Many successful people have mentors to guide them in learning the skills that lead to achievement, and Ill do my best to offer you some critical personal finance perspectives. They say that life is a school where you learn the lesson after the test. The same thing applies to money, but you cant go back in time to fix catastrophic financial mistakes that you have made over time. As long as you are alive, you are a player on the field of the money-game, and you need to know the basic rules before you get tagged by the experienced players.
Rule #1: To earn money from money. The only way to escape becoming a wage slave for the rest of your life is to set aside savings. The profit on your savings can be used to increase your lifestyle spending, reduce the number of years until you retire, or allow you to actually have any retirement at all. How are you doing so far toward saving and getting it to earn money for you?
Every dollar that you spend eliminates its ability to earn money for you in the future. I am not recommending that you stop eating at restaurants and going to movies, I am recommending that you use some common sense, like looking at your four biggest expenses over the last few months and aggressively finding a way to reduce them.
The biggest obstacle for the first rule is personal debt of any kind (other than a mortgage for your home) or a lease of any kind. Every personal debt that you incur reduces your net worth which could have been working for you over your life time. Acquiring personal debt is exactly like putting a large hole in your wallet. In the money-game, a huge transfer of wealth occurs between the Haves and the Have-Nots over the words, I can afford that monthly payment. Here is a hint: the Have-Nots are the ones who make that statement. So please dont ever look at whether you can afford a monthly payment to make a purchase; pay in cash after youve saved for the item. [Everything that you buy with a 0%-interest payment plan must be over-priced. Behind the scenes, your payment contract is sold to a lender with an interest rate, and retailers dont do this without building-in an acceptable profit for themselves. Ask retailers how much the item will cost if you pay in full, and you could get a lower price.]
Rule #2 Always keep your finances under control. The first step in losing financial control and spiraling into debt and money problems is simply not dealing with personal finances. Prepare for catastrophic financial accidents with health, life, disability, and auto insurance. Plan and save before you buy something. Create a balance sheet for yourself at least once a year to see how you are progressing. Pay every bill on time, or contact the creditor to tell them what is going on and make a partial payment. If you are temporarily unable to handle any of this, ask for some help immediately and find someone trustworthy who will do this for you.
The most common source of financial trouble is a trauma in your life. This can be a health problem (large expenses or unable to work), an emotional problem (divorce or loss of loved one), or a financial problem (losing a job, cut in pay, relocation, unexpected expenses). Whichever the source may be, it leads to three emotional problems: the first is denial, the second is being overwhelmed, and the third is hopelessness. Denial causes people to not open their mail and continue spending as usual, and being overwhelmed paralyzes people from getting assistance and dealing with the situation. For example, if you just lost a loved one, balancing your checkbook and paying bills is not high in your priorities. Unfortunately, tiny amounts of debt grow with interest and penalties into seemingly insurmountable mountains of debt; leaving you with loathsome options such as bankruptcy, poor credit, declining lifestyle spending, and added stress that you bring to relationships and work.
Rule #3 Pay attention to the finances of the people with whom you spend the most time. Whether they are relatives, friends, or co-workers, these people have the most impact on your financial life. Do they consistently follow the first two rules of the money game? Do they earn about the same money as you? If the answer to either of those is no, then I recommend that you start spending a little less time with them; and this is why. If they dont consistently follow the first two rules, it is unlikely that you will either. You unconsciously model the people around you, and the more people you are exposed to that dont follow the first two rules, the more likely that you will unwittingly follow them. No one thinks they are trying to keep up with the Joneses, but we all do it to some extent, and this is the mechanism. On the other hand, if they earn a lot more money than you, you may rack up a lot of debt trying to keep up with them (meeting them at their favorite expensive restaurant, joining them for another expensive vacation, buying a new car because yours is the junker among all of your friends, etc.) On the other hand, if most of your friends earn a lot less than you, you will turn into the groups banker. For example, youll find yourself in the pattern of putting your credit card down to pay for dinner and theyll all say theyll pay you back later, but 50% of them never do; and they dont mind taking advantage of you because, after all, you earn a lot more than they do. Or, you and your friends need to pay a deposit for renting a house and they expect you to write the checks because you have the money available and they do not.
