MoneyWiseWomen

Financial Literacy and Stress Awareness Month

I think it is wonderful that Financial Literacy Awareness Month and Stress Awareness Month are both in the month of April. I think it makes perfect sense because money is the number one source of stress in people today according to the APA’s Stress in America report. 

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/index.aspx 

Money came in ahead of relationships, family, health, and job stability. In a recent poll on Stress 7 out of 10 people said they were “very stressed” about money. 

So how does the financial stress we are feeling affect our health? Stress can lead to health problems. It can affect your cellular level and if stress is long term it can lead to many illnesses.  Extreme stress or stress over long periods of time (called chronic stress) can damage your emotional and physical health. When was the last time you had trouble sleeping, struggled with tiredness, headaches, backaches, upset stomach or irritability? Did you know that these are all symptoms of chronic stress?  

Stress is also associated with high blood pressure and atherosclerosis which are both strong risk factors for stroke. One recent study of more than 20,000 people (57% were women) who had never had a stroke or heart disease found that stress was associated with an increased stroke risk, even after taking into account other stroke risk factors. 

Edward Yoon, M.D., cardiovascular disease specialist with Sutter Regional Medical Foundation & Sutter Solano Medical Center states in a recent article that a recent study called INTERHEART, published in the Lancet medical journal, collected information on thousands of heart attack patients in over 50 countries around the world. Researchers wanted to identify the most important risk factors that could predict a heart attack, and it was unique in its international scope. The usual risk factors were all present: high cholesterol, smoking, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure were the major factors linked to heart attacks.

But one of the most interesting findings was that patients who reported high stress levels also had a higher risk of heart attack, even when the other factors were taken into account. The importance of stress was consistent across-the-board, in people from Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States, and seemed to be as important as high blood pressure.  

https://www.mylifestages.org/health/heart/ssmc3_stress.page 

I believe that we can use Stress Awareness and Financial Literacy Awareness month to learn that stress, when we do not deal with its source, can have harmful ramifications on our health. So much so that stress is a contributing risk factor to high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. The link between stress and our physical health continues to be researched, but we do know that when we are stressed and do not deal with it, our physical body suffers. We also know that when we are stressed it can lead us to drink more, eat in an unhealthy manner, and smoke more; all of which are risk factors to high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.  

I believe the best way to deal with stress is to learn stress management techniques and most importantly, to deal with whatever is causing the stress. If it is financial stress, identify the specific issue that is causing the stress, then deal with that specific issue or issues. Continuing to sweep it under the rug can have a very negative physical impact. 

Here are some sources to help get started on a life of less financial stress: 

If you are having problems identifying the source of your financial stress you can take a financial stress test: http://www.learnvest.com/2010/09/quiz-can-you-pass-a-financial-stress-test/ 

If you need help dealing with the specific financial issue causing you stress there are many resources you can utilize one of them is Money Management International: 

www.360financialliteracy.org

Money Management International provides everything needed to understand finances and where to go for additional assistance. The site includes a 30 day financial fitness path to follow. What better time to start than during Financial Literacy Awareness and Stress Awareness month? 

Make financial fitness a way of life. Take time each week to take care of your finances, listen to webinars on Money Wi$e Women Get Smart and make it a habit to start reading financial literature.  

Also visit the official website for Stress Relief Awareness Month http://stressawarenessmonth.com/sponsor/

Jayne Black

www.jayneblack.com

 

 

 

Go Red for Women Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary - Learn and Live!

The American Heart Association celebrated their 10 year anniversary of the Go Red for Women Movement on February 1, 2013! Hundreds of women across the nation wore red on that day to help create awareness about the fact that heart disease is the number one killer in women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost someone or knows someone who has heart disease.  It is important to also know that 80 percent of heart disease is preventable. How many diseases can we say that we have that much control over?

