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Viewing entries tagged with 'goals and objectives'
In Family Finances, Women Are Taking A Larger Role
Financial advisers are noticing a shift.
A development few have noticed. The recession that started in 2007 quietly brought an economic shift to millions of American families - the woman of the house became the primary wage earner.
To Build Wealth You Must Avoid These 3 Mistakes
To Build Wealth You Must Avoid These 3 Mistakes
Nearly half of the investors in a survey said they had never worked up a comprehensive financial plan with a professional - according to Opinion Research Corp, of Princeton, New Jersey which conducted the poll for MoneyTrack, a public television series. See if any of these 3 wealth building mistakes apply to you:
New Careers After Age 50
New Careers After Age 50
Where The Jobs Are, How to Spruce Up Your Skills and Ready Your Finances for the Change
During the recent recession, many have found themselves back in the job market after age 50 due to layoffs or changing demands at their employers. Yet as life expectancies lengthen, a late career change isn’t always a negative. It may be a welcome chance to renew, re-educate and restart a full life.
It’s possible that in the future, an over-50 career change might become a common event, maybe even a desired event in our society – which means it’s definitely worth planning for.
A visit to a fiduciary fee-only financial planner might be a good first step in planning a move to a second career or dealing with a sudden change in your career prospects. You need to plan for any possible change in income up or down in any opportunity you entertain. You’ll also need to plan how you’ll afford any training you’ll need – college or otherwise – in making that successful transition. To make an over-50 career transition successful, it’s all about preparation. So here are some ideas:
Start with research: One of the best-detailed, up-to-the-minute career resources for the types of jobs that exist in this country and their salary and hiring forecasts is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook. This extensive online resource not only lists major career groups, but the leading occupations in it. If you haven’t been in the job market for awhile, this kind of research is a good way to reset your knowledge of your industry and whether its hiring prospects are bright. This database also lays out the need for the necessary training required to reach certain salary and career levels.
Check industries that are friendly to older workers: Healthcare and education are just two industries that are more welcoming to older workers. U.S. News & World Report has come up with its own list of popular over-50 occupations, and it’s a good starting point for people looking for flexible scheduling and other workers their age in the field.
Network: Face-to-face contact with people in your target fields is important. If you can, check out events at professional organizations in that field or attend casual networking functions to learn more. Being someone over 50, you can get an idea of whether there’s true age diversity in a field and how all those groups work together – or if you’re simply the oldest person in the room. Obviously if you feel welcome, networking will give you a better idea of which companies with someone with your maturity and experience might fit in. Consider adding your profile/resume to Linkedin.
How Your Personality Affects Your Financial Decision-Making
All investors are not created equal. That’s why many fiduciary fee-only CFP® start their initial client meetings with a discussion of money attitudes, goals and risk tolerance – the driver at the root of all investment decisions. Some financial planners do this by general conversation, others by detailed surveys they ask their clients to fill out.
The survey route can be a more valuable tool because it forces clients to face their money issues, perhaps for the first time. Despite the difficulty in facing up to such key issues, individuals get a better idea of where their money strengths and weaknesses really lie. Often, the real difficulties lie in how money is spent.
The real value of answering a lot of questions about your risk tolerance is to tell you what you don’t know – how the sources of your money, the way you made it, your money viewpoints and current methods of handling it will inform every decision you make about it in the future.
The most important thing a questionnaire can reveal is your true money priorities and behaviors. Trained financial advisers, such as CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals – use both conversation and surveys to reach some firm answers that might surprise you.
Are there particular money types? In reality, you’ll find quite a number of surveys out there that define money types in particular ways, but you’ll find personalities that are common on the scale from conservative to liberal. Deborah L. Price, a Financial Planning Association member and founder and CEO of the Money Coaching Institute, offers these scenarios in an article titled, “What’s Your Money Personality?”:
The Innocent: Price notes that innocents often live in denial, are easily overwhelmed by financial information and rely heavily on the advice and opinions of others. They tend to be the most trusting because they generally don’t see people or situations clearly – which leaves them open to bad decisions at best and fraud at worst.
The Victim: She notes that victims are people who tend to live in the past and blame their woes on outside factors and situations they claim they can’t control. These people may have been abused, betrayed, or have suffered some great financial loss, but they generally see life as a self-fulfilling prophecy that they can’t change.
The Warrior: Generally seen as a successful person in the business and financial worlds, they will listen to advisors, but they make their own decisions. They tend to be great caretakers.
The Martyr: These people generally put other people before their own financial health. They use their money to rescue others based on their high expectations for themselves and the people they’re rescuing, but these decisions may be costly in the long run.
The Fool: The Fool, explains Price, is a combination of the Innocent and the Warrior because they have no clue about what they’re doing but they’ll act fearlessly. They are financially adventurous and they act on impulse.
The Creator/Artist: These people often have a love/hate relationship with money. They’re constantly struggling to make their finances work, but they often feel that caring about money means something bad.
The Tyrant: Price reports that this type hoards money and uses it to manipulate others. They may have everything they need, but they’re never comfortable with their lives because they fear losing control.
The Magician: Price defines the The Magician as the ideal money type. They’re aware of their circumstances and responsibilities and can see situations very clearly.
A fiduciary fee-only CFP® tries to see through the static to find out what you really need to create a solid financial life. But it might make sense to ask yourself a few questions before you and your planner sit down:
1. How would you describe your financial status right now?
2. What’s important about money to you?
3. What’s your family history with money?
4. What do you do with your money?
5. If money wasn’t an issue, what would you do with your life?
6. Has the way you’ve made your money – through work, marriage or inheritance – affected the way you think about it in a particular way?
7. How much debt do you have and how do you feel about it?
8. Are you more concerned about maintaining the value of your initial investment or making a profit from it?
9. Are you willing to give up that stability for the chance at long-term growth?
10. What are you most likely to enjoy spending money on?
11. How would you feel if the value of your investment dropped for several months?
12. How would you feel if the value of your investment dropped for several years?
13. If you had to list three things you really wanted to do with your money, what would they be?
It's Not too Late to Get 2010 Off to a Great Financial Start
Get 2010 Off to a Great Financial Start
It's not to late to get 2010 off to a great start. Plenty of people make resolutions to lose weight, get a new job or make other things happen in their personal life, but relatively few make solid resolutions about money. Make 2010 the year you’ll live a better life financially. Here are a few resolutions to think about:
Write down the things you really want in life: Have you ever written down the big things you want in life? Granted, all great dreams don’t cost money, but many of them do. Money buys freedom – to travel, to retire early, to start a business, to change careers. Putting goals in writing gives them a formality and a starting point for the planning you must do. Make a list today of your 2010 financial goals and objectives.
Is America Prepared to Retire?
IS AMERICA PREPARED TO RETIRE?
Two-thirds of us have no financial plan.
64% of Americans have no financial strategy at all. That’s right – no plan whatsoever to build wealth or keep it. That finding comes from the 2009 National Consumer Survey on Personal Finance conducted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (The survey collected data from 1,700+ U.S. residents.)(source)