The neighborhood that you live in also creates financial pressure to violate the first two financial goals. Your neighbors are likely to become friends (and Ive already gone over this), but they also influence the size of your home, extent of your landscaping, price of furniture, and the size of your TV. So pay very close attention to the finances of your neighbors if you dont like how they are measuring up for first two rules, move somewhere more in alignment with your financial goals. If your family and friends, dont measure up financially, find some additional people to spend time with that have financial habits that youd like to emulate and learn from. I have friends with a wide range of income, but it is much more difficult to follow the first two money rules when I am with the extremes from my own income. Youll just find it easier to reach the next rule when the peer group that you hang out with aligns closer to your economic level.
Rule #4 Accelerate the other three rules:
Add to your savings by increasing your income through advancing your career. It doesnt matter whether you enjoy it; it is a means to an end with the end being progress toward the fulfillment of rule #1. Increase the amount that you save by aggressively lowering four of your highest expenses. Start spending time with people that talk about investing money and are systematically building their wealth the fastest. The combination of all four of these rules will hopefully offer a next-step for you to take today to start getting more wins in the money-game.
Many successful people have mentors to guide them in learning the skills that lead to achievement, and Ill do my best to offer you some critical personal finance perspectives. They say that life is a school where you learn the lesson after the test. The same thing applies to money, but you cant go back in time to fix catastrophic financial mistakes that you have made over time. As long as you are alive, you are a player on the field of the money-game, and you need to know the basic rules before you get tagged by the experienced players.
Rule #1: To earn money from money. The only way to escape becoming a wage slave for the rest of your life is to set aside savings. The profit on your savings can be used to increase your lifestyle spending, reduce the number of years until you retire, or allow you to actually have any retirement at all. How are you doing so far toward saving and getting it to earn money for you?
Every dollar that you spend eliminates its ability to earn money for you in the future. I am not recommending that you stop eating at restaurants and going to movies, I am recommending that you use some common sense, like looking at your four biggest expenses over the last few months and aggressively finding a way to reduce them.
The biggest obstacle for the first rule is personal debt of any kind (other than a mortgage for your home) or a lease of any kind. Every personal debt that you incur reduces your net worth which could have been working for you over your life time. Acquiring personal debt is exactly like putting a large hole in your wallet. In the money-game, a huge transfer of wealth occurs between the Haves and the Have-Nots over the words, I can afford that monthly payment. Here is a hint: the Have-Nots are the ones who make that statement. So please dont ever look at whether you can afford a monthly payment to make a purchase; pay in cash after youve saved for the item. [Everything that you buy with a 0%-interest payment plan must be over-priced. Behind the scenes, your payment contract is sold to a lender with an interest rate, and retailers dont do this without building-in an acceptable profit for themselves. Ask retailers how much the item will cost if you pay in full, and you could get a lower price.]
Rule #2 Always keep your finances under control. The first step in losing financial control and spiraling into debt and money problems is simply not dealing with personal finances. Prepare for catastrophic financial accidents with health, life, disability, and auto insurance. Plan and save before you buy something. Create a balance sheet for yourself at least once a year to see how you are progressing. Pay every bill on time, or contact the creditor to tell them what is going on and make a partial payment. If you are temporarily unable to handle any of this, ask for some help immediately and find someone trustworthy who will do this for you.
