Thursday July 9, 2009 - Saving Even More: The Big Ticket Items
Vacations, cars, TVs, appliances, furniture, computers or a college education. Basically anything you can plan for.
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Wednesday July 8, 2009 - Saving Even More: Eating Out
Eating out is entertainment for Americans. Over 50% of our food budget is for food prepared for us.
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Tuesday July 7, 2009 - Saving Even More: Groceries
Groceries are not a discretionary item in your budget but you do have some flexibility as to how and where you spend your grocery money.
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Monday July 6, 2009 - Saving Even More: The First Step
Currently the U.S. savings rate is 6.9%. That was for the month of May. This is so good compared to just a year ago where it was a negative number.
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Friday July 3, 2009 - Money Goals for Families: Retired Empty Nesters
Well this is it you think; you’ve raised your kids, worked all of your life and now its playtime!
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Thursday July 2, 2009 - Money Goals for Families: Single Parent with Children
So often we start as a couple, have one or two children and then the blush is off the rose and we divorce.
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Wednesday July 1, 2009 - Money Goals for Families: Mom plus Dad plus Teenagers
You wake up one morning and you realize the baby is having a birthday and she’s 14 today. Oops, what happened to all of the planning you were going to do? Your little girl has grown so quickly and her brothers are now 15 and 17 and come this fall they all will be in high school.
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Tuesday June 30, 2009 - Money Goals for Families: Mom plus Dad plus Baby Makes 3
Where there were two there now could be three or four or more.
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Monday June 29, 2009 - Money Goals for Families: Newlyweds
Let’s start the week where most of us begin, being a newly wed couple.
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Friday June 26, 2009 - Retirement Realties: Pot Holes of Retirement
The potholes of life have a way of messing up the best-laid plans for a comfortable retirement.
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Thursday June 25, 2009 - Retirement Realties: Finding the Perks
There are not too many perks to growing old so whenever I find one I take advantage of it.
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Wednesday June 24, 2009 - Retirement Realties: Financial Strategies
Money plays a very big role in retirement planning. Will you have enough?
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Tuesday June 23, 2009 - Retirement Realties: Retirement for One
So much has been written about retiring and more often than not it’s about traveling into the sunset with your significant other by your side sharing the adventure of retirement.
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Monday June 22, 2009 - Retirement Realties: Retirement Dress Rehearsal
Test the waters before you leap into retirement.
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Friday June 19, 2009 - Father's Day: Estate Planning
This is a really awkward subject to talk about for it involves someone dying!
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Thursday June 18, 2009 - Father's Day: Long Term Care Insurance
According to Genworth Financial’s 2009 long Term Care survey, the national average annual cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is $67,000, with it costing over $100,000 here in Massachusetts.
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Wednesday June 17, 2009 - Father's Day: Reverse Mortgages
Just as the name implies a reverse mortgage works in the reverse way a usual mortgage works.
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Tuesday June 16, 2009 - Father's Day: Alternative Living Arrangements
What if Dad can no longer maintain his home or comfortably live there because of the stairs or outdated plumbing? The first thing you need to do is a get buy-in from dad that he wants help with the housing issues.
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Monday June 15, 2009 - Father's Day: Eldercare
With Father’s Day less than a week away this is a good time to continue the series we started around Mother’s Day on helping our elders.
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Friday June 12, 2009 - Myth #5: Happily Ever After
I don’t need to plan for retirement. We’ll live happily ever after in retirement. The reality is you need to plan for the soft side of retirement as well as the financial side.
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Thursday June 11, 2009 - Myth #4: Working Forever
I don’t need to plan for retirement. I am going to work forever. The reality is less than 50% of workers are still on the job at age 67.
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Wednesday June 10, 2009 - Myth #3: Social Security will be Enough
I don’t need to plan for retirement. Social Security will be enough.
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Tuesday June 9, 2009 - Myth #2: Inheriting Mom and Dad's Money
I don’t need to plan for retirement. I am going to inherit mom and dad’s money.
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Monday June 8, 2009 - Myth #1: Don’t Need to Plan
I don’t need to plan for retirement. I am way too young; I can start saving when I am 40.
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Friday June 5, 2009 - Couples & Money: The Second Time Around
I always hear from listeners whenever I talk about not getting married.
