Category Archives: Financial Advice

9 Ways to Simplify Your Finances Now

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simpify financesIf managing personal financial affairs were easy, we probably wouldn’t graduate nearly 70,000 accountants each year. Budgets, credit cards, insurance, retirement savings and more—it’s a lot to track, and things are getting more complex all the time.

A lot of people are losing the battle. One in three adults who say their finances have taken a turn for the worse also say their finances have grown more complex, according to a survey from Aite Group. Likewise, 43% of those who say their finances have improved also say their finances have grown less complex.

Simple is good. It’s understandable. It’s manageable. It doesn’t eat up a lot of time. It breeds confidence and makes tough decisions easier. “The financial frenzy people experience comes from being disconnected from their personal income,” says Melody Juge, managing director at Life Income Management.

Some things can’t be made simple. Income tax filing comes to mind, at least for some people. So do retirement account distributions. You can’t know how long you’ll live. But other things don’t have to be so difficult. Maybe you can get control of your money with a few simple tricks. Here are nine ways most Americans can simplify their personal finances:

  • Get down to one mutual fund. You’ll get great asset allocation and solid diversification within asset groups with just one target-date mutual fund. These are the fastest growing corner of the retirement savings world precisely because they are so simple. Choose a target-date fund for the year you turn 65 or 70, put all your retirement savings in it and go about the rest of your life knowing you have professional management and an asset allocation that will become more conservative as you age. Of course, there are drawbacks and you’ll have to look out for expenses when you choose. But investing for the long haul has never been simpler.

Questions about retirement savings or investments?  If you would like to set up a no-cost consultation with the Investment & Retirement Center located at First Financial Federal Credit Union to discuss your brokerage, investments, and/or savings goals, contact us at 732.312.1500 or stop in to see us!*

  • Keep two credit cards. You will save a bundle in annual fees and rid yourself of umpteen bills and solicitations. Use one card for monthly spending and the other only when you must carry a balance. Keep cards with the lowest interest rates or annual fees, or those that offer useful rewards.
  • Pay bills online. Most financial institutions offer an online bill pay service for no charge. Stamps, envelopes and physical checks are an obsolete expense. You’ll save time too. But best of all, your bank or credit union will automatically keep track of what you spend and where you spend it for easy review, which makes budgeting a lot simpler.
  • Choose one financial institution. You can probably get everything you need in one place. Stick with one. You’ll not only get better service, but cut down on monthly statements and get a better picture of your overall finances.
  • Automate everything. Arrange for direct deposit of your paycheck to eliminate constant car trips to your financial institution. Arrange for regular payroll or bank account debits to your retirement account — and for automatic increases in the amount as you get pay raises — to keep savings on track. Arrange automatic monthly payments via your online bill pay system to creditors to cover the minimum due and avoid late fees.
  • Get overdraft protection. Link your checking account to your savings account to avoid the cost and hassle of overdrawing your account.
  • Create an emergency fund. The goal is to set aside six months of living expenses to guard against unexpected expenses that derail your plans. But don’t let what may seem a large sum deter you. Start with $500, which is enough to cover the cost of most minor household emergencies. Add $100 a month until you reach your goal.
  • Pay yourself first. You should be saving at least 10% of what you make every month. Write that check first and budget to live off of what’s left.
  • Get organized through new technologies. Account aggregation through your financial institution or a service like Mint.com will allow you to view all your accounts in one place, says Linda Sherry, national priorities director at Consumer Action. She also recommends using a password manager like 1password or Dashlane to simplify your online transactions from any device, and setting up a folder in email for increasingly common online account statements.

*Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. First Financial Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) and First Financial Investment & Retirement Center are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using First Financial Investment & Retirement Center, and may also be employees of FFFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of FFFCU or First Financial Investment & Retirement Center.

Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

Article Source: http://business.time.com/2013/09/20/9-ways-to-simplify-your-finances-now/

5 Big Budgeting Mistakes Most People Make

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Top-10-Big-Budgeting-Mistakes-in-Travel-2Some people take budgeting very seriously. They budget their money down to the very last cent. Others ignore the subject completely and don’t even bother to look at the big picture every now and then.

