I am not an old guy, but I don’t consider myself wise, especially when I talk to guys elder to me. I give lectures on personal finance at various colleges, yet, when I meet old people, I feel under-educated. I feel they know much more than most of us brag about today. However, they are simply ignored by most of us and aren’t given credit for their knowledge. Therefore, without any humiliation, I admit I have learned many personal finance lessons from people over 70, and I would like to share it with all my readers. Here are my personal finance tips. 1.    Be Patient Money is saved over a long period of time. Investing is good. However, one must not invest to earn quick profits. It’s not a 100-meter race; it’s a marathon. Be patient. 2.    Take Risks When Young It’s completely  [...] 

If the world would have been perfect, we would all have dealt in cash, without even realizing what the word ‘debt’ means. We would never have missed a payment because we would have taken care of our expenses in a perfect manner. Creditor’s Calls? There wouldn’t be anybody calling us up except for friends, family, and co-workers. We would never have known how it feels to be frustrated to due lack of money. Nor we would have taken extra pain to pay our monthly expenses, or just to afford another car. The world, however, is far from being perfect. We have distressing situations everywhere, and we have to take the pains to survive in this world. Or we have the option to make ‘our own’ world perfect. If you think there are problems with your finances, take charge  [...] 

When you hire a financial advisor, you would probably hear lots about economy, asset allocation, penny stocks, bank’s bailout, and so on. However, let’s be very direct. Is your financial advisor making money for you? After the current economic crisis, most investments are already down. Besides, many advisors, with only framed diplomas, don’t have genuine ability to analyze and advise on investment decisions. After the initial consultation (and few other paid meetings), I have noticed, most planners recommend you to a professional asset management company. Isn’t it their work to advise you on your assets? It seems that most financial advisors in the country today wouldn’t help you with making precise investment decision. They would explain you the importance of diversification, but  [...] 

Not many people have a proper system to maintain personal financial documents, which can land them in trouble. Here is a list of important documents you must have, and for how long you must maintain them. Tax Filing and Returns Minimum Maintenance Period – Forever This would help you save from unnecessary trouble whenever you are audited. Documents Submitted During Tax Returns Minimum Maintenance Period – Six Years This would include 1099, W-2, Tax deduction receipts, and so on. IRS can make changes up three years of filing, if you have filed report for errors. However, if they want to audit suspicious accounts, they can do it up to six years of filing. Purchase Receipts Minimum Maintenance Period – Till warranty expires, or for a longer period if you need it for tax purposes Statements  [...] 

As with anything, planning is what it takes to achieve your financial goals. You may be earning millions. If you, however, don’t have a proper plan, the millions wouldn’t last long. Most people avoid this element of personal finance simply because they don’t know how to get started. So, here is a simple way to start with personal financial planning. Get a Journal Unless you don’t write down your goals, and read it daily, you wouldn’t work to achieve it. Ideas, when in mind, are quite vague. To give them a concrete shape, get a journal and write it down on the first page. This will provide motivation every time you open your journal. This is important for personal financial planning. Prioritize You have a list of goals in your journal, but you don’t know where to start with. Therefore,  [...] 

Although human mind is compared to a super computer, it fails to live up to the definition when it comes to tracking expenses. One practically cannot remember all the expenses incurred in a month, let alone years and a lifetime. Hence, a written data is needed. No other form of document can serve the purpose than a personal financial statement. This document can store everything from a simple expense to complicated things like compound interest over years and investment growth. However, due to its flexibility and ability to track all the expenses, people generally start quivering only by thinking bout it. Deriving a personal financial statement, however, isn’t a difficult task, not at least for finances professionals. It simply depends on how you want to keep a track of your finances, investments,  [...] 

Not managing our funds adequately is the only reason why most of us are in debt. We all know the significance of money in our lives, yet we don’t spend time planning about it. Think about it for a while. When was the last time you derived a comprehensive personal finance plan to meet your financial goals? Not many of us, I reckon. The only problem I can think of is lack of motivation. People want to take charge of their finances, but they are too lazy to do it. When you know proper planning and its execution would defiantly solve many of your financial problems, but you don’t do it. It’s nothing but lack of adequate motivation. Many of my clients face similar issue. I ask them to read personal finance articles. I certainly help them get out of current financial mess. But my solution would  [...] 

People have started realizing the importance of financial planning lately. This is the reason there has been a significant increase in the number of financial planning books. Though it’s very important, is planning enough? To understand the big picture, there is something more to it than just planning. Planning is an imperative element of financial wellness. Self-discipline and knowledge, however, is required to solve the jig-saw puzzle. I have noticed many of us just turn away from managing our personal finances. Simply because it’s a bit complicated sometimes, you shouldn’t run away from it. If you do it, you will have a poor retirement life, literally. It’s significant to understand the importance of financial planning thoroughly. There has been a drastic change in all the industries  [...] 

Maintaining an accurate personal financial statement is vital. If you want credit, this is one of the most important documents the lender will focus on. Through this report, they want to assess: Do you have required amount of assets to repay the loan amount? How much debt do you currently owe? What is the amount and source of current income? How do you manage your finances? What property do you own? Liquid Assets The lender would be interested in knowing the total value of liquid assets you hold, and in what form they are. If you aren’t able to repay the loan amount, one of the easiest ways for lenders is to sell off your liquid assets and recover their funds. Therefore, if you consider getting external finance, try to have a long list of liquid assets. Debt Most people, while creating  [...] 

There is a lot mystification about Car finances and Auto loans prevailing in the market today. So, let’s quickly enlighten ourselves with the infinitesimal details of ‘finance related to our car’ to safeguard against negligence and malpractices. Auto loan is a secured lending scheme where the car to be owned by you is reserved as security. This kind of security is essential to eradicate the financial risk apprehension in the lender’s mind. Broadly, there are two types of auto loans – short term and long term. In both the cases, you do have to pay a down payment (upfront amount) to the lender. The choice of the loan duration is generally your call. Making things further clear, long term loans demand higher interest rates, whereas short term loans has lower rates. These Auto loans are  [...]