Getting Rid of Credit Card Debt

Gaining and losing weight are a lot like amassing credit card debt and paying it off. It’s really easy to gain weight and very hard to lose it. It’s really, really easy to get into credit card debt, but it’s so hard to get out it. There’s no overnight solution or miracle cure for either – weight or debt. But it can be done with patience, determination and taking one small step at a time.

Most people can only guess how much they owe in credit card debt. It’s time to pull out ALL your credit card statements, sit down and make a list of your credit card debt. Include the account name and number, current balance, interest rate and minimum payment. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve Board mandated changes to credit card statements a few years ago. Credit card statements make it easier to find when payments are due, amount owed, consequences of making a late payment and how much you are paying in fees and interest. Another great feature is the how much it will cost you to make only the minimum monthly payment. It shows you how long it will take to pay off your balance if you make only the monthly payment and the amount of interest. It’s on the front page of your statement so it’s hard to miss. It’s an eye opener and an excellent tool to create a debt reduction plan.

Creating Your 2013 Goals

It’s that time again – time to determine my goals and create my 2013 Dream Board. Last year I didn’t
create a Dream Board. I’ve been asking myself why for the past 12 months. Only after I sat down and took the time to reflect on what’s important to me for next year’s goals did I realize the answer. I believe it’s because I’ve been in a holding pattern – not knowing whether to pursue my business or to give myself permission to play. Having worked most of my teenage years and all my adult life I still find it hard to just let loose and play.

 

A couple of weeks ago my friend Michele Corey (Advanced Approach) called me to chat. While we were talking I told her I was getting ready to create my Dream Board with a theme of Seize the Day. Michele told me it sounded a lot like work and not much like play. She suggested my theme be PLAY. Isn’t it amazing that in just a brief conversation with an intuitive coach I had my theme?

More Holiday Shopping Saving Tips

Last week I shared lots of tips for saving money on your holiday gift shopping. Since then I've discovered several more tips and websites to help you save money.

• Rather Be Shopping -- helps consumers save money with coupons both in-store and online at over 800 popular retailers. Consumers present the coupon at checkout and the cashier scans your iPhone. The site also has coupons for numerous restaurants.
• AlbinoPhant Blog -- headquarters for White Elephant gift ideas and parties. The website shares some unique and fun white elephant gift exchange party activities. The site provides a step-by-step instruction on how to play each game. Use these ideas to host wacky white elephant parties for your holiday gift giving exchange.
• Slice -- organizes your online shopping. The application tracks your packages; keeps your purchases organized and helps you save money. It shows you where you spend your money to help you manage your budget (aka spending plan). It will notify you if a recent purchase has a price drop to allow you to recoup the difference.
• RedLaser -- another iPhone/Android application that helps you save money. Scan the item's bar code to find prices from competing stores and online merchants.

These are just a few of the many websites and applications to help you get the best bang for your buck with your holiday shopping.

Warmly,
Marcia Brixey
Author, The Money Therapist: A Woman's Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life
President, Money Wise Women Educational Services
www.moneywisewomen.net
www.marciabrixey.com
www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com 

What's Your Money IQ?

It’s that time of year – high school and college graduations. Young women and men are stepping into a new phase of their lives. Unfortunately, financial education is not a mandatory class in most high schools or colleges. But, money plays an important role in all aspects of our lives – career, lifestyle, self-image, marriage, family and health. Let’s test your money IQ.

1. By law you can request your credit report free every 12 months from:
   A. FreeCreditReport.com
   B. AnnualCreditReport.com
   C. Credit.Com
   

Do We Take Debt Seriously Enough?

Debt is hardly a new part of the human experience. From the time that man first developed money, people have wanted to buy things they can't afford. Although most Americans don't run much risk of being sent to a debtor's prison like a character in a Charles Dickens novel, debt can still have far-reaching and life-ruining implications.

In the simplest terms, debt happens when a person borrows money to pay for something. When he pays it back he will owe interest, causing the total cost of his purchase to increase, sometimes exponentially, the longer he maintains the debt. The problem is that, for many consumers, the consequences of debt never seem important until it's too late.

