I just got a new laptop and had to figure out what to do with all of my old files, work and personal, along with music, photos, and video. It was a chaotic mess. There was my old personal laptop, my old work laptop, an old desktop and an iPad all in one corner. It was like the land where technology goes to die. I wasn’t totally sure how to manage the craziness that had become my tech life. Continue reading “I Don’t Even Know Where to Start!”
We hear a lot in the financial media about the looming retirement crisis in our country and in general, retirement confidence is lacking. Therefore, it comes with no surprise that one of the most frequently asked questions that financial planners receive is “am I on track for retirement?” This is commonly accompanied by this question: How much do I need to save for retirement? Continue reading “How Much Income Will You Really Need During Retirement?”
A coworker of mine recently forwarded me a mass email from Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, about what he claims are five “unconventional truths” that go against conventional personal finance advice. Since one of the themes of my blog is being a bit unconventional, I was curious about how much I agreed with these “truths.” Here they are with my thoughts: Continue reading “5 Unconventional Truths?”
Have you ever looked at a dirty old sock and thought, “Hey, that sure looks like a delicious treat. Should I eat that?” Hopefully not! But then again, you’re not a dog. Continue reading “Are You Doing Enough to Protect Your Pet?”
In this article, Learnvest provides some guidelines as to how to budget and prioritize your financial goals. First, when it comes to budgeting, they suggest what they call the 50/20/30 rule: Continue reading “How Not To Prioritize Your Financial Goals”
This past weekend, I enjoyed a wonderful visit from my mom. As I was enjoying a morning cup of coffee (and not adequately caffeinated for a serious discussion), she told me about her retirement plans. Actually, she mainly shared how she was financially prepared to leave the workforce within the next year but not quite sure she was ready for full retirement. Continue reading “Retiring Within the Next 10 Years? 10 Things to Do Now”
Mint is one of those financial tools that I have talked about so much since they appeared on the online budgeting scene that I often take for granted the fact that not everyone out there knows about their service. This week, we will look at Mint and review some of its most popular features. Mint has been around since 2007, boasts over 10 million users and has numerous awards, which is great and all, but all that really matters if you have an account is one thing – are you taking control of your money and making the smartest decisions possible? Here is a little more information about how it works and how you can potentially use Mint to help you reach your most important financial life goals. Continue reading “Personal Finance Tools Review: Mint”
Save for a rainy day. Avoid debt by saving for goals in advance. Those are some of the oldest pieces of financial advice out there but they can also be the hardest to follow. Continue reading “Personal Finance Tools Review: SmartyPig”
Last week, Financial Finesse released our annual Generational Research Report and all I can say is, “I resemble that remark.” The good news of our findings is that my generation, Gen X, is getting better across all areas of financial wellness. The bad news is that we were the hardest hit generation by the Great Recession and we are lagging our counterparts in many areas, especially cash management. Continue reading “Why Gen X Isn’t Doomed”
When it comes to money, kids today are presented with a world of choices that most of us parents didn’t have to worry about when we were young. You certainly didn’t have to think about the latest iPod or iPad, $100 tennis shoes, or any other purchases of that magnitude. Depending on your age, credit and debit cards may not even have been around when you were younger – if you grew up when I did, you either had money or you didn’t. Continue reading “How to Educate Your Kids on Proper Money Management”
Yesterday, we provided financial tips for the Baby Boom generation. Today, we take a look at Generation Xers, who are suffering the double whammy of experiencing tough economic times at a particularly vulnerable financial stage of life. While most Millennials were too young to own stocks or real estate during those market crashes, and Baby Boomers enjoyed decades of growth in both assets throughout the 80s and 90s, many Gen Xers had the misfortune of starting their investing just as both markets were peaking. This comes at a stage of life in which a majority of Generation Xers own a home (translate: have a mortgage payment) and have minor children (translate: extra mouths to feed). So if you’re a Gen Xer, here are some moves to consider: Continue reading “7 Steps for Generation Xers to Reclaim Their Financial Future”
It is playoff time in the NFL and just four teams are left with a shot at the Super Bowl. (That’s Denver, New England, San Francisco or Seattle just in case you aren’t a fan of pro football or have managed to avoid the fanatics in your life that do care about the proverbial pigskin.) In the spirit of playoff season, I thought that I would accept a challenge from a colleague to put today’s blog post on the clock. Continue reading “Save Money With This Quick Two-Minute Drill”
The holidays present numerous financial challenges, not to mention the positive and negative stress associated with spending some quality time with friends and family. (Insert your own mental image of Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation here.) Generosity is a wonderful characteristic to possess, but if left without monitoring, it can lead to overspending and debt. Additionally, travel costs can be expensive if you hit the road or the occasionally friendly skies to be with family. There is a well documented outbreak of financial stress and regret that occurs every January in our consumer-driven culture when the reality of holiday spending arrives in the form of a credit card statement. Continue reading “A New Way For Couples to Manage Their Finances in 2014”
I recently read this article about how the real question in life isn’t what you want. It’s what pain you want. We all have unlimited wants, but what are you willing to struggle for? What price are you willing to pay? Continue reading “The Question That Will Determine Your Financial Success”
This week, I will begin a series of blog posts about money and relationships. My wife, Heather (and the real brains of our family), had the idea to start off this series by exposing some lessons that we have learned along the way. Heather is self-employed full-time as an occupational therapist and specializes in working with incredible children who have developmental challenges. Despite occasionally minimizing the role she plays in managing our household finances, the reality is that Heather is also a co-financial planner in our household. Continue reading “Being Married to the “Money Doc””
The Earth is still so full of mysteries even though we have had scientists exploring what seems like every nook and cranny of Earth’s surface, the oceans and the atmosphere. As much as we think we know (from a global perspective, not an individual one) about how the planet works, there is still much to learn and discover. Recently, there was some volcanic activity in Antarctica and the implications for the planet are completely unknown at this time. It’s fascinating stuff! (or at least it is to me) Continue reading “Explore Your Hidden Volcano”
A few months ago, I wrote about my own retirement planning journey and a list of things that I plan to do along the way. The ultimate purpose was to find some balance between living in the moment and planning for the future. I’ve made some progress over the past few months and thanks to a friend who lives on a tidal creek, I was able to check a long awaited paddle boarding trip off my list. Continue reading “What’s SUP With Your Budget?”