Regardless of the situation you’re in, there are five budgeting boo-boos that most people make — and they are big. Let’s review these pitfalls so you don’t fall into any of them.

1. Not Tracking Your Actual Expenses

Budgeting is great, but without tracking it against your actual expenses it’s a useless endeavor. The ultimate purpose of budgeting is to determine if your spending behavior is getting you closer to — or further away from — your life goals. A budget is a dream. Actuals are reality. The dream is nice, but it won’t change your life.  Your actual spending, if you track it and make critical decisions around it, can propel you forward in ways you could never imagine. It’s important to track your actual spending every month.

2. Neglecting Emergency Planning

There are two kinds of emergencies. The first kind are involuntary, as in, “Oh my gosh, my car needs a new transmission!”  The second kind are voluntary, as in, “Oh my gosh, I just have to go to Vegas this weekend!”

These are both examples of unplanned expenses that throw most people off track. But they don’t have to. Here’s why. If you look back over your records for prior years, you’ll probably notice that these kinds of emergencies (voluntary and involuntary) pop up about once or twice a year.  If it’s not one thing, it will be another. You don’t know what it will be or what the price tag will be exactly, but people get smacked with “unexpected” expenses in a fairly predictable manner if they view it on an annual basis.  That’s another reason why it really pays to keep good records.

Look at your past “emergencies” to get a sense of how much goes out more or less each year and divide that number by 12 and set that amount aside every month to cover these costs.

3. Forgetting to Allow for Non-Recurring Expenses

Of the people who do track what they spend each month, few put aside the bills that come in infrequently like property taxes and insurance. That’s why, when people are asked what they think they spend on average each month, they usually undershoot it by 30% or more. And that kind of miscalculation poses a huge danger.

If you retire thinking you spend “X” but actually spend 130% of “X” you’ll be back to work before you can say, “Flippy Burger.” Track everything that goes out. It doesn’t matter how you do it. It just matters that you know what it costs you to live on average each month including everything – even non-recurring expenses.

4. Not Expecting the Really Bad Stuff

Do you budget for the really terrible “what if” scenarios? Part of that includes a family continuation plan and that usually includes a discussion about life insurance. According to JD Power and Associates, 40% of the adult population in the United States has no life insurance at all. And according to that same study, 25% of all widows and widowers (35 to 50 years old) feel their deceased spouses didn’t have enough life insurance.

Make sure you know how much coverage you need, carve out a spot in your budget and then put the policy in place. Term life is very affordable. And don’t let health issues stand in your way.  Each insurance company views your health history differently.  Even if your doctor’s chart is really ugly, don’t despair.  You may be eligible for a guaranteed issue policy.  You have nothing to lose and your family to protect, so put the latte down and take care of this.

5. Not Budgeting Your Top Resource: Time

Regardless of how much money you have or don’t have – time is your most precious resource.  Are you budgeting and tracking it?  Don’t feel bad, most people don’t. Something you can try is to make a daily list of three things you need to get done. Only jot down three things because you want to set yourself up for success rather than failure. Keep that list by your side all day long and don’t unplug your computer until you cross each item off the list. Sticking to your list and plowing through it before doing anything else will yield powerful results. You’ll be more effective and feel less stress — it’s a win-win.

Take a look at the way you spend your time and money. Are you satisfied? If not, which of these budgeting tips offer the greatest potential for you? When are you going to start? Why or why not?

Click here to check out our free financial calculators that are conveniently located on our website. We also offer a number of services that can be helpful organizing your finances and getting yourself back on track. If you’d like to sit down and review your current finances with a First Financial expert, contact us to make your complimentary annual financial check-up today by calling 732.312.1500, email info@firstffcu.com, or stop into any branch and ask to speak with a representative.

The article source was written by Neal Frankl for FOXBusiness.

