Family Finances

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Holiday Tipping Guide

The holidays are joyful and also a little stressful. In addition to getting a head start on shopping, plan your holiday tips early. Holiday tips are a nice way to say “thank you” to those who help us out during the year.  Many have questions about whom to tip during the holidays and how much to give.  Here are a few thoughts: For those who help you out regularly – dog walker, trainer, hair stylist, babysitter, piano teacher – tip the equivalent of one service or session. For nannies or housekeepers who work with you more than once a week, consider one week’s pay as a holiday bonus. For teachers or coaches, consider pooling voluntary contributions from parents and putting the funds toward a gift card to be given at the end of the season or at the end of the school year. For other service providers that you use…

Financial Caregiver: Understanding Your Role

As our population ages and our financial lives become increasingly complex, financial caregivers are more common. Defining and understanding what the role entails is important. Have you been asked to serve as a financial caregiver? Are you considering asking someone to serve as a financial caregiver for you or a loved one? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov) offers four free guides explaining what it means to serve as a trustee, power of attorney, guardian of property, and a government fiduciary (for Social Security and VA benefits.) A common trait of these types of financial caregivers is that they involve a fiduciary duty. These four guides explain fiduciary duty and offer helpful suggestions on how best to serve in these roles. Guides for Different Types of Financial Caregivers

Time for a Financial Spring Cleaning

Spring is the perfect time to clear out our home offices. I like to call it a financial spring cleaning. Just like when you go through your closet or food pantry to determine what to keep, what to donate, and what to toss, you need to do the same with your financial life. Perhaps even more important than what you keep is what you can shred, recycle, or delete. Keeping unnecessary documents and statements makes it harder to locate important information in a hurry. Most of us waste a lot of time trying to find things on our computer and amidst our papers. Getting rid of unnecessary documents frees up precious space in your file drawer and on your hard drive. Keep both a recycle bin and a shredding bin near your desk or wherever you pay bills or go through mail. Shred or delete monthly statements once you receive…

An Email Hack – What to Do

It all started when I received the dreaded text message …”I received a strange email from you”… My friend shared a copy of the fraudulent email content. Within minutes, I received notifications from dozens of friends, through email, text, DMs, and phone calls. Whether it was someone from one of my two non-profit boards, parents of my kids’ former teammates or classmates, members of my book club or old paddle tennis teams, or friends from high school, college, or the neighborhood, I heard from a lot of people on my contact list. I appreciate everyone looking out for me. After I took a deep breath, my first thought was, “what should I do now?” Fortunately, a neighbor who helps me with IT consulting texted me as soon as he received the fraudulent email. He walked me through the first steps: Update your password on your email account. Let friends know…

‘Tis the Season: Helpful Tips on Holiday Tipping

Tis the season for tipping. It is a nice way to say “thank you” to those who help us out during the year. Many have questions about whom to tip during the holidays and how much to give. Here are a few thoughts: For those who help you out regularly – dog walker, trainer, hair stylist, babysitter, piano teacher – tip the equivalent of one service or session. For nannies or housekeepers who work with you more than once a week, consider one week’s pay as a holiday bonus. For teachers or coaches, consider pooling voluntary contributions from parents and putting the funds toward a gift card to be given at the end of the season or at the end of the school year. For other service providers, you could double the tip that you would give other times of the year. Every year make a list of holiday tips…

Get Your Home Office in Shape

Over the past 18 months, our home offices have taken on greater importance. Having a functional, organized home office makes our professional lives and our financial lives easier to navigate. If your home office needs attention, it is time to get started. Financial Spring Cleaning Just like when you go through your closet or food pantry to determine what to keep, what to donate, and what to toss, you need to do the same with your financial life. Perhaps even more important than what you keep is what you can shred, recycle, or delete. Keeping unnecessary documents and statements makes it harder to locate vital personal finance information in a hurry. Most of us waste a lot of time trying to find things on our computer and amidst our papers. Getting rid of unnecessary documents frees up precious space in your file cabinet and on in your filing system on your hard drive. Keep both a recycle bin…

Email Hacks: What to Do

Numerous schemes have emerged to take advantage of people’s vulnerability due to COVID-19. Examples include phishing emails referring to urgent pandemic updates, robocalls from the Department of Public Health, texts related to unemployment claims, phony DocuSign requests, and, of course, email hacks. Most experts anticipate that the incidence of fraud will continue to escalate. For the past six years, I have written and spoken extensively about getting one’s financial house in order. Passwords, security, and identity theft protection are all topics that I address. I am well versed in the subject, but despite this I discovered that my personal email was hacked. Data breaches are unfortunately common – we have all seen the headlines. As surprised as I was that this happened, I was equally surprised at how little help I received from my provider to address the issue. While I took some steps right away, there were also others…

When In Doubt, Throw It Out Or Maybe Not?

We all feel better after we clean out our closet or our pantry. The same is true for your financial life. Most people save far more financial information than necessary. An essential part of clearing out your home office is figuring out what you should keep and what you should not. Here are some general guidelines that I follow to get organized: What to Keep Keep tax returns and all supporting documents for seven years from the date that you file your taxes, not seven years from December 31st for a particular tax year. Keep all bank statements and credit card annual statements and summaries for the same seven-year window. Keep receipts for any major purchases and all insured things as long as you have the item. Keep student loan, car loan, and mortgage documents (including payoff notices) and documentation for any other loans indefinitely. If you own your home…

Spending: Essential or Non-Essential?

Finding ways to save more starts with finding ways to spend less. Analyzing where your money goes every month is a great place to start. Take a close look at your non-essential expenses or “wants.” These are often tied to lifestyle choices. Reducing non-essential outlays will free up cash you can use to pay down debt, shore up emergency fund reserves, and save for retirement. Articulating a plan and exercising discipline increases the likelihood that you will attain your goals. Analyze Your Spending There are a vast number of personal finance websites and apps. Linking your transaction activity to one of the tools helps track your spending on a real-time basis – overall spending levels, spending by category, etc. There are also data security considerations. If you choose a website or app, select a leading one with excellent security. Whereas I am in favor of budgeting tools to analyze spending,…

Tip for Tracking Regular Home Maintenance Outlays

In your contacts notes field, track the amount you pay each year for regular home maintenance services. Yesterday, I was significantly overcharged. I contacted the manager and shared what I have spent over the years. He apologized and quickly corrected it. We all make mistakes sometimes. Especially now, local businesses truly value long-term clients. Please support them.

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