Financial Action Plans: The Full Breakdown
.Financial Action Plans: The Full Breakdown
Financial Fitness January 24, 2020, 8:38 AM EST
Practical ideas you can start with today
When you think of doing financial planning, do you picture yourself in an office, with a professional planner on the other side of the table, and hashing out a complicated set of documents with a lot of big numbers and goals that are hard to imagine you could ever achieve?
In truth, financial planning often does involve professionals, and it often does lead to a set of documents with big numbers and a list of goals.
But it need not be this involved. It can also be quite simple, as we will see.
What is a financial action plan?
A financial action plan is a plan that directs how you will manage your money in order to make progress toward your goals.
Simply knowing what you want will not get you there: you need a real plan to make it happen.
And it should be written down, with clear goals and actionable steps that can be measured in some way. When a plan is written with concrete, measurable steps, you can gauge whether or not it has succeeded.
Another benefit is that the concrete, actionable steps take the hunches and the guesswork out of your planning.
A financial action plan answers the age old question, what do you need to do to get where you need to go
Emergency Fund: What You Need To Know To Build One
.Emergency Fund: What You Need To Know To Build One
Financial Fitness January 24, 2020
At a glance:
What is an emergency fund?
Where to keep your emergency fund
Finding money to save for an emergency fund
Summary of building an emergency fund
Practical idea you can start with today
Life throws lots of surprises at you, many of them financial: the refrigerator dies, the radiator on the car goes out, we get a surprise tax bill, or a job is terminated.
If you lack an emergency fund there are other options, including credit cards, payday loans, pawnshop loans or loans from family members or friends. Each of these options have their own problems: high interest rates, making them difficult to pay back, as well as potential conflict with people close to you.
It's at that point, when you hit a financial bottom, when you realize the importance of setting aside a certain amount of cash for unforeseen occurrences.
Doing so can buy you peace of mind while sacrificing spending for the short term.
Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Explained
.Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Explained
175 million Americans will start receiving funds 'this week or early next,' Larry Kudlow says
Denitsa Tsekova Reporter Yahoo Money April 6, 2020
An estimated 175 million Americans will get stimulus checks with the first payments going out this week or next, according to Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council.
The payments, worth up to $1,200 plus additional $500 per child, are intended to help Americans financially weather job loss, reduced work hours, and other money challenges as large swaths of the country are shut down to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
"The checks from the Treasury and the IRS [will] probably start going out, I think this week, perhaps early next," Kudlow told CNBC.
Under Pressure
.Under Pressure
Adam M. Grossman | April 5, 2020
ON APRIL 14, 1988, Captain Paul Rinn was the commanding officer of the USS Samuel B. Roberts when it struck a mine in the Persian Gulf. The resulting explosion tore a 21-foot hole in the side of the frigate. Almost immediately, the ship began taking on water and multiple fires broke out.
Naval protocol for this situation was clear: Put out the fires first, then worry about patching the hull. But after just a few minutes of firefighting, Rinn realized he would need to ignore protocol or the ship would sink before the fires were out. He immediately directed the crew to begin patching the hull with any available materials, including clothing and bed sheets. Thanks to Rinn’s judgment, the ship was saved and no lives were lost.
Some 20 years later, while flying out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Captain Chesley Sullenberger faced a similar situation when his plane lost power in both engines.
Twelve Rules
.Twelve Rules
Phil Dawson September 19, 2018
JORDAN PETERSON, a Canadian clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, has thundered onto the cultural scene, thanks in large part to his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.
I began reading with healthy skepticism, but quickly became a fan.
Not that the doctor and I agree on all points. But the book immediately confronted my intellectual laziness in a careful but unavoidable way. On second reading, I began to think about alternate applications for his advice. With great literary license, the following contains some thoughts in that regard. All quotes are from 12 Rules for Life.
Rule 1: Stand up straight, with your shoulders back
Peterson begins his rules with lobsters, dominance hierarchies and serotonin, which he makes far more interesting and relevant than you might suspect. “Circumstances change, and so can you.
Positive feedback loops, adding effect to effect, can spiral counterproductively in a negative direction, but can also work to get you ahead.” In your financial life, this is where you stare down your financial condition, own it and take responsibility for improvement.
Watching a Monetary System In Its Death Throes
.Watching a Monetary System In Its Death Throes
By Len Penzo
It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …
Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.
Don’t be fooled by this week’s market rebound — the monetary system is flat-lining and the Fed and Congress will not be able to revive it. The only question now is how long the US government and its increasingly impotent central bank remain in denial.
Their refusal to acknowledge reality could go on for many many months — so don’t be surprised if they foolishly decide to look the other way until hyperinflation rears its ugly head.