The most common source of financial trouble is a trauma in your life. This can be a health problem (large expenses or unable to work), an emotional problem (divorce or loss of loved one), or a financial problem (losing a job, cut in pay, relocation, unexpected expenses). Whichever the source may be, it leads to three emotional problems: the first is denial, the second is being overwhelmed, and the third is hopelessness. Denial causes people to not open their mail and continue spending as usual, and being overwhelmed paralyzes people from getting assistance and dealing with the situation. For example, if you just lost a loved one, balancing your checkbook and paying bills is not high in your priorities. Unfortunately, tiny amounts of debt grow with interest and penalties into seemingly insurmountable mountains of debt; leaving you with loathsome options such as bankruptcy, poor credit, declining lifestyle spending, and added stress that you bring to relationships and work.
Rule #3 Pay attention to the finances of the people with whom you spend the most time. Whether they are relatives, friends, or co-workers, these people have the most impact on your financial life. Do they consistently follow the first two rules of the money game? Do they earn about the same money as you? If the answer to either of those is no, then I recommend that you start spending a little less time with them; and this is why. If they dont consistently follow the first two rules, it is unlikely that you will either. You unconsciously model the people around you, and the more people you are exposed to that dont follow the first two rules, the more likely that you will unwittingly follow them. No one thinks they are trying to keep up with the Joneses, but we all do it to some extent, and this is the mechanism. On the other hand, if they earn a lot more money than you, you may rack up a lot of debt trying to keep up with them (meeting them at their favorite expensive restaurant, joining them for another expensive vacation, buying a new car because yours is the junker among all of your friends, etc.) On the other hand, if most of your friends earn a lot less than you, you will turn into the groups banker. For example, youll find yourself in the pattern of putting your credit card down to pay for dinner and theyll all say theyll pay you back later, but 50% of them never do; and they dont mind taking advantage of you because, after all, you earn a lot more than they do. Or, you and your friends need to pay a deposit for renting a house and they expect you to write the checks because you have the money available and they do not.
The neighborhood that you live in also creates financial pressure to violate the first two financial goals. Your neighbors are likely to become friends (and Ive already gone over this), but they also influence the size of your home, extent of your landscaping, price of furniture, and the size of your TV. So pay very close attention to the finances of your neighbors if you dont like how they are measuring up for first two rules, move somewhere more in alignment with your financial goals. If your family and friends, dont measure up financially, find some additional people to spend time with that have financial habits that youd like to emulate and learn from. I have friends with a wide range of income, but it is much more difficult to follow the first two money rules when I am with the extremes from my own income. Youll just find it easier to reach the next rule when the peer group that you hang out with aligns closer to your economic level.
Rule #4 Accelerate the other three rules:
Add to your savings by increasing your income through advancing your career. It doesnt matter whether you enjoy it; it is a means to an end with the end being progress toward the fulfillment of rule #1. Increase the amount that you save by aggressively lowering four of your highest expenses. Start spending time with people that talk about investing money and are systematically building their wealth the fastest. The combination of all four of these rules will hopefully offer a next-step for you to take today to start getting more wins in the money-game.
Joe Smith writes-
I just retired. I have worked all my life and am ready to have some fun in retirement. I want to figure out how much income I can take in retirement without running out. I have $200,000 in my 401k plan with my former employer. I am 65 years old and my wife Emma is 56 years old and would like to be guaranteed to at least have income for the next 20 years for me or for my wife if I don’t make it that long. What are my options when it comes to annuities?
We have two solutions you may want to consider. As with all investment planning there are advantages and disadvantages to each option and my job is to help you understand them.
Option #1 Income for life
There are different types of annuities available that can help make sure you have income for the rest of your life and the rest of your beneficiary’s life. One solution is called a “lifetime five” option. This is where you invest in an annuity that is invested in a managed portfolio of stocks and bonds. The investment decision-making is left up to the annuity company.
You are initially guaranteed each year to receive 5% of the original amount invested for your life and your wife’s life. Since you are both over the age of 55 you would qualify for this type of annuity. Age 55 is the minimum age. You are guaranteed by the annuity company that you will be able to take an income payment of at least:
$200,000 x 5% = $10,000 per year for the rest of your life and the rest of your wife’s life
This is the minimum guarantee provided by the insurance company. This annuity also has the ability to raise the minimum amount you can be paid every 3 years. For example: If you invest $200,000 and in three years your portfolio has grown to $215,000 your new minimum guarantee is:
$215,000 x 5% = $10,750. You just got a $750 dollar raise per year for the rest of your lives.
