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In Tough Times Put Your Head Down and Keep Going

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Since this site is primarily geared towards finances, I wanted to write a reflection about my own personal struggles with financial matters.

I might toss a few other non-finance related items in there as well, but we’ll see.

I’ve been duped

There are two instances that come to mind, where I learned the hard way about investing/handling money.

The first is from early childhood when Pokemon was all the rage. This one day, a kid from the neighborhood wanted to sell me some cards of his. I ran home, opened my piggy bank and took out $5.

I ran back to the kid and bought one card with that $5 bill. I later found out that you can get a big deck of cards for that much. I’d be swindled.

Fast forward several years. I’m in high school now. This infomercial came on with a guy raving about how much money he made using Google search. Specifically, Google Adwords.

All you had to do was pay for the program. Said program would walk you through the steps to setting up a website (I now know the site was to be an affiliated sales rep).

A $90 lesson. But mistakes are made so we can learn from them.

Young and dumb

Before I begin this section, you need to know that I did not know I was going to be a financial advisor, and financial education was limited in my household and was not taught in schools (unfortunately, very common).

That said, I made pretty typical mistakes. Got a credit card, and another, and another. I had spent too much money that I didn’t have and I’m still paying the price for it.

So when I talk about getting out of debt and using a credit card wisely, it’s because I learned first hand the negatives of using it irresponsibly.

More often than not, when individuals make financial mistakes, it’s on the personal finance side of things. Things like saving money, debt management, budgets, etc. Get those things down, the rest takes care of itself.

Budget item

One part of my finances where I continually struggle is my budget. Very specifically, it’s one particular item, and that’s eating out. I am a sucker, no doubt, for restaurants. Whether that’s drive-thru or a sit-down place. It just takes all the hassle out of preparing a meal.

As good as it is sometimes, it’s also costly. My resolution was to actually include restaurant spending on my budget. I gave myself $50 for the month for take-out. This limits how much I actually spend and also scratches my itch for eating food outside of my home.

If there is an item you know you’ll spend money on, put it in your budget.

Related reading: Your Go-To Budget Guide

Personal Reflection

On the more personal side of things, it’s been a pretty challenging year for me. Had a mental health diagnosis that created some hurdles for me to jump through. As I write, I’m still jumping through these hurdles, but I’m starting to see the benefits of doing so.

By hurdles, I’m referring to medications and therapy. As well as things I can do on my own time, like exercise, journaling, and meditation.

Those last three items have been difficult for me to do consistently, but when I actually do them, I feel much better.

Another challenge of mine is that I am in the middle of a divorce. This has been incredibly difficult. It’s caused a lot of anger, sadness, doubt, among many other emotions.

What it did, however, was it forced me to turn the microscope inward and figure out the parts of me I don’t like, the parts of me I do like, and the past experiences that shaped me and the lessons to take away from those experiences to continue to grow.

Reflection Benefits

With all of the battles I’ve fought this year and as taxing as this year has been, it’s also been one of the more life-changing periods in my life.

For me, it was extremely difficult to look inside myself and analyze what makes me, me, but I’m glad I did it. It’s given me a better understanding of who I am, how I function, and what I can do to continue to grow and improve.

It’s given me the tools I never thought I would have. It’s helped me be a better parent. I’ve been able to focus more on the things that matter. And I’ve been able to be more present and limit the amount of forecasting I do for the future. (Don’t worry. On the finance side, I’m still looking ahead).

Takeaway

My advice to you is to just keep moving forward. At times, life is stuff. Navigating your finances can be challenging, but we, as humans, are resilient creatures.

Inexpensive Fall Activities

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With Fall quickly approaching I thought it’s fitting to write an article about the (inexpensive) activities you can partake in that won’t break the bank.

Below you’ll find a large number of fun things you can do when the leaves start to change.

