My Personal Finance Blog

Again and again you hear from everywhere that financial planning is a key to your future prosperity and well-being. Any married couple should ask themselves why they live beyond their income and have financial problems. It happens because couple make several wide spread financial mistakes.

Most married couples talk about money on a weekly basis but they are too emotional instead of being strategic in their attempts to discuss important financial problems. But you must be serious and methodical like running a business and your financial tactics will become wiser and more successful.

Some financial advice may be of great use for married couples and they should not ignore it even if they dislike advice.

If you have separate account and one joint account for household needs it does not mean absence of unity in your marriage or that you demonstrate lack of trust in one another. It shows your wise approach to your family financial affairs and that you give each other freedom.

In order to be financially secure, you should track your spending, unless it will be impossible to set financial goals and plan your budget.

Of course everything must be discussed regularly especially financial aspects of your family life. Ask for a financial planner’s help if you need.

Save at least 10% of your income and invest in a retirement account because you both want to have a steady retirement lifestyle.

Pay off existing debt together in accordance to the made plan. You should never separate from your spouse’s debts. Try live debt free rationalizing your budget.

Do not fall in financial infidelity like many couples do and be honest about the cost of your purchases. Big financial secrets can destroy your relationship.

Read this article carefully once more and try to practice the tips in your everyday family life.

Have you ever figured out how much money you will make in your lifetime? Looking at the total numbers can be both exciting and sobering. If you are 25 and make $40,000 a year, by the time you are 65, you could have earned over 1.6 million dollars – and that’s assuming you never get a raise. That’s quite a fortune.

But where does it all go? As you were growing up, your parents probably reminded you that “money doesn’t grow on trees”. As you have entered the working world, you probably understand that better now. But money can still seem to have a life of its own.

Family financial planning is not just about cutting coupons and denying yourself treats. It takes serious, careful thought and preparation, but the benefits are well worth the time and effort. The steps are simple.

Start Fresh

Before you can move ahead, you have to get yourself back to the starting line. Get rid of your debt. Once that hole is filled, you can really start to save money for the future. To get out of debt, you’ve got to start living off of what you can earn-not what you can borrow.

Credit card debt is a huge thorn in anyone’s side. Credit cards are a slippery slope, and though they can be handy in emergencies, they make spending money a little too easy. If you only pay the minimum payment each month on a $3,000.00 balance, it will take over 20 years to pay off, and you could pay over $4,000 in interest.

Luckily, getting out of debt is easier than you think. First, promise yourself that you’ll stop charging. Next, figure out how much you can comfortably spend every month in debt payments. Make it a reasonable number that you can stick to, but make it significantly higher than the minimum payments. Even paying $100 more per month on your payments can help out a LOT more than you think.

One last tip: Don’t send every penny you have to the credit card company in frustration. You’ll only end up with no cash when the electric bill comes in, and you’ll be forced to break your promise to yourself and start charging again.

Write it Down

It’s not unusual for a family not to be able to account for 10% or even 20% of their annual expenses. Make a comprehensive list and figure out where the money is going. Determine both how much you’ll spend annually and how much you intend to spend over your working lifetime. You can use the worksheet on the following page as a starting point.

You may be surprised to find out that you don’t know how much you’re spending on a lot of categories. Write down everything you spend for three months-yes, even that 50¢ Coke from the vending machine-and you’ll start to get some real averages.

Here are some categories to look at for savings:

Home

-Rent or Mortgage
-Home Insurance
-Home Maintenance
-Property Taxes

Utilities

-Electricity
-Telephone
-Water
-Garbage Pickup
-Homeowner/Condo Fees
-Internet Connection
-Natural Gas
-Cable TV

Food

-Groceries
-Dining Out
-Take Out

Transportation

-Car Loan
-Car insurance
-Gas
-Parking
-Car Maintenance & Repairs
-Subway, Tolls & Bus
-Registration & Inspection

Personal Care

-Hair Cuts
-Manicures/Pedicures
-Dry Cleaning
-Gym Memberships

Children & Education

-Educational Loans
-Daycare or Private School
-School Supplies
-School Fees
-Baby Supplies

Entertainment

-Renting or Going to Movies
-Family Outings
-Entertaining
-Tobacco
-Alcohol
-Vacations

Pets

-Pet Grooming
-Pet Boarding
-Pet Medical
-Pet Food

Services

-Housekeeper
-Gardner/Mower
-Babysitter

Medical

-Dentist
-Physician
-Eye Care
-Prescriptions
-Emergencies
-Medical Insurance
-Life & Disability Insurance

Consumer Items

-Magazines & Subscriptions (online game subscriptions, etc.)
-Other Memberships (ballet classes, season tickets, club dues)
-Books
-Hobby Expenses
-Tapes & CDs
-Clothes
-Furniture/Household
-Computers and Home Office
-Toys & Games
-Gifts
-Christmas Expenditures
-Other

Other Expenses

-Other Loans
-Credit Card Payments
-Child Support
-Late fees, bank charges, etc.
-Charity
-Alimony
-Income Tax

Savings

-Retirement Savings
-Emergency Savings
-Investments

Establish Goals

The vast majority of families would like to be better off, but have no specific goals. And no, “I’d like to be rich,” doesn’t count as a specific goal. Sit down with your significant other and talk it over. Where do we want to be in ten years, and how do we get there?

Make your goals specific and attainable. Know your rewards for cutting spending. If you decide to give up take-out food, cable TV and morning coffee at your favorite cafe, figure out how much you can save and what you’re going to do with the money. Will you save up to go to school again? Would you like to get a bigger house? Do you want to be able to retire earlier?