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Thursday June 4, 2009 - Couples & Money: Living Together
My generation called living together “shacking up”. A more PC term is co-habitation.
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Wednesday June 3, 2009 - Couples & Money: Tax Tips for Newly Weds
June is the month for weddings primarily because the weather is usually so nice. It’s also mid year and that is a good time to be thinking about tax planning.
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Tuesday June 2, 2009 - Couples & Money: Yours? Mine? Ours?
Many of the couples getting married today are older and have accumulated assets.
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Monday June 1, 2009 - Couples & Money: The Wedding
It’s June and that means weddings.
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Friday May 29, 2009 - IRAs: Getting Your Money Out
Minimum required distributions known as MRDs normally must begin at age 70 ½ for your IRAs except the Roth IRA.
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Thursday May 28, 2009 - IRAs: Rollover IRAs
When I hear the word rollover I think of a large dog trying to rollover. Basically a rollover IRA is when you transfer money from another retirement account into an IRA.
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Wednesday May 27, 2009 - IRAs: Spousal IRAs
This particular IRA benefits the “at home nonworking spouse”, a term coined by Congress in its infinite wisdom.
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Tuesday May 26, 2009 - IRAs: Roth IRAs
A Roth IRA is a new twist on an old product. This is my favorite IRA.
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Monday May 25, 2009 - IRAs: Traditional IRA
Our listeners are worried about their jobs, they are saving more, and they are becoming frugal again. And many have stopped saving in their retirement plans. My advice: continue saving in your retirement plans.
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Friday May 22, 2009 - Generation X: Estate Planning
The oldest Gen-Xers are celebrating their 44th birthdays and the youngest are 26 and most of them have not done any estate planning!
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Thursday May 21, 2009 - Generation X: Starter Marriages
This is a catchy name for childless marriages where the couple is in their 20s or 30s.
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Wednesday May 20, 2009 - Generation X: Banking on Mom & Dad
Should you borrow money from your parents? Should you loan your kids money?
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Tuesday May 19, 2009 - Generation X: Boomerang Kids
AKA the rubber band kids!
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Monday May 18, 2009 - Generation X: Who Are They??
I like this generation. My kids and their friends belong to this generation.
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Friday May 15, 2009 - On Your Own: Disaster Planning
There are close to 24 million small businesses in the US right now and close to 80% of them have one employee-the owner. Most small businesses, especially ones run from home, have not given enough thought to planning for disasters, natural or man made.
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Thursday May 14, 2009 - On Your Own: Retirement Plans
Let’s start with the simplest plan first.
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Wednesday May 13, 2009 - On Your Own: Section 179 Deductions
Normally if you purchase capital equipment for your business you don’t get to expense the total cost of the equipment the year you buy it. You depreciate the equipment over its useful life, which could be anywhere from three to seven years, expensing a portion each year on your tax return.
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Tuesday May 12, 2009 - On Your Own: Deductions
So what can you deduct if you are self-employed? A lot!
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Monday May 11, 2009 - On Your Own: Where to Start?
With the unemployment ranks increasing many workers are thinking they will go into consulting or contract work.
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Friday May 8, 2009 - Mother's Day: Tax Planning
Yes there is still such a thing as tax planning.
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Thursday May 7, 2009 - Mother's Day: Insurance Planning
Finding the insurance policies is the just the first step.
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Wednesday May 6, 2009 - Mother’s Day: Is There Enough Money?
Does mom have enough money to maintain her current lifestyle? Tough question to ask, but one that may be necessary.
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Tuesday May 5, 2009 - Mother's Day: Organizing Her Stuff
I talk about getting organized so often that my reputation as the Money Diva has diminished and I am now the Organization Queen.
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Monday May 4, 2009 - Mother’s Day: Helping Mom
With Mother’s Day next Sunday I thought this would be a good week to discuss our elders.
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Thursday April 30, 2009 - The Millionaire Club: Fifty-Somethings – The Boomers
If you are a Boomer your retirement planning has been scrutinized in the media for the last several years.
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Wednesday April 29, 2009 - The Millionaire Club: Forty-Something
Forty-Somethings are at the tail end of the Boomer generation. They have been hearing about retirement and they do know it is approaching like a speeding train but some have been too busy to plan and many thought they still had lots of time.
