You finally reached retirement & now are faced with managing your finances after experiencing the worst financial crisis in decades. In addition, the financial planning you did 5 to 10 years ago no longer makes sense since today the average 65 year old can expect to live to almost 84 vs. a life expectancy of 77.9 in 2007 (CDC Aug ‘09). Suddenly, you are forced to make significant lifestyle changes to support yourself & family well into the future. And, for those that aren’t at retirement yet, you’re not off the hook. The 65 year old plus population is expected to grow from 40M today to 71M or 20% of the population in 2030 (US Census Bureau June ‘09). In essence, this means that on average you are going to be living much past 84. So with all of this data, what can we do to live the retirement life we once envisioned? It starts with cutting out expenses.
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There is a convenience store next to our office in NYC that sells lottery tickets like hot cakes. Anyway, the other day we walked in to get a snack & while waiting on line, there was another customer requesting about $20 worth of lottery tickets. During the transaction, the clerk at the cash register commented, “same as last week?” This really got us thinking. The customer probably spends at least $1100 a year ($20 times 52 weeks) on lottery tickets. That’s crazy. Let’s analyze why. Read More.

If you have already exhausted the 26 weeks of regular benefits that each state provides for the unemployed, there is still the 20-33 weeks of additional federal funded emergency benefits and in some cases another 13 weeks to 20 weeks of extended benefits. Read More.

It’s time to go back and look at those travel receipts to see how much you actually spent on your holiday travel this summer. No matter how savvy of a traveler you may be, chances are you did not anticipate all of the incidentals on the trip, especially if your travel destination was new to you. Read More.