On the other hand, your portfolio may fall to $190,000 after three years. In this scenario you would not have any stepped up minimum guarantee so you would just collect your original $200,000 x 5% = $10,000 per year for the rest of your lives. You would get another chance to increase your income stream in three years.
Remember, you get a chance to step up this account value every three years, but the amount of your annual payout can only go up, it can never go down.
You may ask, “What if I need some money for an emergency in a lump sum?” In this situation you would be able to withdraw your portfolio’s value, less any withdrawals and penalties. It most likely will have some value but due to market fluctuations and withdrawals it may be lower than your original investment. You may also have to pay a surrender fee of up to 10%.
In summary:
Advantages:
Known income stream for life, with upside potential. (In this example a minimum of $10,000 for life.)
You have upside potential but no downside risk in income streams
You can participate in market gains every three years and possibly adjust your income upward.
If, after the surrender period is up, (usually 7 to 10 years) and your account value has gone up, you can walk away from the contract if you want and invest in another annuity. This may be to your advantage if you don’t want to wait another 3 years to up your income stream.
Guaranteed an income stream for over 20 years, if you live longer than 20 years and for your wife’s life even if she lives any number of years after you die.
Disadvantages:
If you need to withdraw the entire amount of your money within the first 7 to 10 years of investing your money, you will pay a surrender fee of up to 10%.
If you want to walk away from the annuity contract because you need the money in a lump sum your account value can possibly be down from your original investment.
The insurance company allowing this “income for life guaranteed benefit” no matter what happens to the account value does not come for free. There are additional annual fees involved in order to provide these guarantees. You should expect somewhere between 0.50% and 0.75% of the account value.
Option #2 Income for your life or 20 years whichever is longer. (Immediate Annuity)
In this type of annuity we are talking about an immediate annuity. This is where you buy an annuity contract and immediately annuitize the contract. In this situation things are a little simpler, but as we may demonstrate you may pay a price for the simplicity.
In this type of contract the main advantage is the annual payout for this contract is higher than in the previous example. For an individual who has $200,000 to invest the immediate annuity quotes we get from annuity companies average out to $13,500.
Let’s look at how this works. In this example, the annuity company will pay $13,500 every year for the rest of your life, or 20 years, whichever lasts longer. So if you live for 25 years, to age 90, the annuity company will pay him $13,500 every year for 25 years. If you lives only another 11 years and dies, his beneficiary (in this case probably his wife Emma) will receive the remaining 9 years of income payments of $13,500 and that is it. At the end of your life the annuity company knows that if they have not already paid out 20 years of payments one of the beneficiaries will get the remaining payments.
Let’s say you die in 21 years after he initiated this contract. The annuity company has fulfilled their promise of a minimum of 20 years so there will not be anymore payments to anyone. There will be no more money left in the contract and your wife will get nothing.
You might ask, “What if I need to take the money out after 10 years has gone by to pay a medical bill?”
The answer is that you cannot do so. When you get into an immediate annuity contract there is virtually no way to get out of it. You will not have any cash value after you sign the paperwork. All the annuity company is obligated to do is pay out 20 years, or the length of your life whichever is longer. After the annuity’s obligation is up the contract is worth nothing.
In summary:
Advantages:
Known income stream for life of the owner.
Higher starting income stream that never changes
No concerns of the underlying investments because the annuity company is responsible for that.
Guaranteed an income stream for 20 years, if the owner lives longer than 20 years the annuity company will pay the same amount until the owner passes away.
Disadvantages:
If you need your money back at anytime after investing your money, you cannot get it back in lump sum form. You can only collect the annuity payments.