  1. Go for a hike – Depending on where you go, this can be free! If the hike takes place in a state park, there might be a small fee. Regardless, a hike is a great way to spend time, get exercise, and experience nature.
  2. Pick pumpkins – This is an autumn staple! Go to your local pumpkin patch and pick out your favorite pumpkin. Then figure out what design, pattern, or face you’ll carve into it and go to town!
  3. Have a picnic – Ingredients for sandwiches, potato salad, chips, and a dessert item. What else could you need? Through in an item from below (scenic drive) and a nice spot to set up, and you’re good to go! Inexpensive and relaxing.
  4. Apple orchard – Go apple picking! Gives you a great excuse to go outside, walk, and hand-pick some healthy food for yourself. A typical orchard operation will charge you $1.25-$2.00 per pound.
  5. Local festivals – Most of these are free or cheap to attend, with most of the cost coming from the games and events you participate.
  6. Maze – Many of the fall festivals will have a maze. These are typically made from hay bales. Additionally, farms that have pumpkins to be picked sometimes have a corn maze and/or hayrides. I have one of those near me and it was a ton of fun, and cheap too.
  7. Football games – Local high school games are really exciting to watch. They’re inexpensive to go to, they usually have good food, and you get to show off some hometown pride. Added bonus, you could have a promising player on your team or one on a visiting team to watch. I don’t know about you, but watching a special talent is…well..special!
  8. Haunted house – I’m partial to the scary stuff because I’m into things that frighten me, but haunted houses are awesome. Yes, some are quite lame, but when they’re done right, it’s exhilarating!
  9. Sit around the campfire – This is an incredibly relaxing activity. Sitting around a fire with your family and/or friends, roasting marshmallows, and making smores – can’t get much better. Costs nothing more than marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate!
  10. Scenic drive – For me, there aren’t many things that can beat a scenic car ride (the previous item does). Especially in the fall. Trees change colors, there’s a slight nip in the air, and it just smells like autumn.
  11. Scary movie marathon – I understand that scary movies aren’t for everyone, but if you have a few and invite people over that bring additional movies, you can make a long and scary evening out of it. If you don’t have scary movies, go to your local library and check some out. It’s free!
  12. Make collages with leaves – This could be a nice, little craft you can do as a family. Especially if you have young kids. They love getting messy and creating with their hands. They can also have a ton of fun jumping in leaf piles before you pick the leaves out for your collage.
  13. Ghost hunting – Seriously. In doing research for this post, this actually came up, and it surprisingly checks out. There are a number of apps available. 

All-in-all, autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the weather, the leaves changing, and all of the fun things you can do. I recommend doing at least one of these activities in the next few months!

The Questions You Need To Ask Yourself

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Questions are a fantastic way to understand things better. They are vitally important in our everyday lives.

One area where I think they are underutilized is personal finance.

You NEED to ask yourself questions on the regular so you can discern if you are doing the right things and taking the correct steps for YOU.

In the following article, we’re going to explore the various questions you need to ask yourself in order to be financially effective.

What is my goal with money?

This is a fairly general question, so we’ll break it down into three buckets: short term, medium-term, and long term.

  • Short-term (Under 2 years) – If you are saving for a short-term goal, what is it? A vacation? Down payment on a house? No matter the goal, that money will be used soon so the best place for it is in a savings account.
  • Medium-term (2-10 years) – This could be anything from a down payment for a house to saving for your kids’ college education. What you do in the interim depends on when you’ll need it and the goal you are saving for. If it’s less than 5 years, I’d still recommend a savings account or short-term bonds. Something that can earn you a little interest, but is still relatively safe. That 5-10 year period depends on the goal. If there’s a particular dollar amount you need to it (down payment, for instance) I’d go no more than moderately aggressive. You want to earn a little, but you don’t want that saved amount to go under what you need.
  • Long-term (10+ years) – Most often, a goal that’s over 10 years away can be invested in the stock market, though the percentage of your assets that’s actually in the market depends on the risks you are willing to take and when you need to access those funds.

Related reading: Financial planning for all ages

How much am I willing to lose before I sell?

I almost always propose this question to new clients because it gives me a good understanding of their risk tolerance.

If they are only comfortable with losing 10 percent of their portfolio, they’ll be invested pretty conservatively.

On the other hand, if they can tolerate a 50 percent drawdown and not bat an eye, then we can “put the pedal to the floor”, excuse the expression.

Determine how much of a loss you can stomach and that will give you a good idea of how to allocate your assets.

Related reading: Are you taking on too much investment risk?

How long will it take to adjust my allocations?

Questions regarding asset allocation, typically, pertain to risk and time horizon. For example, if you start saving for retirement when you’re 25, the majority of your portfolio will be in equities (stocks).

This allocation, generally speaking, is suitable for you for a couple of decades. At which point, you’ll probably (again, speaking generally) want to shift a little more of your portfolio to bonds.

Your allocation will, and should, shift over time, and once you get within a few years of your goal, the primary objective of your portfolio becomes capital preservation.

Related reading: Why asset allocation matters

Are my actions suitable for my current financial situation?

Financial situation takes everything into consideration (income, debt, spending, savings, etc.) Actions can be anything related to those items.

Specifically what I’m talking about is how much you are saving, how much you are spending, and how much $ you’ve dedicated to paying down debt.

If you have a sizeable amount of debt and not a whole lot of savings, it’s time to cut your spending. Conversely, if you’ve paid down your debt and are ahead of the game with your savings, it would be alright if you loosened up a little and enjoy yourself.

Like everything in life, your personal finances are a delicate balancing act, and when you ask questions, you can figure out how to shift your priorities.

How is my money being spent?

Kind of related to the last point. Tracking your spending to find out exactly where all of your dollars are going is an important step.

