Recent Money Matters Blog Posts:
When Building a Budget, Keep Your “Why” in Mind
Creating a budget is a fundamental step toward achieving financial stability and reaching your financial goals. However, the process can sometimes feel overwhelming or restrictive. The key to a successful budget is not just about numbers; it’s about understanding your “why” – the reason behind your financial goals. Here’s a guide to help you build a budget while keeping your “why” in mind.
Emergency Funds: An Important Part of Your Financial Strategy
When you think of your financial portfolio, your emergency fund probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. You’re more likely picturing your investments, retirement accounts, and that hot stock tip you’re hoping will pay off. But the truth is, your emergency fund represents more than just a rainy-day stash—it’s a critical part of your overall financial strategy.
Emergency funds can be broken down into three categories: quick, intermediate, and comprehensive.
Simple Holiday Budgeting Can Reduce Stress: A Guide for Busy Professionals
As the holiday season approaches, many of us feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. Amid the festive atmosphere, gift-giving, holiday gatherings, and travel costs can quickly add up, often leaving us with an inflated credit card bill come January. For busy professionals, balancing a packed work schedule with holiday planning makes it all too easy to overspend. However, with a few straightforward tactics, you can plan your holiday budget effectively and enjoy the season without financial stress.
Check Safety in the Age of Identity Theft
It used to be that check writing was a way of life. It was the only way to pay bills or send money to a grandchild for their birthday. In 2022, FinCen, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department reported a whopping 84% increase in check fraud reported by banks. This will dismay many of you but check writing has become the LEAST secure way to send money and pay bills due to mail fraud.
Helping Mr. Dell: Protecting Our Loved Ones From Scams
How can we protect our loved ones from being targets of scams? To help shed light on this issue, let’s explore the fictional story of Mr. Dell, an older adult navigating a situation that’s based on true events.
Close Up Hacker Opportunities With A Digital Clean-Up
When was the last time you cleaned the house, or washed and detailed your car? We keep our physical surroundings tidy on a regular basis. But when was the last time you cleaned and organized your computers? Perhaps now is the time to clean up electronic devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Strengthening the Client-Financial Advisor Relationship: The Role of Daily Money Managers
On the one hand, we strive to build deep relationships with our clients. On the other hand, practical constraints of time and resources can limit the depth of our interactions. Enter the Daily Money Manager (DMM). A relatively new player in the financial services arena, the DMM serves as a bridge between the advisor and the client.
Structure Your Time for Efficiency and Profitability
As a small business owner, there are many jobs to get done and the responsibility of all of them flows right back to you. From marketing, managing, business development and actually doing the job, it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Here are some proven strategies to bring order to what can seem chaotic.
You’re probably realizing that graduation also brings a role change for you. Your new graduate is legally an adult for many purposes. 18-year-olds can marry and vote, and (males only) must register for the draft at 18. They can purchase a gun (subject to individual state laws). If your graduate is college bound, you may have learned that colleges are required to meet privacy rules under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). That means that in any college or university that receives federal funding, access to the student’s records is tightly restricted.
For Parents: Best Graduation Present EVER
Congratulations to the class of 2024! If you’re the parent of a graduating high school senior, congratulations to you, too! This spring will be a whirlwind of special assemblies, final concerts, awards ceremonies, prom—and presents! You may have bought that showy car for graduation—or a new computer for college.
You’re probably realizing that graduation also brings a role change for you. Your new graduate is legally an adult for many purposes. 18-year-olds can marry and vote, and (males only) must register for the draft at 18. They can purchase a gun (subject to individual state laws). If your graduate is college bound, you may have learned that colleges are required to meet privacy rules under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). That means that in any college or university that receives federal funding, access to the student’s records is tightly restricted.
Managing Paper Mail
Many people who grew up during the depression era learned that it was not good to put all their eggs in one basket. The risk of losing the basket along with all their eggs was too high.
This lesson applied to finances as well. Many individuals preferred to spread their money among a variety of different financial institutions because of their concern that a bank might fail and their funds would be lost.