Financial Planning Archives - One Cent At A Time

How to Choose the Right Investment Manager: Factors to Consider

July 1, 2023 Leave a Comment

Investing your hard-earned money requires careful consideration and strategic planning. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just starting, choosing the right investment manager is crucial to achieving your financial goals. An investment manager can provide expertise and guidance, and help navigate the complex world of investments. This article will explore the key factors to consider when selecting the right investment manager.

Understand Your Investment Goals and Risk Tolerance

Before you begin your search for an investment manager, it’s essential to understand your investment goals and risk tolerance. Clearly define whether your goals are short-term or long-term and whether you prioritize income generation or capital growth.

51 New Year Goal Ideas For 2023

January 9, 2023 1 Comment

We all have had our bittersweet relationship with new year’s goals. It has often been sought as a way of reflecting upon life choices of the passing year and dwelling on targets to achieve the year ahead. But as a rule of thumb, intentions to make resolutions never actually materialize.

To help you set yourself up for a year-long journey of self-efficacy, we’ve provided you with 51 options for new year’s goals.

Also as a personal finance blog, we are listing up actions you can take to make sure you are positioning yourself for financial success.

Financial Planning for Businesses

February 14, 2020 1 Comment

Financial planning for businesses is as must as they are for individuals. Most business owners easily accept that financial planners can provide valuable expertise to help them achieve their business goals.

However, not as many people realize that financial planners can also serve an essential role in helping individuals organize their finances and establish their long-term goals regarding savings or retirement.

Six Reasons Why You Should Set Up A Trust

November 3, 2019 Leave a Comment

Let’s face it. we all have to die one day. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or many years later. Death is uncertain and not in our hands. What’s in our hands is protecting our wealth after we are gone. We will be talking about creating a trust today.

When reviewing your finances, one of the most frequently asked questions is “Why would I need to set up a trust?” Trust is mostly used to decrease a person’s estate taxes, but it’s also used to pass on assets to a third-party. There are many benefits to be had with setting up a trust.

Using Online Financial Resources to Manage Your Money

May 6, 2019 1 Comment

With the economy roaring back to new levels of stability, the time to save money for the future is now. Interest rates continue to grow, which means your money could work harder for you now so you have a nice nest egg on which to rely in the future.

Before you decide to open a retirement, checking, or savings account, you might want to know which banks have the best interest rates right now. You can easily find this information by doing a quick search online.

5 Life Events That Require Wise Financial Planning

September 25, 2018 3 Comments

Most of us wish we could stretch our money further than we do. Too often things come up that steer us away from the budget we planned. A few social obligations arise during the week and suddenly monthly entertainment expenses have doubled; which increases food costs due to eating out with friends.

5 Life Events That Require Wise Financial Planning

Not to mention the additional costs of failing to prep meals for the week because you were out late.

Financial Planner and Financial Planning

January 12, 2018 2 Comments

Financial planning isn’t just about hiring a financial planner to set your financial goals and hit a target. This process happens every day; almost every decision from getting up in the morning and going to work or buying your morning coffee involves finances.

Financial Planning

Life isn’t just about enjoying every moment, it’s about preparing for what’s ahead, and getting stronger in the process. This is exactly why financial planning exists.

Sensible Planning Will Minimize Financial Risks

May 16, 2016 Leave a Comment

Even though the US economy has improved in recent times and unemployment has now fallen to around 5% after a high of double figures in the midst of the recession there is still the prospect of your losing your job. You must be prepared because if you suddenly have no income coming in you are in real trouble. It can happen as companies downsize or streamline in the face of competition.

Sensible Planning Will Minimize Financial Risks

Some businesses simply find themselves unable to trade profitably. While unemployment statistics currently suggest that if you lose your job there will be other opportunities out there you should still be prepared in case there is an interruption in your monthly paycheck.

5 Must Do Financial Planning Tasks for New Grads

April 6, 2016 3 Comments

If you’re a recent college grad with a lucrative job, you may be unsure how to prioritize your spending and investing. Use these tips to organize your current finances and map out a bright financial future.

Now that you’ve landed that big job and are earning a healthy paycheck, you may be unsure how to prioritize your spending and investing — or maybe you’re so happy to be earning money instead of living the student lifestyle that you’re skipping financial planning altogether.

5 Must Do Financial Planning Tasks for New Grads

These simple steps will help you get your finances organized and get you headed down a smart fiscal path.