Another recommendation I usually make is to create a financial playbook. Here’s a brief outline of how I create a financial playbook:

  1. Big picture – List all assets and liabilities. How much you have saved and how much debt you have.
  2. List your necessary expenses – These are things that you have to pay (rent, utilities, transportation, food, minimum debt payments, etc.)
  3. List your monthly income
  4. Total up your monthly necessary expenses and your monthly income and see how much you have leftover. What’s leftover will help you discern what to do with it.
  5. I would list another line item for “fun,” though I would keep it to a minimum.
  6. What’s left after fun should be saved and used on debt.

Related reading: How to cut your spending

Conclusion

As I said in the beginning, questions help us understand the world, and ourselves, better.

Having a better grasp on why and when we make certain changes or do certain things is a must if we are to be more effective in managing our finances.

How To Cut Your Spending

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Do you know what could really help you reach your financial goals? Answer: If you had more money to work with! Cutting your spending is an integral part of your finances.

I’m not saying you need to cut out the things you love (insert Starbucks coffee, avocado toast, etc.). I’m saying you need to splurge on those things wisely, either by reducing their frequency or cutting out something else.

Let’s figure out ways we can cut our spending.

Track spending

How are you supposed to know what to cut spending on if you don’t know where your money is going?

Go back a few months and look for a “pattern.” Where is all of your money going? Bills, housing, transportation, debt payments, etc. are in their own category. Everything else that’s not considered necessary spending (minus groceries) goes in the discretionary spending category. Everything else that’s not considered necessary spending (minus groceries) goes in the discretionary spending category. Keep in mind, things will change if you’re living in an affordable city like Columbus, Ohio, rather than an expensive place like New York City.

This discretionary spending is what you need to pay attention to.

Grocery spending is necessary, but the amount can vary. Figure out what you typically spend, each month, on groceries and determine if that amount can be lowered. More often than not, it can. Just don’t go hungry.

Budget (and budget alternative)

The classic budget lists the necessary expenses (housing, groceries, debt, utilities, savings, and other bills). You then assign dollar amounts for other “unnecessary” expenses (take-out, clothes, etc.).

The dollar amount is what you’d like to spend on that item/category, and not go over. The purpose of a budget is to come to a total expenditure that’s less than your monthly income.

My approach is similar. I list the necessary expenses (excluding debt payments and savings). Just the things I need to pay (housing, streaming, utilities, insurance, and transportation).

Next is my grocery budget. This is a necessary expense, but I try to keep it relatively low. Between my son and I, the limit is $300 per month. Then I list debt payments and savings.

I calculated how much I needed to pay per month to pay off my debt by a certain date. My savings is automated and partitioned.

I have one savings account for emergencies, one for car repairs, one for holiday spending, and one for vacations. Once a week, money is automatically transferred from my checking to each savings account.

The amount of each transfer is less mathematical and is more about comfort. My retirement savings is done right away at the beginning of the month so I don’t have the chance to spend it away.

Whatever remains is mine to do with as I please.

No spend days

Have one day per week or a few days per month where you don’t spend any money.

I’ve seen some people go as far as having a no spend week! Implement these days at your discretion because obviously, you’ll still want to pay your bills and such.

Another cool idea is to restrict paying for certain items during particular times of the year. For example, you don’t buy any clothes during the month of September, or you don’t have any take-out/restaurant food in April.

Coupons/rewards/etc.

With smartphones, applying coupons to your purchases has never been easier. I use coupons.com. You can save which coupons apply to you and they can be scanned at checkout. From your smartphone!

Also, wherever you do your shopping, make sure you are a member/rewards member. There’s usually a sale for members. Excluding paid memberships (like Costco), being a rewards member is free and can save you money.

By the way, it costs money to shop at Costco, but their goods are very reasonably priced. They make their money on the memberships, and they sell all of their goods at cost. That means they sell a product at whatever price they paid to get it in the store.

Use price per unit/item

When you are making a decision about how much of something you need to buy, always use price per unit as your factor. The overall price of something may look less expensive than the bulk item, and it is at the time of purchase, but more often than not, the price per unit is lower for the bulk item.

It’ll cost you more when you check out, but through time, you’ll spend less money.

Quick hacks to cut expenses

  • Negotiate a lower interest rate on your credit cards
  • Balance transfer to 0% introductory APR
  • Personal loan to lower average credit card APR
  • Unplug unused electrical devices
  • Cancel unused subscriptions
  • Reduce entertainment expenses
  • Carpool to work
  • Keep tires properly inflated (better gas mileage)
  • Use LED light bulbs
  • Use a programmable thermostat
  • Lower the temperature on your hot water heater
  • Eat at home more/eat out less
  • Buy generic

Conclusion

Achieving financial success doesn’t have to be difficult and boring, though it does take some discipline. Small rewards are important. Without them, you’ll go crazy!

Cut the fat off of your budget, and you’ll see how much better it feels to make significant progress in your financial life.

