Ready. Aim… Financial Plan!

October 02, 2013

I may have told you before that my daughter participates in the ROTC program at her high school. Over the summer, she joined the air rifle team and has been practicing for the last several months. I had a chance to watch her participate in her first competition this weekend. I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as I watched her and her team perform, I began to realize that there was a lot more to the sport than just putting a pellet in the chamber and pulling the trigger. Continue reading “Ready. Aim… Financial Plan!”

What’s SUP With Your Budget?

September 09, 2013

A few months ago, I wrote about my own retirement planning journey and a list of things that I plan to do along the way. The ultimate purpose was to find some balance between living in the moment and planning for the future. I’ve made some progress over the past few months and thanks to a friend who lives on a tidal creek, I was able to check a long awaited paddle boarding trip off my list. Continue reading “What’s SUP With Your Budget?”

The 3 Most Important Words in Financial Planning

September 05, 2013

According to this article, the three most important words when it comes to investing are the “margin of safety.” The article discusses how inaccurate people tend to be at making predictions about things like the economy, industry trends, and business growth. Since this unpredictability can wreak havoc on investment plans, many of the top investment experts recommend investing with a margin of safety, which is “simply the distance between your predictions coming true and needing those predictions to come true. You can still try to predict the future, but a margin of safety gives you room for error to be wrong.” In other words, rather than pick the investment that needs to grow at 10% per year to payoff, pick the one that could grow at 10% but would still be a good investment if it only grew at 5% with anything else being gravy on top. Continue reading “The 3 Most Important Words in Financial Planning”

What Is That Job Really Worth?

August 28, 2013

Imagine you are in the market for a new job, and you came across the following two job opportunities in the want ads: Continue reading “What Is That Job Really Worth?”

4 Financial “Myths” Than Can Actually Help You

August 22, 2013

I recently read this blog post on Forbes called “4 Financial Myths Than Can Hurt You.” Sounds interesting doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want to bust some myths that could be hurting you financially? The problem is that in trying to dispel these myths, the author perpetuates some of his own. Let’s take a look at each “myth.” Continue reading “4 Financial “Myths” Than Can Actually Help You”

Introducing Our Newest Planner: Doug Spencer

August 19, 2013

When it comes to choosing a financial advisor to help get you closer to your financial goals, it’s important to ask some tough questions. We have a pretty rigorous hiring process here at Financial Finesse and only about 2% of potential candidates make it on board our team of unbiased financial educators. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Doug Spencer, CFP®, one of the resident financial planners and a recent addition to the Think Tank at Financial Finesse. I asked him a series of questions trying to pick his brain and find out more about how he became interested in joining a growing group of financial planning professionals who are committed to providing unbiased financial guidance to employees in the workforce. Here is a summary of our discussion with some important resources included for anyone seeking an unbiased perspective on how to take control of their financial future: Continue reading “Introducing Our Newest Planner: Doug Spencer”

10 Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid

August 15, 2013

A friend of mine recently sent me this article about how in many competitive areas of life, it makes more sense to focus on preventing bad decisions rather than trying to make good ones. That’s because the advantages of making the good decisions can be largely cancelled out by other people making good decisions. In other words, it’s really hard to beat everyone else by making good decisions and relatively easy to avoid making the bad ones. This is what’s called a “loser’s game.” Continue reading “10 Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid”

How Committed Are You To Your Financial Goals?

August 09, 2013

As my friends, family and coworkers know, I am a bit of a news & politics junkie. Because of my interest in the area, I love to read look-backs about elections. Why did one candidate lose and another win? Especially in close races, there are usually a few obvious things that help turn the election in favor of one candidate over the other. Continue reading “How Committed Are You To Your Financial Goals?”

Don’t Let a Loss of Income Be a Loss of Hope

July 31, 2013

Every once in a while, we receive a phone call from a person that is in real dire straits when it comes to their financial circumstances. Recently, I experienced just such a call. Frank is a plumber that is temporarily out of work because of injury, and the loss of income was proving to be too much for his household. The bills were beginning to pile up, and it wouldn’t be long before services would be lost and creditors would start calling. Continue reading “Don’t Let a Loss of Income Be a Loss of Hope”

