Holiday Shopping Tips That Go Beyond The Traditional Cliche Stuff You See Everywhere
Tip 1: Take an extra step when setting your holiday budget. Take actual cash and place the amount you plan to spend on everyone in individual envelopes with their names on it. Then when you’re out and thinking about overspending, you have to reach into someone else’s envelope instead of from your savings or putting more on your credit card. Cash helps you feel the pain now instead of delaying it
Tip 2: If you are going to use your credit card, know when your billing cycle starts. By waiting until after your billing cycle starts you’ll actually increase the amount of time by which you have to pay off your purchase by over 30 days.
Tip 3: Don’t push bad financial decisions into next year. One of the worst things you can do it set yourself up for another year of not keeping your new year financial solutions by ignoring the impact of overspending will have on you as you start 2010. Create some good Financial Karma right now
Bonus tip: Your not alone if money is tight this year. Ask your family to be creative in gift giving this year to save money. Pick names or agree to all go to the dollar store and find the funniest gift for someone. The holidays are about celebrating family and traditions, not stuff.
For Online Shoppers
Pay by Credit Card Rather than by Check or Debit Card:
Paying by Check and debit card uses funds available from your bank account. Credit cards, on the other hand do not, which offers greater protection against fraudulent purchases. If an unauthorized charge appears on your monthly credit card statement, it can be disputed without much effect on your bank account and financial life. Additionally, you reduce the risk of someone stealing your pin as they watch you type it in at a busy and crowded register.
Use one specific card for online purchases:
Use one credit card with a low credit limit (under $1,000) for your online purchases. This way, if your personal or credit card information is stolen it will limit the extent of the damage and save you months of financial repair.
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Inspirational Story From OrganizeMyBills.com
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Bob Laura is a financial expert and partner with Synergos Financial Group. He is an accredited financial counselor, accredited asset management specialist, chartered mutual fund counselor, and chartered retirement planning specialist.
He is the author of The Five Most Important Financial Things They Don’t Teach You In School and creator of myFinancialReflection.com, the first financial software program that doesn’t use any numbers.
Financial FYI: Disposable Income, Americans Eating Out Less, Record Number of Upside Down Mortgages
Financial FYI
Disposable Income
By the end of 2007, 36 percent of consumers’ disposable income went to food, energy and medical care, a bigger chunk of income than at any time since records were first kept in 1960, according to Merrill Lynch. Source: Associated Press
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Eating Out
People are treating themselves less often. The National Restaurant Association says 54 percent of restaurants reported declining traffic in January, and the government says eating at home increased last year for the first time since 2001. Source: Associated Press
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Upside-down Mortgages
Nearly 9 million households now have upside-down mortgages, and for the first time ever, aggregate mortgage debt is bigger than the total value of homeowner equity – bigger by $836 billion, according to research by Merrill Lynch. Source: Associated Press
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Financial FYI: Boomers and Retirement, Home Equity Drops, Average Inheritance, FinancialSpeaker.net, High School Education and Risk Tolerance
FinancialFYI.comBoomers Still Don’t Have Enough Income For Retirement
According to a report by The Center For Retirement Research, if members of responding households worked to age 65 and annuitized all of their financial assets, 35% of those born between 1948 and 1954, and 44% of those born between 1955 and 1964 would still be at risk of being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. Source: Investment News
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Homeowner Equity Drops Below Half The Value Of Homes
Last year marked the first time American homeowners, in the aggregate, owned less then half the value of their houses. Their share of home equity dropped to 47.9% in the final three months of 2007, down one percentage point from the third quarter, the fed said in a quarterly report. Source: Wall Street Journal
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Boomers Average Inheritance Only $48,000
A new study from Tiburon Strategic Advisors finds that the median value of boomer’s likely inheritance is just $48,000. Further only 2% of boomers who have already received an inheritance got more than $100,000. In fact, only 15% of boomers expect any inheritance at all. Source: Financial Planning Magazine
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High School Education And Stocks
Children with at least one parent holding a high school diploma are much less likely to be risk averse than those whose parents have less formal education. The research also found that 34% of participants whose parents had no high school education owned stocks, compared with 47% of those who had at least one parent with a high school education. Source: Investment News
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Financial FYI: Rebate Checks and Enrollment in Work Retirement Plans Still Anemic
What Are You Going To Do With Your Rebate Check
A Citi group survey suggests 34.4% of consumers plan to pay down bills with their rebate check. 23.3% plan to deposit their checks in their savings accounts. 11.2% plan to use their checks for groceries and general merchandise. 31.1% plan to target everyday expenses, home repair and other items. Source: Barrons
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Retirement Plan Enrollment
According to the Washington Based Employee Benefit Research Institute, 71% of full-time workers 21 to 24 weren’t enrolled in their employers’ retirement savings plan in 2006. That was a slight improvement over 2005, when 74% of workers in that age group opted out of retirement plans. Overall Just 53% of full time workers 21 to 64 participated in an employer based retirement plan in 2006. Source: Investment News
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Financial FYI: College Student Credit Card Debt, Spending Patterns of Pre-retirees and Retirees, and Gifting Money With Strings Attached
Financial FYI
According to the SEIU, college students represent the fastest-growing market for credit card debt. More than 75% of college students have at least one credit card. Source: Investment News
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According an online survey by Sun America, pre-and current retirees in their 50’s and 70’s predicted that they would spend up to $600,000 on average, on travel, a second home and luxury items, plus other leisure items during the course of their retirement. Source: Investment News.
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According to a MONEY survey, 85% of Americans say it’s not fair to attach a “string” to a gift of money. Source: MONEY magazine
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