Saving Money With Regular Maintenance

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When was the last time you exercised, had your furnace worked on, or had your oil changed? Performing regular maintenance, in any part of your life, can be quite annoying at times, but it can really make a difference.

The difference can come in the form of money saved, longevity, and/or decreased stress. That said, let’s look into why maintenance is important.

Health

As a nation, the United States is unhealthy. We put junk food into our bodies and lead a sedentary lifestyle that is causing more problems than gaining weight.

Not only is physical exercise good for your body, with benefits like preventing bone loss, increasing muscle strength, improving coordination and balance, and reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease, but it also helps your mind.

Just over half of all Americans are meeting the physical aerobic exercise requirement (Source). The requirement is either 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week. Not a lot, right?

Americans spend $3.4 trillion per year on healthcare (Source), and I believe this number could drop dramatically if we all just took better care of ourselves.

Bottom line, regular exercise, and a well-balanced diet can (depending on other genetic risk factors, etc.) can dramatically reduce your long-term healthcare costs.

Home

Regular maintenance of your home has a number of benefits.

  1. It saves you money because all the mechanical components are running optimally. Efficient use of utilities is less expensive. It also increases the longevity of that equipment.
  2. Maximizes your home’s value and resale potential
  3. Peace of mind knowing your home is well-cared for. Stress has negative health effects. Reducing it can improve your health and lower healthcare-related costs.

Car

Keeping your car in optimal running condition will extend its life. It also makes the vehicle more safe to operate because the odds that something breaks while driving is reduced.

A poorly tuned vehicle can use up to 50% more fuel (Source). Spending $50-$100 every three months on an oil change is definitely worth it.

For example, let’s say you fill up once per week at $25. Over a three month period, you’d normally spend $325 on gas. If you’re driving a poorly tuned vehicle, you’ll spend $487.50. Over 1 year, that’s a difference of over $600.

Budget

Creating a budget and regularly checking in to make sure that a) you’re sticking with it and b) it’s still appropriate.

Often when people start budgeting, they find themselves with more money to play with. If they have outstanding debt, they can use that extra money to pay it off.

This could free up more cash that can be used for saving, investing, or getting that cable TV back.

Another thing you should do is cut or eliminate expenses that are otherwise unnecessary. The average American spends almost half of their food budget on eating out (Source).

Investing

This section will revolve around asset allocation and not about picking stocks and the like, specifically, in ones’ retirement plan.

If you have a retirement plan (you really should) my advice is to allocate your assets according to your risk tolerance, time horizon, and comfort level (from a psychological perspective).

If you have a retirement plan through your employer, I strongly recommend utilizing a target-date fund. This takes the worry and the guesswork out of the equation.

Where was I, oh yeah, asset allocation? Unless we’re in a bear market, your stock allocation will do better than your bond allocation.

Over time, the stock part of your portfolio will take up a larger share of your overall portfolio. It’s wise to regularly (though opinions differ) to rebalance back to your original allocation, otherwise, you risk being more aggressive than you intended.

Conclusion

Whether you’re talking about your home, car, or anything else, regular maintenance can save you a lot of money.

Please visit our website to learn more and for our disclosures.

 

If reading this blog post makes you want to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.

How To Pump Up Your Finances

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By “pump up,” I mean to do something that improves your financial situation in any way. Reduce expenses, start a rainy day fund, invest for the future, etc.

With that said, let’s take a look at some simple strategies to pump up your finances.

Cut the fat

I’d start by creating a budget. Look at the past three months of income and expenses. Total the expenses, total your income and compare the two. This will give you a clear picture of how much you are spending versus how much you make.

After that, you can go back with a magnifying glass and see exactly where your money is going, and stop spending money where it is necessary, or at least reduce it.

You can also reduce the fees you pay to invest. Mutual funds and ETFs are the most popular vehicles used today, but they come with a cost. It’s listed as an expense ratio. That ratio should be as low as possible. Ideally, it’ll be under .20%.

A quick tip to cut your expenses – get rid of cable/dish. There are too many services available now. You don’t need to spend $100+ on TV anymore.

Increase savings rate

Hopefully, you are saving something. If you are having trouble setting money aside because of limited resources, give this article a read for some help.

You should be saving in at least two places. An emergency fund and a retirement plan.

  • Emergency fund – Say you are contributing $20 per month. This is a good place to start, but you’re going to want to save more so you have enough in case your car breaks down or you lose your job. After three months of saving $20/month. Increase that amount by $5. After another three months, at which point you’ll have gotten used to not having that extra $5, increase it again. Rinse and repeat.
  • Retirement plan – If you have a retirement plan with your employer and they match, you’ll want to contribute at least enough to get that match. That’s your starting point. Then you’ll follow the same steps as the emergency fund. After a few months, increase the contribution percentage. If you don’t have a plan with your employer, set up an IRA, start contributing what’s comfortable for you, and follow those same steps.