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Tuesday April 28, 2009 - The Millionaire Club: Thirty-Something
So how does a thirty year old become a millionaire? With some discipline I think they can do it.
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Monday April 27, 2009 - The Millionaire Club: Twenty-Something
Recently I heard from a listener who wanted to know if financial experts still thought that you needed a $1 million in retirement savings. And in today’s economic environment could he ever save that much.
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Friday April 24, 2009 - Kids & Cash: Grown Up Kids
Talking to your adult kid about money is harder than talking to a 10-year-old about money.
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Thursday April 23, 2009 - Kids & Cash: Credit Cards
College students are graduating with more than a diploma these days, according to a recent survey by Sallie Mae, they have accumulated on average over $3,000 of credit card debt.
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Wednesday April 22, 2009 - Kids & Cash: Allowances
I do believe kids should get an allowance and I also believe it should not be tied to work that they do around the house.
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Tuesday April 21, 2009 - Kids & Cash: Teach Children To Save Day!
The American Bankers Association is sponsoring a Teach Children to Save Day. Today!
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Monday April 20, 2009 - Kids & Cash: Lessons
Kids don’t know enough about money. And every day they are exposed to the economic problems of their parents, neighbors, schools, the nation and the world.
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Friday April 17, 2009 - Mutual Funds: Your Statement
Your mutual fund company sends out an annual statement the end of January. And you should have received your first quarterly statement for 2009 by now.
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Thursday April 16, 2009 - Mutual Funds: When to Sell
All investors need to have a sell strategy as well as a buy strategy. Most do not. Which is why people are panicking in today’s market.
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Wednesday April 15, 2009 - Mutual Funds: Benchmarks
Taxes are due today! If they are not done do not rush the job, file for an extension!
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Tuesday April 14, 2009 - Mutual Funds: Picking the Right Funds
With thousands of mutual funds to choose from, you need a disciplined process to whittle down the number to something that is manageable. This process will work if you are just choosing among the funds in your 401(k) as well.
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Monday April 13, 2009 - Mutual Funds: Building a Portfolio
I have been hearing from listeners who want to jump ship right now. They are worried about their portfolios and want to bail on the stock market.
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Friday April 10, 2009 - Boomers on My Mind: The Pot Holes in Retirement
This is about the pot holes of life not the ones on route 2 (which are nasty this spring). These pot holes have a way of messing up the best laid plans of the retiree.
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Thursday April 9, 2009 - Boomers on My Mind: Retire or Rehire
So is working part of your retirement plan? You are not alone if it is! 80% of Boomers say they plan to work in retirement, many because they have to.
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Wednesday April 8, 2009 - Boomers on My Mind: Retiring Early
In doing research for one of my books, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Retiring Early, I found that early for most people was retiring at 55.
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Tuesday April 7, 2009 - Boomers on My Mind: When, What & Where
There are three questions every pre-retiree needs to be thinking about.
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Monday April 6, 2009 - Boomers on My Mind: How Much Income Will You Need in Reti
You cannot pick up a magazine or newspaper today without a reference to Boomers needing to postpone their retirement because of the economy. According to a recent ING survey (3/09)
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Friday April 3, 2009 - Spring Cleaning: What Should You Keep, How Long Should Yo
Most of us keep too much of the paper that comes into our homes. Common sense should prevail about what to keep and how long. A warranty for a clock radio that is 10 years old is really just a keepsake and can be tossed.
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Thursday April 2, 2009 - Spring Cleaning: Estate Planning
Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die!
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Wednesday April 1, 2009 - Spring Cleaning: Where are the Insurance Policies?
Insurance is a financial tool. We buy protection for a catastrophic situation we don’t have enough money of our own to cover. And even Donald Trump buys insurance to protect what he’s got.
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Tuesday March 30, 2009 - Spring Cleaning: The Paper Shuffle
This is not the newest dance on Dancing with the Stars!
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Monday March 29, 2009 - Spring Cleaning: Organizing Your Stuff
You’ve been raking your lawns, sweeping the sand out of the garage, washing windows, putting away boots and winter clothes. Now its time to work on the financial clutter you have hanging around.
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Friday March 27, 2009 - Social Security Primer: The Mary Poppins Tax
Do you need to pay the Mary Poppins Tax?
