People today are more responsible for their own retirement income security. Over the past 15 to 20 years there has been a shift in responsibility for long-term well-being away from institutions (employers, the government) to individuals. For example, in 1980, 70% of pension plans were defined contribution (DC, as opposed to defined benefit plans; DC plans shift more of the responsibility for the growth of retirement funds to the consumer); by 1997, 92% of plans were defined contribution (Conte 1998). In 1988, one-fourth (25%) of workers were covered primarily by DC plans; in 1998, over three-fifths (63%) were covered by such plans (Copeland 2002). (more…)

A number of groups (the Consumer Federation of America, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Americans for Consumer Education and Competition, the American Savings Education Council) have conducted personal financial literacy quizzes with different audiences. Most of these show that literacy levels are low. (more…)

You can keep your financial documents in different places—in a home file, in a safe-deposit box, or on a computer. To organize your documents as effectively as possible, you may want to use all three. Each method has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the types of documents being kept.

A home file is one place to keep financial documents. (more…)

Do you know what do couples fight about? The answer is always the same for every couple: financial matters. In the marriage, you could spend a lot, while your partner wants to save money. How to avoid financial arguments in married couple? Avoid financial arguments requires couple to have discussion before getting married. Both should be sharing their needs and financial goals and develop plan for spending and saving money. (more…)

In examining your financial condition and setting financial goals, you succeeded in nailing down where you are and where you’re going financially. But it’s important that you conduct these exercises at least annually. Keep the cash in a checking account, and watch it disappear! Wouldn’t it be better to put all the money you’ve saved on that extravaganza toward financing your child’s pay college education? (more…)

You can also use present value calculations to determine how much you would need to deposit so you can take a specific amount of money out of your savings account for a certain number of years. This is knows as series of deposit. If you want to take $400 out of your account each year for nine years, and your money is earning interest at 8 percent a year, how much money would you need to deposit now? Part D of Figure 1.4 will help you find the answer. Find Year 9 in the left column and look across to the 8 percent interest-rate column. The value given is 6.247. Multiply this value by the amount of money that you want to take out every year:

$400 X 6.247 = $2,498.80

You need to deposit $2,498.80 now to be able to take out $400 each year for nine years. This calculation is used for retirement.

Some savers and investors like to make regular deposits into their savings. You can also do the same to increase your savings. A series of equal regular deposits is sometimes called an annuity. Use Part B of the chart in Figure 1.4 (future value of a series of equal yearly deposits) to find out the future value of $1,000 a year at 5 percent annual interest for six years. At the end of the six years, you would have $6,802:

$1,000 X 6.802 = $6,802

When money is easy to reach, we can easily solve our problems and live a happy and successful life. But this is not always the case. Money is a sensitive issue. Saving some extra monies particularly when in economic downturn is critical and challenging. You will find in bellow article how to save money effectively and the important of saving money.

If you’re not careful about your money, you could sacrifice a life of debt and living below poverty. (more…)

When planning to start a family, one of the most important things to note is how much it will cost for having a baby. You will be surprised at what cost it could to raise a child, and it is important to be prepared in advance by preparing the amount of money you need to have a baby. Take some other things to add up the cost like necessities such as food, clothing and shelter must be taken into account by itself. (more…)

Reaching your financial goals can get much easier if you buy a home wisely. Reason: Ultimately, when you pay off your mortgage, you’ll no longer have to pay big bucks for a place to live. You can route that additional money to increase your savings toward reaching your financial goals and improving your lifestyle. (more…)

You may enjoy shopping (whether it is cyber shopping or online grocery shopping) and do it often, or you might go to the mall only if you need to buy something. In either case, wise buying decisions will help you get the most out of the products you buy now and will enable you to meet your long-term financial goals. To get the most for your money, you need to recognize the factors that affect your buying habits. There is shows some of the economic, social, and personal factors that influence the purchases you make. (more…)