AIA Chiangmai

It always seems to surprise me that even in the 21st century where women are making more money than previous years, obtaining corporate management positions, and in some cases bringing a bigger paycheck to the table than their male spouse they still struggle with the concept of “understand their financial power.”

I will never forget my experience while working as a Loan Closer during the 1992 Northridge Earthquake in California. I had so many women clients that had no idea where important documents were, how much they owed on their home or where their pertinent financial information was stored. In most cases these women were retired and their husband’s had passed away, but there were also times when the wife just sat their and signed the loan documents without any questions or any interest in the fact that she was responsible for a loan that was putting her in debt.

I see the same naive behavior today, where women are making very good incomes, yet they have nothing to show for it but a nice wardrobe and of coarse a nice car. They often are not maximizing contributions to their 401K plans at work or building a savings nest. They save all these “money decisions” for their “prince charming” to take care of and they simply don’t make money a priority in their busy lives.

Let’s bring some reality into this picture, shall we? “Prince Charming” is a Disney character! Most often than not your mate wants someone to have some sort of financial goals and independence. Also what about this divorce rate? If something does happen, where does that leave you? Understanding your net worth, credit scores, and living expenses makes you a powerful and intelligent woman. Why would you not invest time into securing a success financial future? In addition to the reason of divorce, we know that women out live men, so why would you continue on a patch of being financially crippled when you will be left to take care of yourself if he dies first? The answer should be “learn how to manage your money now, before you find yourself broke and taken advantage of later.” Ask yourself these questions. Do we have adequate life insurance coverage? Am I on the title to our home? Is there a living trust in place and a will? What are the assets we own? How much do we owe on the house? If you know the answers to all of these questions, then you are on top of your finances. However, if you don’t know the answers to these questions, you need to get to work.

Believe me when I tell you that men understand the value of money management and they stay in control of financial decisions. We as women must take the time to learn just as much as our male counterparts as well as teach our daughters how to take care of their financial future.

Dina Harbour, Founder:
Wanted Debt Or Alive:
A Debt and Money Management Consulting Service.
Please visit my website at: http://www.wanteddebtoralive.org

Tags: debt consulting for women, debt management, Finances, Money, womandebt consulting for women, debt management, Finances, Money, woman

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To find money to invest for your future, you need to make sure that your outgoing expenses are less than the income that you are receiving. You need to develop an excess that you can have free to invest.

Now before you start to think.”well I don’t have any excess leftif I was earning more money.then I would have some free”. Let me dispel this mythand tell you that it is a known and excepted fact that the amount of money that people earn has little if any bearing on whether or not they have an excess left to invest. The only way to create an excess it to spend less than you earn, instead of spending all that you earn.

Even doctors and lawyers, who earn well over $100,000.00 per year, often end up at retirement with little more Net Worth than factory or office workers.

Net Worth is calculated by deducting the value of all the liabilities or loans you have from the income-producing assets owned to give you the net value of your income-producing assets.

Why aren’t high-income earners retiring wealthy? Why don’t they end up with a greater Net Worth than someone on a low income? It is quite simple. Human nature seems to dictate that whatever anyone earns.they spend.some even spend more than they earn and charge it on their credit card.

The higher your income growsthe more you spend and the only way to get out of this cycle is to realise that it is happening, and make a concerted effort to reverse this habit.and to begin reducing your expenditures so that you can free up money to invest.

The best way to do this, is to try the 10/90 plan. This plan simply means that as soon as you receive your pay.you put aside 10% of it for investment.and then use the other 90% to live off of. Put aside the 10%, and then pay all the bills and do the grocery shopping.and then after that whatever is left over you can spend.

Most people do it the wrong way aroundthey pay the bills, do the shopping and spend what is left over, never leaving any left to save or invest. By taking the investment money out first you will alleviate the temptation to spend it.

The road to wealth is not determined by how much you earn, but by how you utilise the income you have and how much you save and invest.

You need to take control of your finances. One of the best ways to start having more control over your money is to find out where it has all been going, and then amend your spending habits to allow you to live within the 10/90 plan.

If you write down a list of your monthly net income, then in another column write down a list of the essential items that you have to spend money on. You should be able to work out an average for telephone, gas, electricity, insurances and rates, from your previous bills. Work out an average of how much is spent on grocery shopping and petrol. If there are any other necessary utilities include them as well. Then deduct the second column from the first - and this will give you the maximum potential savings for each month.