5 Financial Tasks for New Grads

1. Set Up a Budget

Think you’re earning so much that you don’t need to budget? You might be fooling yourself:

68% of Americans destroy their credit before age 30, according to a 2016 Credit Karma survey. More than a quarter of these young people had to move back in with their parents to recover financially.
Of households earning $100,000 or more per year, 40% said their spending was the same as, or more than, their income, according to a Federal Reserve report.
71% of millennials earning $75,000 or more annually said lifestyle purchases like dining out and entertainment caused them to save less than they should, a 2015 Suntrust survey found.

Convinced? Budgeting doesn’t need to be an overwhelming task. Apps like Mint, BillGuard and GoodBudget can track your spending.

Monitoring your money helps strike a balance between spending on the indulgences you want now (renting a luxury loft apartment) and investing for your future goals (owning a luxury retirement home in Costa Rica).

2. Establish an Emergency Fund

It can be tough to motivate yourself to save for a future financial crisis that might not happen, like a layoff or losing your uninsured iPhone, but everyone needs a rainy day fund to help them weather tough times — just in case.

In fact, building up your rainy day savings should be your first financial priority once you start earning a paycheck.

Most people should set aside about six month’s living expenses. Goal Investor’s Emergency Fund Planner can help you quickly run the numbers to see if a six-month cushion fits your situation, and make realistic savings plan to reach your target.

Setting up automatic contributions will build your emergency fund with the least effort. You’ll sleep easier at night knowing you can handle whatever financial challenges life throws at you. You’ll also avoid overspending your way into expensive credit card debt in a financial crisis.

3. Start to Save for Retirement, ASAP

Does a 20-something worker really need to pay attention to retirement planning? Retired workers think so: More than a third of retirees regret that they didn’t start saving for retirement earlier, and suggested the best time to start saving was before age 30, according to an HSBC survey.

We agree the best strategy to maximize your retirement nest egg is to start investing when time is on your side. The earlier you begin preparing for retirement, the more years your investments have to benefit from compound earnings.

Take advantage of your workplace 401(k) or fund a Roth IRA at the very beginning of your career, and spare yourself the added pressure of playing catch-up with retirement savings when you’re older.

Do you have any idea what you might need to invest for retirement? Use our sophisticated Retirement Planner to calculate a target goal.

4. Establish Credit in Your Own Name

If you’re just starting out in the working world, you’ll need to build credit if you ever want to borrow money to buy a house, car or other big purchase.

Start by pulling a copy of your credit report to see where you stand and make sure the information in your report is correct.

Major credit cards like Visa, AMEX or MasterCard, store credit cards, auto loans and student loans help you create a credit history. You may already have some credit history if your parents cosigned a card for you while you were in college.

Now it’s time to apply for a credit card based on your own income and assets. If you’re turned down for a regular credit card, open a secured credit card account, which requires you to make a cash deposit to back up your credit line.

Once you have a credit card, paying your bills on time boosts your credit score. People with excellent credit scores frequently save money because they qualify for the best loan rates.

5. Tackle Student Loans

As a recent college grad, odds are good you’ve got some student loans to deal with. Choosing the right repayment option and staying on top of your payments will get you out from under that debt as quickly as possible, and will build your credit history.

There are actually a number of different repayment plans for federal student loans (as opposed to private loans). The U.S. Department of Education has a handy Repayment Estimator that shows what your monthly payments would be under each repayment option. Consider total payments, too.

Full Steam Ahead

The first chapter of your adult life is an exciting time to explore new opportunities and challenges. Once you get your finances squared away, you can be on your way to a successful financial future.

If you don’t know what you’ll need to invest for retirement, chances are you’re not saving enough. Take care of your future self by creating a retirement investment plan.

About the Author: Janet Stanton Burt of Goal Investor. This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide investment or legal advice. SEI does not claim responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of the information provided.

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Required Steps to Financially Prepare for a Baby

September 4, 2015 13 Comments

You get 9 months to prepare for an arriving baby. Well in true sense its 8 months. You’ll make the nursery, you’ll buy clothes, blankets, baby’s furniture, medicines ,toys and what not. But are you financially prepared to meet the demand of a child birth? In US, a child birth is costliest in the world.

How to Financially Prepare For a Baby

How to Choose the Right Investment Manager: Factors to Consider

Understand Your Investment Goals and Risk Tolerance

51 New Year Goal Ideas For 2023

Financial Planning for Businesses

Six Reasons Why You Should Set Up A Trust

Using Online Financial Resources to Manage Your Money

5 Life Events That Require Wise Financial Planning

Financial Planner and Financial Planning

Sensible Planning Will Minimize Financial Risks

5 Must Do Financial Planning Tasks for New Grads