Financial health

MellowGa

I wasn't sure where to stick this, so I am adding it here.

Now a lot of people will tie their Physical health and eating habits to their financial health, I mean the tighter the finances the more stressed we become, depression, poor eating habits will follow and poor physical health.

So I figured I would start this threat so we can have some financial discussions, about 401K, Stocks, Debt, ways to stabilize our financial health that will improve our overall mental and physical well being.

As someone whom is middle age, I know things now, that I wish I knew when I was younger when it came to credit cards, loans, and managing my money, or should I say family finances.

Little about me I am 47, wife is 46 we are both professionals and have solid well paying jobs, we have three children, Two in college, one in HS, we have 401K's that are performing very well and I also have a pension with my company (very rare these days, but some Gen X will have both)

For those whom are starting out their careers the best advice I can give you is this.

1. Pay yourself first, put between 10-20% a paycheck away into an emergency fund. I do this by simply moving money into an online brokerage and buy stock with that money every year, and let it grow. So IE, say $150 a paycheck goes into a separate saving account, every January, I take the years worth of savings and buy stock in a fortune 500 company that offers dividends say like Ford, ATT, GE, BAC, etc let that money reinvest and grow....I've been doing this since I was 18, it has grown nicely over the years and I do not touch it, it is an Emergency only account.

2. Credit cards, yes we have them and Use them, I use only ones tied to major hotels and Airlines to get Points, Such as Marriott, Hilton, SPG, Delta, United, American, you get the idea, but I acquire points for every hotel stay, you can also earn points by shopping through special sites or eating at certain restaurants. I collect these points then take our family on vacations to places using these points. I got this idea from " thepointsguy.com" he offers great advice and which cards to use, etc.

3. Credit card debt, use the snowball method to pay off debt, you can easily google it, I also like to use a tool called qoins it's an app that takes money from your account of choice and sends off "round up" money to the CC of your choice monthly to help lower the bills, pretty neat little tool.

4 If you have a High Deductible medical plan at work, you have an option of putting money into a Health SAVINGS account, I highly recommend doing this and max it out if you can, this is Pre-tax dollars, that grows Tax free and helps lower your income tax, this can grow for forever if you want and you can roll it into a Tax free IRA when you older if you choose, but I say just keep it in the Health Savings account, because lets face it at sometime in your life you will have a High medical bill and the Pre-tax money is your best bet. I had to use it this year due to my son having life saving surgery.

5. 401K your employer should offer a match at a certain percentage, My employer matches at 6% make sure you put in AT LEAST the matching amount, so at least put in 6%, mine is higher as I add 1% to it every year when I get a raise, so does my 401K.

here is a start to this thread....feel free to ask questions or comment, or give advice to those whom read it and have questions.

I feel a healthy financial life will help give you a healthy outlook on life and help propel us to healthy habits.

orangegato

@MellowGa Do you have a financial advisor? Worth it?

gearhead426hemi

Live within you means but don't be afraid to treat yourself from time to time. Just working and paying bills without enjoying life SUCKS!!! My family sets aside money every payday and we use our tax return to do a big family vacation once a year. NEVER put a vacation on a credit card and always pay bills off early if you can. Avoid the keeping up with the Jones's mentality most people have these days. All that material crap won't make you feel any better and only puts a strain on your wallet.

seltzermint555

ok ok Dad, I know...

Just kidding. I have good habits financially and am doing very well with all of the above. Sadly I'm a very late Gen X-er so no pension here!

However, I don't find physical and financial health to necessarily be connected, at least for me. I've been in great and poor health of both types. For example, I had a period of poverty immediately post-college when I was underemployed and I could only afford bare minimum (yet healthy) groceries, no meals out, and walking was my main form of "entertainment". Contrast that with being in a DINK household and going out nightly for sushi, tapas, etc, and being too stressed at the time for much beyond drinks and sleeping every weekend. Not healthy. Financial profile was great though!

