Personal Finance

Your Money AND Your Life

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I write this personal finance blog because I like writing, I have real, professional experience in finance, and I like to help people. I also know that when I read a lot of the financial advice out there, it is either, too complicated, too oversimplified, or flat out inaccurate. This isn’t too surprising, because dealing with money and all of the various things that go with it, like savings, borrowing, investing and so on can get complicated very quickly. It is also very easy to lose sight of the forest, for the trees. I thought this might be a good time to remember that your balance sheet is not how you keep score in life. Living Your Life Making Smart Financial Decisions Recently, a reader left a comment on my review of Credit Karma basically calling me a fool for leasing a car. This seemed odd. Leasing does have a lot of moving parts, but the concept itself isn’t a scam. He went on to say that the only smart thing to do was buy a used car and live debt free. Then I knew, what was going on. Some people lock into “rules” about finance and take them as the …

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Cable Bill Scams

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If you’ve ever seen the advertisements for cable TV, you may wonder why you can’t ever seem to get a good rate like that. After all, according to the back and forth commercials between satellite TV and cable television, it seems like a $99.99 per month cable TV bill would be an easy score, and yet, no one ever seems to pay that much. Is it all part of a big cable TV scam? Real Cable Bill The problem, of course, with those advertised cable TV rates, like those from Comcast and Time Warner, and those from satellite TV companies like Dish Network and DirecTV, is that they have plenty of fine print typed neatly at the bottom of the page where you won’t notice it. So, when you are offered a $99.99 cable TV bundle of some sort, you are actually agreeing to pay far more than the rate advertised in big, bold letters. So, just how do cable companies trick you into paying higher rates than they advertise? The answer, as always, is fine print and long disclosures. That advertised rate is a just a base rate, and there are several add-ons that will jack your final bill …

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Cell Phone Bills Too High for Budget

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The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about how cellphones are eating the family budget. It seems as though the idea and everything but the words were lifted from an earlier article in the Boston Globe. Whatever the source, this is something that I saw coming years ago as a financial planner, and now, it seems things are maybe worse than ever when it comes to your budget and your cell phone. Your Cell Phones, Your Budget When I was a Certified Financial Planner advising clients, one of the first steps (after signing them up as clients) was to review their budget. For the wealthy, a budget isn’t really all that useful or eye-opening, but for everyone else, a budget can reveal some very ugly truths. First, most people spend way more money each month on things than they think they do. Nothing is a bigger shocker than filling out a budget that includes everything you THINK you spend money on each month, and then sitting down with someone and matching that up to your bank and credit card statements to see what you ACTUALLY spend each month. Second, for most people, there actually isn’t much they can do …

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Exempt vs Nonexempt Employees

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One topic that generates a lot of confusion in people’s personal finances is what is the difference between exempt and nonexempt employees? There are actually a lot of nuances and pages of labor law that deal with the difference between nonexempt and exempt employees. However, the practical implications of what it means to be an exempt employee or non exempt employee are pretty straight forward. Basically, it comes down to whether you have to be paid for overtime or whether you have to be paid the minimum wage. What Is An Exempt Employee The definition of exempt employee is one who is not subject to the minimum wage or overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA. An FLSA exempt employee must fall into one of several categories to qualify as exempt. What determines exempt employee by labor law standards is what role the employee has in their job. A job title is not enough to make an employee exempt. There are several types of exempt employees including certain employees under age 20, employees of a motor carrier (drivers), and certain types of seasonal and farm workers. In addition, a broad category of salaried exempt employee allows certain …

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Where to Find Legit Work at Home Jobs

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Many people like the idea of working from home. There is more flexibility. It allows parents to spend more time with their kids. Dads who work from home have more opportunities to participate in events they traditionally miss like afternoon school plays, or soccer practice. Likewise, many moms who have built up great careers are looking for a way to not lose everything that they have built, while at the same time not missing out on raising their children. In order to keep their personal financial plans on track, taking on some work at home sounds great. Unfortunately, the universal allure of work at home jobs makes it a great target for scammers. The idea of someone paying a good wage for working from your own home at a home-based business that requires no experience, no start-up costs, and no set time commitment sounds too good to be true. It usually is. Being aware is the best financial advice you can get. How To Find Legitimate Work at Home Jobs Real work at home jobs that are not scams do exist. However, they don’t come wrapped in rainbows delivered on a unicorn’s back. By taking another look at working from …

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Preventing Identity Theft – Paper Shredder Files and Documents

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Identity theft can happen in a lot of different ways. Some of them are difficult to avoid, if not impossible. Others are easily preventable with a little knowledge, experience, and understanding, plus a little bit of effort. Preventing identity theft with a paper shredder to destroy junk mail and other documents is an important start. Shred Records Files and Documents to Protect Against Identity Theft One of the easier methods how to steal someone’s identity is to obtain documents or other papers that have personal information printed on them. Everything from old tax returns, to receipts, to old contracts, or even a utility bill can be a wealth of information for an identity thief. Easier still is to do identity theft while getting a fraudulent credit card at the same time. This is frighteningly easy thanks to banks and credit card companies sending out hundreds of thousands of credit card offers, complete with pre-filled information like your name and address. While neither your nor the identity thief would be able to interpret it, the various letter and  number combinations printed on the credit card application or special zero percent interest balance transfer offer can also direct the credit card company …

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US Government Money Help

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Have you ever wondered what a website from the US Government about money and personal finances would look like?  Wonder no longer. The US Financial Literacy and Education Commission (what did that cost?) provides a basic financial resource for investing, saving, retirement planning, mortgages, and even starting a small business, all on mymoney.gov. I’m not saying anything on there is earth shaking knowledge that you probably didn’t know, but it is always nice to have an unbiased government resource to direct people to whether you are in finance or not.  There’s nothing scarier than sending your Grandma to a finance website and just hoping that there are no money scams on there waiting to ambush her. Check it out.

Free Unbiased Financial Information

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A free website loaded with unbiased financial information that you can trust. The Finance Gourmet? Yes. We are trustworthy and knowledgeable, but we were thinking of someone with a little more institutional credibility. How about the Federal Reserve?

Here Comes Your Annual Privacy Notice

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Have you been carefully reviewing your year end mail and statements from the companies you do business with? If not, you may have not noticed the annual privacy notice which gives you the right to opt out of having your private info sold to the highest, lowest, and every bidder in between.