I mentioned you should have AT LEAST these two accounts. Personally, I have several savings accounts. They are set up for different reasons. I have one for holiday spending, one for car repairs, and one for travel expenses. Giving your money a “job” makes it more likely that you’ll use that money for that “job.”

Switch to an online bank

Most online banks have higher interest rates on savings accounts. They also, typically, have lower rates on loans (based on credit score).

If you are saving money for a rainy day and putting it with a brick and mortar bank, you’re most likely earning next to nothing. Better to put that money in an account where you’ll earn a little interest.

Refinance high-interest rate loans

I’m going to dedicate this section to credit cards because that’s what most people think of when they hear high-interest rates.

There are three strategies you can use.

  1. Balance transfer – Many credit card companies offer a 0% APR on balance transfers for a certain period of time. Some have terms for 21 months. The interest rate will jump after the 21st month, though, so make sure your balance is paid off before then.
  2. Personal loan – If you have credit card debt and don’t, or can’t, utilize a 0% balance transfer, then a personal loan is your next option. You get a loan for the total amount of outstanding credit card debt. Then the institution will send a payment to each credit card company and pay off your credit card debt. You’ll be left with one payment. Be advised, credit matters here (also for balance transfers) so if the interest rate on the personal loan is higher than the average interest rate of your credit cards, don’t do it.
  3. The last option is to call the credit card company and ask for a lower rate. More often than not, if it’s available, they’ll give it to you. It won’t lower your payment a whole lot, but it’ll definitely help.

If you want to learn more about credit cards, click here.

Improve your credit

Your credit score makes a difference. It can impact what loans you qualify for, the interest rate, where you live, and where you work.

If you want to start making moves in your financial life, you need to improve your credit.

There are three really simple ways to do this.

  1. Pay more than the minimum on your outstanding debt and pay on time – on time payments is the #1 factor when calculating your score.
  2. Call your utility company and see if they report to the credit agency. It’ll count as another credit account (a factor) and it’ll influence your on-time payments.
  3. Open a secured credit card – You open this type of card with a deposit. The deposit will act as your credit limit. If you deposit $500, you’ll have a credit limit of $500. Make regular, small purchases and pay the entire balance right away. Credit agencies like to so activity and, as I’ve said, on-time payments.

If you want to learn more about improving your credit, click here.

Conclusion

If you want to improve your financial life, it’s actually pretty straight forward. Spend less than you make, save money for the future, pay down debt, and improve your credit. If you do these four things (obviously, easier said than done), goals that once seemed far fetched, can be within reach.

Please visit my website for our disclosures.

 

If reading this blog post makes you want to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.

How to improve your finances on a low income

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Improving your financial situation is hard for anybody. It can be even more difficult if you have less to work with.

This is an all too common problem in America, as 78% of full-time workers live paycheck to paycheck (Source). Even scarier, 34% don’t have any money saved whatsoever (Source).

That said, there are steps you can take and resources you can utilize to better your financial picture.

Budget

The first and one of the most important things you should do is, create a budget. This is a great way to figure out where you are at. Here are the steps:

  • Write down your expenses for the last few months (month-by-month breakdown)
  • Line items for expenses – housing, utilities, debt, food, transportation, bills, discretionary spending.
  • Write down your monthly income
  • Compare the two numbers to see exactly how much you have left over.

Here’s another way to look at it.

  • Write down your income
  • Write down your necessary expenses (housing, utilities, bills, transportation, food, debt)
  • If there is any left over, do you want to save it, pay down more debt, or have fun with it

If there isn’t any left, you need to figure out how to lower your expenses and make adjustments as needed.

Lower expenses

  • Move closer to work – this should reduce your transportation costs
  • Take public transportation – much less expensive than driving a car
  • Walk or ride a bike – if you live close to work, this could save you tons on commuting costs
  • Move to a less expensive place to live – if you work in a metropolitan area, housing probably isn’t super cheap, look for a cheaper place to live
  • Shop at discount stores
  • Shop at thrift stores
  • Use coupons – Or coupon sites like Coupons.com
  • Use apps – A great list by LifeHack
  • Find a side hustle – Again, solid list on BudgetsareSexy
  • Only buy necessities

Automate

Automating your finances is an important step, though not possible for everyone. If you have a lower income, you may be afraid that the money won’t be in your account for that automatic withdrawal.

Automate what you are comfortable with, or voraciously set reminders. Don’t forget to pay a bill. You can damage your credit score and incur late penalties.

Additionally, having a small transfer from checking to savings once a month can be a great way to save up for emergencies.

Take advantage of social programs

Open a credit card

There’s no denying it, your credit score is important. It determines your interest rate on loans, it can influence where you live, it can even play a factor when applying for a job.