Clearly I'm happiest when both areas are in order. I'm happy to have finally achieved balance and hope to continue that for the rest of my life (currently 40, got in financial shape at 30 and physical shape around 36).

Motorsheen

I've invested everything, my entire life savings, in WWF Action Figures.

I'm set, I damn sure am.

MellowGa

gearhead426hemi wrote: »

Live within you means but don't be afraid to treat yourself from time to time. Just working and paying bills without enjoying life SUCKS!!! My family sets aside money every payday and we use our tax return to do a big family vacation once a year. NEVER put a vacation on a credit card and always pay bills off early if you can. Avoid the keeping up with the Jones's mentality most people have these days. All that material crap won't make you feel any better and only puts a strain on your wallet.

good advice, one of the things we ended up doing is joining the Marriott Vacation club, which is basically a timeshare (all my life I have been against timeshares, horrible investment) but Marriott Vacation is quite different then normal Timeshares, you buy "points" and they are allocated every year and you can move them around, etc. Anyway before doing this I researched it heavily and we decided to do it.

Reasons we like it.

1. Marriott has properties all around the world, we have done Disney, Aruba, St Thomas, USVI, Myrtle beach and Hilton head, all using our points. The initial investment was $35,000 which I paid off in three years, we also pay a $1,000 a year mntce fee. But I have calculated the costs of our vacation if we were to stay in 2/3 Bedroom villa's at these properties without the membership, in seven trips I would have spent about $35,000, so the way I look at it, after seven trips, I am saving a ton of money.

2. Forces us to vacation every year, we go somewhere new, We have Hawaii, Australia, Fiji, Tahoe, Spain, Thailand all lined up for properties to visit in the future.

3. My kids get to go on vacations they would have never thought of, nor would we. It gives us options and Idea's.

4. it is ownership and we have it for our lifetime, we can also will it to our children, we bought a plan that will allow us to gift them the points equally when we pass on for the kids and their future families to vacation and explore this world of ours.

I used to do the IRS refund vacation theme, but I found this to be more economical, and now I invest that money.

But look into different avenues of travel, it can be done economically and with families. I have a Instagram acct called "travelingbobby" you can see our adventures there.

this Past June we went to Arizona for a week and hiked the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Using our Marriott points and Delta points, we only paid for our Rental car.

MellowGa

Cutaway_Collar wrote: »

What is your opinion on coolwhip versus artisan whipped cream made by hand which whole foods sells?

Both are creamy and I am unable to decide.

Really no bad decision here

MellowGa

orangegato wrote: »

@MellowGa Do you have a financial advisor? Worth it?

I do not, I actually had a class in HS that taught me about investing and personal research. Depending on your goals I would weigh Financial advisors, does your work offer Financial Engines? MY work offers Financial engines while our plan is maintained by Fidelity, they also will offer advice for free.

As Gearhead said, don't live beyond your means, but I always pay yourself first.....I can't express SAVE between 10-20% every paycheck, compound interest is what makes money grow for YOU. The companies I listed I have stock in...for years....like over 20...I don't even look at it, I let it grow, it's emergency money f I ever need it...or a gift for my children when I pass.

MellowGa

seltzermint555 wrote: »

ok ok Dad, I know...

Just kidding. I have good habits financially and am doing very well with all of the above. Sadly I'm a very late Gen X-er so no pension here!

However, I don't find physical and financial health to necessarily be connected, at least for me. I've been in great and poor health of both types. For example, I had a period of poverty immediately post-college when I was underemployed and I could only afford bare minimum (yet healthy) groceries, no meals out, and walking was my main form of "entertainment". Contrast that with being in a DINK household and going out nightly for sushi, tapas, etc, and being too stressed at the time for much beyond drinks and sleeping every weekend. Not healthy. Financial profile was great though!

Clearly I'm happiest when both areas are in order. I'm happy to have finally achieved balance and hope to continue that for the rest of my life (currently 40, got in financial shape at 30 and physical shape around 36).