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9 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Own Financial Stability

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As human beings, our brains contain psychological barriers that can stand between making smart financial decisions and poor ones. The good news is that once you realize your own mental weaknesses, it’s not impossible to overcome them. Here are nine of the biggest barriers…and some good strategies for fighting them:

Scenario 1: You’re about to buy an engagement ring so you do some research on prices. Most people say three months’ salary is the general budget, so you freak out and request a credit line increase.

What’s really going on: Anchoring.

Anchoring happens when we rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions. After encountering the “three month” rule, you find it hard to make a logical decision based your own financial reality or your relationship. You may not have three months’ worth of salary to splurge on a diamond, but you decide to spend within that range because you are anchored to that idea.

Scenario 2: You’re 27 years old, in excellent health and just got promoted. You’re so high on life that you can’t fathom a time when you’ll no longer be young, fit, and financially stable.

What’s really happening: Myopia.

Because you are unable to picture yourself in old age, bad health, or cash-strapped, you’re less likely to save for unexpected events or your retirement. Myopia can be blamed for many depleted retirement savings accounts in the U.S. “Seduced by temporal myopia in their younger years, many people get around to saving seriously for their retirement far too late in their career, in their forties and fifties in many cases, which greatly reduces the amount of money they will have available for their retirement,” says Shlomo Benartzi, a behavioral finance economist and author of “Save More Tomorrow.”

If you’re lacking motivation, try this handy experiment: Use Merrill Edge’s Face Retirement generator, which will take a photo of you as you are today and generate an image of what you’ll look like in retirement. Benartzi’s own research has shown that this kind of reminder can actually give people the jumpstart they need to start saving for retirement.

Scenario 3: You’re watching the market closely and see that a certain stock has been tanking over the last few months. You give it another month, watch it drop again and decide to sell it off before history repeats itself.

What’s really going on: Gambler’s fallacy.

When investors rely on past events to predict the future, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. If a stock is flying or floundering for a year, that doesn’t mean it will continue to do so in the next year, or even in a few months to come. The same thing happens when you buy a lotto ticket because your buddy next door just won $10,000 in a drawing. Just because he won doesn’t change the odds of you winning at all.

Keep your decision-making grounded in the real facts. Analyze your investments before making any sudden moves or following trends.

Scenario 4: It’s open enrollment season for your company’s health care plan and the list of plans is so confusing that you put it off for days until, finally, the deadline rolls around. You give up, re-enrolling in whatever plan you already have.

What’s really going on: Avoidance.

This is a form of procrastination that could really cost you. There are a lot of meaty topics in finance, most of which are about as fun to research as it is to get a root canal. But if you miss a dentist appointment, you can easily reschedule. Mess up your health care election and you could be stuck with the wrong plan for an entire year and pay dearly for it.

Another area prime for avoidance: 401(k) plans. You know you’ve got to enroll so you just skip around until a decent plan name “speaks to you.” Not only could you have signed up for a plan with high fees or the wrong allocations for your risk tolerance, but you will only wind up paying more fees when you finally realize your mistake and have to switch plans.

In addition to a wealth of helpful tools and articles online, many retirement plan providers offer free advisors who are on call to help navigate you through the elections process. If they don’t, it could be worth it to book a one-time consult with a fee-only financial advisor.

Scenario 5: A tech company you love just went public and you’re dying to buy in. You decide to do your homework, but you skirt over the negative headlines, instead clicking on posts singing the company’s praises.

What’s really going on: Confirmation bias.

Investors aren’t machines. They’ve got feelings and like any normal human being, they can’t help but selectively filter out opinions that don’t mirror their own. In doing so, they create a false sense of security that can lead to some pretty boneheaded decisions.

If you want the full picture, you’ve got to seek out information that contradicts everything you thought you knew about a company before you can hope to form a balanced opinion.

Scenario 6: The stock market has just hit rock bottom, taking half of your retirement savings down with it. Shell-shocked and devastated by the loss, you demand that your financial advisor pulls every last investment out of the market immediately.

