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    Money-Minded Gifts: Finance Books

    Thursday, December 4th, 2008

    Holiday gift shopping may be hurting more than your checking account this winter. A new study shows that Christmas shopping increases blood pressure to dangerous levels in 50% of holiday shoppers. When researchers tested men and women after having them buy gifts, women were three times more stressed than they had been before shopping.

    It’s hard enough to try to find the perfect gift, and braving crowds and cold weather can make shopping feel especially stressful. When you combine these factors with a tighter budget, it’s no wonder that shoppers’ heart rates increase by 10% while shopping during the holiday season . But if you’re feeling financial pressure, chances are the people you’re shopping for are experiencing similar money-related stress. So why not channel your shopping anxiety into a helpful, money-minded gift? This week, we’re taking a look at finance books. In 2008, 52% of consumers’ New Years resolutions were related to getting out of debt. Help your friends and family get a jump start on improving their financial situations by giving them a personal finance book this holiday season.
    Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Yours 20s and 30s by Beth Kobliner:
    This book is a smart choice for any person who is new to managing her finances or who is interested in managing her finances in a more responsible way. Get a Financial Life is exceptionally thorough but never dull or overwhelming. For the most time-strapped readers, Kobliner offers a “Financial Cramming section” at the end of each chapter to summarize the chapter’s most important ideas.

    The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life by Lee Eisenberg
    The number is a less a retirement guide than a reflection on issues facing the aging population. Eisenberg is a journalist, not a financial planner, but his experience writing on the topic is evident. According to Eisenberg, everyone should be thinking about his or her “Number,” which is the amount of money required to meet an individual’s expectations for life in retirement.
    Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People
    by Jane Bryant Quinn
    Jane Bryant Quinn is informative and charming in this book. She covers all the bases, but perhaps the most helpful chapter is “Putting Your Whole Financial Life on Cruise Control”– the idea being that money saved automatically is less likely to be spent frivolously. Shifting to automatic saving can save you both time and money. Quinn’s personal stories of struggling with debt make this both an enjoyable and worthwhile read.
    Next Week’s Money-Minded Gift: Online Savings Accounts (coming Thursday)

    Posted in Holiday, Holiday Spending, Money-Minded Gifts, Savings | Comments »

    Savings Tools

    Monday, December 1st, 2008

    Need a little help putting money aside this holiday season? Try one of these handy online tools and create a savings plan that works for you.

    CNN Money Savings Calculator: This tool calculates your savings by having you answer a brief series of questions about your taxable accounts, tax-deferred accounts and projected rate of return/time frame. Quick and simple, this calculator offers you an estimate on how much you will save as well as a variety of other retirement savings related tools.

    Mint: Mint.com touts itself as “the best free way to manage your money.” Wall Street Journal seems to agree with this assessment, calling Mint “a pleasure to use.” Mint offers you tools to help save for retirement, pay off your debt, and save for long term goals. By entering your information, this personal finance software automatically downloads and categorizes your credit card transactions nightly to help you identify your spending trends.

    Choose To Save calculators: EBRI’s Choose to Save campaign has a page chock full of calculators to help you save, as well as tools to assist you with your employee benefits, insurance, Roth IRAs and more. They also recommend their favorite savings calculators from other sites such as Motley Fool and FINRA.

    Posted in Holiday Spending, Savings | Comments »

    Budgeting in a Spending Season

    Friday, November 28th, 2008

    Thanksgiving is over and the giving season has just begun. Today’s unofficial holiday, Black Friday, kicks off the holiday shopping season with a wide variety of retailers offering huge savings on high ticket items. Unlike the tamer Thanksgiving week traditions, such as the Macys Thanksgiving day parade or the traditional Thanksgiving feast, Black Friday is marked by epic lines at local stores and chaotic masses of shoppers, many of whom are willing to wake up before dawn for doorbuster deals and prime access to the soon to be out-of-stock sale items.

    It’s hard to remember anything when you’re rolling out of bed at 5am, still drowsy from last night’s turkey paired with a lack of shut-eye. But it’s especially hard to remember your budget. Maybe that budget amnesia accounts for these poll results: according to the Washington Post, half of the respondents to a poll early last year said they would carry their holiday credit card debt into spring. And this was before the current economic slump. So how do you stop yourself from overspending this holiday season? Why not give yourself a few gifts before you start shopping for everyone else:

    Gift 1: A Budget
    I know, it’s scary. When there are people to shop for, holidays parties to attend, even holiday parties to throw, you may not want to have your financial reality mapped out in front of you when you could have a piece of pie and a healthy slice of ignorance instead. But soon enough it will be January, the month of New Years resolutions and no more holiday splurge excuses. So why not get a head start and make a budget now? Include holiday gifts and get a better idea of how much you can spend this holiday season. You can use WISER’s budget worksheet to get you started. For help on keeping track of your spending, check out WISER’s “Keep Track of Your Spending” Fact Sheet.

    Gift 2: A Low-Interest Credit Card
    Look for low-rate and no annual fee credit cards. You can get a list of credit cards, interest rates and fees: send $5 to RAM Research’s CardTrak, P.O. Box 1916, Frederick, MD 21702, or for free on the Internet at http://www.ramresearch.com/. See also the http://www.cardtrack.com/ website .

    Gift 3:A Free Credit Report
    Get a better idea of your credit situation, for free! As of September 2005, all US Citizens are eligible for one free credit report from each credit agency per year. To receive your free annual credit report visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. This can help you improve your credit and set some long term financial goals.

    Gift Trapped? [Washington Post]
    Tips for Reining in Holiday Giving [Washington Post]


    Posted in Budget, Credit Card Debt, Credit Report, Holiday, Holiday Spending, Savings | Comments »

    Happy Thanksgiving from WISER!

    Thursday, November 27th, 2008

    Looking for a gift idea you can feel good about? Well look no further than I Savings Bonds. One thing to be thankful for today is the new and improved interest rate on I Savings Bonds. While I Savings Bonds were earning 4.28% this time last year, the interest rate has increased to a whopping 5.64% through April 30, 2009. I Savings Bonds are government-issued bonds that earn interest each month, and the interest is compounded every six months. The I Bond is currently providing a higher return than the EE Bond. Since becoming available, the I Bond has been very popular; sales of over $3.2 billion were reported in the first year.

    Here are a few things you should know about the I Bond:

    • You can buy I Bonds at face value; for example, you would pay $50 for a $50 bond.
    • Earnings are exempt from state and local income taxes
    • Federal income taxes can be deferred for up to 30 years, or until you cash them in, whichever comes first.
    • You can earn interest on them for up to 30 years and can cash them out after 5 years without losing interest (You will lose three months’ interest if you cash them in sooner.)
    • You can now buy savings bonds with automatic deductions from your checking or savings account on a regular basis through the Easy Saver plan, or on the Internet.

    I Bonds are a great gift for kids! You can show them how to calculate the value of their savings bonds every year. For more information on I Bonds, go to www.savingsbonds.gov or call 800-487-2663.

    Posted in Holiday Spending, Investing, Savings, Thanksgiving | Comments »

    WISER

    About Us

    WISER is a nonprofit organization that works to help women, educators and policymakers understand the important issues surrounding women's retirement income. WISER creates a variety of consumer publications including fact sheets, booklets and a quarterly newsletter that explain in easy-to-understand language the complex issues surrounding Social Security, divorce, pay equity, pensions, savings and investments, banking, home-ownership, long-term care and disability insurance.

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