Did you splurge a little too much for the Holidays? Did you set a limit this year, and if so, did you spend above it? In the coming weeks, the news will be filled with statistics about whether holiday spending was up or down this year and how retailers were affected. But for us, the […]
Category Archives: Personal Finance
Many people are taking a much closer look at retirement planning and retirement saving, and with good reason. The questions surrounding Social Security and Medicare, low interest rates on savings, volatility in investments, and the departure of pensions from most jobs, has changed the landscape of retirement planning and retirement savings. Regardless of our age, […]
Our financial goals are often very general such as “be out of debt” or “get a better handle on our money”. If we don’t have a clear picture of where we are and where we’re headed, the chances that we’re making progress in the right direction are pretty slim. In fact, we could be slipping […]
For some people, their financial goals are to someday be out of debt or have a better handle on their financial situation. But these types of goals don’t lend themselves to an achievable plan, and progress can’t be measured. When we establish financial goals, we assess the things that we need and want in life […]
The most important factor in managing our personal finances is our control over where our money is going. Before we can establish financial goals or move forward with a financial plan, we need to be honest with ourselves about our spending habits. And our spending habits are most often driven by the lifestyle decisions that […]
The most popular approaches to debt elimination are: paying off the largest debt first, paying off the smallest debt first, paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first, and loan consolidation. In my book “Personal Finance Simply Understood” I walk through a detailed analysis of these approaches using various loan and debt amounts, and […]
Buying a home is a major event in our lives, and the excitement can easily overshadow the long-term financial commitment we’re about to make. This is especially true when we’ve found a home that we love. The property taxes, maintenance, and mortgage obligation that we’re committing to, often take a backseat to the excitement of […]
When we hear sales promotions that say that it will cost us pennies per day, or for just $1.00 a day we can have this or that, the idea is to keep us thinking in small numbers. But those small numbers add up and become big numbers over time. Well, it works the same way […]
We know that we should teach our children the “value of a dollar”, but the best way to go about it seems to escape us. Using an allowance may teach them to stretch a dollar, but in a pinch there’s more where that came from and they know it. Even when it’s tied to chores, […]
If you’re employer has a 401(k) plan and you’re not contributing, it’s time to take a serious look at the financial benefits these plans offer. Company sponsored 401(k) plans allow us to deposit a limited amount of pretax income (taken from our gross pay before taxes are withheld) to an account that grows tax-deferred. This […]
