Thursday March 11, 2010 - National Consumers Protection Week: Wealth Building Sc
Infomercials – These are program length TV and radio commercials that tout making money – easy money - in real estate, government loans or grants to start a new business.
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Wednesday March 10, 2010 - National Consumers Protection Week: Internet Hoaxes
Please, please do not believe everything you read online and do not trust random websites! Or Facebook or Twitter! Right here in Boston, a pretty sophisticated city, we got took!
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Tuesday March 9, 2010 - National Consumers Protection Week: Identity Theft
Your Name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, credit card numbers, ATM numbers and checking account numbers are floating around everywhere. You need to protect those numbers.
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Monday March 8, 2010 - National Consumers Protection Week: Phishing
This is National Consumers Protection Week. This is a national campaign to reach consumers to help them make informed decisions in today’s marketplace.
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Friday March 5, 2010 - Taxing Times: Planning for 2010
This is a good time to start your tax planning for 2010. Set up a filing system. Nothing elaborate needed here. I use a folder system where I label folders Contributions, real estate taxes, estimated taxes, Medical expenses, etc. You could use an envelope system as well.
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Thursday March 4, 2010 - Taxing Times: Not Too Late for Retirement Planning
Paying taxes is a privilege; it’s the price we pay for living in a civilized society. But you should do tax planning so you only pay your fair share of taxes.
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Wednesday March 3, 2010 - Taxing Times: Fraud & Scams
Preparer Fraud: Dishonest preparers can cause a lot of problems for taxpayers. They often advertise a guaranteed refund and charge inflated fees for their services.
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Tuesday March 2, 2010 - Taxing Times: Free E-Filing
If you have access to a computer and the Internet you may be eligible to prepare and file your 2009 federal tax return online for free.
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Monday March 1, 2010 - Taxing Times: IRS Suggestions
Here are some IRS suggestions for working on your taxes.
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Friday February 26, 2010 - Taxing Times: Education Credits and Deductions
College can be very expensive. There are ways to offset education costs.
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Thursday February 25, 2010 - Taxing Times: Taxes on Your Investments
Capital Gains: This is the money you make if there was a profit when you sell an investment! Investments that you hold for less than a year and then sell are considered short-term investments. If you made a profit it’s a short-term capital gain and the profit is then taxed as ordinary income.
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Wednesday February 24, 2010 - Taxing Times: More Deductions/Credits/Refunds
Unemployment Income: First $2,400 of benefits are not taxable this year. Property Taxes: If you use the standard deduction rather than itemize you can deduct up to $1000 in property taxes if you file jointly and $500 for a single taxpayer for 2009....
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Tuesday February 23, 2010 - Taxing Times: Should You Itemize?
Close to 46 million taxpayers take the time to fill out all those formidable long 1040s and use their deductions. Most people, the other 85 million, don’t have the income or the deductions to itemize, but many won’t take the time to figure out if using their deductions is the better deal.
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Monday February 22, 2010 - Taxing Times: Getting Started
The tax stuff has been piling up on the kitchen counter for the past couple of weeks. All of those unopened envelopes need to be opened and filed. If you don’t open them you won’t know if you are missing any pertinent information. Look for 1099s from your mutual fund companies, banks, clients, and pension distributions. And 1098s from your mortgage company.
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Friday February 19, 2010 - Dumb Money Moves: Listeners Weigh In
Here is a list that I complied from listeners’ e-mails.
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Thursday February 18, 2010 - Dumb Money Moves: The Stuff That Never Gets Used
There is something in everyone’s closet that still has the tags on it. The cute black dress you bought for your high school reunion one size smaller than you normally wear because you thought you were going to lose weight. The new gym clothes because you were going to join the gym.
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Wednesday February 17, 2010 - Dumb Money Moves: Driving
Parking tickets: This one is so easy; don’t park in a No Parking zone and don’t double park no matter how quick the trip into the store will be.
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Tuesday February 16, 2010 - Dumb Money Moves: Do You Need the Food Police
Are you growing penicillin in your refrigerator? Do your hot dogs have little white spots all over them and smell funny?