Start small and start slowly. Open up a credit card. Look for one with no annual fee and a great rewards program. Make small, necessary purchases each month and pay them off right away.

Don’t carry a balance month-to-month. Doing this will inevitably cost you money via interest charges. And never miss a payment.

Start an emergency fund

If you don’t have one, set one up today. Having some sort of safety net available is vital. If you don’t have that, you’ll probably charge an emergency expense, which will cost you more money in the long run.

Start small and stay consistent. Contribute a little bit each month or each week to build up that emergency fund.

Get rid of debt

This will have a huge impact on your financial life. Once you are free from debt, you will have more money available for savings, fun money, or for improving your situation in other ways.

There are a few methods to help with debt repayment.

  • Debt avalanche – This method targets high-interest debt. You will pay the minimum to your other debt accounts and pay as much as you can towards your debt with the highest interest. Once that is paid off, you refocus that money towards the debt with the next highest interest
  • Debt snowball – This method targets low-balances. You pay the minimum on your other debts and pay as much as you can on the debt with the lowest balance. Once it’s paid off, you redirect that money towards the next lowest balance.
  • Balance transfer – If you have credit card debt and have a high-interest rate, it may be beneficial to transfer your balance to another card. Many cards have 0% interest, introductory offers on balance transfers.

This will also save you a lot of money on interest payments! Debt is very annoying, and getting rid of it will feel so liberating. Work towards this goal.

Go to the library

There are two ways the library can help you.

One, it’s filled with knowledge. If you want to get a different job, but don’t know much about your target industry, there are resources to help you. If you want to get promoted at your current company, and need to learn about different job roles and responsibilities, you can learn more.

Two, the more time you spend at the library, the less you have to spend at home. You can turn off the heat or air conditioning, and your lights while you are gone. This could drastically lower your utility bill.

Conclusion

One thing I forgot to mention, is the benefit of small rewards. When you are trying to better your financial situation, and are focusing everything on that goal, it can feel discouraging and you can quickly lose motivation.

If you meet a milestone, like paying off a debt account or you cut a balance in half, reward yourself.

Now, don’t go crazy, but a small reward for a job well done can keep you motivated.

You can improve your situation, but it has to be a priority. Do your best to improve a little bit each day. These improvements will compound over time and you’ll be amazed where you stand in a year or two.

If you’d like to learn more about improving your financial situation and for our disclosures, visit www.crgfinancialservices.com.

 

If reading this blog post makes you want to try your hand at blogging, we have good news for you; you can do exactly that on Saving Advice. Just click here to get started.

How much do I need in retirement?

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Conventional advice tells you that, for retirement, you need $1 million to $1.5 million saved, or that you need 10 to 12 times your current annual salary.

For example, if you make $100,000 per year, you’ll need $1 million to $1.2 million saved for retirement.

Are these numbers and calculations good enough? Is there a better, more accurate way to figure out what you’ll need to save for retirement?

In this post, we’ll look into that and more.

Check out retirement calculators

There’s a huge number of them out there. I recommend trying a few different ones, that way you can compare and average out the numbers. They’ll ask you things like age, current savings, current income, future contributions, etc.

Here are a few of the better ones.

Using some or all of these calculators, you can probably get a good idea of where you’re at currently, how to improve, and where you’ll need to be at the end.

What are the factors?

There are a variety of different factors at play. You’ll have different expenses and different income levels, and some of those numbers won’t stay steady throughout retirement.

For example, a couple’s health care costs in retirement are said to be $275,000 (Source). However, not all of that will hit you in the first few years of retirement.

More than likely, you’ll have minimal costs in the beginning, and they’ll slowly increase as you age.

Where will you live?

This can be a huge variable in retirement. Its widely known that different areas of the country have a higher cost of living. San Francisco is more expensive than Lincoln, Nebraska.

Another important factor regarding your living situation is if you have a mortgage or not. No mortgage means fewer expenses, which is less going out of your pocket, and more that can be saved for the future.

Not having a mortgage can also give you some leverage. If you decide that your current home is too big and would like to downsize, you can use the proceeds from the sale of your previous home to, hopefully, buy your new one outright.

Living Expenses

We’ve talked briefly about health care expenses during retirement and we talked about housing. Without a doubt, these are the two largest expenses during retirement. There are a few more to consider, however.

  • Transportation – did you relocate? Or do you have family in other parts of the country? Transportation and lodging need to be taken into account when figuring out your expenses for retirement, especially if you’ll be traveling regularly.
  • Entertainment – you might be looking for something to fill your time. It could be filled with expensive hobbies or other activities. If you are looking for something to do, or are looking to start a hobby, be sure your budget will allow for it.
  • Remaining expenses – the leftover expenses are ones you deal with right now (food, clothes, utilities, bills, insurance, etc.)

A budget is just as important in retirement as it is now, if not more so. Keeping track of your expenses and your income is very essential to your finances during retirement.

