It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it to the end of another year. Amidst the hustle of the holidays, I want to encourage you to stay diligent about your financial plan. Here is a little end-of-year to-do list that will help set you up for continued success in 2024.
With the new year comes New Year’s resolutions, and rather than telling you all about mine (you’re welcome), I thought I would set some resolutions for the American economy in 2024.
There’s an old trope in the financial planning industry — Nobody likes to work with engineers.
They say engineers ask too many questions. They come in with complex plans for exactly when and how they should retire to maximize their post-career income. They have dozens of spreadsheets taped together detailing every cent of their savings and budgets and interest payment projections. Heck, I’ve seen it myself. They’re trying to play financial advisor for the first time, and I can tell you that it’s not an easy job.
But at Family Financial Partners, we love working with engineers.
As a CDFA® professional, I’m looking to find an equitable settlement option that’s best for both spouses. I find that most attorneys are trained to make the settlement split as smooth and quick as possible. But just like I didn’t go to law school and study the legal system, attorneys aren’t financial planners and often don’t consider the client’s long-term implications of their divorce settlement.
Next weekend we officially enter the fall — one of the best times of year that ushers in football, fire pits, and the beginning of the holiday season. As you watch the leaves turn brilliant red and orange and begin to blow to the ground, it’s easy to appreciate the natural beauty of the end of another life cycle before the cold winter months.
It’s much harder to appreciate nearing the end of our own life cycles. As a matter of fact, most of us probably avoid thinking about it altogether. And that’s perfectly understandable. None of us wants to consider that one day we won’t be around anymore and our loved ones will be left to pick up the pieces. Heck, I’m sorry for even bringing it up today. But it’s just the reality of the human condition.
If you’re like the majority of Americans, you might be living paycheck to paycheck. That’s according to a recent report where 61% of U.S. adults said they spend all of their income every month on bills like housing and food.
We’ve hit a perfect storm where pandemic funds have dried up, inflation has been running hot over the past year, and wages have struggled to keep pace. The result is dwindling savings and record-high credit card debt, and it can feel like you’re barely treading water.
When people get married, it sets a lot of things into motion. Many are moving in together for the first time — choosing a home, combining furniture, and splitting up household chores. It’s an exciting time, but also one that comes with the stress of shaking up old routines and learning new ones.
It’s no secret that money is one of the most common causes of marital disagreements, so figuring out how to manage your finances as a married couple is a crucial step in setting yourself up for a successful marriage.
As young investors, everybody wants to advise us on what to do with our money. Bloggers, social media personalities, and TV talking heads claim their method will get us on the path to wealth and early retirement. We see it so much that some of us start feeling guilty, like every dime that doesn’t go toward our retirement, investment portfolio, or mortgage is a dime that’s setting us back from our goal of financial freedom.
I love summer because we have all these opportunities for how we can allocate our newly found free time, but I find when I talk with clients that summer can also be a stressful season. There’s always the pressure to plan that big vacation that we can forget to budget for it and end up paying for that vacation for the next six months. In my case, I’ve got three kids doing camps and getting braces and moving into dorm rooms — there isn’t much money left for the “what Dave wants to do” fund!
I’m hearing from a lot of you who are concerned about the debt ceiling battle in Washington and what it might mean for you if the two sides can’t come together on a deal before the U.S. defaults on its bills.
In my view, the whole rodeo is being blown out of proportion by the media as it floods us with what-if scenarios. There is a history of presidents having to work with a hostile opposition party in Congress when up against the debt ceiling. The only solution is for both parties to agree to raise the debt ceiling and then focus on a truly balanced budget.
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