If you are a sports–obsessed, fantasy football player like me, you’ve probably been mortified as you said those dreaded words at some point. If you are a football widow like my wife, you’ve probably heard that before and wished it happened a lot more often. Why does someone need to check their fantasy team line-up? Didn’t they spend a bunch of time in August putting together the greatest draft strategy in the history of man or at least the history of football? With super star players dominating at every position, why should you bother with something as mundane as checking your line-up before each game?
Well, I guess someone could get hurt. Of course, every team has a bye week so you wouldn’t want to start Tom Brady if the Patriots are off. If you really want to reach the playoffs, then I guess you might not play a lot of Broncos wide receivers if Peyton Manning couldn’t play.
Of course, then there is my team. If usual form holds true, my quarterback will be crippled by week 3 (Sorry to all Matt Ryan and Julio Jones owners), I will not realize that my back-up quarterback, tight end, kicker and defense have the same bye week and my can’t miss rookie running back will be buried somewhere below whale dung on the depth chart. In short, stuff happens.
The same is true in our financial life. It always amazes me to see how much time, effort and money people will devote to putting together a financial plan and then rarely if ever re-visit the plan. In my own life, I’ve seen multiple changes in the last year, let alone the last 5 – 10 years. Sticking with the old plan would be a quick trip to the losing locker room. While as any of the guys in my fantasy football league will tell you, I’m the last person who should give fantasy line-up advice, here are a few tips for how and when to check your financial line-up:
Set a time each year for an annual review of your plan
Resources: Financial Planning Checklist Financial Goals Worksheet How to Check Your Family’s Finances (9-minute checkup) E$Planner (Retirement Calculator)
Re-balance your investments
Resources: Beginner’s Guide to Asset Allocation, Diversification, and Rebalancing Guide to Rebalancing (WSJ) Create an Investment Policy Statement
Review your home and auto insurance
Resources: Cars and Auto Insurance Homeowners Insurance Homeowner’s Checklist
Update your budget
Resources: Budget and Net Worth Worksheet Mint You Need a Budget How Do I Create a Budget?
Re-evaluate your estate plan
Resources: 5 Steps to Estate Planning A Simple Estate Planning Checklist For a Challenging Topic
Last, obviously if God forbid your star quarterback really does go down with a season-ending injury (please stay healthy Matt Ryan) you need to reassess your fantasy team immediately. If you have a major event in your life, good or bad, it is always a good time to do a top-to-bottom review of your plan to make sure that it is still relevant for you and your family. Please, pay attention to your financial line-up and if you have any ideas on back-up running backs leave them in the comments section ASAP!
Want more helpful financial guidance, delivered every day? Sign up to receive the Financial Finesse Tip of the Day, written by financial planners who work with people like you every day. No sales pitch EVER (being unbiased is the foundation of what we do), just the best our awesome planners have to offer. Click here to join.
The dog days of summer are here and it’s back to school time for millions across America. To a certain degree, I actually enjoy the routine of the school schedule. Like the changing of seasons, there is a sense of familiarity despite the unknowns of what may happen along the journey. Continue reading “Personal Finance Tools for Busy Parents”
A friend of mine recently sent me this article about how in many competitive areas of life, it makes more sense to focus on preventing bad decisions rather than trying to make good ones. That’s because the advantages of making the good decisions can be largely cancelled out by other people making good decisions. In other words, it’s really hard to beat everyone else by making good decisions and relatively easy to avoid making the bad ones. This is what’s called a “loser’s game.”
Continue reading “10 Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid”
