So You’re Having a Baby? Six Ideas to Get Ready Financially

August 01, 2011

I just heard the news that my niece is pregnant with a little girl!  I am doubly excited for her since as a mother of three boys (and one girl), I am still “underweighted” in girls.  Bring on the pink.  What I’m about to say may come as a shock to you, and I feel I have license to say it because of personal experience with pregnancy (even though it has been over twenty years): When women are pregnant, they tend to act differently (read c-r-a-z-y).  (Any husbands want to second that?)  I can promise you that at some point in your life, you will have a pregnant woman say, or do something, that will leave you scratching your head.  Whether it’s eating pickles and peanut butter together (yuck!), eating entire boxes of frozen spinach (guilty), crying uncontrollably for seemingly no reason, having an uncanny sense of smell and being able to tell what people had for lunch or forgetting how to do things they’ve done a thousand times before, it will happen. Continue reading “So You’re Having a Baby? Six Ideas to Get Ready Financially”

Wine Tasting and Your 401(k)

July 29, 2011

Yesterday was a great day.  I spent the day with my girlfriend Julie, doing some wine-tasting along the Finger Lakes Wine Trail in upstate New York.  This area is known for wineries dotted along the lakes, where you can spend the day traveling along, checking out what each has to offer.  The wineries range from quaint and home-spun, to modern and spacious.  Continue reading “Wine Tasting and Your 401(k)”

7 Steps to Make Credit Card Debt Work FOR You

July 28, 2011

NOTE FROM LIZ DAVIDSON, FOUNDER AND CEO OF FINANCIAL FINESSE, ABOUT THIS POST:  The strategy Erik discusses below has huge risks if you are not extremely financially disciplined.  Most of us aren’t.  Erik Carter happens to be the most financially disciplined person I’ve ever met in my life, so I can see how he was able to use this strategy without over-extending himself and getting into serious debt problems.  If you are one of the few who is like Erik, this is a great strategy.  Otherwise, it has the potential to lure you deeper into debt and you need to be very careful to implement it the right way and avoid the temptation to spend money you don’t have.

With that, here’s the post– hope you enjoy it: Continue reading “7 Steps to Make Credit Card Debt Work FOR You”

How I Got Road Rage From a Radio Ad

July 25, 2011

Driving to Lake Tahoe last weekend, I heard a radio ad from a mortgage company going on and on about how we should call them immediately to refinance our fixed rate mortgages since the variable rates are dirt cheap right now.  It said, “You can save thousands of dollars in interest by switching to a variable rate loan,” and intimated that the bank was ripping you off by charging such high interest on fixed rate loans.  I did something very uncharacteristic of me and started yelling at the radio.  At first my husband thought I had a strange case of radio road rage, and I guess he is right. Continue reading “How I Got Road Rage From a Radio Ad”

I WAS Officially Depressed, but Feeling Better Now

July 22, 2011

What started out as a quick thought about a depressing article on the difficulty younger generations may face preparing for retirement, has now become a mini-series about some of the positive trends I see, and today’s thoughts (the last installment of this series) are on some things that people who have a few decades prior to retirement can do to get into a much better long term financial position. Continue reading “I WAS Officially Depressed, but Feeling Better Now”

GUEST BLOG POST: 4 Lessons from the Debt Ceiling Debate

July 20, 2011

Let’s get to the root of the problem. Our national problem with debt belongs to us all.  It is a startling fact that the aggregate amount owed by U.S. consumers to their creditors is approximately equal to, if not slightly greater than, our government-held debt, according to various official estimates.  So, while Congress and the Administration works to clean up our national act, we could all do some housekeeping of our own. Continue reading “GUEST BLOG POST: 4 Lessons from the Debt Ceiling Debate”

Don’t Be Fooled By the Grandparents Scam!

July 19, 2011

Since I specialize in workplace financial education, I typically write about what’s going on in the HR world.  But, last month something happened to my family that’s so shocking I just had to share our experience.  My father had just celebrated his 78th birthday, and my parents got a call from my 25 year old nephew, Matt.   Now, you may be thinking, “isn’t that nice that he’d call to wish his granddad a happy birthday,” but instead he told an elaborate story that went like this: Continue reading “Don’t Be Fooled By the Grandparents Scam!”

Cash Management: The Price of Our “Toys” is High

July 18, 2011

I was talking to my 23 year old son, Brian, last night and had to smile when he told me of his latest financial mistakes.  I say smile because this young man really has his act together – he is happily married to a sweet young lady, just graduated top of his class from the nuclear program with the United States Navy in South Carolina, and they are keeping him on to teach for two years.  This guy is no slouch.  Earlier this year, when the federal government hadn’t passed a budget and threatened to withhold pay from the military until it was passed, he called to let me know he was fine and had 4 months of emergency savings.  The rest of his buddies were scrambling. Continue reading “Cash Management: The Price of Our “Toys” is High”

I WAS Officially Depressed, but Feeling Better Now

July 15, 2011

Last Friday, I talked about how each generation’s retirement income is increasingly at risk and the factors (longer life spans, shrinking pensions, uncertainty with Social Security, rising health care costs and declining investment returns) behind that trend.  While all of these factors exist and are real reasons for concern, I also see hopeful signs out there as well.  Today, and next Friday, I’ll talk about why I am hopeful and some of the things you can do, small things that may seem inconsequential, to take control of your financial life and buck the negative trends that I showed you last week. Continue reading “I WAS Officially Depressed, but Feeling Better Now”

GUEST BLOG POST: Is the Government Going to Shutdown or Increase Our National Debt?

