Manage Your Financial Life

Starting a Family

7 Posts Back Home

Take an honest, comprehensive view of your expenses before making big changes in your life, like starting a family.  Explore the blog articles below for helpful advice during this exciting stage of life.

Financial Advice For Women In Various Stages of Life

Family Office Approach

It was an honor to be part of the Evanston Literary Festival. I discussed managing your finances through life transitions. I was the first of three female authors featured that day as part of Piven Theatre’s Women’s Voices Project, a year-long initiative in tandem with Piven’s 45th anniversary. They noted that the financial advice found in my book as a “comprehensive resource invaluable–and you find yourself coming back to it again and again.”  Read the full review below. Nancy Doyle: Manage Your Financial Life Is it time to take control of your financial life? Nancy Doyle offers an objective and straightforward perspective based on a wealth of professional and personal experience. In Manage Your Financial Life: A Thoughtful, Organized Approach for Women, she shares a practical and easy-to-understand system for getting organized, analyzing your financial profile, educating yourself about investing, and putting your money to work. Whether you’re going through a transition–parenthood, home…

Keep Reading

Manage Your Financial Life Book Interview on WGN Radio

Get Organized

Steve Bertrand of the Wintrust Business Lunch on WGN’s 720 featured me to discuss my book. It’s practical advice for anyone but I’m really focused on women. Check out the transcript from my segment below. Steve Bertrand: This is the Wintrust Business Lunch on 720 WGN. Nancy Doyle is in the studio. She has a book called Manage Your Financial Life: A Thoughtful Organized Approach. Now the last two words Nancy are “For Women”. And welcome. Nancy Doyle: Thank you, glad to be here. Steve Bertrand: I’m here to argue with you though, that it doesn’t have to be just for women because I think this is the sort of stuff that we all of us should be paying attention to. Nancy Doyle: That’s true. The book really applies to both men and women. But for many reasons, I’ve decided to write it for women. Steve Bertrand: Because they’re smart…

Keep Reading

Financial Tip: Prioritize Building an Emergency Fund

Save and Invest

I was recently quoted in a blog published by US News on the importance of establishing an Emergency Fund. Investing your money starts with establishing your savings goals. Revisiting your savings goals is a great resolution for 2017. Prioritize your savings goals based on the different time horizons — near-term, long-term, and intermediate-term.  Establishing an emergency fund should be a top near-term goal.

Keep Reading

Financial Tip: How to Effectively Plan in Case of Emergency

Get Organized

Readers Digest quoted me on how to effectively plan in case of emergency. Emergency situations are challenging enough. Being organized in terms of your financial affairs can help to alleviate some of the stress. I recommend that everyone create an ICE – in case of emergency – file and plan. An ICE file contains important documents that are easily accessible to you or to someone acting on your behalf. An ICE plan includes key contacts and financial account information. Check out the full article below.

Keep Reading

How to Underwrite Yourself

Analyze Finances

Underwriting is what banks or insurance companies do when they evaluate risks associated with lending money or providing an insurance policy. To underwrite yourself, you need to take a close and honest look at your finances, ask yourself some questions, consider uncertainties and exposures, and evaluate your risk profile on many fronts. Analyze Your Sources of Income The first consideration is your income. Ask yourself these questions: Is your salary steady or variable? Do you rely on commissions or bonuses? Do you work in a cyclical industry? If your compensation is variable, you should not carry a lot of debt. Likewise, you should make sure to have an ample cash reserve. Evaluate Your Debt When you are thinking of buying a big item, consider if you can actually afford the item, not just whether or not you can afford the payment. Commit to paying off your credit card balances every…

Keep Reading

Personal Financial Statements

Analyze Finances

Evaluate your personal financial statements to gauge your financial health. When evaluating the financial health of a company, bankers and investors rely on three types of financial statements: An income statement, which incorporates income and expenses for a period of time A balance sheet, which shows net worth at a point in time A cash flow statement, which considers not only your household income, but also changes in savings and debt I’ll show you how to create each of them below. Income Statement:  Income – Expenses = Net Income How to create an income statement Add up your salary or other income Start with your after-tax take-home pay. Add any other sources of income from consulting or part-time work and rental or investment income (all on an after-tax basis). Add your partner’s after-tax take-home pay as well as any other sources of income. Subtract your expenses or obligations The main…

Keep Reading
Navigate