Coming up on the (gasp) 30th anniversary of my graduation from Fairfield University, I find myself nostalgic for the courses that taught me so much beyond the classroom. The (late) Dr. Art Anderson gave his Sociology students much to chew on, including this nugget: “In the work world, all of you are ahead of the game. You have straight white teeth and a nice smile.” He wasn’t paying us a compliment though. Being a Jesuit school with an emphasis on education and social justice, the underlying challenge was to be more than another fresh face in a fancy suit with a captivating smile. If you’re not familiar with Jesuits, think Pope Francis; the most outspoken Jesuit of all. The financial services industry could use a little Jesuit influence, if you ask me; everyone would be a fee-only fiduciary. Regardless of religious affiliation (or lack thereof), financial professionals would do well to take a page from the Pope’s book: He puts the interests of others ahead of his own, Read on...
The Gift Daughters Really Need
When it comes to money, age won’t make someone wiser or give them confidence if there is no real-world experience backing it up; even having a career won’t. For women, the situation is particularly dire. According to the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center’s Working Women’s Financial Capability Study, working women lag men in basic financial literacy (31% vs. 52%); the gap is more pronounced in advanced financial knowledge (12% vs. 24%). As a mother to sons, I may be all wet on this one; but I am a daughter. I credit my parents, my father in particular, with being diligent in raising independent daughters. My father, born in 1917, was nearly 50 when I was born. As a first- generation American of Italian descent, his thoughts on gender roles were traditional with a capital T. My mother stayed at home with their seven children while he worked. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I discovered he had dropped out of high school, earning his equivalency in his Read on...
Attention, Shoppers!
It’s a great paradox of life that people will clip coupons, or drive out of their way to save $5 at a sale and yet, when it comes to their personal finances, they ignore the chance to save thousands of dollars. This opportunity is real: it is the employer-sponsored retirement plan. Participating in – or increasing contributions to – a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), Simple IRA, SARSEP, or a Single K reduces taxable income. To quantify the value of this on a federal and state tax level let’s look at a NY resident earning $50,000. After-tax income on this salary would be $38,856. Now, if a 10% contribution is made into the retirement account (or $5,000) the federal and NY tax savings would amount to $1,560, making the real cost of the contribution just $3,440. In other words: $5,000 of investments would actually cost just $3,440. Assuming a 24-paycheck year, this contribution would only cost $143 per check. I am not even factoring in the value of the account compounding Read on...
Destination Unknown?
Imagine you’re about to set out on a road trip. You would absolutely need to have an idea of where you wanted to go – north, south, east, or west. You would have to work within the confines of how much time you had for this trip – that would determine how far you could go. Your financial goals are no different than that road trip; failing to plan means planning to fail. Even if you haven’t given retirement much thought, in terms of what it looks like and feels like, chances are you have an idea of when you would like to have the freedom to walk away. For those of you bemoaning that you will need to work until you die, it’s time to see if that is really true or simply your worst fear taking over and freezing you in your tracks. But, you have to set your goals. You have to make this a priority. The trouble is, unlike the mortgage payment or electric bill, there are no immediate ramifications if you don’t take the time to do this. It is important, but it is not Read on...