July 14, 2011

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as a “risk-free” rate of interest.  This was the rate at which the federal government could borrow money from lenders, who happily went to sleep at night because, after all, the United States government could always pay its bills.  Unlike mortgage lenders Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, Uncle Sam really was “too big to fail.”  (His unique ability to tax and print money helped, too…) Continue reading “GUEST BLOG POST: Is the Government Going to Shutdown or Increase Our National Debt?”

Summer Jobs for Your Kids

July 06, 2011

It’s July!  Cookouts and the dog days of summer right around the corner.  For the first three weeks of summer vacation, my kids have been busy with baseball, golf clinics, summer camp and VBS.  But now that all of that’s behind us, my kids are faced with another two months of nothing to do *sigh*. Continue reading “Summer Jobs for Your Kids”

Even Minor Surgery Can Be Scary!!

July 01, 2011

I had a real life brush with “Estate Planning” recently when I had some minor surgery performed. One of the questions that came up during registration was “Have you contracted any hospital borne infections in the last 12 months?” That question was Continue reading “Even Minor Surgery Can Be Scary!!”

A Second Chance

June 30, 2011

You might be wondering who I am and what happened to Bruce. Well, Financial Finesse originally had a contest to determine which planners would write for our blog. Bruce didn’t really want to write (if you’ve ever seen him speak you’d know that’s his natural domain) but submitted an entry anyway. I actually wanted to write…but too much. My blog samples were way too long. So yes, I lost to a guy who didn’t even want to win.

However, I decided to come back and try again (which obviously worked since you’re reading this). Why? For the same reason that I wrote too much the first time. You see, financial planning is more than a just career for me. It’s a life-long passion.

Continue reading “A Second Chance”

Pay the Absolute Lowest Price on Groceries Every Week

June 27, 2011

Who came up with the idea to make a grocery list and go to the store and purchase what you need for the week?  I’ve done that all my life and in turn paid whatever the going price is for groceries.  This is the old way of shopping.  The new way of shopping is to buy what I need at the lowest possible (rock bottom) price and stock up.  What makes more sense, going to the store once a week and buying cereal for $4 a box every week for six weeks and paying $24 for cereal or buying six boxes of cereal at rock bottom prices (using sales and coupons) and paying only $6 for a TOTAL of six boxes of cereal?  If you have a pantry and the food doesn’t spoil, stocking up makes more sense.  Imagine what you could save if you were able to purchase all of your consumer staples and household items consistently at rock bottom prices.  Life would be different. Continue reading “Pay the Absolute Lowest Price on Groceries Every Week”

What About My House? (A Soon to be Retiree’s Dilemma)

June 24, 2011

I met with someone who is preparing to retire in the next year, and we started talking about what a day in his new-styled life would look like.  I asked what I thought was a simple question, “Are you planning to stay in your house, move somewhere warmer (he lives in New England), or stay local and downsize?”  It turns out, the question wasn’t so simple. Here’s why: Continue reading “What About My House? (A Soon to be Retiree’s Dilemma)”

Lessons to Learn from a Home Purchase Fallout

June 23, 2011

Those of you who read my blogs know that my wife and I have been fervently house hunting so we can have a place of our own.  Well, about three weeks ago, we placed an offer and had it accepted in a perfect location!  Finally, we were going to be settling in and be able to resume some sense of normalcy!  Well, almost. Continue reading “Lessons to Learn from a Home Purchase Fallout”

Couponing: How to Double Your Savings with the “Rain Check”

June 20, 2011

There are some things you can always count on:

You’ll hit every traffic light when you are in a hurry.

You’ll be called on in a meeting on the only agenda item you are not prepared for.

Someone will show up at a party in your very same new dress.

And…the store will be sold out of the sale item you specifically came in for. Continue reading “Couponing: How to Double Your Savings with the “Rain Check””

Poorer Can Actually Be Richer – Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream

June 17, 2011

I recently read an article talking about something we don’t like to talk about.  It was written by a hospice nurse and is about the regrets of the dying.  It was interesting to me to read what the five most mentioned regrets were from those who realized that their time on this earth was coming to an end.  I wasn’t surprised to find that one of the top five was, “I wish I didn’t work so hard.”  (In case my boss is reading this…I wish I could find a way to work even harder!  Is that sucking up too blatant?) Continue reading “Poorer Can Actually Be Richer – Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream”

When Short Term Interest Rates Rise – What Should I Do?

June 16, 2011

One of the questions I ask the attendees of my workshops is, “Where do you think interest rates will be going in the future?”  The overwhelming majority state that they feel rates are going nowhere but up.  Now, I certainly appreciate that there could be an outside chance that rates may dip from where they are, but that is not as likely as rates going up (in my humble opinion).  So, if in fact we are moving to higher rates, what are some things you can do now to take advantage of the current rate environment?  Check out the tips below to see if any of these apply.  Note: while they may seem like a “no-brainer,” it’s those types of actions that we often don’t take. Continue reading “When Short Term Interest Rates Rise – What Should I Do?”