I was asked this question yesterday. Without going into the specifics of the person involved, I do have a general response. In order to save, it is important that you have uncommitted income after deducting your expenses from your income. If the number is negative or pretty much break even, one of two things has to happen. Either [...]
I hope that the posts to date have given you a start with your financial planning. It is time to take the information that you have prepared and talk to a financial advisor. Have someone else review what you are doing and make suggestions. There is so much more to do, but establishing the foundation is [...]
If you encounter a large and unepected expense, do you have money put aside to cover it without having to dip into your investments or finance it on a credit card? How will the bills be paid if you are suddenly out of work with no income? I often hear reference to using a line [...]
Nancy Zimmerman, @moneycoach, is one of my Twitter friends. We discussed guest blogs, and I was pleased to write a post on Living Benefits for her and her readers. It can be found at NancyZimmerman.com. I hope you take the time to read it and have a look at other entries in her blog. As for this entry [...]
Asking how much life insurance you need is a darn good question. There are many considerations, and two people in the same situation may have subjectively different views. In this post, I will discuss how I go about determining the answer. When thinking of life insurance needs, don’t just think of many years away when [...]
If you are fortunate, you have group benefits through an employer (or an association to which you belong). You are not alone if you received the benefit booklet and did not even open it. I hope you have now retrieved the booklet or asked your Human Resources department for another copy. You will likely find [...]
Another early determination in financial planning is the calculation of your net worth. It is a value that you can compare from year to year to track your financial progress. Very simply, your net worth is the difference between what you own and what you owe. Your retirement planning will very much depend on the [...]
Now you have been introduced to the Income and Expense Statement in my last blog post, it is time to touch briefly on goals. I would like you to take a few minutes to write down your most important financial goals. Five is a good number. Try to rank them in order of importance. If [...]
As the third piece in my financial planning series, the topic is the Income and Expense Statement. This is an important tool for you personally. It will help you see where your money is being spent and what should be left over. It is also something that a financial advisor will want to develop as [...]
If you don’t have one, now is the time to start preparing your household inventory. I will give you reasons to hopefully motivate you, and I will suggest what should go with it. This is the second daily lesson on financial planning basics. I have asked that you start gathering various documents, so you can [...]
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