This past week was National Save for Retirement Week. This is something that didn’t get a whole lot of play. However, it is still an important topic. According to the 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey presented by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, 53% of all workers have less than $25,000 in savings and investments, excluding home ownership and defined benefits plans.
This lack of savings is a real issue for the future. It should be noted that Social Security was never meant to replace income — merely supplement it. And it may not even be available to do that for younger workers. …read more

Most of us think we are underpaid for what we do. Indeed, many of us look at what we have to deal with, and sigh that it may not be worth it. I am lucky, in that I think that I am, for the most part, fairly compensated. I make living as a freelance writer working from home. It’s hard to complain about a job that provides me the essentials of life (and some wants) from the comfort of my home and (for the most part) on my own schedule.
But there are some people out there who are truly underpaid. …read more

We pay fewer taxes than other countries, so why are we so bummed about it?

Does more money mean a longer life?

There are some silver linings with regard to the household wealth report from the Fed.

Are you experiencing income loss?

As the economy continues in its recession, I am actually asked this question quite a lot:
What is the #1 rule of personal finance?
The answer, as some of you might imagine, is not particlularly deep or earth-shatteringly insightful:
Spend less than you earn (or earn more than you spend).
This basic credo is, in fact, the basis for all good personal finance decisions. It is the foundation of making the right choices down the line, and the catalyst that helps people learn to prioritize their spending. This rule is expressed in two different ways:

Limiting your expenses so that they do not exceed your …read more

One of the realities of cost cutting in this recession is the furlough. Indeed, the furlough is being used as the “weapon of choice” for cost savings, rather than pay cuts or firings. Well, I guess when you get right down to it, a furlough really is a pay cut of sorts.

A furlough is forced, unpaid time off. Some companies are forcing workers to take one day a week off, without pay. Others are requiring that workers take a week’s worth of unpaid vacation during a quarter.
There are other set-ups for furloughs, depending on where you work. A furlough can …read more

Eldon Sartel over at Wordpreneur got my attention with this headline: Freelance Writing Isn’t the Only Way to Make Money Writing
Although I’m not sure I agree that freelancing always means working for clients, I take his point as he publishes an article by Lindsay Buroker called Forget Freelance Writing Jobs, Build Financial Independence Writing for Yourself. That sounds like residual income to me, and sure enough it is.
So I chased down the article’s author and found a blog called Writing For Your Wealth! First of all, why didn’t I think of that? Sigh.
This is one I’m subscribing to and I’m …read more

One of the best things I’ve ever done for myself is to track all my numbers. I actually record, in QuickBooks, every cent I spend. I have a personal checking account and a business checking account for my writing income/expense which makes tax time easier and helps me really understand what’s going on in my business.
Reconciling checkbooks has always been, well, almost an anathema to me. A couple of months ago I wondered why we reconcile monthly. I mean, who made up that rule? I suspect it happened when the banks decided to issue monthly statements. But with automatic downloads, …read more