Thursday, January 22, 2009

Financial Advice

I was just going to email this to my girls but I thought maybe others might be interested. Most of it we already know but are we doing what we know we should be doing. The number ONE thing we should be doing is paying off all credit cards and not charging anymore. We should know our FICO score (under 700 is low). Do not close out your credit cards because for some reason that I don't understand this makes your FICO score lower. Make sure you pay ALL your bills on time, being late also lowers your score. SAVE MONEY From what I understand we should all have an 8 month emergency fund. If you don't have this emergency fund, you should go over your expenses and separate the needs from the wants. Circle all the wants and if you have debt or no savings then you should eliminate the wants (at least until you have your savings built up). I am thinking that that part will be hard. If you are not getting ready to retire then you should keep investing in a 401k or IRA. Again eliminate the wants until you have 8 months of savings-
enough to cover 8 months worth of living expenses. After you get your credit cards paid off, thankfully ours are, then you should begin to save. Decide how much you can save each month and then add 20%. Put this money in the highest interest rate savings account. Money that you are going to need in 5 years does not belong in the stock market so take it out. Other wise keep it in. So let's all start saving!! That's my advice.

3 comments:

Ms. Woods said...

And who gave you this valuable advice? Sounds like it came from a rich person. It all sounds wonderful if I wasn't a poor public servant. Eight months?? Woah! I can't even save up 1 months worth of expenses. But, there are places where I could cut things out--maybe a few wants, but not many. On the bright side, I don't have any credit cards to pay off, so that's good!

DeVarnne said...

Thanks for the advice, it sounds easier said then done!!! But, we are trying!!!

Anonymous said...

Shut-up! I thought I'd posted but it didn't show up so you'll probably find it some place else. LOL! Anyway, good advice it just sounds easier then it is. Dallas had been out of work for two month with his broken leg and will be out for at least three or four more if they have to take the screws out. Good thing we had some saving and didn't have to go to credit cards. He wants to retire, but something is always happening. He's 68 and still at it. Thank goodness he's still healthy!
Thanks for the advice. Keep up the good work I love hearing from you and seeing all the great pictures.
Glad Greg is doing better. Give Gerald my best! Miss you, Love, Paulette