Gold is an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters, upon an account which is not theirs, upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked, ‘Account Overdrawn.’– Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
All paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: nothing.— Voltaire
5 Key Lessons Learned in 25 Years of Retirement Planning
.5 Key Lessons Learned in 25 Years of Retirement Planning
Smart Insights From Professional Advisers
By Nino Pavan, Investment Adviser, CFP | Financial Designs July 5, 2019
After witnessing the accomplishments that retirement savers have achieved, and the mistakes they've made, a few helpful truths become clear.
Like most financial advisers, I’ve spent (and still spend) a good share of my time building on the technical knowledge I need to do my job. The financial industry is always changing, and it’s important to stay on top of new theories, trends and tools.
But after 25 years of working with retirees and pre-retirees, I’ve learned that experience — and a lot of listening — can be every bit as valuable. It helps me to ask the right questions, keep an eye out for potential red flags, and to understand (as well as predict) certain emotions and behaviors.
Helping clients plan for a successful retirement means sharing the lessons I’ve learned during that time. Here are five lessons that stand out:
Don’t Underestimate How Much Income You’ll Need In Retirement
10 Signs The US Is Heading For A Depression
.10 Signs The US Is Heading For A Depression
by Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2020 -
Authored by Mike Whitney via The Unz Review,
1– Unemployment Is Off-The-Charts
Thursday’s jobless claims leave no doubt that the country is in the grips of another severe recession. More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the last week. That number exceeds the gloomiest prediction of more than 40 economists and pushes the two-week total to an eye-watering 10 million claims.
According to CNBC:
“Those at the lower end of the wage scale have been especially hard-hit during a crisis that has seen businesses either cut staff outright or at best freeze any new hiring until there’s more visibility about how efforts to contain the coronavirus will work.
“We’ve lived through the recession and 9/11. What we’re seeing with this decline is actually worse than both of those events,” said Irina Novoselsky, CEO of online jobs marketplace CareerBuilder.” (CNBC)
According to New York Magazine:
“Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis projected Monday that job losses from the coronavirus recession would reach 47 million and push America’s unemployment rate to 32.1 percent — more than 7 points higher than its Great Depression–era peak.”
White Hats Auxiliary Information Briefing 150
.The Philippicae – What Cicero Didn’t See
White Hats Auxiliary Information Briefing #150 April 2 2020
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cicero, a senator who had no love of Caesar, and did not partake in the assassination, turned his attention to attacking the character of Marc Antony. He felt that Antony was just as much a threat as Caesar, and should have also been done away with.
The written attacks became known as “The Philippicae”, or “The Philippics”. They were intended to rally support of the senate against Antony. It worked, and the senate raised an army, declared Antony an enemy of the state, and commenced to do battle with Antony’s forces at Mutina and Forum Gallorum.
Both battles were victories for the senate, but their key generals, Hirtius and Pansa, were killed, and the armies were leaderless and open for acquisition. The local magistrate of Cisalpine Gaul who assumed command, Decimus Brutus, was one of Caesar’s assassins. Octavian (Caesar’s heir), refused to work with him, and the two armies soon switched loyalties to Octavian.
The senate scrambled to bypass Octavian and retake command of the armies. However, always the clever man, Octavian reconciled with Antony, and along with Lepidus, a military general once aligned with the senate, formed the First Triumvirate. This left the senate defenseless.
Why I’m NOT Lending You the Money
.Dear Friend: Here Are 41 Reasons Why I’m NOT Lending You the Money
By Len Penzo
I recently saw a curious article in the Huffington Post that attempted to explain why our friends often fail to repay money that they borrow from us. In a nutshell, the piece offered five reasons:
You refuse to ask for the money back.
You make it too easy for your friends to ignore you.
You didn’t get the loan in writing.
Your friends assume that their unpaid debt won’t result in a broken friendship.
Your friends never planned to give you the money back in the first place.
Strangely enough, the author failed to offer the most logical — not to mention obvious — reason why anyone would ever welch on a loan from a friend or relative: they’re a deadbeat.
Truth be told, I have occasionally loaned money to my financially-pinched friends and relatives. Not often, but I have.
In several cases, I’ve offered the cash with no strings attached because I believed the bind they were in was due to something out of their control.
There’s A Major Sovereign Debt Crisis Looming
.There’s A Major Sovereign Debt Crisis Looming
Notes From The Field By Simon Black
April 2, 2020 Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico
By the mid 1300s, the Republic of Florence in modern day Italy had experienced one of the greatest economic booms in human history.
In less than a century, Florence had grown from a tiny, irrelevant backwater to become one of Europe’s largest cities and preeminent financial center.
The expansion was truly impressive. Florence’s population had grown 10x. It had become a leading manufacturer in both weapons and textiles.
(Many etymologists believe the word ‘pistol’ is derived from the name of a town near Florence called Pistoia, which was renowned for its quality arms.)
And the city’s innovations in the banking industry were revolutionizing business across Europe.
Florence’s phenomenal economic success is quite similar to what the United States experienced in its early history.