents (I know because I was one of them) were worrying about the delicate sensibilities of our little Millennials, they were fast at work learning technology. Continue reading “What We Can Learn about Investing from Generation Y”

Investment Ideas We Can Learn from Generation X

September 13, 2010

“Don’t be fooled” seems to be the mantra for Generation X.  This is the generation sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and the Millennial Gen Y.  They are described as being born between 1965 and 1980 and they can work a deal.  These folks are good at getting the most of their dollar and unfortunately they will need to because their other mantra is “this is NOT turning out like I planned.” Continue reading “Investment Ideas We Can Learn from Generation X”

Investment Ideas We Can Learn from the Baby Boomers

September 06, 2010

Today investing in a mutual fund is a way of life but at the end of the1970’s there were only a little over 500 mutual funds.  With the help of the Baby Boomer investors toward the end of the decade of the 1990’s this exploded to over 7000 mutual funds.

Now I have heard that if everyone is doing it, it could be a fad – so watch out.  Remember the “pet rock” was also born in the age of Baby Boomers and we have to note that these people actually purchased this product in great quantities – so we have to take any of their choices with a grain of salt.  But don’t forget, there could also be great value. Continue reading “Investment Ideas We Can Learn from the Baby Boomers”

Investment Ideas We Can Learn From the Silent Generation

August 30, 2010

When you go to the grocery store today to pick up a gallon of milk you have the opportunity to choose between whole milk, 2%, 1% or fat free and don’t forget that you can choose organic milk or even soy or rice milk.  We have multiple choices in just about everything – bread, cereal, jam, coffee, tea, etc.  It is an endless journey of choices!

Think back to our grandparents or parents and the choices they had.  You went to the store to buy milk and you picked up your gallon and walked home.  In terms of investing, there weren’t as many choices either.  Investments consisted of Treasury bills, bank accounts, stock and bonds – pretty simple.  In some ways, those days were easier without so many choices and some of the choices they did have were pretty good! Continue reading “Investment Ideas We Can Learn From the Silent Generation”

Retirement Distribution Options

August 23, 2010

I was wondering why he would want to take a 50% lump sum distribution on his pension and take the rest as income when he was only 54 (going to retire at 55) and had a lump sum already – a fairly large balance in his 401(k).  Normally when I counsel people who have a substantial 401(k) balance, they want to take full advantage of the pension distribution – guaranteed for life with a steady stream of payments every single month that gets deposited directly into a bank account.  What could be sweeter and why wouldn’t he want that?  A pension is like the goose that laid the golden egg. Continue reading “Retirement Distribution Options”

Cash management: Pay as Much Attention When You are Selling as When You are Buying

August 16, 2010

Next door neighbors are good for borrowing things: a lawn mower, tools and a cup of sugar.  If they have teenagers, they are good for babysitting and helping you move heavy objects downstairs (even working for pizza sometimes).  My next door neighbor, however, taught me some lessons that have saved me hundreds of dollars over the years – maybe I shouldn’t have paid his sons in pizza to move my furniture.

Here’s what happened.  I was selling a Toyota Corona (yes it was really a Corona – there was a model about a hundred years ago) and he helped me because at the time (quite a few years ago), I was a pushover.  Continue reading “Cash management: Pay as Much Attention When You are Selling as When You are Buying”

Creating a Will – Sooner Rather than Later

August 09, 2010

“We couldn’t decide on a guardian – the couple we wanted to pick was very loving but we were concerned they wouldn’t give the children boundaries” was the excuse the couple gave.  They had two children ages 10 and 12 and knew for years that they needed to get a will so they could appoint a guardian in case something happened to both of them.

I asked them what prompted them to talk with me today.  “Our friend passed away at age 44, the loving one that we were going to choose and we are deeply saddened.  We also realized it could have been us and the court would pick the guardian for our children instead of us and we just couldn’t let that happen,” Continue reading “Creating a Will – Sooner Rather than Later”

Missing A Step

August 02, 2010

A caller to our financial helpline told me last week, “ I am terrible at money management.”  Well, after talking to her for a few minutes, I realized that she really wasn’t.   She confessed that she was always on the watch for when her bills were due and she paid them on time watching for the big ones so she didn’t miss them.  In other words, her rent and her car payment were always paid on time.  Does that sound like she is terrible at money management? Continue reading “Missing A Step”

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”

Two Training Meetings—Three Slides

July 19, 2010

This week I started training on a new workshop.  So far, I have had two training sessions and my progress so far is three slides.  I know that doesn’t seem like very much progress and it is even more interesting when you find out that my homework was to go back and work on the same three slides to show Bruce, our trainer, what I can do.

To give you some perspective, this is not my first rodeo.  By the above paragraph, you might think that I’ve never done a workshop or spoke in public before.  But actually just with Financial Finesse, I’ve given over 200 workshops and webcasts as well as hosting our monthly podcast, Your Money Minute for the past two years.  Before that I was on ABC news in Northern California as a regular guest for 5 years as well as being a guest and guest host on a weekly radio program.  Over my 25 years as a planner, I’ve given many presentations – far and wide.  So what’s with the three slides?

Continue reading “Two Training Meetings—Three Slides”