MONEY matters

Need some tips on saving money while planning your wedding? It’s that time of year again when happy couples tie the knot, and the last thing on their minds is the cost of the celebration. 

Posted on the Financial Planning Association (FPA) website, this article gives sensible information that future brides and grooms may not want to hear.  Listed are some obvious tips such as setting a wedding budget and sticking with it and monitoring spending. The not-so-obvious tips like considering a destination wedding are much more interesting.

What’s in it for me?

Its tax time once again. And unless you’ve switched over to paperless records, you have a lot of receipts and records that backup your income and tax deductions. How long do you keep these records? What can get thrown away, what’s important, how long to keep everything? All good questions. Please check out this article from the New York Times that offers some practical guidance on retaining financial records.

If greed or fear has played a role in your investing decisions, (and for most investors the answer is yes, greed and/or fear has definately come into play) then this NY Times article called How Greed and Fear Kills Returns is a must read.

Be a contrarian when managing your investments and take reporter Carl Richards advice, "It makes far more sense to ignore what the crowd is doing and base your investment decisions on what you need to reach your goals, then stick with the plan despite the fear or greed you may feel."

Like many of my fellow progressives, I’ve been a bit disappointed with President Obama’s accomplishments to date. Then fortunately, I received an email that illustrated all the many things our President has done so far. I wanted to share that with you as it sure brightened my day.

“Robert P. Watson, Ph.D.Coordinator of American Studies Lynn University”

Having recently crossed over the 50 year young mark in one piece, (and knock on wood, no mid-life crisis to deal with thus far) my focus as a financial planner has been and will continue to be focused on retirement planning.  I’ve quickly learned that it’s one thing to be in your 30’s and even 40’s contemplating as well as advising clients on how to transition into a successful retirement, yet it’s a whole other ball game to be in your 50’s and suddenly be reflecting on my own retirement plans.  Even the word retirement has taken on new meaning for me. And who among has hasn’t received the infamous AARP welcome package only to stare at it in disbelief thinking “what, are you kidding me?”

What really concerns me about my fellow baby boomers nearing retirement is the risk they’re taking with their money. The great stock market and real estate crash of 2008 will be a memory that is not soon forgotten. One of the major fallouts from the crash, at least from my vantage point, is the undue risk people are taking with their investments in order to play the catch up game.

As often happens, I learn great lessons about money listening to my clients share their money stories with me. Here’s a story I had to share.

There’s a new money management website that has a free program called Pocketsmith. On it's web-based calendar, you schedule in your bills, salary, rent, etc. PocketSmith takes the information and generates forecasts which plans your upcoming annual budget. If budgeting and cash flow have been a challenge or you wish there was a calendar program that could help make sure you know when your bills need to be paid, check out Pocketsmith. They also have a decent blog.

Along with Money Magazine, PC Magazine Editor's and Kiplinger's - I too rate Mint.com as my top choice for a personal financial management tool. Mint's blog is excellent and worth following.  The Mint on-line community offers support, Q&A videos and more. Mint.com is a good looking website, easy to follow and simple to use - and it's free. Now there's no reason not to get your personal finances in order.

-How much money do you need to retire, or as I like to say, stop working for money, and not be at risk of outliving your financial resources?