Changing Careers

CHANGING CAREERS? DON’T BE SCARED – BE SMART. HERE’S HOW.
Switching jobs is one thing – but switching careers? That’s a bit more difficult. Not everybody can make that move, but if it’s better for your family, your lifestyle and you, go for it – just know what you’re getting into. Finding your dream career is tough, but not impossible. Here are some tips to make it happen.

Learn what you’re good at and enjoy – not just what makes the most money.
Fresh-faced 20-somethings oftentimes pursue careers that promise the most bang for their buck. Makes total sense, but it can also make you totally miserable. So figure out what you’re good at and enjoy. No, this isn’t some inspirational “follow your bliss” meme. You should be realistic. Here’s a good example: if you hate your job but love to cook and meet new people, consider opening a catering company. Love writing blogs? There are people who get to do that for a living. Could you be one of them?

Keep the faith
Things will get hard, that’s a given. The easiest thing in the world is to give up. But if you’re compromising on your happiness and long-term career goals, giving up can be the most expensive (personally and professionally) thing you can do to. So even if it seems like your career arc is moving in zig-zags, keep the faith in yourself and your goals. You’re headed in the right direction.

Stay positive
Optimism is the most powerful weapon in the world. Ask anyone who made a career switch and they’ll tell you that staying positive is critical. You should also pair positivity with it’s favorite tag team partner, perseverance. If you ever get down in the dumps or start doubting your decision (it will happen) go back to what made you want to switch careers in the first place. Whether it was practicality or passion, for your family or for yourself, use that mindset as inspiration to keep going.

So if you’re changing careers, your financial situation is probably changing too. Let us help you figure out the not-so-fun details. Contact us!

THE AGE-OLD QUESTION: SHOULD I BUY OR RENT?

So if you’re on here, you’re probably asking yourself that question. Welp, if you’re looking for a 100% right answer…sorry, we can’t help you there. Thing is, buying or renting is based on you. Your lifestyle. Your goals. But we’re here to help. Now, we love lists, so here are the things to consider when asking yourself “Should I buy or should I rent?”

So there’s a lot to think about, but we’re more than happy to help. Contact our mortgage professionals to see how we can get you into your own home.

Rather rent? That’s cool too. Just know we’re here if you change your mind.

Retired and enjoying the good life? Congratulations! You’ve earned this – and we want to make sure you get the most out of it. With more and more Americans enjoying longer retirements, budgeting is more important than ever. Here are some helpful tips on how to budget while retired.

PLAN AHEAD:
The most important step to budgeting while retired is to start budgeting before you’re retired. Take an inventory of what you’re spending week-to-week and month-to-month. When you’re living on a fixed income, it’s essential to know how much is going out, because it’s harder to increase what is coming in. Now, set two budgets – one for fixed spending (essentials) and one for fun (discretionary).

KEEP TRACK:
Once you (hopefully) have your budgets for fixed and fun spending, here’s the easy (but challenging) part – stick with it. Keep track of what you’re spending and make it part of your routine. Check it every month at least, every week if you’re an overachiever. You could check every day, but you’re supposed to enjoy your retirement, right?

NEVER STOP SAVING:
You’re never done saving. Whether it’s for fun or unexpected expenses, a good rule of thumb is to make sure your essentials are covered 100%, while you only spend 80-90% from your discretionary budget. Save that extra 10-20% for your “just in case” expenses.

Are you still in the planning stages for retirement? You should definitely check out our How To Budget For Retirement blog. Also, be sure to speak to one of our financial advisors. Contact Us to arrange a time!

So chances are you don’t want to work forever. Maybe you have your heart set on traveling, volunteering or just spending more time catching up with the people and activities you love. Sounds awesome, and we want to help make that happen for you. Here are some tips on setting a budget for retirement!

START SMART

First, make an assessment of your current financial situation. We suggest gathering your last 12 months of bank account statements, credit card statements, and your last two pay stubs. This will give you an idea of how much you’ve spent compared to how much you make.

WHAT ARE YOUR FIXED EXPENSES?

What are your HHSTF’s (sorry, we couldn’t come up with a cute acronym) per month – Health, Home, Safety, Transportation and Food expenses? These are the essentials and you should make sure each is covered 100% before focusing on anything else.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUN EXPENSES?