It can be quite startling how high this figure can be and make you wonder where all the extra money went.

Another good learning experience is to simply write down for a fortnight every dollar spent and write next to it what it was for. You will soon find that there are a lot of unnecessary expenses, often caused by impulse buying, where you have spent money on items that you neither needed or really wanted, and could easily have gone without.

When you can begin to recognise these areas, and start to consider whether or not you are spending your money wisely, before you hand it over, then you will be beginning to take control over your money and are well on the way to embarking on your investment journey, which will enable you to have a financially secure future for you and your children.

Debra Lohrere is an author of several books on property investment and how to create financial security. Please visit. http://www.debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml

Debra Lohrere works as a Commodity Trading Logistics Administrator. She previously spent over ten years working in an Accounts Administration position with her primary roles being collections and financial forecasting. She also ran her own computer retailing business for many years.
Knowing the vital importance of cash flow in business led her to begin investigating the benefits of personal investments. She decided six years ago that it was time to start taking control of her personal finances and begin building a wealth base for her future.
She began researching the powerful medium of property investment as a means of bringing financial independence into a reach and began to build her own property portfolio.
Within the space of four years she was able to go from renting a house, to owning her own home and three investment properties, while having contributed very little of her own money to secure these.
She built up a large base of contacts with fellow property investors, which has proved to be an invaluable source of information.

Tags: budget, budgeting, Finances, invest, investing, investment, Money, retirement, wealthbudget, budgeting, Finances, invest, investing, investment, Money, retirement, wealth

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Could you locate one of your important financial documents at a moments notice? Do you know details about your current financial status? (Besides “I’m broke!) Have you made long term plans concerning your finances? If you’re like most people, and answered no to these questions, you need to do some financial organizing. Making sure you have some type of filing system, figuring out a budget, keeping insurance up to date, and establishing a will are all important steps to becoming organized.

First, you should set up some way to organize all of your financial documents. There are programs and websites that can be helpful in getting you started. An excel spreadsheet is an easy way that you may already have on your computer. You also need a filing system for paper documents that you need to keep. Some things will need to be kept forever, such as, birth certificates, divorce papers, life insurance policies, military records, and social security cards. Other things need to be kept for 6 years such as, bank statements and cancelled checks, investment records, and tax returns. Everything else needs to be kept until it is updated and then old versions can be discarded. Always make sure to dispose of financial papers properly by shredding or burning them.

Once your documents are filed and organized, it’s important to get a budget down on paper. Make sure to list all of the income you have in bank accounts, all property owned, stocks, bonds, cars, and jewelry as your assets. Then list all liabilities that you currently owe on, for example, your house, car, credit cards, life insurance, loans, etc.. Subtracting liabilities from assets will give you your net worth. Next you will need to look at your monthly income and expenses to see if you are making more or less than your spending. If not, find some ways to cut corners and save more. If you are bring home more than you’re spending, think about putting some of the extra cash into your retirement fund.

Making sure all of your insurance policies are up to date is another important aspect of financial organization. Keeping health insurance and disability insurance current is important in the event of an illness or accident that might leave you out of work for a while. A health impairment of any kind that interferes with your work can be financially devastating, especially if your finances are in a disorganized state. Also, if anyone depends on you financially, you should have life insurance at an amount that would be beneficial to your family to continue on at their current status in the event of your death. Having insurance can make the difference in your financial security because you never know what could happen tomorrow. Insurance makes sure your needs would be met.

Finally, when all of your finances are organized, budget is set and insurance is updated, it’s important to set up a will. If something were to happen to you or you and your spouse, you would want your children taken care of and your financial wishes carried out. A will is a legally enforceable declaration that will do exactly that. An attorney would be a good advisor because will can be complex and laws are different in each state. Once established, a will can be changed or revoked by you at any time. So keep it updated with your present wishes.

Take steps today to set up a filing system, create a budget, update insurances, and establish a will. Taking care of all of these things will help you become organized and free your mind and home of all your financial clutter.

Stuart Simpson

http://www.401k-review.com

Tags: 401k, Finances, Life Insurance, Loans, net worth, retirement, wills401k, Finances, Life Insurance, Loans, net worth, retirement, wills

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