Minding Your Money 360 - Quick tips to manage your money for success

Today on the minute – retirement myth #2

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a long conversation with an old friend this weekend and he had some really weird notions about retirement that I called retirement myths because I believe he is not alone in his beliefs and retirement is too important to be on the wrong side of the truth. Today I want to talk about one more myth that I uncovered in our conversation.

And, that is chasing the latest and greatest investments in search of a return. I applaud him for using ETFs because they tend to have lower fees and as you know fees can really eat into your return, but all ETFs are not all created equal when it comes to risk or return. When you choose investments for retirement, they should be well thought out, well researched and they should have a track record so that you have an idea (not a guarantee) but an idea of how they will react in different markets situations. Betting on new untried investments can be detrimental to your future.

If you aren’t sure how to choose investments, you may need to educate yourself or get some help. Most brokerage houses and mutual fund companies like Vanguard.com will have people who can walk you through the process based on your time frame and your risk tolerance level. And, you can always get advice from a financial advisor or the new kid on the block robo advisors.

Getting the right investments is so important to build a retirement nest egg and don’t forget to diversify. In other words, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

And that’s the minute for today. Tune in tomorrow when we uncover another retirement myth. You know I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, or you would you like some help in getting your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free Discovery Session.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

Today on the minute – retirement myth #1

I had a long conversation with an old friend this weekend and he had some really odd notions and I think it’s partly because he is still stuck in the past. The conversation turned to retirement and he said, I know I’m going to be okay in retirement because I am actively saving and I am only investing in the latest and greatest ETF’s and if all else fails I know I can work in retirement at least part-time and that will carry me through.

There were at least five things that could go wrong with his idea of a plan, so let’s uncover some of them. First, he doesn’t really have a retirement plan so even though he’s saving each month, he doesn’t know if he is saving enough because he doesn’t know how much money he needs. There are lots of retirement calculators on line like the one at Vanguard.com, but he had not even used one of those so he is totally in the dark.

So, what can he do at this stage? If retiring and staying retired is really important to him, a good first step is to get a plan – one that focuses on his specific situation and takes his lifestyle into account so he can have some real idea if he is going to be okay or if he needs to adjust his savings and/or after retirement lifestyle.

And that’s the minute for today. Tune in tomorrow when we uncover another retirement myth. You know I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free discovery session.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

It's Monday and I have a question.

And, my question is this… what’s in your wallet? Or more specifically, how many credit cards do you have in your wallet? If you pay them all off each month and you are contributing a good amount to your savings, you can skip this ‘Minute.’ On the other hand, if you are carrying a balance each month and not contributing to your savings, it may be time to consider lightening your wallet and in the process dumping some debt.  I know it’s tough to live without credit cards but you don’t need a ton of them. Instead, simplify your life and pare it down to one or two credit cards.

However, before you do anything remember:

Cancelling credit cards, could hurt your credit score because it decreases the amount of credit you have available. A big component of your score is something called your credit-utilization ratio. That's the amount of credit you've used as a percentage of your overall credit line. You want to keep that ratio as low as possible and cancelling cards makes your overall credit available lower which could increase your score. However, if you can’t manage your usage of your credit cards, it maybe better to cancel them and take the hit to your credit score.

If you decide to keep unused cards, in many cases, credit card companies may automatically cancel cards that you don’t use. So if is important for you to keep the card active, consider using for a recurring bill you pay and pay it off each month.

Aim to use as little credit as possible. If you want to raise your credit score, don’t use more than 30% of you available credit and 10% is even better. So take a moment and write your plan to slim down your wallet and fatten your savings.

And that’s the minute for today. I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free Discovery Session and let’s talk.

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

It’s Friday and time for our word of the week –the word this week is mind shift.

I choose the word mind shift because it’s what so many of us will have to experience in order to get to where we want to go. That is, adjusting your mind to bring about a change in your behavior which leads to changes in all parts of your life. There’s an saying that goes something like this…what got you here won’t get you there. So if you are not getting closer to where you want to go, it may be time for a mind shift.

You may need to take a different path and that could take you right out of your comfort zone. I listened to an interview with a blogger this week – a very successful blogger who was very transparent when it came to money. She openly talked about how much she made and what she paid for various things she bought. And, she said that she had received some criticism from some of her readers for being so open about money. Which makes you wonder why they kept reading if they found it so distasteful. But I digress. That’s just one example – talking about money – that might be a catalyst to get you moving in the right direction.

Look at it this way, if you’re not where you want to be and you don’t seem to be getting any closer going through a mind shift can be a great opportunity to move into a new space to discover your money voice, to exercise your money muscles. And that’s what it’s all about –mastering your money so that you can create the life you want – and ultimately to live life on your terms, not someone else’s.

Our word of the week is mind shift. Adjusting your mind to bring about change in your behavior.

And that’s the minute for today. Want more connect with us on Twitter @yourmoneyminute

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!

Today on the ‘Minute’ is retirement in your future?

There is actually a retirement or pension crisis going on. Many have actually saved little or nothing and the years are marching by. In fact, it’s estimated that overall retirement savings are $7 to $14 trillion less than what they should be and that is scary. So here’s what potential retirees are facing – their facing longer life spans so retirement could last 30 years or more. And, they are facing mounting healthcare costs which could be $250,000 or more during retirement and they are facing the possibility for those who have saved some money that all the deregulation could seriously jeopardize their future wealth.

But there is also another trend, and that is for people to work longer. Because of advances in healthcare we can be active a lot longer that past generations. And many are taking advantage of that both because they want to and for some out of necessity.

So what’s the solution? Well, there is no easy answer, but you can start to think about retirement differently. This is not your grandparents or your parents retirement anymore so shake off all of your old ideas and look it with new eyes. Instead of thinking of it as a destination at age 65 or wherever you choose, begin to think of it as a journey. And if you’re on that journey and you haven’t saved a lot, it may be difficult to save a pot of money big enough to last 30+ years. So instead concentrate on creating several income streams. Income streams can come from many places like a business, a side hustle, or even rental property. The sooner you expand your thinking and begin to think of retirement in a different way, the sooner you can start setting yourself up for a much more comfortable journey. Oh, and don’t forget to mind your money always.

And that’s the minute for today. You know I love helping people with all aspects of their financial lives. If you have a question, if debt is an issue or if you just want to get your financial house in order contact me at [email protected] or go to my website at psworth.com and sign up for a free Discovery Session.                                                          

Thanks for listening and as always remember that minding your money really is the path to a richer life!