You often hear people in retirement say they are on a fixed income. What that means is they have lost their ability to earn more money. What they have is it. If you are spending more than your savings and your income allows, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Income

Your income from retirement could come from a variety of places.

  • Social security – provided by the government. The normal advice regarding social security is that it shouldn’t replace more than 40% of your income. Meaning 60% should come from another place. Your monthly payout from Social Security does increase the longer you delay taking it, and the reverse is true if you take it early.
  • Pension – these are becoming less and less popular as time goes on. They were huge back in the day when workers would stay with one company until they retired, but because people switch jobs so often nowadays, employers don’t want to take the chance. If you have one, consider yourself lucky.
  • Retirement savings – more than likely, this is where the other significant portion of your income will come from. This is where having a financial advisor is beneficial because you have to use enough of your savings to afford your retirement, but not too much so you don’t run out of money. Tricky.
  • Other areas – there can be other sources of income during retirement. You could have some dividend or interest income from your investments, you could work part-time to stay active and earn a little extra, or you could possibly have a rental property or several.

If you want to learn more about where your income could come from in retirement, click here.

Wherever your income comes from, it’s important to coordinate effectively so you maximize your current income without jeopardizing your savings.

What will you do in retirement?

How you spend your time will also have a huge effect on your expenses.

If you plan on spending most of your time with your grandkids, retirement could be more affordable than if you planning on golfing a few times per week. Although it could quite possibly be much more expensive than golf, we all know how grandparents are with their grandchildren.

If money is tight and you are looking for things to fill your day, there are many free or low-cost activities available to you.

  • Volunteer – not only is this a free activity. You’ll feel useful, you’ll get to use your brain, and you’ll have a sense of community, all are shown to increase longevity.
  • Go to the park – take a walk, bring a book, or just interact with nature and the community.
  • Community center – not all municipalities have one, but go to your local community center or go to your municipality’s website. There you will find local events, most of which are free.
  • Discounts – most places offer senior discounts. If you aren’t offered one, make sure you ask for it. This really could save you a lot of money on activities, food, etc.

How long will you live

The most depressing point in this post, but one of the most important. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), no one knows how long we are going to live for.

One way to get a little indication, but not really, is your family history. If your grandparents or parents lived into their 80s, 90s, or 100s, the chances of you living a long life are a little higher.

On the flip side, if most of your relatives passed away in their 60s or 70s, your odds of living into your 80s and 90s are lower.

However, this really is no indication on how long you’ll live for. One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to live a healthy lifestyle. Take a walk once or twice per day, do something daily that will engage your mind, interact with friends and people in your community, and eat better.

The 4% Rule

You’ve probably heard this before too. Here’s what it is. Once you retire, you withdraw 4% of your retirement savings every year. This is considered a safe withdrawal rate, as the withdrawals would consist mostly of interest, dividends, and unrealized gains from your investments.

Let’s say you have $1 million saved for retirement. The 4% rule would allow you to withdraw $40,000 per year. All else staying the same, you have 25 years worth of withdrawals using this method. Be advised that no growth was factored into this calculation.

Conclusion

I suppose you’d like an answer to the question we proposed in the beginning. Here it is. It depends. It depends on your current and future expenses, it depends on where you’re income will come from, it depends on how much income you expect (outside of retirement savings), and it depends on how you live your life during retirement.

Most importantly, you need to work with a financial professional, ideally someone that specializes in retirement planning.

To learn more about retirement planning and for our disclosures, visit www.crgfinancialservices.com.

The Difference between an HSA and an FSA?

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Introduction

Nowadays, health insurance and the medical care you receive is expensive. There are some products available to help you with those expenses, however.

Enter in the HSA and the FSA. These two products are making it easier for consumers to save for and pay for medical care.

But how does each of them work? Which one is better?

What’s an HSA?

An HSA is a Health Savings Account. These types of accounts are available to people who have High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHP).

An HDHP is defined as a health insurance plan with a deductible of $1,350 for individuals and $2,700 for families, and an out-of-pocket maximum of $6,650 and $13,300, respectively.

An HSA is sometimes offered by the insurance company that provides the health insurance, but can often be applied for at many financial institutions.

An HSA has several key characteristics.

  • Contributions are made pre-tax or tax-deductible
  • Assets grow tax-free
  • Funds used on qualified medical expenses aren’t taxed upon withdrawal/use
  • The maximum contribution is $3,450 for individuals and $6,900 for families
    • Contribution max increases by $1,000 at age 55 or older
  • Can no longer contribute once 65 and on Medicare
  • Can invest contributions in mutual funds, stocks, and other investment products
  • Unused funds can be carried over year-after-year

Qualified medical expenses include the following.

  • Medical services
  • Emergency medical services
  • Medical equipment

You can find a complete list of eligible expenses here.

What’s an FSA?