The Human Experience of Christmas

I’m not a writer. I’m an accountant. (Except now I’m a writer and a financial coach, but that’s another story.) When I feel stuck, that I have nothing useful to say, I read Susannah Breslin. She reminds me how to be a writer.

In her latest series on journalism (and strip clubs, but that’s another story) she reminded me that what a writer does “…for a living is attempt to chronicle the human experience.” Oh, I get it. I’m supposed to be teaching my readers how to have a healthier financial life through telling stories and providing corresponding helpful financial advice.

I realized that in my last blog, I tiptoed. I was cautious. Sure I told stories. And I gave creative and useful ideas. But all over the web are advice blogs about a frugal Christmas, making your own gifts and starting a Santa Saver account.

What is unique about me, what I do that few other financial writers do, is to tell the real human experience of what our financial decisions, or indecisions, do to our self-esteem, our relationships, our happiness and our lives. What was missing in my last blog were these naked emotional truths that clients and friends have shared with me over the years. More people have talked to me about the anguish and pain and simple embarrassment that Christmas can bring than have talked to me about the joy that it brings. Here are some threads of those conversations.

Remember when college only cost $96,000?

Do you remember the days that higher education was actually affordable? Yea, neither do I.

The rising cost of higher education is redefining what it means to be a broke college student, and I can’t help but remember what college costs were like in my day.

A handful of years ago, the total cost to attend my four-year public university rang up to the tune of $96,000, and that’s a conservative estimate (one semester, books alone cost me over $600). Today, a college degree at the same university—where students faced three tuition hikes in the last two years—now costs $126,000. That’s a 31% increase in less than a decade.

While it’s always been a struggle for every generation to pay for college, this is getting ridiculous.

How will the next generation of prospective college students cope with the reality that access to higher education may not be for everyone after all? It’s for those who can pay it, or at least afford to pay back education debts for the next 20 years.

Reality of college costs

With college costs outpacing middle-class families’ monthly paycheck, parents are less likely to be able to carry the entire financial burden of college, forcing students to take out more loans to pay their own way to college. In fact, 2 out of 3 college students graduated with debt in 2008 as compared to less than half in 1993, reports FinAid.org. And college costs have only jumped higher since 2008.

Students head back to campus this fall facing greater challenges to pay for college expenses due to tuition hikes as well as scarcer financial resources. According to the latest report from CreditKarma.com, the average consumer is shouldering $29,985 in student loan debt, a 6% increase since last August. In fact, the total national amount of student loan debt outpaced credit card debt for the first time in history last year.

It’s not too far off to worry that student loans could be the next financial bubble. Moody’s Analytics reported that student loan growth, unlike other lending, accelerated during the recession. “Like the mortgage debt from 2005, student loans are driven by artificially low interest rates with a promise of a high return on investment,” comments Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com.

For students, the return on investment is becoming unpredictable. Lin adds, “While many college students are fixated on the potential for higher incomes after graduation, few acknowledge the potential pitfalls of taking on student loans, such as debts far in excess of their salary and debt obligations that don’t discharge after a bankruptcy.”

What does it all mean? With college students graduating with thousands of dollars in debt and facing limited job prospects, the balance of risk and rewards of a college diploma is shifting slightly towards more risk than reward.

Reality for college grads

They call us the “Millenials,” born in the 80’s and 90’s and known as the most technologically connected generation in history. Millenials are also the hardest hit by the recession. Among consumers aged 18 to 29, unemployment is the highest it’s been in over three decades, and amongst all age groups, Millenials had the highest drop in full-time employment since 2006, reports the Pew Research Center.

No wonder they also peg us as the “lost generation,” coming of age in the Great Recession with high hopes and high degrees, and stunted with limited professional experience, reduced earning potential, and dimmed confidence.