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Monday February 15, 2010 - Dumb Money Moves: Pesky Fees
We spend hours here at WBZ talking about making money, saving it and investing it. What about wasting it? During these tough economic times you can’t afford to waste your money.
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Friday February 12, 2010 - Playing Cupid on the Cheap: There is Still Time
So what have you got planned for Valentine’s Day?
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Thursday February 11, 2010 - Playing Cupid on the Cheap: Online Valentines
This is big business. Billions are spent looking for a date or a mate. There are over 40 million singles looking for each other according to a USA Today article and there are over 1,000 dating sites to accommodate them.
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Wednesday February 10, 2010 - Playing Cupid on the Cheap: A Sweet Tooth
Americans eat on average 12 pounds of chocolate a year which is half what the Swiss eat. I thought that number was low then I realized that’s 1,152 Hershey kisses per person.
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Tuesday February 9, 2010 - Playing Cupid on the Cheap: A Special Dinner
Valentine’s Day is this Sunday so there are lots of things you can plan. You can plan a special day, brunch or dinner out, even a weekend away. It’s not so much where you go, it’s the fact that you are going out and you have taken the time to plan the event. It’s a long weekend with most people having Monday off.
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Monday February 8, 2010 - Playing Cupid on the Cheap: The KISS Principle
Valentine’s Day is this Sunday the 14th! Just thought I would remind you in case you’ve been in a cave for the last 6 weeks.
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Friday February 5, 2010 - The Tough Money Conversations: Talking With Your Elder
Even the experts have problems when it comes to their parents!
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Thursday February 4, 2010 - The Tough Money Conversations: Your Adult Kids & You
Talking with your adult kids about your money or lack of it is not an easy conversation to have.
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Wednesday February 3, 2010 - The Tough Money Conversations: Pre-Nup Chat
Britney Spears, who I think is about as sharp as a marble, got better advice than Sir Paul McCartney, who I think of as a savvy businessman. She had a pre-nuptial agreement. He did not!
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Tuesday February 2, 2010 - The Tough Money Conversations: Kids & Money
Dealing with the Terrible Twos is a piece of cake compared to dealing with your college freshman telling you she has maxed out on her credit card or your son asking you to co-sign a loan for a motorcycle.
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Monday February 1, 2010 - Tough Money Conversations: You Don't Have the Money!
All families discuss money. Sometimes it’s the screaming and yelling kind of discussion or if you plan them better the quieter but still awkward discussion.
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Thursday January 28, 2010 - Paying for College: Hidden Costs
From my experience (I sent two kids to college) I have learned that tuition, room and board, the lab fees and medical insurance are just the tip of the iceberg.
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Wednesday January 27, 2010 - Paying for College: Who Should Pay for College?
Who should pay for college? That’s a fair question?
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Tuesday January 26, 2010 - Paying for College: Financial Aid
Over $140 billion is available in aid this year. That money will come from the Federal government, the states colleges and private organizations. Financial aid comes in several forms. Grants and scholarships that don’t need repaid, jobs so the kiddo can earn money and a variety of low cost loans.
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Monday January 25, 2010 - Paying for College: Where to Get Help
I have been thinking about college planning this week!
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Friday January 29, 2010 - Paying for College: 529 Plans
So when should you start saving for college? When kid is in diapers!
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Friday January 22, 2010 - New Year's Resolutions: Get Fit
Did you wake up on New Year’s Day and realize that you will never belong to one of those polar bear clubs where they go swimming in January.
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Thursday January 21, 2010 - New Year's Resolutions: Save More Money
Depending what study you read Saving More was often the number 1 resolution for the New Year.
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Wednesday January 20, 2010 - New Year's Resolutions: Manage Debt
Many consumers don’t know exactly how much debt they actually have.
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Tuesday January 19, 2010 - Vote! New Year's Resolutions: Lose Weight
We are being bombarded by commercials for dieting programs, dieting supplements, gym membership and exercise equipment and TV programs about dieting.
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Monday January 18, 2010 - New Year's Resolutions: How to Start
We are several weeks into the New Year and the diet and political ads are driving me to the cookie jar! About half of Americans (46%) were thinking about making resolutions in December. And by now many have already abandoned their New Year resolutions.
