MoneyWiseWomen

Become an Independently Wealthy Woman

Are you ready to become an independently wealthy woman? If so, check out the six-week teleclass series for women entrepreneurs and business owners. You'll learn the how-to-steps to become an Independently Wealthy Woman through education and real time action steps.

I am honored to be one of the guest speakers. Some of the other speakers include Catey Hill, author of Shoo, Jimmy Choo! The Modern Girl's Guide to Spending Less & Saving More and Nell Merlino, Founder, President and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence.

They're offering a half-price registration special if you register before January 15, 2010.For more information about Independently Wealthy Women visit the website at www.independentlywealthywomen.com.

Warmly,
Marcia Brixey

Listen to Money Wise Women Get Smart Interviews -- FREE!

I've got some really exciting news about the Money Wise Women Get Smart Teleseminar Series that I just had to share it with you!

 

The Direct Selling Education Foundation is sponsoring next year's series. This means we are offering the Get Smart Series FREE! You can listen live or download the teleseminar and listen at your leisure. AND, there's more -- we're offering two monthly teleseminars focused on financial and business topics. Check out the great lineup of upcoming topics and speakers (see below). Visit www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com to sign up and listen to past interviews. I hope you'll share this with all the women in our life.

 

Warmly,

Marcia Brixey

Buy Your Christmas Gifts With Coinstar & Your Spare Change

This morning I was interviewed on the Moms Making a Million radio show. I heard a great tip that I just had to share with you! Coinstar is offering FREE exchange of your coins when you load the value onto a card or eCertificate for major retailers and grocery stores. Use the certificate for Christmas gifts or for yourself. Businesses participating include Albertsons, Amazon, J C Penneys, Starbucks, Borders, Regal Entertainment Group, Lowes and more. Check it out online at www.coinstar.com

Warmly,
Marcia Brixey

Grocery Sale Ads and Coupons: Financial Blessing or Burden?

by Cheryl Hackett, Moms In Need of Mercy

I would love to interview Caroline Ingalls (of Little House on the Prairie) about the way she shopped for her family's food.  (Granted she grew most of their food and Mr. Ingalls hunted for the meat). Whenever I watch episodes of Little House, I see her stretching what she has on hand, and only buying the bare necessities—the staples—from Olsen’s mercantile I can’t see her getting sucked into any clever specials: buy 5 pounds of sugar, get one pound free. Maybe she would take advantage of the deal if she needed the item and had the money to buy it, but maybe she would say she only needed one pound of sugar and that was that.

We all grocery shop, and many of us pride ourselves on how much we can save. Smart shopping strategies teach the importance of watching the grocery store sale ads and taking advantage of the loss-leaders, those items that the store sells below cost to get you in the door and spend more on other items. Several months ago, though, I started wondering if I spend more in the long run by paying such close attention to the sale ads (and coupons available online) and shopping by them. Sure I save lots of money, but would I save more if I paid little attention to the ads and coupons and just bought only what I absolutely needed at the time--even if it meant paying the going price for it (or buying it, and only it, when it’s on sale)?

The grocery stores are brilliant at devising clever marketing schemes that get you in the door for a loss-leader item that you often have to purchase several of (or mix and match) to get the savings. These smart campaigns get you to pay more upfront under the guise of saving. You are saving, but you are also spending more than you would have originally.

Surviving the Holiday Season without Accumulating Debt

Last month I shared ways to trim your spending and promised to share more ways to make your money last without worrying – “There’s too much month at the end of the money”.

The holiday season is upon us and it’s time to determine your plan on getting through the holiday season without accumulating debt or more debt. The trick is to take the time to sit down and make a plan. My husband and I recently drove to and from Las Vegas. The day we left Las Vegas we drove 30 miles out of the way because neither of us looked at the map to determine a plan. Not only did we drive 30 miles the wrong way – we had to drive 30 miles back – to get back on track. I was so disgusted because it added an extra hour onto our already long drive home. The moral of the story – take time to determine a plan. 

If I'm Working So Hard, Why Am I Always Broke?

Several months ago I read a story One Family’s Sudden Fall from Comfort to Despair. One day Patrick Robbins was earning $110,000 a year and the next day he was laid off with no severance pay for a company he’d worked at for 22 years. Within a week his family was on Medicaid and had applied for food stamps. In Patrick’s own words – from middle class to poor immediately. He had no emergency fund and his unemployment only covered the mortgage. He and his wife gathered their children (ages 6, 10, 11 and 13) together to explain the situation. It’s the first time he ever cried in front of his children. Patrick eventually got a new job in another city and the family moved. I was moved by Patrick’s wife comment “If someone breaks a leg, you can sympathize, but you don’t know how it feels until it happens to you.” The Robbins’ story is not uncommon today. If it hasn’t happened to you it’s probably happened to someone you know.

We Must Invest in Our Women -- Especially in Hard Times

Today's Seattle Times (October 10, 2010) had an Op Ed about Investing in our women especially in hard times. The authors said "As community members, we too must invest in women. Whether you choose to act with your wallet, your time, or both, your action will make a difference. The critical role that women play in maintaining our families and community demands that we identify solutions that will foster not only an equitable recovery, but also innovative long-term solutions for women and girls -- and ultimately for all of us."

How to Get What's Coming to You

by Diana Savage

When a company sells shoddy products or treats its customers poorly, some people lose their tempers, scream obscenities, and threaten bodily harm. I’m sure you’ve had the misfortune of seeing such folks in action. The problem is, these responses are not only distasteful, but they’re also ineffective. What then, short of suffering in silence, is the best course of action?