What’s really going on: Loss aversion.

Loss aversion plagues even the most experienced investors, making them avoid potential gains because they’re too afraid to take a risk.

Anyone who ditched the stock market for fear of further losses after the 2008 crash can blame loss aversion. The average pre-retiree 401(k) balance actually doubled since the recession. People who fled the stock market and never rebalanced their portfolios only rebounded by 25%.

Loss aversion can also have the opposite effect, causing investors to cling too tightly to losing investments. Because it hurts to admit that they picked a losing investment, they focus on selling off winners and hope they’ll rebound over time. If they aren’t careful, they wind up with a portfolio full of flops.

Scenario 7: You’re a savvy investor and you know you’ve got the goods to beat the market. So you jump in and start trading like a madman, trusting your gut and your own due diligence not to lead you astray.

What’s really happening: Overconfident investing.

It takes seriously overconfident investors to kid themselves into thinking they can beat the market when even the people whose full-time job is to beat the market fail so frequently.

Terrence Odean’s oft-mentioned study, “Trading is Hazardous to Your Wealth,” isn’t just a cute bedtime story for investors looking to stroke their egos. It actually shows that frequent trading caused by overconfidence can kill your returns.

Of more than 66,000 households using a large discount broker in the mid-1990s, those who traded most often (48 or more times a year) saw annual gains of 11.4 percent, while the market saw 17.9 percent gains, Odean found.

Scenario 8: You’re still working on building up your emergency fund and you just got a birthday check for $100. Instead of adding it to your savings account, you treat yourself to a new coat or a haircut.

What’s really going on: Mental accounting.

Mental accounting takes place when we assign different values to money depending on where we get it from. If you had earned that $100 by working overtime one week, chances are you’d treat it more like regular income and save it.

Mental accounting is a big reason why we spend more money with credit cards than using hard cash. It just feels “less” like money to us and therefore it’s much easier to spend.

Instead, repeat this mantra: “Money is money, no matter how I get it.” And the next time you use your credit card, ask yourself if you’d be spending that money if you were using cash instead. If the answer is no, hold off.

Scenario 9: A housing development in your county just went belly up and you’ve heard investors are snapping up cheap plots for a steal. You’ve got no experience flipping houses but you’re not about to miss out on a hot ticket like that.

What’s really going on: Herd mentality.

You’ve spotted a hot trend and you don’t want to be the only one out there who didn’t book a seat on the bandwagon. As human beings, it can be very uncomfortable standing still while the rest of our peers head the other way looking like they’re having a ball. It’s in our nature to want to join the party.

This causes a lot of problems when it comes to investing. If you’re willing to change course every time the herd moves, you’ll end up trading a lot more frequently and seeing your returns nibbled to bits by transaction costs alone, not to mention what will happen if the herd leads you astray.

Cotton on to a trend too late and you’ll just lose out when the herd moves on to hotter territory later on and your stock plummets. It’s just a vicious cycle that will only lead to selling low and buying high. The only way to profit from a trend is to get there before anyone else and the odds aren’t in your favor.

To set up a no-cost consultation with our Investment & Retirement Center located at First Financial to discuss your insurance and financial questions, call us at 732.312.1500 today!*

Article by Mandy Woodruff of Daily Finance.

*A First Financial membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Monmouth or Ocean Counties. Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. First Financial Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) and First Financial Investment & Retirement Center are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using First Financial Investment & Retirement Center, and may also be employees of FFFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of FFFCU or First Financial Investment & Retirement Center.

Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

Budget Tips for Planning for Life’s Unexpected Curve Balls

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couple-worry-moneyLife doesn’t always go as planned, and many of life’s major events, like getting married, having a baby and buying a home can crowd your savings capability and even throw you into a financial tailspin.