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Friday January 15, 2010 - Key Retirement Birthdays: Age 70½
Congress and the IRS decided that you could not leave your pre-tax retirement savings growing forever tax-deferred, so they chose 70½ for you to begin your mandatory withdrawals. Now I don’t why Congress in its infinite wisdom chose age 70½.
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Thursday January 14, 2010 - Key Retirement Birthdays: Age 65: Social Security
Current thinking has 65 as the normal retirement age and that’s because at one time a worker could collect full Social Security benefits at age 65. No more.
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Wednesday January 13, 2010 - Key Retirement Birthdays: Not Quite 60
The number I am looking for is actually 59½!
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Tuesday January 12, 2010 - Key Retirement Birthdays: So You've Reached 55
Reaching 55 I would think is more traumatic then the big 50, it has something to do with those double digits.
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Monday January 11, 2010 - Key Retirement Birthdays: The Importance of Age 50
There are many birthdays that are key to successful retirement planning.
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Friday January 8, 2010 - Saving More for Retirement: No Plans at Work
Only 60% of employers offered retirement plans in 2008. And of those that did offer retirement plans only 52% of workers participated. Those are sad numbers!
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Thursday January 7, 2010 - Saving More for Retirement: Are You?
According to a survey by EBRI, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, about 20% of workers between the ages of 40 to 59 have less than $10,000 in retirement savings.
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Wednesday January 6, 2010 - Saving More for Retirement: Over the Hill Bonus
Congress realized a couple of years back that most workers will not have enough retirement savings set aside for their golden years. And our government does not want to be responsible for taking care of us in our old age if we are poor.
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Tuesday January 5, 2010 - Saving More for Retirement: Retirement Plan Limits
If your New Year’s resolution was to save more for retirement the ideal place to start is with your retirement plan at work.
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Monday January 4, 2010 - Saving More for Retirement: A Good Day to Start
This is a good day to start on those New Year’s resolutions. You are back to a regular routine after the holidays. And saving more was the top New Year’s Resolution according to Putnam Investments, followed by losing weight and exercising more.
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Friday January 1, 2010 - Last Week of the Year: Happy New Year
Well it took me months to write 2009 easily. I wonder how long it will take me to get into the habit of writing 2010.
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Thursday December 31, 2009 - Last Week of the Year: Back to Work
Many of you have today and tomorrow off and a long weekend to celebrate the New Year.
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Wednesday December 30, 2009 - Last Week of the Year: State of the Economy
Where did this year go? I have been asking myself that question all week. Time seems to slip through my fingers like sand; a year ago I sat in this very spot and talked about the economy.
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Tuesday December 29, 2009 - Last Week of the Year: Making Your Life Simple
Experts say we spend 40 hours a year looking for the important stuff we put away in a safe place. We just can’t remember which safe place we put it in!
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Monday December 28, 2009 - Last Week of the Year: Tax Planning
There are 4 more days left in the old year. Still plenty of time to do a little tax planning.
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Saturday December 26, 2009 - Christmas Week: Half Price Sales
Lots of stuff is on sale at half price right now. Those are words I just love to hear, “Half Price.” Cards, ribbon, wrapping paper, decorations, candy may now be discounted as much as 70%.
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Friday December 25, 2009 - Christmas Week: Christmas
Merry Christmas! It is so hard to think about giving financial advice on Christmas. Maybe I could get the Grinch to sub for me today.
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Thursday December 24, 2009 - Christmas week: Christmas Eve
Well its here! The big guy’s midnight ride. Oh to be 7 years old again.
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Wednesday December 23, 2009 - Christmas Week: The 12 days of Christmas
In the Christmas poem the 12 days of Christmas, some guy is sending his true love gifts between Christmas and the Epiphany January 6th. According to the PNC Christmas Price Index it would cost $21,465 to do this season. Just $385 more than last year. Most of the cost involved is the cost of dancing, leaping, piping and drumming.
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Tuesday December 22, 2009 - Christmas Week: Philanthropy: Do Good by Giving
This time of year everyone wants your money. You are getting pleas from many charities in the mail and maybe even a few phone calls. Annual gifts to charities are close to $250 million and usually half of those dollars are collected between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.
