Saturday, May 18, 2013
Here's the story of Marlene Konkoly, who found creative ways to spend less and save more so she can retire at 50. This story is the first in our series about Extreme Savers.
Americans may be living longer, but our retirement plans aren’t keeping up. Which means people are living longer with smaller bank accounts. But Marlene Konkoly will retire at age 50. How did she do it? She contributes a whopping 45 percent of the gross annual income she earns as a procurement officer for an automotive finance company to her retirement—all while owning a home and remaining debt-free. Konkoly is actually well ahead of the retirement savings curve compared to many of her fellow Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than half of Americans even know how much money they would need to retire. And nearly a third of employees who had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) did not participate …
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saving money is a necessity now-a-days. Even on a tight budget you can still give your pet the proper care he needs.
We're well in to 2012 now. I'm sure we have all set New Year's resolutions about having better health, more money, being a better spouse, friend and parent to our kids, both two-legged and four-legged ones. Like everyone else, I know how "ruff" the economy is and when times get tough, although not intentional, pet care drops on our list of priorities. With a little discipline and bargain hunting you can still be a great pet-parent without breaking the bank. Most veterinarians, including myself, recommend that pets be seen for an exam every six months. But because this may not be financially feasible, at the very least, take him or her in once a year for a thorough physical exam, annual vaccines and bloodwork. This way you can can check for…
Monday, January 2, 2012
2012 is an opportunity to redefine yourself and begin to realize your financial goals and dreams. Imagine how life can be if you make good decisions and work towards your aspirations.
Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you all much success and fortune this year as we take advantage of this opportunity to work towards our goals and dreams. Many people have great intentions and objectives at the start of a new year (me included), but rarely see them fulfilled. As a result, I have come up with three principles we can focus on to help us begin to realize our ambitions. Take Responsibility There’s a great book called “The Oz Principle” written by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman that focuses on the principle of taking responsibility for your circumstances. The principle works like this: Like the characters in “The Wizard of Oz,” most people already have the tools to succeed, but when things go wrong they blame …
Monday, December 26, 2011
Imagine if you woke up tomorrow morning and someone deposited one million tax-free dollars into your account! What would you do with it?
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a rich uncle or relative who decided to bless you with a huge lump sum of money? What if you hit the lottery or received a settlement from a lawsuit? There are numerous instances where these very things have happened to folks and overnight they went from pauper to prince. What would you do if that happened to you? Statistically, many people who win the lottery or otherwise come into large sums of money find themselves in bankruptcy in only a short amount of time. Why is that? Well, if they have not acquired smart money management skills prior to this windfall, often they’ll make poor choices. Sometimes people just don't compute the numbers. Where Does It All Go? Oftentimes people who come into big money …
Monday, December 19, 2011
Everyone should understand the basics of assets and liabilities. Understanding the difference between these two will make the difference between retiring well or retiring poor.
Everyone knows what assets and liabilities are… right? Maybe not… at least not the way you should understand them. This confuses many people because most people generally understand that an asset is something of value such as a home or a car, and this is where many people get into trouble financially. Someone may believe they are buying an asset, but is it an asset if it actually consumes money from your other income sources? Let’s take a look at a couple of definitions for “assets” and see which one makes more “smart money” sense. Assets The general definition of an asset would be the things that we own that we could sell for money. Some common examples of assets, under the general definition, would be: The reality is most of the things …
Monday, November 28, 2011
The best Christmas gift you can give your kids may be a gift they can’t open until they retire.
Christmas is almost here—that time of year when visions of sugarplums dance through our heads as we stroll through the malls and shopping centers excitedly looking for the next great bargain. ‘Tis the season when laptops, widescreen TVs, console games, etc... are all on sale as retailers compete for our dollars, sparking a shopping frenzy greater than any other time of the year. We spend more consumer dollars the 30 days between Black Friday and Christmas Eve than we do in any entire quarter (90 days) of the year. Much of that shopping is done for our kids as we prepare to make their Christmas holidays memorable each year. Realistically, the vast majority of the gifts we buy have no lasting value, and within a few weeks—or a couple of …
Monday, November 21, 2011
The New Year puts us in the mindset to reorganize, plan and set new goals—an ideal time to get your finances in order. With proper planning and goal setting, you can start 2012 with a clean, organized financial slate.
People typically make numerous broad and sometimes outrageous financial resolutions. They want to pay-off all their credit card debt, double their savings, and accumulate enough money for a vacation or home remodeling project. And some want to achieve all of the above in the same year! By pledging to make huge, sweeping changes in one year, you are almost certain to fail. Instead, if you set smaller, simpler goals, you’ll have a much better chance at success. Believe You Can Do It Goals that are too big are also likely to impact your belief. For lasting change to occur, you must believe the change is possible and feel confident you can do it. You must also feel that your financial resolutions are important, and be mentally ready to make …
Monday, November 7, 2011
Today, many families are struggling just to pay the bills, and during these tough times you may be tempted to skimp on life insurance. However, this is one area where it’s best not to compromise.
Most of us have been forced, at one time or another, to make financial compromises because of the lack of funds to take care of all the bills at once. Sometimes you have to “rob Peter to pay Paul” in order to keep the water flowing and the lights on. Your intentions are always to make up the difference later, when the money is available, to catch-up on the payments due to your neglected debtors. Unfortunately, this has become a way of life for many Americans, especially now that the economy is in turmoil. Unemployment is still around 9% and more jobs are being lost everyday – pay raises have been frozen for the last 18 months for many workers. Although the overall inflation rate has been flat during that same time period, many day-to-day …
Monday, October 31, 2011
Because of customer irritation, and bad publicity from the media and Capitol Hill, some big banks have decided against charging monthly debit card usage fees.
A couple of weeks ago I expressed my anger at Bank of America over their plan to charge a $5 monthly fee to use their debit cards for purchases. Of course I was not the only one that felt that way and it triggered outrage among many of their account holders… Even President Obama had words to say about it when he said that banks shouldn't take advantage of their customers. Canceling Plans to Charge Debit Card Fees Because of all the bad publicity, other big banks have had a change of plans and are not following in the steps of BOA. Chase and Wells Fargo are joining the list of banks that will not be charging customers to use their debit cards, as the backlash over BOA’s planned $5 monthly fee persists. Both banks announced they are …
Monday, October 24, 2011
Multi-Level Marketing is one the fastest growing segments of business today, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood methods of moving products.
M.L.M. is an acronym for Multi-Level Marketing, sometimes called Network Marketing. As the name suggests, multi-level marketing is basically multiple levels of people marketing a product to consumers. Have you ever heard a similar offer, “Refer a friend and you’ll receive $100?” This, by definition, is a form of multi-level marketing. Health clubs, real estate agencies, telecommunication companies, banks and countless others use this technique to gain customers and clients. All of these businesses are trying to get current customers to advertise and market their products or services to potential customers. The Traditional Company In a non-M.L.M. company, a sales manager and salespeople are hired by the company. The company is limited to …
Teja Bain, DVM
3:52 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Hey Gina! Thanks for sharing and what a wonderful idea! Hopefully your money saving tip can help other pet owners because we all need ways to help stretch our dollar further these days!;) more ›