Category Archives: investing

Your benefits from completing the spending freeze challenge.

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Congratulations! You made it through your spending freeze challenge. Of course, I am patting you on the back early as two weeks have not passed yet.
Here are a few points that you may have realized after the freeze:
You have jump-started your savings. Did you realize how much money you spent on unnecessary stuff? Now it is in your bank account, shoring up your emergency fund.
You have built up your “anti impulse spending” muscles. Now you can really look at an item and decide if it is a need or a want. Once that money is spent, there is no getting it back. Keep these new muscles in good shape.
Hopefully, you have gotten your budget back on track. You have been able to live without a daily premium coffee or that extra lunch out. When you are not spending money on “stuff”, you tend to focus more on what is truly important.

Take this new knowledge of how and why you spend forward to a successful life of saving.

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

Will you take the spending freeze challenge?

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Can you stop spending for a two week period? That is the challenge. Today, I will tell you how to prepare for your challenge. Later, I will tell you the benefits you will reap.
First, you need to decide when you will start and where the money you will save will go. I hope you have an emergency fund set up – that is a great place to stash the cash you will save.
Second, you need to inventory your freezer and refrigerator. Stock up before the freeze. Fill up your car with gas and maybe get a 5 gallon gas can so you can stash some surplus gas.
Third, check your essentials. Medications and personal care items are very important to stock pile.
Now that you are prepared, no discretionary spending is allowed for your two week period. I realize that household bills will need to be paid; those are exempt from the challenge. Keep a diary of what you wanted to spend so you know exactly how much you now can add to your savings.
Good luck!

Disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

Your dead ex-spouse is truly a deadbeat.

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You have been divorced for a long time and have moved on, or so you thought. Now that your ex has truly moved on, you find that creditors do not care what your divorce decree stated in regard to paying your pre-divorce debts.
In many states, whatever is acquired after the marriage and before the legal separation is treated as belonging to both spouses equally.
This situation is yet another reason to be thoughtful when accumulating debt. It may come back to you even after the headstone has been raised.

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

Can I combine retirement plans from multiple employers when I retire?

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The short answer is yes. It takes a bit of work to do this though. You would need to contact the H.R. department from your previous employers and get their Rollover paperwork. Often, you can find out who to contact online. You will want to set up a Rollover IRA account into which to transfer these funds. Many companies will just issue a check to your new IRA custodian and mail it to your home address. This set up of a Rollover IRA is a service that we provide to many of our clients when planning for retirement. It is usually much easier to manage your retirement cash flow when all of the retirement assets are in one account.

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

Probate me – please!

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Many people that I meet with for the first time feel happy that they have a will and have taken care of their beneficiaries. If your only estate plan is to have a will, you are, in my opinion, doing it all wrong. By only having a will as your estate plan, you are saying – probate my assets, charge me at least 3% for the honor, and while you are at it, tell the whole world what I have. I have a better solution for you.
Make sure that you have listed not just primary, but also contingent beneficiaries on your retirement plan and life insurance.
Any accounts that you have that are not retirement accounts can have a designation such as Pay on death, Transfer on death, or I.T.F. These designations will allow you to avoid probate.

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

Happy Birthday USA! Catch “On The Money” on Saturday!

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Enjoy your weekend
and be sure to tune in for “On The Money”
on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
Nancy Hecht CFP® and Gary Abely CFP®
co-host this weekend and
they’ll be discussing . . .
• We always help our client plan for retirement – 5 tips to help reach financial independence.

• It’s just a cup of coffee – what’s the big deal?

Listener Question: If I convert part of my IRA to a ROTH, will that count as part of my Required Minimum Distribution?

Call or eMail
Your Questions:
407-290-0058 OR
1-800-328-5858
Nancy@FinancialGroup.com
Gary@FinancialGroup.com

Tune in this Saturday @ 9am.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!!
Enjoy your weekend
and be sure to tune in for “On The Money”
on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
Nancy Hecht CFP® and Gary Abely CFP®
co-host this weekend and
they’ll be discussing . . .
• We always help our client plan for retirement – 5 tips to help reach financial independence.

• It’s just a cup of coffee – what’s the big deal?

Listener Question: If I convert part of my IRA to a ROTH, will that count as part of my Required Minimum Distribution?

Call or eMail
Your Questions:
407-290-0058 OR
1-800-328-5858
Nancy@FinancialGroup.com

What does Financial Freedom mean to you?

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To be financially free means something different to everyone. My financial freedom may mean no debt of any kind. Yours may mean if you have a mortgage and that is your only debt, then you consider yourself financially free. Financial freedom may be work related, school related, or involve your family. One thing I know to be true is that if you do not have a budget or a handle on your cash flow, you will never enjoy financial freedom.
Here are a few easy steps to follow so you can track your cash flow:
Develop a budget. There are many easy budget tips available online.
Review your bills. You may be spending more on things like phone or cable than you need to.
Track your spending. Once your money is gone – it’s gone. Even if you track your spending for just 8 weeks, you will have a good idea of where you might be spending frivolously.

disclosures:

Disclosures

It’s a myth!

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Most people still believe they will be in a lower tax bracket when they retire. For many taxpayers, this is not true. Your bracket may decrease, however, your effective tax rate probably will not.
As you lose deductions and exemptions, you may actually pay a greater percentage of your income for federal and local taxes. Try to arrange your retirement income so that some of it is paid from tax free investments

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31

It’s just a cup of coffee – what’s the big deal?

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When planning for retirement, a sound budget is so important. The big deal is that little things add up. The average price for a premium cup of coffee is $4.50 while a pound of premium coffee is $10.00 making a cup that you brew about $.50. While these numbers are small, the increase is actually 88%. What if your power bill increased by that much? What if there was a medical emergency? Is there room in your budget to handle that type of expense?
Here is a challenge: for one month, brew your own coffee. Save the money into a special jar that you previously spent on buying a cup of premium coffee. I am guessing that you will be surprised at how fast the jar fills up. Now, find other items in your budget where you can do the same type of thing. These dollars will help build up your emergency fund. Cash is freedom. Buy smarter and create your freedom.

disclosures:http://www.hechteffect.net/?page_id=31