With the job market so bleak, many Millenials are heading back to school with1 in 4 undergrads opting for grad school. Yet graduate students are facing even tougher financial circumstances than undergrads.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 will cut off government subsidies of lower interest graduate student loans starting July 2012. The budget cut will cause students to opt for higher interest loans, which will result in an incremental $7,000 in interest on federal student loan debt for the typical borrower, estimates FinAid.org.

For many 20-somethings, graduating will be a time to start digging out of deep debt while juggling financial independence. While past generations likely put 5%-7% of their first job’s paycheck toward debt after graduation, Millenials are putting in 20% or more.

One graduate of the Class of 2010 compared paying off student loans to having a hole in his paycheck. “It’s like paying for weekly rounds of drinks every month that you don’t even remember buying,” he stated.

Another recent graduate puts the dismal outlook of student loans in perspective: “Well, I can make the payments. Luckily.” More than 20% of her current paycheck goes straight to student loans; it would’ve been a bigger chunk if she hadn’t worked part-time while schooling in order to pay some expenses. “It makes me slightly depressed, because it’s a huge mountain to climb. But I keep telling myself it is doable.”

At the alarming rate of higher education cost hikes, this generation’s student debt hangover will last well into their 30s.

Is college still worth the price?

This generation of college graduates will be our next business leaders, industry game changers, and ground-breaking entrepreneurs. Is it fair that they’ll be starting their careers over $100,000 in debt?

In college, I never considered whether or not it was worth it; going to college was a no-brainer. I wonder if future generations will feel the same. Looking at the price I’d be paying today for education, honestly, it’s a harder call to make.

One optimistic graduate remarked, “I have my degree, and I have a job. One day, it will all work out.”

For the next college-educated generation to whom I will one day say, “I remember when college only cost me $96,000!” I sure hope so.

 

 

 

 Justine Rivero is the Credit Advisor and resident Credit Rockstar for CreditKarma.com, the pro-consumer credit advocate that helps more than 3 million consumers realize the everyday cost savings of having great credit health.

 

 

 

Financial Recovery: developing a healthy relationship with money

The Book by Karen McCall


So many books are full of financial advice, yet when we read them and then struggle implementing all their advice, we just feel worse. But not with Karen’s McCall’s book.  The difference is that she writes about our actual relationship with money. She talks about the emotions of money. She goes into our history with money. Here is an expert who has spent decades in the trenches with real people (I was a client of Karen’s years ago) and understands why people really do what they do with money and how they can change.

What I love the most about her book are all the stories. She shares her own very personal story of struggling with spending and debt. (She shares some of her painful money secrets that people in her life would have been shocked by at the time, if they had known.) And she shares the stories of countless clients she’s helped guide over the years. Suddenly, you feel like you are not alone if you struggle with credit card debt or sometimes you spend too much, or you simply never seem to earn enough.

Here are Karen’s own words, from chapter one:

I’m not implying that money is the most important thing in life, and certainly it’s not more important than the people we hold dear. Interestingly, though, the healthier your relationship with money, the less likely it is that money will distract you from the things you value most. But money, and our relationship with it, is an undeniable force. Ignoring it doesn’t change that. In fact, when we choose to be ostrich like in our relationship with our finances, hiding our heads in the sand, money exerts an even greater, and usually more negative, influence on us. Money colors so many areas of our lives—health, education, lifestyle, career, family, self-image, political influence, and so on. Doesn’t it make sense to have as healthy a relationship with it as possible?

Karen also writes about being caught in the “money life drain” and how she has seen so many people simply try to work harder, only to not have it help their financial problems. She is very direct about addressing feelings of shame and deprivation and how this fuels our financial behavior. And yes, she shows you how to get out of debt and stay out of debt. She also covers how to track and plan your spending- topics that may be unpopular, as I well know from my years of working with people. But she makes a very convincing case how the new financial behaviors she advocates can truly change your life. By the time the reader gets to the last chapter called “Imagining Sterling Money Behaviors”, you just want to BE that person, and you really feel like it’s possible.

To order Karen’s book go here: Financial Recovery