Rick’s advice on giving up on credit cards was picked up by the Associated Press in an article that talks about retirement resolutions for 2009. Read the entire article by clicking here.
Financial New Year’s resolutions are a common phenomenon this time of year—especially for anyone who overdid the holiday spending and who knows the new year is going to bring a new batch of credit card bills. Probably one of the most common financial resolutions is: “I’m going to make a budget and stick to it.”
In light of the current economy, making a fresh financial start is likely to be a wise move. Here are my suggestions for five financial New Year’s resolutions to help you manage well in the coming year: Continue Reading at FinancialAwakenings.com»
By Rick Kahler, CFP®
With all the chaos and uncertainty in the economy, this year is a perfect time to celebrate Christmas in the manner of Ebenezer Scrooge.
If you’re superficially familiar with Dickens’s A Christmas Carol
What I’d like to recommend, however, is to celebrate Christmas in the way Scrooge did after the visits of the three Spirits transformed him. Continue Reading on FinancialAwakenings.com»
By Martin Siesta, CFP®
Advice that I have been giving clients has little to do with products. Here is an example of what we advised:
• Money and credit will get scarce - get out of debt or reduce debt if you can
• Reduce your expenses structurally - look at your cars - look at all the outgoings
• There may be no real return on conventional investments and it will take years for the adjustment to work its way
• Social security may not be a sure thing - think more about how you are going to spend your “Golden years”
• Invest in sure things such as reducing your use of energy. Remember, investments in cutting your oil use give you a cash tax free return (more…)
This time of year, family budgets are already strained by holiday giving, travel, and entertaining. The last thing anyone needs is an extra bill for the furnace going out, a big car repair, or an expensive trip to the emergency room. Payments like these are common budget-busters. They come under the category we usually think of as “unforeseen,” “one-time,” or “unexpected” expenses. We tend to be surprised by them. I hear clients say things like, “These are the expenses I feel are out of my control.” Continue Reading »
My late mother-in-law used to observe that “It is an ill wind that blows no good for somebody.” While looking for the good in any situation, she accurately observed that most situations are advantageous to someone for good reason. Such is the case with our economic woes.
One of the advantages of any “crisis” is that it focuses the attention. These moments, these inflection points give us an opportunity to examine, sift and conclude. They also give us an opportunity to search for the blessings amidst the bad.
It is interesting to comb through the popular media to get a sense of its take. For example, today’s Denver post reprinted an interesting article by Paul Nyhan of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer with the headline “Financial crisis forcing families to simplify holidays.”
In lamenting our “ongoing economic nightmare,” he notes a trend to simplification and charity. The article is interesting examination of the emotions generated by changes in our perceptions of economic well-being. It talks in terms of honest conversations with children, focus on necessities versus luxuries and a sense of appreciation for others and for low-cost or no-cost activities. There is nothing like looking for the silver lining.
This is no joke though. For years we have heard that America is such a materialist country. What these economic times “force” is not simplification so much as examination. What do we value and why? When times are fat it is easy to overindulge. It has even acquired a disease reference “affluenza.” This is not to say that these times are without genuine suffering. Nonetheless, there are parts of our national value system that have required reexamination for some time.
©2008 Richard B. Wagner. Reprinted with permission.
In the last thirty years, the financial services industry has been radically transformed by computers and more recently, by the Internet. The traditional products on which the industry was based, insurance and investments, have evolved into a panoply of complex offerings described in great detail either by thick prospectuses or weighty regulatory documents, indicative of the risks faced by consumers. Since they are uniquely numbers-based, financial products and services attract quantitative analyses. Modeling and re-design bring new iterations. (more…)