Awesome, its a great feeling when both are in order....I am getting my health back in tip top, I am not bad off physical wise, but to much beer and wings at 47...well it catches up....time to trim.

yea I am very lucky with the pension, I view it as an extra and my 401K is primary, but like you I was DIRT poor very early on...$100 budget for food...learned to manage my $ and be pennywise. A great lesson, one I do not wish to experience again, and if I can offer some advice to others, or others can give me advice, well I am all ears.

MellowGa

Motorsheen wrote: »

I've invested everything, my entire life savings, in WWF Action Figures.

I'm set, I damn sure am.

I hope you have Sgt Slaughter he is worth big $$$$

JadeQuetzal

I wish I had the money to worry about savings and 401k, but alas, there is too much week at the end of my paycheck. Still... I don't use it as an excuse to eat poorly. That's what hormones are for

I feel like we handle things well for our budget, but could use with spending less on unnecessary stuff. The problem is that it can be hard to decide when it or isn't necessary. Do we have $25 extra? No way! Was I going to pass up jeans for $2 each for my daughter's next sizes up, or the other clothing I got at $1 each so I don't have to spend $150 on the same stuff come winter? No way! I'm really good at stretching our dollar, but sometimes I have to make us super tight when I find good deals so that we don't struggle even worse down the line.

gearhead426hemi

JadeQuetzal wrote: »

I wish I had the money to worry about savings and 401k, but alas, there is too much week at the end of my paycheck. Still... I don't use it as an excuse to eat poorly. That's what hormones are for

I feel like we handle things well for our budget, but could use with spending less on unnecessary stuff. The problem is that it can be hard to decide when it or isn't necessary. Do we have $25 extra? No way! Was I going to pass up jeans for $2 each for my daughter's next sizes up, or the other clothing I got at $1 each so I don't have to spend $150 on the same stuff come winter? No way! I'm really good at stretching our dollar, but sometimes I have to make us super tight when I find good deals so that we don't struggle even worse down the line.

I think at some point just about everyone goes through some hard financial times in their life. It will shape you and later in life make you appreciate things from a different perspective. Prioritizing like you do and thinking ahead is the best way to be. As far as your 401k or setting money aside I started out small and over the years did more and more. I started a second bank account and direct deposited 20 dollars a week. When its on direct deposit you don't even see it or think about it. Before you know it you will have a small amount of emergency money. You can do the same with your 401k. What I started doing is every year when I got a raise I just increased my 401k contribution the exact amount of my raise. So I have made the same amount of money for 7 years but my 401k has increased exponentially. I know that some people don't even have an extra 20 dollars a week but get creative.

When I was young I lucked out and fell into a great paying job right out of high school. I lived my life by trying to keep up with the Jones's. I was young and dumb and one day I walked into my job and got laid off. The only job I could find with no college education paid half of what I was making before. So I lost my home, truck and motorcycle. I had one kid and a baby on the way so my stress was CRAZY! The only home I could afford was a double wide in a trailer park. We were living pay check to pay check. My wife would balance the checkbook and we would have $20 left for a week and that had to stretch for food and gas. I knew I wanted more for family so I worked two jobs. I worked at a shop from 7am to 7pm and delivered newspapers from 3am to 6am. My wife worked at a corner store from 10pm to 3am. We did that for a couple years until we finally got ahead financially. I got into another job that if I studied I could make my way up and more than double my income. It took almost 7 years to get it but what a sigh of relief when I finally did. Now we live our life in a completely different way. I don't give a crap about fancy cars or huge houses. We live a very simple life and get to enjoy traveling with our kids. I want my kids to experience all the world has to offer and not worry about all the meaningless material crap. Save what you can when you can. We live our life now so that if I got laid off again I could get a job making half and my lifestyle wouldn't have to change.

