Be Informed About Your Finances

You hear it all the time: you should make sure your retirement savings at least keep pace with inflation. But what is inflation and how does it really affect your retirement savings?

Cleaning up personal finances remains one of the top resolutions every New Year. But we all know what happens to most such self-promises, so here’s a month-by-month to-do list to cultivate better financial health.

How do you encourage yourself to do something that you swear today you’re going to do? Easy: Send yourself an email today for delivery to you in the future. Make a prediction about your life, your family, your friends and what will be happening in a year, two years, five years or more.

More consumers are conducting financial transactions online and may become vulnerable to tracking, hacking, identity theft, phishing scams, and other cyberspace risks. While nothing can guarantee complete safety on the Internet, understanding how to protect your privacy can help minimize your exposure to risk.

My friend complained, “My smartphone is smarter than I am.” For all of its wonders, there is one thing that technology cannot replace: the human element, you being present face-to-face and not in cyberspace. Texting, tweeting and e-mailing are not as powerful as personal interaction, having a real conversation, appreciative inquiry.

Minted released a study that said that the average wedding takes an unbelievable 528 hours to plan – that’s 22 full days or 66 eight-hour workdays. Whether you are planning a wedding or not, ask yourself this question: how much time do you spend planning your financial future?