Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Personal Finance

Personal Finance is a catch-all for anything that falls under the umbrella of taking care of your money. A lot of people think of their personal finances as some "other" thing they don't always have to pay attention to. I think it's integral to your life and health.

Take a look at the articles below and get your personal finances in shape.

How to Recession Proof Your Life

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Harvard Business published an article a while ago that talked about job security and how the younger generation question if their job is secure. No matter how old you are, there is one thing that is certain – gone are the days that we leave school and work at the same career throughout our lifetime.  Well, there may be a handful of people such as doctors that may remain in the same career, but still, the vast majority of us will ultimately have two or three careers.  One thing to always keep in the back of the mind is what if you are in the midst of changing careers and a recession hits?  Or even if you are in a pretty good position but the company you work for takes a hit if another recession occurs?  Recession proofing your life should be just as much a priority as having life insurance to take care of your family.

There are some steps you can take to recession proof your life and depending on your financial situation, it may not be too difficult.
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Half of Americans are “Financially Fragile” – How Not to be One of Them

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A disturbing article from the Wall Street Journal reports that Nearly Half of Americans Are ‘Financially Fragile’, which is defined in the article as households who “definitely or probably couldn’t come up with $2,000 in 30 days.”

The $2,000 figure was chosen because it’s roughly the cost of “an unanticipated major car repair, a large co-payment on a medical expense, legal expenses, or a home repair”—in other words, expenses that are hardly out of the question for a typical household.

According to the article 46.5% of all respondents are living very close to the financial edge—in other words, nearly half of America.  And it’s one of the worst rates in the world—in Italy for example, the rate is only 20%.  But it gets even worse; an additional 25.1% of U.S. respondents answered that they were “probably able” to come up with $2,000—meaning that they aren’t entirely sure.

That’s a sad state of affairs no matter how you interpret it.

How should we respond to this information? By making certain we don’t fall into the same category! [Read more…] about Half of Americans are “Financially Fragile” – How Not to be One of Them

What Is a Probate Lawyer and When Would You Use One?

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At one point or another throughout our lifetime we hear about probate lawyers.

If you’re like most people you don’t pay attention until one day you’re faced with the inevitable – you need a probate lawyer.

So what specifically is a probate lawyer?

A probate lawyer manages the filing of the last testament or will of a deceased individual.  Sometimes there are some wicked disputes that arise from the disposition of property.  Basically a probate lawyer is an estate or a trust lawyer.

Far too many people do not think about finding a probate lawyer until someone has passed away.  When this happens, then there is a sense of urgency to hire a probate lawyer therefore not allowing time to shop around for the lawyer who will best represent your interests.
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What Are You Doing with Your Payroll Tax Cut?

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At the end of last year, Congress hurried through a tax package.

One of the credits that was allowed to expire was the Making Work Pay tax credit.  However, our representatives replaced the Making Work Pay tax credit with a reduction in the payroll tax paid by employees. This means that you should be seeing a paycheck that is a little bit bigger.

Our leaders, of course, want you to go out and spend that money, pumping it back into the economy.  The whole point of tax cuts is to encourage you to spend so that we can keep the economy, which relies a great deal on consumer spending, moving in a direction of positive growth.  However tempting it might be to spend that extra money, though, it is a good idea to consider how that money can help you down the road.
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Kids & Money – The Financial Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

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For those of us with kids, we hope to pass down certain traits—good looks, agility, perfect vision, smarts, business savvy. But what of our money management skills?  Financial finesse rarely makes it onto our list of personal strengths, yet it’s a crucial life skill everyone needs to acquire.  A Charles Schwab 2010 Families and Money survey found that “not saving early enough for retirement (43%), not saving money for emergencies (42%) and carrying credit card debt from month to month (30%) [were] cited as the top three financial mistakes [parents] fear their kids will repeat.”  Don’t let your kids make your same mistakes or fall into that ever-growing percentage of 18-24 year-olds who file for bankruptcy.

Here are 4 simple things to do differently (or start doing) as a parent, to ensure your kids gain financial awareness from an early age and build responsible habits.

[Read more…] about Kids & Money – The Financial Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

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