This is the time when we start thinking about choices for the new year. Perhaps taking care of your household finances is one of them. I have a number of ideas of who and how a daily money manager can help with that task. Why I Got Into This Business I’ve been asked multiple times why I gave up my corporate career and decided to go into daily money management. […]

As we close 2021 and look forward to 2022, this is a transition that is different than previous years. A few years ago, what we thought about was what we were going to do in the new year. Lose some weight. Adopt a new strategy. Work on some projects like cleaning things up/out, or exercising more, or starting that new whatever. 2020 and 2021 Were Different The past two years, […]

Several people have asked me where I got my training for being a daily money manager. They ask if I was in the financial field before this, or if I have a degree in accounting. I have had a lot of training in daily money management, but it came from the experience of observing and participating in the daily money management my parents practiced. It wasn’t until I got into […]

As we approach the end of the year, the idea of cleaning things up and clearing things out may be on our minds. This might be a good time to put some organization to the paperwork around the home. People tend to be in two camps when it comes to paperwork – Pack Rats who keep way too much (I’m in that category) or the Purger who throws everything out […]

In 2018, Barron’s had a cover article on the costs of caregiving. What was interesting to me was that it wasn’t primarily covering the costs for the person needing care, but the financial and emotional costs associated with the caregiver. The Gentle Slope The Health Crisis Sharper Slope of Caregiving The next phase of caregiving may come suddenly with an injury or illness from which the individual doesn’t ever make […]

There have been some interesting surveys recently taking a look at spending this holiday season. In a survey done by creditcards.com, almost two-thirds (57%) who already have credit card debt from last year are planning to spend and increase that debt even more. Unfortunately, if these folks had been working down their debt from last year, this is going to put them a step backwards by adding to the debt. […]

Marketing has changed with the shift to online web sites for sales. But the psychology of marketing used by businesses is still to try to get you to purchase more or more than you want to. In a store, it might be by putting interesting things on display at the end of an aisle, or right next to the checkout counter. Websites who use what are known as “dark patterns” […]

“Elders are being asked to trust providers, who are all strangers in the beginning, while concurrently being urged to be more discerning about the strangers they trust. An interesting and perplexing dichotomy.” As the beginning of this article in the CSA Journal states, older adults are having to deal with a problem with trust. In many situations, we are used to a variation of “trust but verify” where contractors, or […]

For older adults, life can be divided into two phases. The first is the early post-retirement phase. This is often what we think of as the “Golden Years” as adults are still active and pursuing retirement interests such as hobbies, travel, and spending time with family. Older adults in this category are able to continue to maintain their homes and lawns, although they may choose to outsource some of these […]

When it comes to paying for your children’s university education, most parents want to help their children start off right by helping them with their student debt. This might be by co-signing a private loan, or taking out a Parent Plus loan. One study showed that parents took on between $20,000 and $40,000 of student debt. Many of them dipped into retirement funds (and incurred early withdrawal penalties) to help […]

If a charity is skimming money off the books, then it isn’t going to be a charity for very long. But that isn’t the type of skimming I’m referring to. As we approach the 4th quarter of the year, the number of end-of-year solicitations is going to increase in your mailbox or your email inbox. The question is what do you do with these? Who is deserving of your charitable […]

Each year when I go to renew the subscription for my antivirus software I am given the fine print on checkout that my account is on autopay and each year going forward they will automatically charge my credit card for the next year’s subscription. There is the option to turn that off, but they don’t make it easy to do so. As you’ve guessed by my saying I renew each […]

In my first job out of college, I made friends with another co-worker who had just started work a few months before I did.  Along with other new hires our age, we formed a tight social group.  Imagine my shock when I came into work one Monday and was told, “ ‘Pat’ was in a bad car accident and is in hospital and we’re not sure if she is going […]

Did you know you might be missing out on money available to you at work? Learn more about this option that most companies provide as a benefit.

Do you have any idea why your credit score is what it is? Want to improve your credit score? Read on to learn the most important things to improve your score.

Check fraud scams are hitting younger people just as much as older people. For this population, the scam often comes as part of job hunting. Read to find out how it works.

Children are able to understand the concepts of money at different levels. Here are some ideas of how to share money concepts with children of different ages.

If you have a need to clear out the contents of a parent’s home, you might think it is worth a lot. But their style is not in fashion, so it might be better to hire someone to help clear it out. Read about some ways to do this easily.

Do you remember every financial account you’ve had over the years?  Have you moved around a fair amount?  Surprisingly, someone might want to give you some lost money back, but they don’t know how to find you!  Learn how to identify escheated funds.

In this post, we cover some general characteristics of scams, particularly ones received by telephone.

Three buckets. Three categories. That’s all that is really required to build a budget — or a spending plan as I like to call it. Look how simple it is to build one.

No one wants to think about what will have to happen to all the things you own after you die. One thing you can do is make sure that the things you want to go to someone will go to them. Use this simple technique to make sure it happens when you aren’t around.

When you pass away or if you cannot manage your household any more, does someone else know everything about how your run your house and all your accounts (physical and digital)? Here’s a solution that can include hiring a daily money manager to help with the task.