MellowGa

gearhead426hemi wrote: »

JadeQuetzal wrote: »

I wish I had the money to worry about savings and 401k, but alas, there is too much week at the end of my paycheck. Still... I don't use it as an excuse to eat poorly. That's what hormones are for

I feel like we handle things well for our budget, but could use with spending less on unnecessary stuff. The problem is that it can be hard to decide when it or isn't necessary. Do we have $25 extra? No way! Was I going to pass up jeans for $2 each for my daughter's next sizes up, or the other clothing I got at $1 each so I don't have to spend $150 on the same stuff come winter? No way! I'm really good at stretching our dollar, but sometimes I have to make us super tight when I find good deals so that we don't struggle even worse down the line.

I think at some point just about everyone goes through some hard financial times in their life. It will shape you and later in life make you appreciate things from a different perspective. Prioritizing like you do and thinking ahead is the best way to be. As far as your 401k or setting money aside I started out small and over the years did more and more. I started a second bank account and direct deposited 20 dollars a week. When its on direct deposit you don't even see it or think about it. Before you know it you will have a small amount of emergency money. You can do the same with your 401k. What I started doing is every year when I got a raise I just increased my 401k contribution the exact amount of my raise. So I have made the same amount of money for 7 years but my 401k has increased exponentially. I know that some people don't even have an extra 20 dollars a week but get creative.

When I was young I lucked out and fell into a great paying job right out of high school. I lived my life by trying to keep up with the Jones's. I was young and dumb and one day I walked into my job and got laid off. The only job I could find with no college education paid half of what I was making before. So I lost my home, truck and motorcycle. I had one kid and a baby on the way so my stress was CRAZY! The only home I could afford was a double wide in a trailer park. We were living pay check to pay check. My wife would balance the checkbook and we would have $20 left for a week and that had to stretch for food and gas. I knew I wanted more for family so I worked two jobs. I worked at a shop from 7am to 7pm and delivered newspapers from 3am to 6am. My wife worked at a corner store from 10pm to 3am. We did that for a couple years until we finally got ahead financially. I got into another job that if I studied I could make my way up and more than double my income. It took almost 7 years to get it but what a sigh of relief when I finally did. Now we live our life in a completely different way. I don't give a crap about fancy cars or huge houses. We live a very simple life and get to enjoy traveling with our kids. I want my kids to experience all the world has to offer and not worry about all the meaningless material crap. Save what you can when you can. We live our life now so that if I got laid off again I could get a job making half and my lifestyle wouldn't have to change.

Great advice, Jade, you really need to do the 401K and up to the percentage your company matches, start now!! Compound interest will grow and grow....trust me, find the money to do it.

Another thing, track your expenses for two months, write everything you spend money on, make a list, see what is. 1. A Necessity 2. a Need 3. a want 4. a impulse buy. We all do it, spend money that we can't afford to.

As gearhead said, I also was Dirt poor in my early 20's, I ended up working two 8 hour a day jobs, that is 16 hours a day, the rest of the time sleep, eat...not much of a life. I paid my own way through college, numerous small jobs and I was also in the Military for the GI Bill. I had a ton of loans after graduating, consolidated them (and my wife's) and slowly paid them down.

You can do it, just examine your expenses, Step back and observe it, most of all don't stress over it. I took my children to a foreign country, we like to go visit the locals and see how life is lived there, My teenagers commented how poor everyone was, but how nice they were. I explained to them that we as Americans usually want to much, things we think that are Necessities, really aren't, that if you look at their faces you see smiles, they are happy, just live life, enjoy it, do not let the stress of living in America get to you, most of our stress is self induced.

My advice, Start your 401K...now, pay yourself first. Trim your expense budget and pay down whatever bills you have. Enjoy your child/Children they grow up way to fast, happiness can't be bought, but kids are naturally happy, enjoy their vibes and life, like Gear head, I don't need a fancy house or car, I enjoy the house we purchased for our family some years ago, the memories make it more valuable to me. Our cars, we always Purchase and keep them a minimum ten years, longer if the car keeps going.

best of luck.