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It's 2018 and now’s the time to get your finances in order. To help you and your family make all the right money moves next year, here’s a financial game plan that could help you grow your 401(k), avoid financial ruin and adjust to the new tax rules signed into law by President Trump. Just as a New Year’s resolution to get fit can fail if you don’t hit the gym, getting ahead financially is tough if you don’t set up a plan and stick to it, says Dana Anspach, founder and CEO of Sensible Money, a wealth management firm in Scottsdale, Ariz. Doing an annual financial check-up, she stresses, is only worthwhile if you use it as a jumping off point to “build good habits.” “It’s figuring out the baby steps you can take that moves you and your money in the right direction,” Anspach says. “Every family should put together a playbook for the year.” Here are steps to take to get you on the road to financial success. Start with the Basics Insurance isn’t sexy. I...

In trying to be smart with our money, sometimes we damage our long-term financial future. Here are some such common mistakes, and how to go about avoiding them.  We all intend to do the right thing with our money but sometimes our decisions and actions harm, rather than benefit, our financial situation . Typically this happens when you are in a hurry, or have not thought it through or not tailored a financial action to your specific situation. Here are some common situations where the end result may not be what you wanted, if you don’t take the trouble to do it right.  A budget too tight You decide to streamline income and expenses to increase savings. But you overdo things and create a budget that may be designed to fail. The typical errors are to overlook tracking the expenses for a few months, so that you don’t know where you spend and don’t know your level of expense for each category of expense. Without this information, you could fail to allocate adequate r...

Ready to quit your day job? There's a trend among some personal finance gurus called FI/RE -- financially independent/retiring early. It means being able to reach a point where you have assets (investment accounts or rental property) that earn enough income to cover all of your expenses. In other words, you're rich enough to quit.  But for most people, getting to financial independence means making some big sacrifices and getting very creative with their spending habits. How to achieve financial independence It comes down to how you save, spend and invest . Maximize your saving -- many of these people figured out how to save 50 percent of their incomes or more, sometimes by purchasing multifamily homes and taking on enough tenants to make an income.  But the spending side is key as well. The author of the website 1500 days, Carl J. set a goal for himself to bring his assets to $1 million in that amount of time. On his site, he details the step he took to r...

Because ‘savings’ and ‘London’ rarely ever feature in the same sentence It’s no secret that London is home to some of the highest living costs in the world. The median annual salary for London is £34,473, but there are many people – especially young people – living on well below this. After rent and bills are paid, the remainders of pay packets go to food and necessities – so how are we meant to save for that big holiday or to get out feet firmly on the property ladder? In light of Financial Capability Week this week we spoke to Andrew Johnson, Advice Manager at Money Advice Service who has revealed his 13 top tips for saving when you live in London. 1. Loose change adds up By the end of the week, many of us have a few coins left over in pockets and purses – and even down the back of the sofa. Gather up these odd coins each week and put them in a jar. Even just a £1 a week in loose change will give you a cushion of over £50 by the end of the year. Looking a...

It’s never too late to start getting smart about money. Maybe you’ve made it this far with few problems … you’ve done pretty well all alone just by winging it. Good for you. But retirement planning isn’t about the past 30 years of your life — it’s about the next 30. And that’s harder. There are decisions you can’t undo, and mistakes are tougher to recover from when you don’t have a paycheck to back you up. Here are five big money mistakes people make every day that a comprehensive retirement plan can help you avoid: Written by Bill Smith, the host of the television and radio show "Retirement Solutions." Author of "Knock Out Your Retirement Income Worries Forever." He is the CEO of W.A. Smith Financial Group and Great Lakes Retirement Inc. His firms specialize in retirement income planning, wealth management, wealth preservation and estate planning. Big Mistake No. 1: Choosing your retirement date based on age alone. People often decide ...

For those seeking ways to build wealth (or just to get rich quick), there’s no shortage of advice out there. Personal finance sites abound online, and self-styled radio talk show experts dispense wisdom with varying degrees of accuracy. But one study found that your fundamental attitudes about money can be a predictor of your ability to accumulate wealth. The study, published in the Journal of Financial Planning, looked at the correlation between certain behaviors and four “money scripts” — or, put another way, four money personalities. And, spoiler alert: Only one of the four money scripts is particularly conducive to getting wealthy. But Tom Murphy, a certified financial planner and CEO of Murphy and Sylvest, said the good news is, like anything, once you recognize that you look at money a certain way, you can take steps to change. “Recognizing why you are doing what you’re doing is strongly correlated with changing it,” he said. “Lots of times, once peop...

When I first started investing, I had many questions. Fortunately, I had helpful and experienced investors around me who were able to guide me through my first steps as a stock market investor. However, others may not be so fortunate and may, as a result, be put off from investing due to fears of making a mistake. Because of this, I thought I would answer three common questions that new investors might have. How much should I invest in my first stock? This may be the first question that many new investors might have. In reality, there is no simple answer to this question. It depends on a multitude of factors such as your risk appetite, portfolio size, and investment strategy . Having said that, I believe that all investors should still follow a few rules of thumb before making a decision on this. First, our investment size should be large enough such that the commission charges do not exceed 1%. For instance, investors should try not to make a transaction b...

Saving money and cutting costs is often as exciting as watching paint dry. But finance guru and Sugar Mamma founder Canna Campbell has revealed her seven top tips to get you enthusiastic and confident about growing your bank account. The Australian video blogger says getting yourself into a healthy routine with money is the best starting point for saving money and making every dollar count. In her latest YouTube video, Canna shared seven simple ways you can cut costs and squeeze every penny so you can sit back and watch your savings flourish.  1. Have a Deadline Canna says setting yourself a reasonable but clear deadline for your savings goal is the first step towards maximizing your money. If you have a goal of saving $10,000 in five months, the finance expert recommends pinpointing a specific date on your calendar for your deadline - which instills a sense of urgency in your mind every time you see it.  'That way you feel feel a lot more acc...

OLD age pensioners are the salt of the earth. Most soldier on, without complaints. They are not whingers. Most went through hard times where seeking second-hand goods were a habit as there was no money to buy anything brand new. They survived to become great, unheralded, true blue Australians. Luckily in those days, the only drugs were tobacco and alcohol, not the "killers" we see on the streets today. Now, on small pensions, they must learn how to top up those empty pockets. Below are some tips and information that could work for you. Be determined, be lucky. Catalogues First of all, don't regard the shopping catalogues that are shoved into your letterbox as junk mail. Far from it. They are valuable and your guide to cheaper shopping. We study them; make our lists and do our thrice-weekly shopping trip - what we call our "big shop". Because the big supermarkets are grouped together, it is not physically exhaust...

In the coming weeks, hundreds of thousands of excited 18-year-olds will be heading to university. It is daunting for both the new generation of undergraduates and their parents. University will be a long list of firsts – and many of these will involve money. Having a bank account with an overdraft (and very likely the offer of a credit card, too) will be just the start. There will be rental contracts and deposits, student loan borrowing and, for some, the eye-opening experience of doing a grocery shop.  What is the most useful financial advice a parent or grandparent can impart? Here are five suggestions. Basic planning Many 18-year-olds will never have budgeted properly in their lives, and having to meet essential food, housing and other costs could come as a shock. Helen Saxon, the chief money analyst at moneysavingexpert.com, said: “They’ll need to sit down – and maybe parents can help in these remaining weeks – and work out how much cash they’ll have c...

1. Maintain three to six months of savings in your account. “As a contractor or part-time worker, your income will tend to ebb and flow,” Gugliuzza says. “Having an emergency fund with enough savings to cover three to six months’ worth of your critical expenses can help ensure you can pay your bills, even during times of low employment.” Figure out what this necessary dollar amount is and make sure your bank account is ready to go before you take the full leap into the gig economy. 2. Keep a handle on your debts. As part of the gig economy, you’re still responsible for paying taxes on what you earn, and bad news: You don’t have an in-house HR or accounting department to make that happen for you. “If you’re doing contract work and don’t want taxes withheld from your pay, you’ll need to make quarterly estimated state and federal tax payments,” Gugliuzza says. You’ll save yourself a lot of stress comes tax time if you are careful to put away a portion of each payment you receive ...

Money is something that individuals usually need more of but frequently find in short supply. People worry about money.... a lot. According to the YouGov poll for the Institute of Financial Planning and National Savings and Investments in Great Britain, nearly two-thirds of respondents worried about their finances, with 43 percent saying they worried about money "more often than not." Things aren't much different in the United States, where a recent survey from Lincoln Financial Group showed that 53 percent of respondents worried about having enough money for retirement. Taking charge of personal finances may seem like a difficult undertaking, but you don't have to make drastic lifestyle changes to grow your savings. Try these tips to save more and live a more financially-conscious life. · Keep financial records. It's hard to determine your financial standing if you do not prioritize record-keeping. Find a method that you can stick with consisten...

The equity market is on a high these days. The Sensex hit 31,291 on June 22 2017, rising about 17 per cent from a year ago and about 19 per cent year to date (YTD). Given the phenomenal rise, should investors continue to park funds in stocks?  Different people have different investing styles . While some follow aggressive styles with shorter investment horizons, most believe in investing for the long term with a minimum of three- to five-year outlook.  During a discussion at work, a colleague made an interesting point - his equity mutual fund SIP opened in January 2008 (the high point of that market cycle) has yielded him an annual compounded return of 12 per cent till date; he continues to hold on to the same.  While one may argue that this is no great feat as the return in absolute terms is not much to write home about, the key takeaway here for readers is that despite investing at a time when valuations and markets were at a peak, this particular in...