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Monday December 21, 2009 - Christmas Week: Last Minute Gift Ideas
Panic has begun to set in. There always seems to be so much to do the days before Christmas and the pressure is on.
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Friday December 18, 2009 - Week Before Christmas: Procrastinators Get Best Deals
Such a deal you can get if you wait! That’s what my mother used to tell me. And she may be right about Christmas shopping.
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Thursday December 17, 2009 - Week Before Christmas: Regifting
Regifting is a fancy term for something that people have been doing for eons. Passing on as new, a gift someone else gave you.
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Wednesday December 16, 2009 - Week Before Christmas: Christmas Dinner
If you are budgeting for this holiday don’t forget the money you spend on Holiday food.
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Tuesday December 15, 2009 - Week Before Christmas: Protecting Your Numbers
This is a frantic time of year; the pressure to create the perfect holiday wears us down. Physically and emotionally. But worse because we are tired and so busy we let our guard down when it comes to protecting ourselves, our property and our numbers.
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Monday December 14, 2009 - Week before Christmas: Where to Find the Cash
There are 10 shopping days left and you are thinking that Christmas just won’t happen. There is no extra money and you are feeling the pressure.
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Friday December 11, 2009 - Questions from Listeners: A Good Financial Planner
“Where can I find a good financial planner? Are you available?”
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Thursday December 10, 2009 - Questions from Listeners: How Can I Save More Each
Saving more is really important: For every ten years that you delay starting you have to save three times as much to end up with the same end dollar amount.
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Wednesday December 9, 2009 - Questions from Listeners: Roth IRA or Traditional
“Should I invest in a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA? I believe my tax bracket will be lower in retirement.”
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - Questions from Listeners: Tipping? How Much? And Who
Tipping intimidates me. I never know if it’s enough and at times even if a tip is expected.
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Monday December 7, 2009 - Questions from Listeners: How Much Should We Spend on
How much should you spend on Christmas? I really don’t know. It depends on so many things. Your current income, debt level, and the desire to gift.
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Friday December 4, 2009 - Year End Tax Planning: Increase your Deductions for 20
If you plan to itemize on your tax return you should be looking at ways to increase your deductions.
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Thursday December 3, 2009 - Year End Tax Planning: What's on Your Tax Return?
The standard deduction for couples filing jointly is $11,400 and for singles it is one half that at $5,700 for this year.
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Wednesday December 2, 2009 - Year End Tax Planning: Dividends & Capital Gains
Dividends are a way a corporation shares its profits with its shareholders. They are still taxed at 15%. And for those taxpayers in the 15% tax bracket or lower their dividend income will not be taxed this year.
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Tuesday December 1, 2009 - Year End Tax Planning: For the Self-Employed
There are some good tax breaks available for the self-employed individual.
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Monday November 30, 2009 - Year End Tax Planning: Flexible Spending Accounts
I know the holidays are on your radar screen right now, but there is still time to do some tax planning for 2009.
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Thursday November 26, 2009 - Family & Money: Gifting
Happy Thanksgiving! The turkey and stuffing part of our dinner is over but the desserts are waiting for me to finish up here at WBZ. USA Today had in interesting snapshot on people’s favorite part of thanksgiving; Family 40%, Leftovers 33%, Turkey, 15%, football 11% shopping 2%. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
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Wednesday November 25, 2009 - Family & Money: Which Kid?
Shakespeare’s King Lear is about a father, King Lear, dividing his castles and worldly goods among his 3 daughters in hopes of living with one of them. This turned out very badly for everyone involved.
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Tuesday November 24, 2009 - Family & Money: Our Elders
I am going to address dealing with elderly parents, but focus on mom because for most adult children, it is our mother whom we must help in her declining years, for she has outlived dad.
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Friday November 27, 2009 - Family & Money: Our Kids Need to Know about Money
What a day to be out! This is the busiest shopping day of the year and I for one am staying far away from the malls. Far, far away! But even without me, millions of dollars will trade hands today.
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Monday November 23, 2009 - Family & Money: Where's the Important Stuff?
Thanksgiving is the holiday where families try to get together and its National Family week as well. So it seemed an opportune time to talk about families and money, which is not an easy subject to bring up. Many families would rather talk about football.