Calculate it out: How much money do you need to meet your goals, and how can you get it.

Save and Invest

Determine a set amount that you are going to set away each month and treat it like a bill. To start with, you’ll probably want to put your money in a savings account. But as your savings grows, you’ll want to start to use that money to make more money.

There are dozens of safe ways for you to invest your money and earn more interest than you will in basic savings. Here are a few you can look into:

CD’s Mutual Funds Bonds Money Market Accounts IRAs Treasury Bills and Notes

At Sec.gov, you can use the search function to find clear definitions of different types of accounts. And at Bankrate.com you can compare interest rates offered by banks in your area for basic savings, CD’s, mutual funds and more.

Educate Yourself

In the end, proper financial planning requires educated decisions. Don’t just blindly earn and spend. Pay attention to where your money goes. Household budgets, careful spending, savings, investments, and credit card control are only part of it. Not everyone likes dealing with financial aspects of their lives, but in the end, it’s worth it to bite the bullet, crunch the numbers, and learn how to handle the fortune you earn.

Creating a solid financial plan for retirement requires that you understand how money matters such as savings, debt, expenses, budgeting, and insurance work together. These are just some of the things you need to consider if you want to build and protect funds for yourself, as well as your family.

Making a budget for a certain period, such as a month, week, year, or even day, shows you how much money you’ve spent, what you’ve spent it on, and how much you have left. If you document your expenses, you’ll have a better grasp of where your money is going and what your current priorities are.

After making your budget, you’ll see all the major and minor expenses you’ve put your money towards. You’ll also be able to see how you can cut back on certain purchases or services, and use this money for other, more important things. Remember, the little purchases you make here and there can add up to a significant sum.

If you’re like most people, you probably have some amount of debt that can eventually put a damper on your financial plans if they’re not taken care of soonest. Paying more than the minimum due payment per month can help you decrease or eliminate your debt over time. This practice can also save you up to thousands of dollars in interest over several years.

Saving for retirement needs to be one of the senior’s top priorities, as many of today’s retirees are having trouble making ends meet due to the current conditions of the economy. You can take advantage of accounts such as your employer’s 401K plan, a personal retirement account, or a special retirement account if you’re self-employed. You can get tax-free earnings, credits, and deductions with these.

Real wealth can be achieved, or at least protected, by using these financial planning tips. Planning your finances for retirement isn’t easy, but these basic steps can get you on your way to a happy and stable retirement period. Contact your financial advisor to know how you can build a better financial plan.

When it comes to planning for your family’s financial future, you’re going to need to analyze your family financial planning. Everyone’s different when it comes to family financial planning, and each individual as well as each family is different. If you’re not familiar with family financial planning it’s important that you seek out a professional so that you can secure your family’s future.

When it comes to family financial analysis, you’ll be analyzing several different areas. Not only will you take a look at your cash flow, your debt management, but also will be looking at retirement planning, and educational funding options.

It’s important that you understand how all of this planning can affect not just your future, but your children’s as well. Many times families grow up before you know it, and the kids need to head off to college, without family financial planning, you may have to depend on scholarships.

Many families wind up in terrible debt due to college situations. How can you tell your child after they worked hard for 12 years that they cannot go to college because you didn’t plan for it? Therefore it’s vital that you take family planning into consideration as early as possible in your children’s lives. Analyzing how you’re going to save for college is what it’s going to take in order to make sure that their future is secure.

Children who do not go to college in today’s world are not as likely to succeed. A college education is almost mandatory for just about any job these days. Although technical schools are often an option for those who do not qualify or cannot afford college, even technical schools cost money. Without family financial planning, there’s a good chance your children will not go on to higher education.

Seek out a financial analyst if you do not already have a family financial plan. It’s vital that you plan for your family’s future. A financial analyst will allow you to understand how what you do today can affect your children and their future. Not only do you need to protect your children and their college future, but you also need to protect yourself.

After all, you don’t want your children to feel responsible for you in your old age. Instead you’d like to be able to help the young family out because you have a good retirement and a financial analyst can help you secure your future.

Family planning and family financial planning should start as soon as you feel you’re going to have a family. If you’re not familiar with cash flow, educational funding, retirement planning as well as estate planning and investment analysis, it’s time to seek out a family financial planning expert and have your family’s financial plan analyzed.

For numerous families a controversial subject is family financial planning, as on many occasions it seems as if the money coming in is never equivalent to the money going out. It always seems that there is more money being spent than what is actually being gained by the family. Every family needs to take control of their finances by effectively planning and eliminating poor spending techniques.

A good technique is to use the services of an expert financial advisor to help with the family’s financial goals, as leaving your finances unsupervised could result in your finances getting out of control. The financial advisor should help you by ensuring that you have a family budget and that you eliminate wasteful spending, decrease high interest debts and transform your debts into wealth.

Another Technique to enhance your family’s financial standing is to devise a strategic plan geared towards reducing your debt exposure and consolidating the family’s debt into one lower interest loan. For example with increasing problems associated with credit cards, it is recommended that you destroy all the credit cards except one, so as to avoid the additionally debts.

To effectively plan and maintain good finances, your family will need to undertake more money saving programs and less spending, thus focusing more on long-term goals rather than short term spending. It’s a good idea to get your family involved in long term financial viable investment schemes and programs.

Your family should engage in cost containment practices for a better financial future like distinguishing between wants and needs when shopping, saving on electricity and other utilities and buying grocery and food items in bulk. These cost saving techniques and many others will ensure that money is not being squandered or wasted.

Family financial planning techniques should be employed to secure your family’s future and well being, as you will definitely not want to find yourself in a position where you fear retirement or those college tuition fees, because of a lack of financial preparation.