Friday November 21, 2008 - Holiday Gifting: Money Gifts
I am not a big fan of just writing a check or giving cash as a gift. But it certainly is quick, easy and never returned.
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Thursday November 20, 2008 - Holiday Gifting: A Gift of Time
Money may be very tight for many families this holiday season. With the economy in such a slump there may not be much in the budget for Christmas gifts.
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Wednesday November 19, 2008 - Holiday Gifting: Ways to Save
Before we begin today I just thought it might be good to remind everyone why we celebrate around this time of year. Christmas and Hanukkah are religious holidays. I just needed to get that off of my chest!
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Tuesday November 18, 2008 - Holiday Gifting: Who Made the List?
Do like Santa; take the time to sit down with pen in hand and make out a list of who you are planning on buying presents for. Then go over that list! Then go over it again.
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Monday November 17, 2008 - Holiday Gifting: It's Better to Give Than to Receive
I was not happy to see Christmas decorations go up in October and then the Christmas music started a couple of weeks ago. The merchants are pushing hard and early to get us in a buying mood.
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Friday November 14, 2008 - Managing Credit: Bankruptcy
Bankruptcies are increasing! Congress made it harder for anyone to walk away from the debt they created.
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Thursday November 13, 2008 - Managing Credit: Getting Out from Under
According to MyFico 37% of consumers who use credit cards carry more than $10,000 of debt.
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Wednesday November 12, 2008 - Managing Credit: Credit Score
Knowing your credit scores is important. Credit scores are a quick and easy method for a creditor to judge you as a potential customer.
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Tuesday November 11, 2008 - Managing Credit: Your Credit History
I get more e-mail about credit management than any other topic here at WBZ.
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Monday November 10, 2008 - Managing Credit: Debt
Credit is always a hot topic and it just may be our next crisis. I have had so many requests for information that I thought we would review this subject again.
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Friday November 7, 2008 - Saving for College: Other Ways to Pay for College
How do you plan to pay for college? Robbing a bank or renting out rooms are not really viable solutions. If your kiddo is in her senior year it’s too late to do much more than stick whatever extra cash you can in a money market account.
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Thursday November 6, 2008 - Saving for College: US Savings Bonds
This was the first program available to offer any kind of a tax break for parents trying to save for college but now there are many more programs available. But it’s still worth talking about.
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Wednesday November 5, 2008 - Saving for College: Coverdell Educational Savings A
This is not a new plan, just a new name. These were the Educational IRAs that had a name that made no sense. And at one time they were limited to a $500 contribution. They are now known as ESAs or Educational Savings Accounts.
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Tuesday November 4, 2008 - Saving for College: 529 Plans
If your kiddo is in kindergarten you still have time to save for college. College is an investment and it is expensive. And costs are going up every year. So what’s a parent to do? Start stashing it away for college as early as you can.
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Monday November 3, 2008 - Saving for College: Whose Responsibility?
I have been thinking college! Why because my niece and all of the other young woman and men who graduated last spring have to begin paying back their student loans this month.
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Friday October 31, 2008 Halloween - More Money Mistakes: No Emergency Fund
My grandmother said the money was for a rainy day and she kept her’s hidden in the teapot of the good china, because the good teapot still had a lid and way back then she didn’t need much of a cash stash to survive an emergency.
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Thursday October 30, 2008 - More Money Mistakes: Not Knowing Your Credit Stats
Checking your credit history should be like getting your teeth cleaned. You want to do it once a year. You may think your credit history is perfect because you have never been late or missed any of your loan payments, but recent studies have shown that perhaps as many as 50 percent of all credit histories have errors in them, errors that could prevent you from qualifying for a loan.
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Wednesday October 29, 2008 - More Money Mistakes: Paying Only the Minimum on Cre
Sweet temptation! Especially in tough economic times.
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Tuesday October 28, 2008 - More Money Mistakes: Not Updating Beneficiary Designa
I’ve heard so many sad stories regarding beneficiary designations.
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Monday October 27, 2008 - More Money Mistakes: No Estate Plan
Estate planning is not for just for the wealthy. If you have some assets you have accumulated such your home or retirement accounts or if you have children you have people and things you need to protect.
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Friday October 24, 2008 - Money Mistakes: Waiting to Start Saving for Retirement
There are so many excuses I have heard on why people don’t save for retirement. The recent college grads without jobs have legitimate excuses but the rest of you don’t really have good excuses.