An FSA is a Flexible Spending Account. Only employees of eligible employers qualify for an FSA.

There are several characteristics of an FSA.

  • Use it you lose it – Unused funds do not carry over from one year to the next
  • Contributions are made pre-tax via payroll deduction
  • Contribution maximum is $2,650. Your spouse can contribute an additional $2,650 too
  • Can be used on qualified expenses
    • Deductibles
    • Copayments
    • Medical services
    • Medical equipment
    • Prescription medication
    • Can’t be used on premiums
    • See the full list of qualified expenses here.
  • You may have two extra options available to you depending on your employer
    • You have an extra 2 ½ months to use up funds from the previous year
    • You can carry over $500 from the previous year

Which is right for you?

It very much depends on what is available to you. If you don’t have a High deductible health plan, then you are ineligible for an HSA. If your employer doesn’t offer an FSA, I’m sorry, that’s not available to you either.

If you have the option to pick between the two, most often I would lean towards the HSA and there are a few reasons why.

  • You are able to contribute more, which gives you more money to use on qualified expenses and could effectively lower your tax liability.
  • You can carry over unused contributions year-after-year.
  • This can be used as a retirement savings vehicle. Decades of contributions and compounding returns could give you a sizeable amount to use on medical expenses in retirement

You should not use an FSA if you are in good health. An FSA is more appropriate for someone with recurring and somewhat predictable medical expenses. If you are healthy, the odds of you contributing to an FSA and not using the funds, are pretty high.

Conclusion

Health insurance and medical care are expensive. Having an FSA or an HSA available to lessen the blow of those expenses is HUGE.

It is very important to know which one you can use, and which one would be the most beneficial to you.

Use this information to carefully select and effectively use what’s available to you.

To learn more about saving for medical expenses and for our disclosures go to www.crgfinancialservices.com.

 

Everything You Need to Know to Set Up Your Own Emergency Fund

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How many of you have had an unplanned expense recently? How much was it $500? $1,000?

Unplanned expenses are anything but, unplanned. Sure, we don’t know when they will occur, but they will occur.

Being able to “plan” for those expenses will save you a lot of grief, and will probably save you money.

If you don’t have a rainy day fund, how do you pay for an unexpected expense? Your credit card?

Having an emergency fund has many benefits, and having one set up can make a big difference in your life. But how do you save for emergencies? What characteristics does an emergency fund have? And when should you use it?

What is an emergency fund?

It’s exactly how it sounds. It’s an account, usually a savings account or a money market account, that you designate for emergencies.

You set this up to “plan” for unexpected expenses. For example, you set aside money for the future in case your car breaks down or your furnace stops working.

Why do you need one?

The emergency fund is designed to save your monthly budget. Unexpected expenses can be expensive and can do significant damage to one’s monthly budget.

If you have money set aside for a rainy day and something unexpected happens, you can use the money from your emergency fund to pay for that expense. Your monthly budget isn’t affected at all.

What are the characteristics of an emergency fund?

There aren’t really many characteristics of an emergency fund. Here’s essentially what you need:

  1. You need an account separate from your checking account.
  2. This separate account needs to be easily accessible and liquid.1
  3. You should have 3-6 months worth of expenses saved in this account.
  4. You can have too much.
    1. Having 3-6 months, or even a year is fine, but anything else should be saved and invested for your retirement. (Savings accounts earn next to nothing in interest)

What strategies can you implement to save for an emergency?

There are many things you can do to save money for your emergency fund.

  1. Create a budget
    1. List your income
    2. List your necessary expenses (housing, transportation, food, etc.)
    3. List your discretionary spending (fun money)(keep this to a minimum)
    4. Compare income to expenses and adjust as necessary
  2. Reduce your expenses
    1. Cut the cable, use subscriptions instead
    2. Eat out less, or don’t eat out at all
    3. Rent movies, TV shows, and books from the library
    4. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving (when applicable)
    5. Control your utilities (open windows during summer, layer up during winter)
  3. Automate your savings – Set up automatic transfers from your checking to your savings. Have it take place at the first of the month or every Monday. If this happens first, you can’t spend it away.

When should you use it?

You should use your emergency fund whenever you have an unexpected expense that could disrupt your monthly budget.

Here’s a small list of examples:

  • Car repairs
  • Home repairs
  • Emergency, short-notice flights
  • Life expenses post-job loss

When shouldn’t you use it?

Your emergency fund shouldn’t be used on large once per year costs like:

  • Property taxes
  • Owed taxes
  • Holiday spending

Conclusion

Unplanned expenses can wreak a person’s monthly budget. It helps and makes a dramatic difference to have money set aside for a rainy day.

Besides the financial aspect of having an emergency fund, you also have a psychological benefit. Peace of mind knowing that you have money available if a large expense were to come into your life.

For more information about emergency funds and for our disclosures go to www.crgfinancialservices.com

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