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Friday November 20, 2009 - 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 19, 2009 - 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 18, 2009 - Holiday Gifting: Ways to Save
There are ways to save on gift giving. Start by trimming your list down to a reasonable number of recipients. If you have a large family and you usually buy a gift for everyone in the family that can really put a dent in the budget. And it creates mayhem on the holidays.
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Tuesday November 17, 2009 - 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 16, 2009 - Holiday Gifting: It's Better to Give Than to Receive
I was not happy to see Christmas decorations go up in October before Halloween had arrived. And then the Christmas music started and I discovered Santa has already arrived at the Burlington Mall. The merchants are pushing hard and early to get us in a buying mood.
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Friday November 13, 2009 - 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.
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Thursday September 12, 2009 - 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 November 11, 2009 - 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 male co-workers. I once had those hopes for their mothers, our daughters, but it did not happen.
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Tuesday November 10, 2009 - 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 November 9, 2009 - Women & Money: Bag Lady Syndrome
I proclaim this week, national Bag Lady Week. This is a woman’s biggest fear, that she will be penniless and homeless as she ages. Is it a rational fear or even likelihood? No, but the fear is still there.
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Friday November 6, 2009 - Saving for College: Other Ways to Pay for College
How do you plan to pay for college? Robbing a bank or renting out your daughter’s room 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 5, 2009 - 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 better alternatives available.
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Wednesday November 4, 2009 - Saving for College: Coverdell Education Savings Acc
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 Education Savings Accounts.
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Tuesday November 3, 2009 - 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 2, 2009 - Saving for College: Whose Responsibility?
I have been thinking about college! SAT exams are scheduled for this Saturday. We have a friend who is teaching a prep course on the Cape and we sat at dinner over the weekend trying to figure out the answer for one of the math questions. We couldn’t do it.
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Friday October 30, 2009 - 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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Thursday October 29, 2009 - 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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Wednesday October 28, 2009 - Managing Credit: Your Credit Report
I get more e-mail about credit management than any other topic here at WBZ.
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Tuesday October 27, 2009 - Managing Credit: Debt
Credit has been the number one concern at my conferences this fall, not unemployment but debt!
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Monday October 26, 2009 - Managing Credit: New Rules
President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 in May, hopefully ending the days of unfair rate hikes and hidden fees.
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Friday October 23, 2009 - Save for Retirement Week: No Plans at Work
Only 70% of employers offered retirement plans. And of those that did offer retirement plans only 52% of workers participated. Those are terrible numbers!
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Thursday October 22, 2009 - Save for Retirement Week: Are You Saving Enough?
According to a survey by EBRI, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, about 20% of workers between the ages of 40 to 59 have less than $10,000 in retirement savings. Now this survey was done before the market downturn of last year.
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Wednesday October 21, 2009 - Save for Retirement Week: Over the Hill Bonus
Congress realized a couple of years back that most workers will not have enough retirement savings set aside for their golden years. And Congress does not want to be responsible for taking care of us in our old age if we are poor.
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Tuesday October 20, 2009 - Save for Retirement Week: Retirement Plan Limits
You may have a 401(k) which is mostly used in private industry but is available to any employer to set up, a 403(b) which is for nonprofit organizations such as schools and hospitals, and a 457 plan which covers state, county and city employees and there is a Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees.
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Monday October 19, 2009 - Save for Retirement Week: Your First Step
Congress designated this week (October 18-24) as National Save for Retirement Week.
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Friday October 16, 2009 - 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 15, 2009 - Snowbirds: Protecting Your Estate While Living in Tw
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 14, 2009 - 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 13, 2009 - Snow Birds: Where
Winter is coming. The real snowbirds, the Juncos are down from Canada and are at my bird feeders.
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Monday October 12, 2009 - 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 9, 2009 - 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 8, 2009 - Financial Planning Week: Obstacles Along the Way
These are the barriers to financial success. The landmines of life.
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Wednesday October 7, 2009 - Financial Planning Week: Saving and Investing Goal
Step 3 in putting together your financial plan is to start saving and investing to reach your goals.
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Tuesday October 6, 2009 - 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 5, 2009 - 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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Thursday October 1, 2009 - 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 September 30, 2009 - More Savings: Utilities
Summer is officially over. But we still have some wonderful days ahead, warm days.