When it comes to making ends meet, retirement is often left out of the savings equation. Eighty-four percent of people say saving for retirement has been undercut by a life event, according to this year’s HSBC Future of Retirement survey of more than 15,000 people. But people react differently when in crunch mode, the survey says, and in some cases, extreme measures are required to cover budget needs. Three tactics improve cash flow in a financial crunch: increase income, decrease expenses or a combination of both.

Time to Downsize?

In reality, you have more control on your spending side, particularly with flexible expenses like travel, entertainment, gifts and food. But if your financial woes seem irreversible, you may have to take a hammer to large expenses like housing.

In fact, 21% of women surveyed say they would downsize, compared to only 14% of men. And 31% of men say they would dip into their retirement savings to cover unexpected expenses.

Though experts concede downsizing may be extremely emotional, it’s more preferable than taking a chunk out of retirement savings. Actually, 29% of respondents say the financial strain of home ownership puts a real crimp in retirement savings.

If you have any questions about the home buying process, feel free to ask us! We know it can be an intimidating process at times, and we’re here for you. To learn more about a 10, 15, 20, or 30 year First Financial Mortgage – click here.*

Rethink Your Lifestyle.

Today’s lifestyle norms may have something to do with one-dimensional thinking. Items once seen as luxuries are now seen as necessities, says Ravi Dhar, director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights.

Plus, what people do with their money has more to do with psychological and emotional issues than it does with crunching the numbers, claims Marcee Yager, a retired certified financial planner. “It’s never just about the money.”

Because non-financial issues often dictate financial decisions and create a domino effect, consumers need to look at both quantitative (intellectual) and qualitative (emotional) issues when making life choices, says Yager. “Without shared thinking, people’s heads start spinning.”

The idea that emotional understanding must be factored into financial decisions has gained very little traction, claims Yager. “Big investment banks don’t tend to make things soft and fuzzy.”

Dhar even questions the effectiveness of some system resources like the many online investment tools available to consumers. Calculators project four, six, or eight million dollar targets for a retirement 30 years into the future. He says the timeframe seems intangible and the goals unattainable.

For consumers looking to navigate their way out or steer clear of the financial weeds, experts offer the following:

Take small steps to wealth. The only way to build up reserves is to do it gradually. Budget a realistic portion of your paycheck to start an emergency fund or return to the basics. “The best thing people raising families can do is go back to the old traditional practice of putting money in an envelope or a cookie jar,” adds Yager.

Be flexible. Think about what’s possible to mitigate a tight financial situation. Baby boomers tend to be fearful of change, particularly of moving to unknown places, says Yager. In fact, new locales both in and outside of U.S. borders can create wonderful opportunities that improve your quality of life.

Keep a minimum three-month reserve for savings. Learn to cut corners, live on less and shop in cheaper places.

Write it down. Take a financial fitness quiz then put your pencil to paper. You need to see the numbers then monitor your day-to-day situation.

First Financial also hosts free credit management and debt reduction seminars throughout the year, so be sure to check our online event calendar or you can subscribe to receive upcoming seminar alerts on your mobile phone by signing up here.**

Turn to professionals. Reviewing your savings situation and retirement potential with a professional financial advisor can help to ensure that all your future requirements are identified.

If you would like to set up a no-cost consultation with the Investment & Retirement Center located at First Financial Federal Credit Union to discuss your brokerage, investments, and/or savings goals, contact us at 732.312.1500 or stop in to see us!***

Click here to view the article source, from FoxBusiness.com.

*A First Financial membership is required to obtain a mortgage and is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Monmouth or Ocean Counties. A First Financial Mortgage is subject to credit approval. See Credit Union for details. *

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***Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. First Financial Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) and First Financial Investment & Retirement Center are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using First Financial Investment & Retirement Center, and may also be employees of FFFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of FFFCU or First Financial Investment & Retirement Center.

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Don’t Eat the Marshmallow! 4 Tips for Financial Self-Control

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The “Marshmallow Theory,” based on a landmark Stanford University experiment, has been used countless times to demonstrate the power of self-control in your financial and personal life.