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Thursday October 23, 2008 - Money Mistakes: Investing is not Financial Planning
This is something I encounter all of the time. I ask people if they have a financial plan and they tell me yes. They’ll say: I am investing in my retirement plan or I am investing in a college plan for my newborn. Investing is only a part of a financial plan.
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Wednesday October 22, 2008 - Money Mistakes: Selling Low - Buying High
Just for the record I’ve made my share of money mistakes. No one does it right all of the time. So if you do make a mistake chalk it up to experience and move on vowing never to do it again!
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Tuesday October 21, 2008 - Money Mistake: Wrong Asset Allocation for Your Goals
This is a biggie and most people don’t even know they are messing with it until it’s too late.
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Monday October 20, 2008 - Money Mistakes: Not Having Goals
I hear from so many of our listeners telling me about the money mistakes they have made and how they wish someone had just set them straight before they had blown it. So we are going to try to help you not make these common mistakes!
Not having goals may not sound like a big mistake to many folks but life happens and without goals we just react.
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Friday October 17, 2008 - Snowbirds: Healthcare
If you’ve reached the magic age of Medicare, which is 65, you shouldn’t have any problems with doctors and health care facilities accepting your health insurance wherever you are in the U.S. Do check your Medigap policy to see what they’ll cover for out of state emergencies.
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Thursday October 16, 2008 - Snowbirds: Protecting Your Estate While Living in T
Six months south and six months north could be a great life style in retirement but one place will need to be your legal domicile, your legal residence.
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Wednesday October 15, 2008 - Snowbirds: Your House Has Wheels
Whenever I see an RV, I begin to wonder where they’ve been. What kind of adventures are they hoping for? What places are they heading to?
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Tuesday October 14, 2008 - Snow Birds: Where?
Winter is coming. The real snowbirds, the Juncos are down from Canada and are at my bird feeders. And for the last couple of years I have said to my husband whenever I see the Juncos arrive, “Let’s go some place warm this winter”.
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Monday October 13, 2008 - Snow Birds: The Migration
Coming back from Connecticut this weekend traffic was down to one lane on 495 due to road maintenance and this gave me time to watch the world go by on the south bound side. I began to count RVs!
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Friday October 10, 2008 - Financial Planning Week: Protecting Your Assets
This is the CYA part of your financial plan. Step 5. Cover Your Assets!
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Thursday October 9, 2008 - Financial Planning Week: Obstacles Along the Way
These are the barriers to financial success. The landmines of life.
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Wednesday October 8, 2008 - Financial Planning Week: Saving and Investing to Rea
Putting it all together is not easy. That’s why many individuals hire a financial planner.
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Tuesday October 7, 2008 - Financial Planning Week: What Have You Got?
You will need to figure out your net worth and do a cash flow to figure how and where you are spending your money.
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Monday October 6, 2008 - Financial Planning Week: Putting Together a Plan
Today is the beginning of Financial Planning week. We have weeks dedicated to coupons, ice cream, grandparents, 4H, why not Financial planning?
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Friday October 3, 2008 - More Savings: Great Ideas from Our Listeners
Here are some:
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Thursday October 2, 2008 - More Savings: Using the Library
I heard from a listener, Merrily Sparling, who is the head librarian of the Bancroft Memorial Library in Hopedale about using your local library to save big bucks.
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Wednesday October 1, 2008 - More Savings: Utilities
Summer is officially over. But we still have some wonderful days ahead, warm days. Days where we do not need either the AC or the heat on. These are my favorite days each spring and fall.
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Tuesday September 30, 2008 - More Savings: Coupons
Did you know that September is National Coupon Month? I know I should have brought it to your attention earlier in the month but it has been a busy month for me.. The Promotion Marketing Association did!
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Monday September 29, 2008 - More Savings: Save on Everything You Purchase
We did a series earlier in the summer on ways to save and I heard from a lot of listeners. Some sharing their ideas and successes, others telling me it was too much work.
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Friday September 26, 2008 - Women & Money: A Comfortable Retirement
Unless you want to live with one your kids in your old age you really need to do some planning. And if you choose not to do a financial plan the next time your family gets together for a family dinner decide which one of the kids you do want to live with and be nice to that kid!
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Thursday September 25, 2008 - Women & Money: Social Security and Women
Social Security benefits are not just retirement benefits. Should you become disabled, you and your dependents would be eligible for benefits. Should you die with minor children they and your spouse will be eligible for benefits based on your employment record.
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Wednesday September 24, 2008 - Women & Money: Retirement Income Gap
We talked about the income gap yesterday. The income gap is a scary realty and I hope by the time our granddaughters are working their pay will be equal to their brother’s. I once had those hopes for their mothers, our daughters, but it did not happen.
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Tuesday September 23, 2008 - Women & Money: Pay Gap
A hundred years ago an estimated 5 million women went to work outside the home every day. They were maids, cleaning women, seamstresses, governesses, mill workers, schoolteachers and maybe shopkeepers. Very few were professionals of any kind and very few had any formal education.
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Monday September 22, 2008 - Women & Money: Retirement
I proclaimed this week, national Bag Lady Week. I want to draw some attention to the fact that I plan to talk about women and money this week and that next Saturday there will be a free women & money conference sponsored by state Treasurer Tim Cahill at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Boston.
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Friday September 19, 2008 - Managing Credit: Bankruptcy
Bankruptcies are increasing! Congress made it harder for anyone to walk away from the debt they created.
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Thursday September 18, 2008 - Managing Credit: Getting Out from Under
According to MyFico 37% of consumers who use credit cards carry more than $10,000 of debt. And those with the worst debt don’t know how much the debt they have. They have a general idea of the amount but they don’t want to know.
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Wednesday September 17, 2008 - Managing Credit: Credit Score
Knowing your credit scores is important. Credit scores are a quick and easy method for a creditor to judge you as a potential customer.
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Tuesday September 16, 2008 - Managing Credit: Your Credit History
I get more e-mail about credit management than any other topic here at WBZ.
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Monday September 15, 2008 - Managing Credit: Debt
Credit has been the number one concern at my conferences this year. As of July revolving consumer debt has reached $970 billion dollars.
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Friday September 12, 2008 - Over the Hill Gang: Should You Prepay Funeral Arrang
Should you prepay your funeral expenses? The average cost of a funeral is $8,000.
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Thursday September 11, 2008 - Over the Hill Gang: Should the Kids Inherit It All
So you just realized you are a bona fide member of the Over the Hill Gang. And the gang’s mission statement says that all members should do some planning for the inevitable. Nobody wants to talk about the inevitable, death, but no one gets out of this world alive.
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Wednesday September 10, 2008 - Over the Hill Gang: Housing
So where are you going to live when you retire? Almost one in every six Massachusetts residents belongs to the Over the hill Gang (age 60) according to the Attorney General’s website.
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Tuesday September 9, 2008 - Over the Hill Gang: Long Term Care Insurance
If you are young and healthy the insurance industry wants to sell you Long Term Care insurance! No one wants to insure the elderly and infirmed.
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Monday September 8, 2008 - Over the Hill Gang: Have You Saved Enough for Retirem
So what constitutes membership in the Over the Hill Gang? Well to be eligible for Medicare you need to be 65. At one time Paul McCartney thought the magic age for over the hill was 64.
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Friday September 5, 2008 - New Year Resolution: Needing a Financial Planner
Today there is more financial information than ever before just a click away. Technology is great but most of us end up with “paralysis by analysis”. You keep researching and making any kind of decision becomes impossible for you are not sure which advice to follow.
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Thursday September 4, 2008 - New Year Resolution: Cleaning Up the Credit Cards!
According to Fair Isaac, the company that created the credit score, on average, today's consumer has a total of 13 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau.
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Wednesday September 3, 2008 - New Year Resolution: Checking Your Credit History
Every time you have heard me talking about your credit history you made a mental note to check yours. But when was the last time you checked your credit history?
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Tuesday September 2, 2008 - New Year Resolution: Cleaning Up the Retirement Plan
How many IRAs do you have? How many retirement plans? Have you changed jobs often and just left your money with your former employers?
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Monday September 1, 2008 - New Year Resolution: Make Home More Energy Efficient
It’s Labor day and for many of us this particular holiday feels more like the beginning of a new year than January first. As kids, Labor Day started the new school year, summer was over and I think that carries over to adulthood. Then we have kids of our own and the process continues.
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Friday August 29, 2008 - Catastrophe Planning: Where's the Important Stuff?
If you were forewarned of an impending catastrophe and were told to evacuate within the hour would you be able to gather up the important papers of your life, the baby pictures, the kids, the dog and leave in an hour.
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Thursday August 28, 2008 - Catastrophe Planning: Where There's a Will There's a
Catastrophes happen! Natural disasters! Accidents. Illness! Old age. No one gets out of this world alive, but we can plan to make it easier on those we leave behind. If you have accumulated assets or you have minor children you need to do some estate planning.
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - Catastro |