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Tuesday September 29, 2009 - More Savings: Coupons
Coupons are actually celebrating their 100th birthday this month. The first coupon was a penny off CW Post’s Grape-Nuts cereal. And you can still find coupons for Grape-Nuts cereal.
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Monday September 28, 2009 - 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 just too much work.
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Friday September 25, 2009 - More Money Mistakes: No Emergency Fund
My grandmother shared with me that the money in her teapot was for a rainy day. My mother kept hers in a clean Crisco can. And way back then they didn’t need much of a cash stash to survive an emergency.
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Thursday September 24, 2009 - More 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. Not Warren Buffet, not Peter Lynch. Peter Lynch considered investing success to being right 60% of the time.
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Wednesday September 23, 2009 - More Money Mistakes: Paying Only the Minimum on C
Sweet temptation! Especially in tough economic times.
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Tuesday September 22, 2009 - More Money Mistakes: Not Updating Beneficiaries
I’ve heard so many sad stories regarding beneficiary designations.
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Monday September 21, 2009 - 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 September 18, 2009 - Money Mistakes: Waiting to Save 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 September 17, 2009 - Money Mistakes: Investing is Not 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 September 16, 2009 - Money Mistakes: Borrowing From Retirement Plan
Most 401(k) plans and some 403(b) and 457 plans now allow the participant to borrow from their plan. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s latest study on borrowing, about 20% of participants have outstanding loans from their plans and the average balance is close to $7,000.
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Tuesday September 15, 2009 - Money Mistake: Wrong Asset Allocation for Your Goal
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 September 14, 2009 - 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!
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Friday September 11, 2009 - New Year Resolution: Hiring a Financial Planner
The two major things listeners write to me about are credit and hiring a financial planner.
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Wednesday September 9, 2009 - New Year Resolution: Checking Your Credit Report
Every time you have heard me talking about credit reports you have made a mental note to check yours. But when was the last time you checked your credit report?
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Monday September 7, 2009 - 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.
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Friday September 4, 2009 - Over the Hill Gang: Should you Prepay Funeral Arrange
Should you prepay your funeral expenses?
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Wednesday September 2, 2009 - Over the Hill Gang: Housing
So where are you going to live when you retire?
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Tuesday September 1, 2009 - 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 August 31, 2009 - Over the Hill Gang: Have You Saved Enough?
So what constitutes membership in the Over the Hill Gang?
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Friday August 28, 2009 - Catastrophe Planning: Where is 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 27, 2009 - Catastrophe Planning: Where There's a Will There's a
Catastrophes happen! Natural disasters! Accidents. Illness. Old age.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - Catastrophe Planning: More Insurance
Your ability to earn an income is important for you and your dependents.
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Tuesday August 25, 2009 - Catastrophe Planning: Insurance
As one prepares for the catastrophes of life we need to consider insurance as a financial tool.
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Monday August 24, 2009 - Catastrophe Planning: Handling Catastrophes
Hurricanes are very much in the news. This Saturday it will be four years since Katrina hit the gulf area.
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Friday August 21, 2009 - Financial Roles: When You Are Somebody's Adult Child
As an adult child you may have begun to see the physical decline in your parents.
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Thursday August 20, 2009 - Financial Roles: When You Are Somebody's Parent
Being somebody's parent is an awesome responsibility and the hardest job I have ever had!
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Wednesday August 19, 2009 - Financial Roles: When You Are Somebody's Widow
No one goes into a marriage thinking about being widowed. But most of said the traditional: “Till death due us part” in our marriage vows.
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Tuesday August 18, 2009 - Financial Roles: When You Are Somebody's Ex-spouse
No one plans to be an ex-spouse when they first take their marriage vows.
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Monday August 17, 2009 - Financial Roles: When You Are Somebody's Spouse
This week’s series comes from my latest book Money. The last 6 chapters of the book are all about the different financial roles we take on in life.
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Thursday January 1, 2009 - Last Week of the Year: Happy New Year
Well it took me months to write 2008 easily. I wonder how long it will take me to get into the habit of writing 2009. 2009 doesn’t have much pizzazz to it.
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