If you live for 20 years or longer your beneficiary will not see any money from this annuity.
There is no ability to increase your income stream. Your payments will stay the same and will not have a chance to increase with inflation.
These are two of many options available to one person’s situation. Both of these annuities have benefits and drawbacks. It may make sense to discuss further details with our local Denver, Colorado annuity consultant.
A frugal shopper has skills and ways of looking at things that help him or her take advantage of the money-saving opportunities in life. There are eleven of these techniques below. You can learn them in a matter of a day or two, practice them for a few weeks, and then save money for the rest of your life.
1. A frugal shopper studies other people. Do you know someone who always gets the best deal on cars, boats, or whatever? Ask him how he does it! Some people will tell you that the cheapest coffee in town is $3 per cup, while others will say 50 cents. There are probably people near you living a good life on half of what you make. Learn how others do things, so you’ll know your options.
2. Frugality requires knowledge of values. It’s tough to get a great deal on a car if you don’t know what a great deal is. Start educating yourself on prices, especially before you’re ready to buy anything that costs a lot.
3. Frugal shoppers pay cash. Things are cheaper when paid for in cash instead of credit. Want that new patio set? The price divided by the number of weeks you can wait to get it equals how much you need to set aside each week. You’ll not only save on interest when you pay cash, but you’ll often get a better price.
4. A good shopper looks for alternatives. Maybe you’d have just as much fun taking that discounted trip to the Bahamas as you would going to Jamaica. If you happen to enjoy pizza just as much – or more, skip the expensive restaurant and call Dominoes.
5. Frugal shoppers tell people what they need. Just mention it in conversation. Do you know how many people get free or cheap things, just because they talk? My neighbor wanted to upgrade her living room debt, and was thrilled that I would take her 3-month-old couch off her hands for $30. Glad I mentioned I was looking for one.
6. Do the math. You didn’t really save $400 on that car if it costs you $500 more in gas each year. Also, be aware that some stores are cashing in on shopper’s assumptions that larger is cheaper. Yes, the gallon of pickles might actually cost more than four quart jars. Be ready to do the math if you want to be a frugal shopper.
A frugal shopper has skills and ways of looking at things that help him or her take advantage of the money-saving opportunities in life. There are eleven of these techniques below. You can learn them in a matter of a day or two, practice them for a few weeks, and then save money for the rest of your life.
1. A frugal shopper studies other people. Do you know someone who always gets the best deal on cars, boats, or whatever? Ask him how he does it! Some people will tell you that the cheapest coffee in town is $3 per cup, while others will say 50 cents. There are probably people near you living a good life on half of what you make. Learn how others do things, so you’ll know your options.
2. Frugality requires knowledge of values. It’s tough to get a great deal on a car if you don’t know what a great deal is. Start educating yourself on prices, especially before you’re ready to buy anything that costs a lot.
3. Frugal shoppers pay cash. Things are cheaper when paid for in cash instead of credit. Want that new patio set? The price divided by the number of weeks you can wait to get it equals how much you need to set aside each week. You’ll not only save on interest when you pay cash, but you’ll often get a better price.
4. A good shopper looks for alternatives. Maybe you’d have just as much fun taking that discounted trip to the Bahamas as you would going to Jamaica. If you happen to enjoy pizza just as much – or more, skip the expensive restaurant and call Dominoes.
5. Frugal shoppers tell people what they need. Just mention it in conversation. Do you know how many people get free or cheap things, just because they talk? My neighbor wanted to upgrade her living room debt, and was thrilled that I would take her 3-month-old couch off her hands for $30. Glad I mentioned I was looking for one.
6. Do the math. You didn’t really save $400 on that car if it costs you $500 more in gas each year. Also, be aware that some stores are cashing in on shopper’s assumptions that larger is cheaper. Yes, the gallon of pickles might actually cost more than four quart jars. Be ready to do the math if you want to be a frugal shopper.