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Using The Money Management Tool: Setting a Budget

By Posted on In Cash, Finding Confidence, Investment Behavior, Personal Development, Saving, Saving for College, Uncategorized

Recently we introduced The Money Management Tool to help clients better organize their financial lives. The tool has lots of features and we will occasional explain how some of the features are being used by our clients (or should be used) to help them reach their financial goals.

This post will deal with prospective client who needed some help staying on budget.

Situation: A young couple with two children asked us for guidance on getting a handle on their debts. They had multiple credit card balances with obscene interest rates, a result of unexpected bills. They were spending more and more of their income to make debt payments instead of saving for retirement. They were slowly realizing that they would not be digging themselves out of debt anytime soon and needed a plan to get back on track to save for retirement.

Problem: During the initial meeting, we discovered a significant amount of their take-home pay was going toward non-essential expenses, such as the most premium cable package available and eating out for lunch every single day.

Solution: Directing savings originally intended for retirement to pay down credit card debt is an acceptable strategy in some cases. But when there is a lot of non-essential spending occurring, a tightening of the belt should be the first strategy. In this case, the client could connect their credit card account to The Money Management Tool and analyze their spending habits to see just how much is spent on restaurants and entertainment. They could then develop a budget to help them stay on track.

budgeta

If you or someone you know needs help getting their financial house in order, this tool can help.

Contact us today to get started.

Using The Money Management Tool: Connecting Accounts

By Posted on In Investment Behavior, Investment Strategies, Personal Development, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

Recently we introduced The Money Management Tool to help clients better organize their financial lives. The tool has lots of features and we will occasional explain how some of the features are being used by our clients (or should be used) to help them reach their financial goals.

This post will deal with a prospective client who has many accounts and struggles to keep track of where they are located.

Situation: A prospective client approached us looking for help managing his investments. He had about 10 different accounts – multiple checking and savings accounts and a several different retirement accounts from current and previous employers. These accounts were held with several different financial organizations.

Problem: He struggled to keep track of all the accounts. He was constantly forgetting passwords used to view his balances online. He was spending hours trying to stay organized and reading the statements. The inconvenience grew to the point where he just ignored his accounts.

Solution: The Money Management Tool could be used to connect all the accounts together. After establishing the connections between the tool and his accounts, he would be able to see daily account balances for all the accounts from a single account. No more trying to remember multiple passwords or trying to read different statements each month.

new account

If you or someone you know needs help getting their financial house in order, this tool can help.

Contact us today to get started.

The Relationship Between Happiness and Income Is Being Turned Upside Down

By Posted on In Economy, Finding Confidence, Personal Development, Uncategorized

New research on the relationship between happiness and income is changing the rule of thumb. For years, it has been touted that an annual income of $75,000 is ideal and earning more than that results in a diminishing return of happiness.

Contrary to the old rule of thumb, there is a linear relationship between money and happiness, suggesting the more some makes, the happier they are in life.

So, maybe money can buy happiness after all?

You can read the study here

How to Invest in Yourself

By Posted on In Personal Development, Saving, Uncategorized

To reach financial goals, many investors focus on their rate of return. But more important than the portfolio’s rate of return is the amount contributed by the investor.  If an investor can save and invest more, it takes the pressure off the portfolio to do the work.  That means, the portfolio can take less risk to reach the investor’s goal.

If an investor has extra savings, perhaps they should consider taking a class, developing a skill, getting certified, hiring a career coach, or going back to school.  It may make more sense to invest in themselves.  And the employer may even chip in to offset the costs.

Need ideas on how to invest in yourself

Most Valuable Career Skills You Need

By Posted on In Finding Confidence, Personal Development, Saving, Uncategorized

Money Magazine’s recent article on career skills shows that an entirely new breed of skills are needed to remain competitive in today’s markets.  The top four skills all deal with data – data mining, data modeling, search engine marketing and statistical analysis.  Just about every skill mentioned involves technology from computer aided design to IT to technical sales.  And there are a few staples that we all would expect to see – new business development, strategic planning, and financial analysis.

The full article can be found here

 

 

The One-Page Financial Plan: A Book Review

By Posted on In Finding Confidence, Investment Strategies, Personal Development, Retirement, Rule of Thumb, Uncategorized

I recently read Carl Richard’s “The One-Page Financial Plan” and was impressed with Richard’s approach to working through some complex financial issues.  In particular, he focused almost exclusively on the emotional issues that investors face.  What does money mean to the investor?  What are the investor’s goals?  It’s these issues that overwhelm many investors to the point where they give up or procrastinate for years.

For folks that need a plan and don’t know where to start, this is a useful resource.  It’s simple and easy to follow and the principles are very similar to what I employ with my clients. This is a great guide to help investors think about money in terms of goals and how to get on the same page with a spouse on what the future looks like.  It is the most difficult part of financial planning.

It lacks specificity and implementation ideas.  Since every investor has a unique situation.  This makes the title of the book a little misleading since you don’t end up with a true financial plan on one page.  The book doesn’t go into detail about growth rate assumptions or serial payments or how to calculate time value of money.  Rather it focuses on concepts at a high level.

If the goal is to starting thinking and talking about the future, this is a great place to start.