As a professional writer, I suggest that the pen is still mightier than the sword. Most of us are simply not taught how to wield a writing instrument effectively. To illustrate a proper swashbuckling technique on your word processor, I’ll reproduce here a letter I wrote when my bank recently refused to honor its coupon. (Names and identifying details have been changed, of course.)

Then I’ll give you three tips for crafting an action letter of your own.

Whom Can You Trust To Tell You The Right Thing To Do?

To date, the S&P 500 index of large-cap stocks has lost more than 40% since November 2007, and about $2 trillion in value has disappeared from investors' 401(k)s and IRAs, (according to the Center for Retirement Research).  There have been four other occasions since 1926 when the market has fallen at least 40% (most recently from 2000 to 2002), however, I understand that in the midst of this economic climate, it’s extremely difficult for the individual investor to take a long-term approach to her investment portfolio, much less care about a historical perspective.

More than ever, qualified, professional objective advice may be the key to consumer sanity.   I’ve found that the most difficult thing for an investor to do in a market like this is to sit tight and weather the storm.  The knee-jerk reaction is to get out of the market, which may be the most damaging thing a person can do.

There are many, many options for an investor that fall somewhere between “all out” or “all in”, and that may take into account any modifications to investment holdings, asset classes, diversification and rebalancing—which I am told sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo if you’re not a finance geek.  Therefore, you may need some sort of professional finance geek to assess your situation and help you make the right decision. 

I have issues choosing a person to cut my hair; I can’t imagine choosing a professional for something as convoluted as investing (if I weren’t already a finance geek myself!).  So, as you search for that perfect financial planner to guide your portfolio to short-term prudence and long-term growth, consider the following factors:

Never settle for being treated like anything less than a three-dimensional person.  If you’re going to trust someone with your money, you need to feel confident that person understands everything about you, from your current situation to your long-term goals.  If you don’t think you could relax and have a conversation with this person and actually understand everything s/he has to say, then that advisor probably isn’t the best choice for you.

Incentives matter. Nearly everyone I have met in the financial services industry believes they are a very ethical person.  Now, I’m not saying there AREN’T very good, ethical advisors out there, and I believe that it’s okay for people to make money.  However, the consumer must always be cognizant of the fact that, as long as money changes hands, advisors have incentives to earn money from your wealth.  Stay vigilant, always question those incentives, understand HOW your advisor gets paid, and monitor your investment fees.

Understand your investment strategy.  Regardless of whether a financial planner recommends a strategy or you decide to come up with one on your own, err on the side of simplistic.  There is a strong relationship between a sophisticated investment strategy and low returns. When it comes to investing, the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid) really works.  And, if you can’t understand what your financial advisor is recommending, it’s probably too complicated.

Never completely trust anyone with your money. This is a corollary to understanding the strategy. Keep your advisor on her toes and keep asking questions. Trust any advisor enough to listen, but never to follow blindly.  It's a recipe for disaster.

If an investment looks too good to be true, it probably is. Beware of promises of high returns without risk.  One of my favorite advisor “tricks” is the review of Morningstar reports in conjunction with a portfolio.  Morningstar is great when you understand how it works.  Morningstar rates funds on historical performance . . . so there is always a chance that you have a portfolio of 5-star funds that completely tanks (because historical performance doesn’t guarantee future returns) or, you bought at a high point and the fund may have a positive return, for the year, but you personal holding period return is negative.  So, Morningstar might give you great information that is completely unrepresentative of your investment.

Financial advisors are not all above average, so beware of the advisor who starts quoting their personal asset management rates of returns—meaning, what they say they have done for their clients’ portfolios in prior years.  In a market that is almost completely "professionally invested," I have yet to meet anyone who considered themselves a “below average” money manager.  It's easy for them to claim they are beating the market if they don't have to show their actual results (see Morningstar example above).

Ignore the experts. How many of those TV gurus actually predicted the 2008 market plunge? They were all wrong, wrong, wrong, yet still we watch them.  Investing success is all about seeing the big picture despite the market's noise. Daily financial media, on the other hand, are all about creating noise. It's their job to treat every blip in the Dow as if it had deep meaning, despite reams of research showing daily stock moves are random or, at best, ambiguous.

Above all, find someone you can trust to be your sounding board.  This person should be a level-headed, non-judgmental person who you can count on to give you a reality check when you feel yourself succumbing to investment panic.  This person doesn’t need to be a financial planner; s/he might be your mentor, your mom, your coworker . . . whoever you know you can rely on to help you keep a level head when you feel like yours is about to explode.

Reducing Your Spending Without Feeling the Pinch

I recently received an email from a woman who shared how her family reduced their spending while still maintaining their current lifestyle. Here's what they did:

 

We called the insurance agent to discover that earthquake insurance requires a 10% or 15% deductible. In our case, that would be a $60,000 deductible before the insurance started paying. Since FEMA pays the mortgage after a catastrophic event, we could gather what was left and walk away - unscathed financially.  We'll save about $1,000 a year.

 

I suggested that we turn off Dish Network, which I knew my husband would never go for. But he did collect junk mail from competitive companies and gave them a call. Currently, Dish Network and Fisher Broadcasting are at an impasse, and Dish Network cannot air KOMO Channel 4 programming. When he did call them, they reduced the monthly rate saving us about $120 a year.

 

Then, I suggested that we turn off the land line telephone. Everyone under this roof has a cell phone, we simply don't need to spend the $25 or so a month. Our internet service is also attached to the land line because my husband works from home. His company pays him $40 a month for internet, and after it is taxed as income, he has $35 a month for service. So, he called Qwest and told them to cancel. They offered six months free internet service, if we kept the land line. So, now we are making about $10.00 a month.

 

There are always ways to pinch pennies, if you are looking for a way.

 

Warmly,

Marcia Brixey