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
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Survivorship planning is an often overlooked area of personal finance or is 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 beginning tomorrow. This […]
Let’s get back to some of the basics and start with creating financial goals: Each of our financial goals is unique because of our age, income, dependents, and other personal factors, but the basic structure and how we determine and set financial goals are common for all of us. We all have daily necessities, monthly […]
Personal Finance Simply Understood 