The experiment followed children who were left alone with a marshmallow and told that if they didn’t eat it they would get a second one 15 minutes later. Some of the kids waited the full 15 minutes, some ate the marshmallow immediately, and others waited for a short period of time before eating it.

Years later, researchers tracked down the children and found that those with the willpower to wait to eat the marshmallow — 1 in 3 of the test subjects — grew up to become more successful adults than those who ate the marshmallow immediately.

Temptation Never Goes Away

Joachim de Posada, an author, motivational speaker, and adjunct professor at the University of Miami, has gotten a lot of mileage out of the marshmallow experiment. He’s written three books based on the theory.

His latest — “Keep Your Eye on the Marshmallow” — teaches readers how to take responsibility for their own financial, career and personal success by keeping their attention focused on long-term goals rather than instant rewards.

“One of the lessons we can learn from the marshmallow experiment is that among the 1 out of 3 kids that didn’t eat the marshmallow, some already had willpower and some understood they needed to use different techniques to avoid eating it,” says de Posada. “Leadership, like willpower, can be inherited, but it can also be learned through emotional intelligence.”

While the children in the Stanford experiment resisted eating the marshmallow by turning their backs on it or distracting themselves by drawing on the walls, de Posada suggests that adults can use similar techniques (defacing property notwithstanding) to avoid the allure of instant gratification.

4 Ways to Artificially Boost Your Willpower

If you lack financial willpower (e.g., the wherewithal to save your paycheck instead of spending it right away), de Posada recommends the following workarounds to help you delay gratification:

1. Choose an accomplice. Let’s say you have a goal of saving 10 percent of your paycheck until you have enough to cover six months of living expenses to stash into an emergency fund. If you can’t do this on your own, de Posada suggests you identify someone whose willpower is stronger than yours either to keep your money for you or be the person to whom you are accountable.

“If you trust them, send them the money and tell them they can’t give it back until you’ve reached a certain goal,” says de Posada. “Or have your mother or your brother or a close friend call you every 15 days and ask you how much you saved or what you spent your money on during the previous two weeks.”

2. Have your boss hide away part of your paycheck. If you work for a larger company, de Posada says you should have at least 10 percent of your income transferred into a 401(k) or other financial instrument before you ever see it. Just like the kids who looked away from the marshmallow, your money will be out of sight and out of reach.

The Investment & Retirement Center located at First Financial can assist members with saving, investing, and planning for retirement. Set up an appointment with the Financial Advisor by calling 732.312.1500 or stop into any branch and ask a representative to schedule an appointment for you.*

3. Use a money planner. “You schedule your time with your iPad or your calendar, so schedule your money in the same way,” says de Posada. “Give yourself orders that you need to follow in your planner, such as saving a specific amount each week.”

Committing these money appointments to your calendar makes them more concrete, as opposed to vague, far-off goals.

De Posada suggests establishing your financial priorities as you would other activities, with the “A” level urgent actions that must be done today, such as paying a bill on the due date; “B” level tasks that are important but can be accomplished by a future deadline, such as reducing your debt by a particular amount; and “C” level long-term goals such as funding your retirement. He recommends checking your money planner weekly rather than daily.

4. Take action now for future rewards. Overcoming a bit of discomfort in the short term often accompanies actions that pay off in the long term. Investing in the stock market requires weathering the inevitable short-term gyrations and reminding yourself that over the long term the market has steadily risen.

“You need to understand who you are and your appetite for risk, but be aware that when you’re younger you can be more aggressive in your investments,” says de Posada.

De Posada says the most important part of the marshmallow theory is to understand how you would react to the experiment.

“If you know intrinsically that you’re a marshmallow eater, then find a technique to overcome that character trait,” he says. “Recruit someone to help you or put systems in place that will force you to wait for that second marshmallow.”

Click here to view the article source.

*Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. First Financial Federal Credit Union (FFFCU) and First Financial Investment & Retirement Center are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using First Financial Investment & Retirement Center, and may also be employees of FFFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of FFFCU or First Financial Investment & Retirement Center.

Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are: