Financial Guidelines

[ha98ed14]

**Please note that this post is nearly 2 mos old. Someone replied to it and it popped back up. Thanks!**

I know there are lots of financial gurus on here. I am hoping you all might help me flesh out the "rules of thumb" in my head. Some examples of the kind of thing I'm looking for: I know you are supposed to spend no more than 33.3% of your income on housing and that you need to have at least 3 months, but more like 6 months of your living expenses saved. Any other "rules of thumb"?

Does anyone have a working definition of living within your means v. leaving beyond your means? I know it means being in the black v. in the red, but anything else? Also, what percentage of your income is the recommended savings? Obviously the more you save the better, but if you bring in $4500/ mo, is it enough save $250/ mo? I guess I am looking for the "cut off" for when you need to reevaluate and start cutting back more in order to save more. And any other financial guidelines people think of as the recommended thinking on the subject. Thanks for any info.

[ChunkyNicksChunkyMom]

The only way I know how to do it is to work it backwards from the age you want to retire, How much will you need to live on for the rest of your life? I will tell you that the most frightening words I have EVER heard recently came out of my Dh's mouth and that was " I am only going to be working ten more years". I knew it was coming, obviously, but this made it so much more real.

[kep]

Dave Ramsey. Seriously love him. His book, "The Total Money Makeover" really spells it all out so easily. DH would have probably figured it out on his own, but I really benefited from having it all laid right out there. Do this, this, and this. Lots of talk about retirement. Don't want to get stuck eating Alpo. :)

ETA- I know I didn't directly answer your question, but I wanted to provide a resource to start with.

[wellyes]

I don't know about official rules of thumb and I am NOT a guru, but we are definitely savers. Our general rules.....

-- Invest in 401k to at least your employer match

-- Max out IRA or Roth IRA every year.

-- For investments it's index funds, index funds, index funds. We played with asset allocation for years but really, you can't beat the market and index funds have such low fees / low churn that you're so much better off with them. But index funds does not = S&P500. We have a large cap index, a small cap index, an international index, and the equivalent of a bond index.

-- Set up a 529 for DD as a baby and put all cash gifts towards it, plus put in a little each year.

Pre-baby we saved 10% cash on top of that & gave 5% to charity annually based on pre-tax amounts. That seems like a very very long time ago, it's not an option now that I work part-time. Someday we'll get back to that, but it's not my priority right now.

[let73]

Dave Ramsey. Seriously love him. His book, "The Total Money Makeover" really spells it all out so easily.
:yeahthat:

[stefani]

Originally Posted by kep http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/images/buttons2/viewpost.gif (http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2534797#post2534797)
Dave Ramsey. Seriously love him. His book, "The Total Money Makeover" really spells it all out so easily.


I agree. I listen to some of his podcast, too.

Personally I think a minimum is 10% (of net income, after taxes) for retirement, 10% for big ticket items (replace A/C, water heater, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, roof, windows, etc.) I would like to just spend 50% of net, and save the other 50% for retirement as well as big ticket, but we are not there...

GL!

[Georgia]

I like Elizabeth Warren's advice. She says that people focus too much on what feels like frivolous spending when they try to cut costs, but it's the fixed costs that will send a family into bankruptcy. Don't get hung up on that $4 Starbucks habit, which can always be cut out if you face a job loss, but look at the amount of money already spoken for each and every month (house payment, car payment, health insurance, etc.).

These fixed costs should make up no more than 50% of your income.

Then save 20%, including retirement and saving for big ticket items. She includes paying off credit card debt in this amount also.

Spend 30%. This may seem like a lot but if your fixed costs are low enough this type of spending can be almost entirely shut off (along with savings) in a financial crisis and you're chances of being ok are much better. What's important is that you should have this much to be able to spend freely each month. If you don't the problem is that your monthly financial commitments are too high and should be re-evaluated, not that you need to clip more coupons.

[karenj2]

Crown Financial Ministries has a good chart with percentages of what you should be spending (of course they have a 10% tithe in their calculations too).

We try to put away a large amount towards an Emergency Fund, which is separate from our general savings. We're working on having 1 year's worth of normal expenses saved up, so that if either one of us gets laid off, we can stretch that by cutting back on things if we need to.

I use a budgeting program from www.youneedabudget.com that helps me to budget for normal expenses as well as save for the "occasional" expenses (i.e., quarterly payments, car/home repairs, etc.) so on paper it looks like we have more spendable money than we actually have to spend.

I've never used Dave Ramsey personally, but I have heard lots of good things about him.

[tarahsolazy]

Another vote for Dave Ramsey. We don't 'do' him exactly, as we had lots of it in place already, but he's got good guidelines:

3-6mo emergency fund
No more than 25% of your take home on housing
No more than 50% of your annual take home in assets that are depreciating (cars, boats, etc)
15% of your income saved toward retirement.

No credit card use. Ideally, never borrow money, although he concedes that most folks need a mortgage to buy a house.

[alexmommy]

I too am a big Dave Ramsey fan. His stuff makes sense and anyone can do it successfully.

We definitely have a budget down to the details. Like DH has his clothing budget, I have mine, and we don't share. So if he wants to spend a ridiculous amount on yet another suit or pair of shoes, if he has it, he can. If not, he must wait. (DH is a clothes horse, but a good dresser.) This eliminates most money fights. While I work the budget and enter receipts (I made my own Excel spreadsheets--I'm a spreadsheet nerd, but I think Quicken would do it for you), we re-visit the budget every 6 months to see how it is working for us and tweak the figures as needed.

I also second re-visiting fixed expenses. But the big thing (as Dave Ramsey) is paying down debt so your fixed expenses are lower. For us it helped to have short-term and long-term goals--like me being able to be a SAHM. We did something special after paying off each debt, like going out for ice cream. (This was pre-DS.)

[SkyrMommy]

I agree with many of the PPs in terms of the percentage to be saved as well as the ALWAYS max what your employer will put into your 401K.

I think that we usually run a 4-6 month 'safety net' just in case of rainy weather. Sometimes it's on the lower end because taxes, insurance or other expenses come up, but that's the ballpark.

The only thing that is different from us is DH (financial business) isn't starting a 529 for DD... we're doing a Roth IRA in my name and planning on maxing it out each year (I think $10,000) The monies in the fund can be withdrawn in the future for her education without any tax penalties, but if she ends up being an amazing, talented genius and gets scholarships the monies can stay in the fund for my retirement. 529s are much more limited in what they can and cannot be used for without penalties.

[vludmilla]

A little OT but when I hear that 25% of your net income should go to housing, I get a little perturbed. I am a huge fan of keeping our expenses low (exhibit A is my almost 8year old car) but I live in an extremely high cost of living area. We have had the highest property taxes in the country for the 2nd year in a row. Housing costs a fortune and if I went by the 25% rule, I'd have to live in a small apartment, forever. Anyone spending more than 25% in a high COL area and doing okay with their finances otherwise or should I really just buy that much lower?

[ha98ed14]

A little OT but when I hear that 25% of your net income should go to housing, I get a little perturbed. I am a huge fan of keeping our expenses low (exhibit A is my almost 8year old car) but I live in an extremely high cost of living area. We have had the highest property taxes in the country for the 2nd year in a row. Housing costs a fortune and if I went by the 25% rule, I'd have to live in a small apartment, forever. Anyone spending more than 25% in a high COL area and doing okay with their finances otherwise or should I really just buy that much lower?

Thanks for that opinion. When I saw that, I about keeled over. Yeah, there is no freaking way we could spend only 25% of our income on housing. Maybe if we had two incomes, it could be closer to 30. As it is, it's just under 40. When we looked for a mortgage, they were willing to lend us up to 50%. I am not kidding. We wouldn't go that high. But the cost of a modest house (2-3 BR; 1 Bath) in good condition in an area with good schools is minimum $400K. You might be able to get a fixer for less, or if you compromise on schools, if your going to HS or do private school. For where we live, it's just not realistic to spend 25% of our income on housing. It feels like a vicious cycle. We live in a high cost of living area, but because of that DH is paid relatively well for his profession. But if we lived in a less expensive area, he wouldn't get paid as well... :sulkoff:

[ha98ed14]

The only thing that is different from us is DH (financial business) isn't starting a 529 for DD... we're doing a Roth IRA in my name and planning on maxing it out each year (I think $10,000) The monies in the fund can be withdrawn in the future for her education without any tax penalties, but if she ends up being an amazing, talented genius and gets scholarships the monies can stay in the fund for my retirement. 529s are much more limited in what they can and cannot be used for without penalties.

That's a good idea... Never thought of that. We have pretty cheap in state tuition compared to the rest of the States, so that might be a good option.

[wellyes]

The only thing that is different from us is DH (financial business) isn't starting a 529 for DD... we're doing a Roth IRA in my name and planning on maxing it out each year (I think $10,000) The monies in the fund can be withdrawn in the future for her education without any tax penalties, but if she ends up being an amazing, talented genius and gets scholarships the monies can stay in the fund for my retirement. 529s are much more limited in what they can and cannot be used for without penalties. Shouldn't you be using your Roth IRA to fnd your retirement? 401k just is not enough for most people, even if you're maxing it. And a Roth IRA is a fantastic retirement tax shelter. (The max is $5k year per adult). Every single piece of financial advice I've ever read emphasizes that you need to make funding your retirement a priority over saving for your children's college. There are lots of ways to pay for college -- scholarships, loans, gifts, 529s, grants, working student -- but there is only one way to pay for retirement, and that is saving money during the years of your life when you have income.

[srhs]

Ramsey fan here too. Financial Peace University classes = :thumbsup:

[ha98ed14]

Ok. question for the Ramsey Fans. I picked up his book a while back, but it didn't feel right to me. I felt like he was promising things. (But I didn't like the Purpose Driven Life for the same reason. I stopped reading after it said that my life would be drastically different in 40 days.) Ramsey struck me like one of those late night infomercials for the latest money making instructional video.

Does it bother anyone how much money this guy has made from his book and all the spin offs? I read an article on him and it seemed to me that he was living the high life off of people who were trying to get their finances under control. I mean, not to be rude and judgmental, but to be rude and judgmental ;), this guy markets himself as an Evangelical Christian engaging in ministry, but lives high on the hog from money made from his "ministry." That seems wrong to me. I dunno. I am sure his money management techniques are good. Sound financial advice isn't tied to your religion. But I feel like he is pushing a gospel that says, "God loves me and therefore wants me to be rich."

Here's the article if anyone is interested: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32761176/ns/us_news-faith/

ETA: My SIL & Fam are Evangelical. She is where I encountered these books. I'm don't subscribe to that belief system, so that may be a reason for my skepticism. I just couldn't buy into it.

[ShanaMama]

Ok. question for the Ramsey Fans. I picked up his book a while back, but it didn't feel right to me. I felt like he was promising things...

Does it bother anyone how much money this guy has made from his book and all the spin offs? I read an article on him and it seemed to me that he was living the high life off of people who were trying to get their finances under control. I mean, not to be rude and judgmental, but to be rude and judgmental ;), this guy markets himself as an Evangelical Christian engaging in ministry, but lives high on the hog from money made from his "ministry." That seems wrong to me. I dunno. I am sure his money management techniques are good. Sound financial advice isn't tied to your religion.

ETA: My SIL & Fam are Evangelical. She is where I encountered these books. I'm don't subscribe to that belief system, so that may be a reason for my skepticism. I just couldn't buy into it.

I am so sorry for quoting you & butchering your quote my Ipod is wacky that way.
I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey. I would warn anyone I recommended him to that his material is very heavy on religion but I wasn't disturbed by it. I took the parts I wanted to, YKWIM?
I don't find him to be hypocritical at all. In fact he is probably a living example of why his principles work. His basic premise is to save up for what you need instead of paying it off afterwards. He has various techniques to acheive that end which are really quite simple. I found him candid & funny. Maybe it's your association with your SIL that shapes your perception.
He is shamelessly religiogs, if you will (no offense!) but doesn't pushvit in your face IIRC. He does put 10% tithe in the budget. But hey, he has great financial advice!

[ShanaMama]

I am so sorry for quoting you & butchering your quote my Ipod is wacky that way.
I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey. I would warn anyone I recommended him to that his material is very heavy on religion but I wasn't disturbed by it. I took the parts I wanted to, YKWIM?
I don't find him to be hypocritical at all. In fact he is probably a living example of why his principles work. His basic premise is to save up for what you need instead of paying it off afterwards. He has various techniques to acheive that end which are really quite simple. I found him candid & funny. Maybe it's your association with your SIL that shapes your perception.
He is shamelessly religiogs, if you will (no offense!) but doesn't pushvit in your face IIRC. He does put 10% tithe in the budget. But hey, he has great financial advice!

Believe it or not my Ipod is not letting me go back and correct. It's kinda hard to see the screen as you type & it has issues going up & down long posts so please don't think I am illiterate! I am embarassed reading my previous post full of typos! I love this Ipod Touch for reading the BBB but not so much for posting!

[smilequeen]

I don't know percentages, but have you considered using a financial planner? We hired a financial planner when we first got married and he set us up with a great plan for allotting money to different things. He gave us great advice and a great 5, 10, 20 year plans, etc. We do a lot of investing outside of what he does and we've kind of outgrown him, but he was amazing when we were getting our plans set up. As far as Ramsey, most financial experts that I know have some key differences with his philosophy, but I notice that it certainly does work well for some people. It would never work for us and we've done very well doing many things contrary to what he might say.

[wellyes]

I don't particularly like Ramsey's style either, and his advice is not novel. For a secular version try David Bach. His "Smart Women Finish Rich" was the first financial book I ever read & it helped me figure a few things out. I personally dislike the "read an anecdote to learn a life lesson" style of non-fiction, but it is very hard to avoid in this genre.

[sste]

Does your DH have tiaa-cref retirement? Or is it offered through his district. They frequently have free financial counselors available - - quality varies but you can always take to a couple of them. I think they will talk to you if your district has contracted with them even if you aren't personally in their funds.

[annex]

A poster above mentioned Elizabeth Warren. I would highly second that recommendation - her book is called the Two Income Trap. Whether or not you have two incomes, it is a real eye opener, and the exercise of sorting your expenses into "fixed costs", savings, and all the rest is very helpful when you are trying to figure out how to make a budget. She's now a pretty big force in the Obama administration, just an extremely smart women, and rightfully so.

HTH,
Anne

[MamaKath]

Ramsey fan here too. Financial Peace University classes = :thumbsup:
That class rocks!
ETA- Shanamama said it well. He is a lving example of his principles working. With anything, you have to filter out what you don't need/want in your life. Another book I found really interesting is The Millionaire Next Door (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millionaire_Next_Door) as it is thought provoking. Lots of what Ramsey talks about rings true in the millionaire book imo.

[Elilly]

Ok, so those of you who are really budget concious, what are you doing? No cable, cutting out Target trips, less classes and activities for your kids? I'm trying to figure out how to cut out $750 per month and am struggling. We're thinking about getting rid of our land line, cable, decreasing our food budget, and cutting back on DD's 529 account for the time being. Thoughts?

[DebbieJ]

Dave Ramsey. Seriously love him. His book, "The Total Money Makeover" really spells it all out so easily.

:yeahthat:

Take his Financial Peace University. It is eye opening!

[wellyes]

Ok, so those of you who are really budget concious, what are you doing? No cable, cutting out Target trips, less classes and activities for your kids? I'm trying to figure out how to cut out $750 per month and am struggling. We're thinking about getting rid of our land line, cable, decreasing our food budget, and cutting back on DD's 529 account for the time being. Thoughts?I think the best way is to make a detailed list of "essential spending" and "discretionary spending". Be strict about what's essential..... cable isn't, texting isn't, 401k isn't. Then go line by line through discretionary spending with your spouse / partner to figure out what you want to prioritize.

It's also good to have a firm grasp of your annual living expenses. $750 a month is $9000 for a year. How realistic that goal is depends on your current cost of living. My retired MIL who is frugal and has no mortgage has an annual cost of living of about $40,000. Cutting $9000 per year would be a crazy goal for her.... living on rice & beans, keeping the heat below 65, etc. But if your cost of living is currently, say, $90,000 - well, cuting 10% is probably much more doable. But it is very hard to set a saving goal without a firm grasp of your regular cash flow. (Not saying you don't, just putting it out there as general advice!)

[kijip]

Ramsey is not my cup of tea, so you are not the only one. I actually live closer to his advice than most people (we have no debt except the mortgage, very low fixed expenses, would drive a $2000 jalopy before financing a car, save quite a bit etc) but I don't like his style of communication at all. However, I would not conflate Ramsey with the evangelicals that conflate wealth with God's love or being a righteous person (they are out there, for sure) however. I think he definitely lives what he preaches and he is the first to point out he got those way by going bankrupt a couple of times over. He sounds like a late night informercial because he was essentially a late night informercial.

I think that in order to live successfully with a mortgage that is 40% of your take home for now, then you really have to accept a few things:

-You won't finance anything else at all. If you have a car payment, consider getting rid of it and replacing your car with a cheaper one you can afford with no payment.
-You will eliminate unneeded expenses with zeal.
-You will increase your income as you can (which you are doing with going to work when you are done with school, correct?).
-When you do start working you will live on as close to 1 income as possible for a while until you have a 6-12 month emergency fund. Automatically deposit your new paycheck into savings and only take from it what you absolutely can't live without. After you have 6-12 months, then continue to save at least 1/3-1/2 of one of your incomes. You are very vulnerable in the short term because you could not afford your mortgage for very long if you had a job loss. Aggressive savings helps guard against that and get you to a spot where you would be ok in case the unexpected happened.

[kijip]

Obviously the more you save the better, but if you bring in $4500/ mo, is it enough save $250/ mo? I guess I am looking for the "cut off" for when you need to reevaluate and start cutting back more in order to save more. And any other financial guidelines people think of as the recommended thinking on the subject. Thanks for any info.

I think that $250 is very small amount of $4500 unless you already have a sizable nestegg. To put it in perspective, $250 does not cover even 1/6 of your mortgage payment. $250x12 = $3000 a year. Which would not pay your mortgage for 2 months. You need to be getting to a point where you could, as soon as possible go without an income for 6-12 months or manage a huge home repair bill. At a rate of $250 a year it would take well over a decade to get there. I have no idea what you can afford to save, but if I were in your shoes at least at first I would be saving pretty much anything I could lay my hands on. I'd get rid of cell phones and get a cheap pre-pay for emergency only for example, I'd really cut down on food costs, eliminate take out etc.

And you run the risk of having to defer maintenance, which makes things more expensive in the long run.

[LexyLou]

Dave Ramsey fans...is there a big difference between the 2003 and 2007 version of The Total Money Makeover?

There is a wait on the 2007 version at our library but the 2003 is available.


Going to look for Elizabeth Warren. This is going to be hard. Our current rent is more tha 25% of our income and there is no way around that. We're renting my mom's house we're paying $1K less than the market rate.

I need to go back to work, I think. Living in the Bay Area is craZy expensive.

[Tnstrainor]

We are probably doing it wrong. We max out on DH's 401k and then put 11k in my 401k. We then save $300 a month. We also put in $100 a month for DS 529 plan. We have no credit card debt but do have a car payment. Our house will be paid off in 8 years and then we will max out our Roth IRA's. I guess I should talk to someone to see if I should stop some of the 401k money into a Roth IRA.

[wellyes]

We are probably doing it wrong. We max out on DH's 401k and then put 11k in my 401k. We then save $300 a month. We also put in $100 a month for DS 529 plan. We have no credit card debt but do have a car payment. Our house will be paid off in 8 years and then we will max out our Roth IRA's. I guess I should talk to someone to see if I should stop some of the 401k money into a Roth IRA. For an assiduous saver such as yourself, I recommend the free tool at https://basic.esplanner.com/

It's very very detailed and takes a bit of upfront work in terms of entering your current savings and assets and debts. But it will show you the impact of your savings choices over the next 30+ years. When we did this, I was astonished that it told us we were putting too much into our Roth IRA.

The tool's goal is to maintain a similar standard of living over our lifetime. Based on our assets and our savings patterns as well as our spending (in 25 years our mortgage payment will be the same as it is now, but that amount will be so much less in 2035 dollars) - we're scrimping more than we need to, and will have "too much" money in retirement.

I don't know if I'll cut back on the Roth, I don't believe it's possible to have too much money :thumbsup: but .... information is power. Knowing that I'm not going to wreck our retirement goal if I increase our discretionary spending next year at the expense of our IRA is very heartening.

Anyway, it is a really, really cool tool and it gives you a detailed spreadsheet download that you can do a lot with. I can't believe it's free.

[ThreeofUs]

For an assiduous saver such as yourself, I recommend the free tool at https://basic.esplanner.com/


Wow. Thanks!

[o_mom]

Ok, so those of you who are really budget concious, what are you doing? No cable, cutting out Target trips, less classes and activities for your kids? I'm trying to figure out how to cut out $750 per month and am struggling. We're thinking about getting rid of our land line, cable, decreasing our food budget, and cutting back on DD's 529 account for the time being. Thoughts?

It's hard to say without knowing your exact situation, but a few things to think about:

Go over all your insurance policies and see if you can cut anything. Can you increase your HO deductible? How about your auto deductible? Look at the bluebook value of your car and see if it is worth it to carry collision insurance... for example, if it is costing you $70/month ($840/yr) to carry collision with a $500 deductible on a car only worth $2000 then you might be better off saving that $70/mo toward a new car in the case of a total loss. If you have savings already, this can be a very easy cost to cut.

Look at the absolute minimum for classes/enrichment that you need to remain sane. You are in a great area for cheap classes through the parks and library. Except for SN situations (which may apply), most kids do not NEED preschool, so that would be an easy one for me to cut. Consider investing instead in a membership - you can get a year membership to the Children's Museum for less than one or two classes and go all year long for free. Ask grandparents to give that as a gift for birthday or holiday (a bit late, but thinking ahead). We went today and spent a total of $2 on lockers thanks to a gift membership and packed lunch.

If you feel the need for some entertainment without cable, look into a cheap Netflix membership. Also, the library has a huge collection and is a great source of movies, music, etc (I really miss that system). Reserve stuff online and then you just have to run in and pick it up.

Eating out is another obvious one. Pack your lunch even for days when you are just going on errands. I know for me it is way too easy when a day of errands runs long to run through a drive-thru instead of going home. A packed lunch avoids this.

If the need to cut expenses is related to an income drop, make sure you have refigured any taxes that are being withheld so that you aren't overpaying. Also consider refinancing your mortgage if your rate is more than about 5.5% (PM me for a very low cost lender in the area).

HTH!

[KrisM]

Ok, so those of you who are really budget concious, what are you doing? No cable, cutting out Target trips, less classes and activities for your kids? I'm trying to figure out how to cut out $750 per month and am struggling. We're thinking about getting rid of our land line, cable, decreasing our food budget, and cutting back on DD's 529 account for the time being. Thoughts?

I'd start by figuring out where your money is going. Do you have a budget already? If so, what areas can you cut? Cable, phone, food are obvious ones. Using coupons helps. But, if you don't know where your money is going, it's hard to figure out where to cut it.

[egoldber]

:yeahthat:

Keep a full log of all expenses for about 2-4 weeks. That should tell you what you most of need to know.

The easiest places for us to cut were eating out and spendo-tertainment. We meal planned every meal, no Starbucks, no snacks on the go, etc. Instead of going to the movies or buying books, we went to the library, free movies, etc. For us, these were shockingly large expenses. We avoided the mall and Target and only bought off a set list if we did need to go.

[MamaKath]

Keep a full log of all expenses for about 2-4 weeks. That should tell you what you most of need to know.

The easiest places for us to cut were eating out and spendo-tertainment. We meal planned every meal, no Starbucks, no snacks on the go, etc. Instead of going to the movies or buying books, we went to the library, free movies, etc. For us, these were shockingly large expenses. We avoided the mall and Target and only bought off a set list if we did need to go.
:yeahthat:
This is sooo hard to do, but eye opening!!! You really have to track EVERY PENNY to look back and see the difference!!!

We are huge eat on the go people and spendo-tertainment is also a problem area. Library, meal planning are key. It is hard to get "back on the wagon" after holidays and the traveling included in them.

[MamaKath]

I recommend the free tool at https://basic.esplanner.com/

It's very very detailed and takes a bit of upfront work in terms of entering your current savings and assets and debts. But it will show you the impact of your savings choices over the next 30+ years. When we did this, I was astonished that it told us we were putting too much into our Roth IRA.

The tool's goal is to maintain a similar standard of living over our lifetime. Based on our assets and our savings patterns as well as our spending (in 25 years our mortgage payment will be the same as it is now, but that amount will be so much less in 2035 dollars) - we're scrimping more than we need to, and will have "too much" money in retirement.


Neat site, thanks for sharing it! :)

[MamaKath]

http://www.debtsteps.com/living-on-a-budget.html
Was looking up information and found these tips.

[niccig]

See a financial planner if you need advice. DH and I view things differently. There is no way I could get him to do a spending log. Budget is a dirty word to him. My plan is to finish inputting 2009 expenses into MoneyDance, give DH the reports and go to a financial planner, a 3rd party needs to tell him that his spending means our retirement and DS's college will not be fully funded. I've tried and he argues that we are fine. I'm looking for work, DH doesn't want me to work as it will mean he has to help more - he does work crazy hours so it's a legitimate concern. If he doesn't want me to work full-time, then we have to make cuts. But I need a 3rd party to get that message across. We end up arguing and nothing gets resolved.