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Wednesday March 25, 2009 - Social Security Primer: Your Benefits
In order to get benefits from Social Security, you must work and pay taxes into the system. An exception would be an at-home spouse or a child of a worker, who could collect benefits as a dependent or a survivor.
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Tuesday March 24, 2009 - Social Security Primer: Is It Doomed?
Is Social Security doomed? I don’t think so!
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Monday March 23, 2009 - Social Security Primer: History
The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1935. This act created a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after they retired.
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Friday March 20, 2009 - Show Me the Money: Pay it Forward
Pay it forward. Give it away. Now I don’t want you to do this unless you can afford to.
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Thursday March 19, 2008 - Show Me the Money: Invest in Yourself!
Your largest asset is your ability to earn a living. Think about how much money you can earn over your lifetime.
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Wednesday March 18, 2009 - Show Me the Money: Invest in Your Retirement
Retirement planning should start with your first job. But retirement planning is usually the one thing people put off because retirement seems so far away when you are 30 years old. If you are guilty of slacking off use your tax refund to increase your retirement savings.
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Tuesday March 17, 2009 - Show Me the Money: An Emergency Fund
Another good use of your refund is to earmark the money for an emergency fund. Everyone needs a rainy day fund! I like to refer to it as a Cash Stash.
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Monday March 16, 2009 - Show Me the Money: Get Out of Debt
The IRS may have money for you and some of you may have already gotten it.
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Friday March 13, 2009 - Tough Money Conversations: Talking With Elderly Parents
Even the experts have problems when it comes to their parents!
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Thursday March 12, 2009 - Tough Money Conversations: Your Adult Kids & Your Mone
Talking with your adult kids about your money or lack of it is not an easy conversation to have.
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Wednesday March 11, 2009 - 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 March 10, 2009 - 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 March 9, 2009 - Tough Money Conversations: Telling Family About Money
All families discuss money.
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Sunday March 8, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: More Scams
Security Code: A scam that is going around is someone will call and identify themselves as an employee of your credit card company and they will tell you there has been some unusual activity on your card such as someone buying a flat screen TV.
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Saturday March 7, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: More Scams
Beware of the e-mail with a heading that reads: IRS Notification. Please Read This. It says you have a tax refund waiting for you. It looks official and you begin to wonder if you messed up your return. They ask for your bank account number or credit card number so you can get the refund on your Visa or Master card. Don’t!
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Friday March 6, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: Bogus Cashier Checks
Thinking of selling your car or some other valuable item through a classified ad or online?
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Thursday March 5, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: Wealth Building Sch
Infomercials – These are program length TV 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 4, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: Internet Hoaxes
Lottery Announcement – You get an official looking e-mail (if there is such a thing) telling you, you have just won $750,000 in a Megafund Lottery International. They ask you to send some personal information that will allow them to file your claim for the prize or they ask for money so they can get your prize to you.
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Tuesday March 3, 2009 - National Consumers Protection Week: Identity Theft
It is very easy to steal another’s identity.
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Monday March 2, 2009 - 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 February 27, 2009 - Taxing Times: Planning for 2009
This is a good time to start your tax planning for 2009. 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 February 26, 2009 - 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 February 25, 2009 - Taxing Times: Fraud and 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 February 24, 2009 - Taxing Times: Free E-Filing
If you have access to a computer and the Internet you may be eligible to prepare and file your 2008 federal tax return online for free.
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Monday February 23, 2009 - Taxing Times: IRS Suggestions
Here are some IRS suggestions for working on your taxes.
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Friday February 20, 2009 - Taxing Times: Education Credits and Deductions
Paying for your education or your kid’s education got easier a couple of years ago when the government added a couple of unique tax credits and deductions.
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Thursday February 19, 2009 - Taxing Times: Taxes on Your Investments
Capital Gains: This is the money you make if there was a profit when you sell an investment!
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Wednesday February 18, 2009 - Taxing Times: More Deductions/Credits/Refunds
Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit: You can still get a credit for buying a clean fuel vehicle depending on the make and model.
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Tuesday February 17, 2009 - Taxing Times: Should You Itemize?
Only one third of taxpayers take the time to fill out all those formidable long 1040s and use their deductions.
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Monday February 16, 2009 - Taxing Times: Getting Started
The tax stuff has been piling up on the kitchen counter for the past couple of weeks.
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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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