Financial Tips for Recent College Graduates and Early Career Professionals

July 29, 2013

I recently joined a group of friends in a discussion about our first jobs and reminisced about those innocent days of youth (mostly innocent at least). My first job tapped into my entrepreneurial spirit as I traveled yard to yard in my little corner of suburbia mowing lawns. The boss was a free-spirited adolescent and that venture provided zero benefits, but I did learn a lot about the importance of having a solid work ethic and it gave me hands on experience with managing and saving money. Continue reading “Financial Tips for Recent College Graduates and Early Career Professionals”

Create a Financial Life Plan with a Few Simple Questions

July 22, 2013

Prior to becoming a full time financial educator, some of the work that I did with my clients fell into the realm of what is often called financial life planning. Financial life planning gives money more meaning and purpose and helped my clients do more than just focus on typical financial goals such as deciding when to retire, where they plan on living, and how much the expected lifestyle will cost. Rather than simply focus on money and wealth, it helps people decide what is really important in their lives. Continue reading “Create a Financial Life Plan with a Few Simple Questions”

What’s On Your “Dream Board”?

July 17, 2013

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a young man who emigrated to the U.S. from Africa, and he wanted to know if he was saving enough for retirement. As I proceeded to ask him the usual questions—when would you like to retire, what kind of lifestyle would you like to have, how much have you already saved — I began to realize that this individual was quite different from most of the ones I talked to. It turns out that he is already saving 25% of his pay but was able to save more and wanted to discuss his options. Continue reading “What’s On Your “Dream Board”?”

My Best and Worst Investments Ever

July 12, 2013

Some of the questions that come up a lot in conversations about personal finances deal with the subject of investing. What can I invest in now to make the most money over the next year? What should I invest in now? What have been your best and worst investments ever? While the questions about what to do today are not questions that I can answer, the best and worst investment decisions I’ve ever made are questions I could take in a lot of different directions. Continue reading “My Best and Worst Investments Ever”

Bubbles Come in All Shapes and Sizes

July 11, 2013

After reading my colleagues’ blog posts this week about their best and worst investment decisions ever, I’m glad that I was in college until 2000 and missed the dot com bubble of the late 90’s. As a college student, I didn’t have money to invest in the likes of pets.com even if I wanted to. Instead, I got to watch the rise and fall of the “New Economy” stocks from a distance. The only thing better than learning from your mistakes is learning from other people’s mistakes. Continue reading “Bubbles Come in All Shapes and Sizes”

And I Thought I Was Low Maintenance…

June 21, 2013

I try hard to live a very simple lifestyle and to be relatively frugal. But my cost-conscious lifestyle gets totally blown out of the water by this guy. I’ve joked about my retirement lifestyle being one where I live in a van down by the river…BUT I’M JOKING!!! Continue reading “And I Thought I Was Low Maintenance…”

Are 401(k) Loans a Really Bad Idea?

June 10, 2013

Following a recent financial planning webinar presentation, I was faced with a frequently asked question. Does it make sense to take out a 401(k) loan to consolidate debt? This employee had definitely done her research on 401(k) loans but she was wary after reading warnings from many financial planners and media gurus. However, this didn’t deter her from exploring a 401(k) loan as she was eager to eliminate her high interest credit cards and get them out of her life forever. Continue reading “Are 401(k) Loans a Really Bad Idea?”

What Comes First: Saving, Investing, or Paying off Debt?

June 06, 2013

One of the most common questions we get is whether to prioritize paying down debt, building up savings, or investing for retirement. Ideally, of course, we would do all three but most of us have limited dollars with which to work with. So what should take priority? It’s a topic that has generated some disagreement among some well-known financial gurus. Here are some guidelines to follow: Continue reading “What Comes First: Saving, Investing, or Paying off Debt?”

Confessions of a Former Financial Advisor

June 05, 2013

I began my career as a financial educator 18 years ago, only they didn’t call me an educator. I was a 401(k) enroller and my job was to educate employees on the benefits of participating in their employer-sponsored retirement plan. I very much enjoyed speaking to the many different groups of people that made up the workforce but I wasn’t a big fan of the travel — and neither was my young, new bride. Continue reading “Confessions of a Former Financial Advisor”

My Field Trip to Seoul

June 03, 2013

For the past three years, I have been working on a Ph.D. in personal financial planning from Kansas State University. One of the final requirements prior to completing my doctoral studies and defending a dissertation is to examine global markets and to directly experience how other cultures approach the management of their money. So this week, I am writing you as I return from Seoul, South Korea after a ten day trip to learn about the country’s approach to personal financial planning. Continue reading “My Field Trip to Seoul”