What do you like to do for fun? Maybe golf? Great! Figure out how much your hobbies cost, while also considering how much more you may be doing them now that you’re free Monday-Friday from 9 am-5 pm. Also, don’t just consider the hobbies you currently have – what hobbies do you want to take up now that you have more free time?

TOTAL IT UP!

Add your fixed expenses and fun expenses separately. This is your total expenditure. Now, divide your fixed expenses by the total. Is this percentage more or less than what you thought? Consider lifestyle changes to lower either your fixed or fun expenses. Remember, you want to have fun in retirement, but going without your HHSTF’s is no fun, either.

Need help budgeting and planning for the future? Contact us and set up a time to talk to one of our financial advisors!

So most people work for their hard-earned money. You, for instance. But some people make money by taking yours. We call them “scam artists” and while some of their methods are obvious (the old “You’re Related To Royalty. Click Here to Claim Your Riches!” routine), some approaches are pretty sneaky. Here’s how to sniff out a scammer and keep your money in your pocket where it belongs.

ONLY TRUST AFTER YOU VERIFY.
If you get an email, phone call, letter, PM or carrier pigeon from someone you don’t know, consider the possibility it may be a scam. We’re not suggesting you live in fear or paranoia, just know that scammers are out there and aren’t at all concerned about violating your trust.

DON’T OPEN SUSPICIOUS MESSAGES.
Delete them. Emails, texts, pop-ups, so on and so forth. Lots of scammers will send a pop-up that says something is wrong with your computer and ask you to download it. Don’t. It just gives them access to your computer and all of your personal details.

DO HAVE STRONG PASSWORDS.
No, “password” or “123456” don’t count. Consider a random assortment of UpPerCaSe and lOwErCaSe letters, $pecial ch@racters and numbers. Write your password down and keep it in a safe place. You can also consider a lengthy statement that’s easy for you to remember, but hard for scammers to guess. And don’t use the same password for everything. If a scammer gets your password from one site, they have it for all sites.

DO STAY IN THE KNOW.
Scammers are a tricky lot and are always thinking of new ways to steal your money. We suggest staying in the know about what the latest scams and breaches are. A good place to start would be on USA.gov’s page.

We take your security seriously. Contact us to learn more about Identity Theft including how to protect your identity and what to do if you think it has been stolen.

Identity thieves and scammers aren’t known for having scruples or morals. Stealing your teen’s identity (and wrecking their credit) is a real possibility for them. Here are some signs your teen’s identity might have been stolen:

• Your teen gets calls from collection agencies
• Your teen receives bills or credit cards
• Your teen gets pre-approved credit card applications
• Your teen’s bank account application is denied because of poor credit

Yikes! As a general rule, if a teen under 18 has a credit report at all, that’s not a good sign. To check to see if your teen has a credit rating (and thus, if their identity has potentially been stolen), check with the following three credit bureaus:

• Transunion
• Equifax
• Experian

If your teen is a victim of identity theft, alert all three agencies, file a police report and file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You should also contact the Identity Theft Resource Center at 888-400-5530.

We take your security (and your teen’s) seriously. Check out our page on Identity Theft to see how to protect your identity – and what to do if you think it has been stolen.

Sigh. Unexpected expenses. They’re just so…unexpected. Storm damage. Car repairs. Sports fees. The list is long and goes on and on. While you can’t predict what these costs are or how much they may be, you can prepare for them. Here are some pointers.

MAKE A PLAN
Make a list of the most common unexpected expenses. Try to make it centered around predictable events on the calendar. Birthday and Christmas gifts. Property taxes. Winterization of your vehicles. Even routine Doctor, Dentist and Eye Doctor visits. What times of the year are you most likely to spend more than your typical budget?

MAKE A LIST
So here’s the not-so-fun part (that you’ll thank yourself for doing later). Look at your bank account and credit card statements from the past year to find your unexpected expenses. Tally them up. The number may be unpleasantly high, so be sure you are seated and comfortable.

MAKE A BUDGET
So you have the total cost of your unexpected expenses. Now divide that by the number of paychecks you have in a year (i.e. if you’re paid bi-weekly, divide it by 24). This will give you a baseline of how much you should set aside for unexpected expenses per paycheck. Also, we suggest rounding up, so if it’s $91.50, set aside $100.

MAKE AN ACCOUNT
And here’s where we come in! If you’re ready to set aside money, we have plenty of options available. Contact us and let’s figure out what account works best for your goals.