What is personal economic value and why is it important? Our personal economic value is our earnings potential or what can we expect to earn between now and when we plan to stop working. As an example, if I currently earn $44,000 each year, I’m 32 years old, and I plan to retire at age […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
ONE: It’s easier to find a job when you have a job. Statistics prove this out, and I think it has a lot to do with our attitude more than anything else. When we’re on an interview and we already have a job, we’re more confident. We don’t really need the position. We’re interested in […]
Survivorship planning is an often overlooked area of personal finance. when it is considered, it’s usually limited to large obligations like a mortgage. But there are many smaller items that could add up to a large financial burden for our survivor. We should start by analyzing the ability of our dependents to continue financially without us […]
With interest rates staying at all time lows, we may be tempted to look at saving as a no-win situation. Monies deposited just aren’t accumulating any interest and with an annual inflation rate around 2%, aren’t we actually losing money on our savings? The short answer is yes, but a more prudent answer lies with the […]
There will be many financial forecasts for the coming year and recommendations about how we should adjust our finances to prepare for them. Many of them will contradict each other, leaving us wondering if anyone really has a good idea of what will happen and what financial changes we should make (if any). The answer of […]
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 short answer is maybe, since it depends on the answers to a few simple questions. Are there family members who will need to be cared for financially when we die? Will our survivors or beneficiaries inherit debt such as a mortgage or personal or car loan? Do we already have a large policy through […]
When we think of a portfolio, we often think of a list of stocks and bonds, and yet our portfolio should contain much more than a snap-shot of our current asset positions and investments. It should provide the ability to plan, forecast, track, status, and strategize using our trend information, asset allocations, benchmark data, and […]
We’re often surprised by our credit card statements, and not just because of how much we’re charging. The balance amount always seems to be a number that we wouldn’t have guessed, and some purchases that we expect to see aren’t on the statement, and some that we don’t expect to see are listed. This is […]
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 have firm control of our spending habits. And our spending habits are most often driven by our lifestyle decisions. For instance, […]
