From Kathleen Fox
The four-ounce bottle of wood glue cost $2.79. The eight-ounce bottle cost $3.49. That’s 70 cents an ounce for the smaller size and 44 cents an ounce for the bigger one.
A no-brainer, right? Clearly, the larger bottle was by far the better value.
I bought the smaller one.
No, this wasn’t a temporary lapse into reckless extravagance. This time, I decided the smaller and relatively more expensive quantity was the thriftier choice. I didn’t need a big bottle of glue. I didn’t, in fact, need more than a tiny bit of the smaller bottle for my small repair project.
Tags: Budgeting, Do It Yourself, Waste
From Rick Kahler
Trusts are effective financial planning tools based on a structure that is simpler than it may seem. The creator of the trust contributes something of value into the trust and creates instructions as to how it will be managed and eventually disbursed. The trustee is responsible for keeping the property safe and managing and distributing it according to the instructions. The beneficiary is the person or entity that eventually will get the property in the trust.
Trusts may be useful in estate planning, asset protection, and providing for elderly parents or other family members who may be unable to manage their own affairs.
Establishing a trust isn’t especially difficult, but it’s not a do-it-yourself project. It’s important to work with an attorney to be sure the trust complies with legal requirements and will actually carry out its intended purpose.
From Kathleen Fox
The idea for this column was stolen from—er, inspired by—a new musical that premiered in 2007. The show, by Carole Caplan-Lonner, is The Kids Left. The Dog Died. Now What? With entertaining music and clever dialog, it takes a humorous look at one mid-life crisis after another.
If you have a chance to see it, by all means do, especially if you’re over 40. If you’re under 40, go anyway. It will give you something to look forward to. (Black Hills Community Theatre’s excellent production, by the way, runs through May 20.)
One of the songs in the show is “Everybody’s Got a Cheap Spot.” Read the rest of this entry »
From Rick Kahler
If you’re a Baby Boomer, or your parents are, here’s a ray of sunshine to brighten your day: Boomers have so severely underfunded their retirements that Congress may turn to their children to bail them out.
This is the gist of an article in the April issue of Financial Advisor magazine by Dr. Somnath Basu, professor of finance at California Lutheran University. He notes, “The problem could be as big, if not bigger, than the 2008 financial crisis.”
A new study by the Center For Retirement Research, Boston College, detailed on CNBC.com, finds the retirement years for Boomers will be much leaner than for their parents. An estimated 51% of them will be unable to maintain their current lifestyles in retirement.
Tags: Financial Planning, Retirement
From Kathleen Fox
Old? What do you mean, old? Our furnace couldn’t have been old. After all, it wasn’t the original one installed when the house was built; it was much younger than that.
The house we live in was moved to this location after a disastrous flood in 1972 that killed 238 people. A great many homes were destroyed, and others, like ours, that were only slightly damaged were moved out of the floodway.
The furnace was installed when the house was relocated in 1973 or 1974. That’s not really so long ago–is it? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Financial Planning, Waste
From Rick Kahler
Since the death of singer Whitney Houston, I’ve seen several articles from attorneys and financial advisors about the errors in her estate planning. They have summarized three areas where it was badly flawed:
1. Lack of privacy. Ms. Houston had a simple will that was subject to public probate, rather than a living trust that would have kept her affairs private. Anyone with thumbs and access to the Internet can see a copy of her will.
2. Lack of protection from claims, con artists, and circumstances. The estate, estimated to be worth over 20 million dollars, was left to Ms. Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. A vulnerable young woman just barely of legal age will receive three huge payouts over the next decade and become a multi-millionaire by the time she’s 30. A trust could have given her some limits and structure, as well as providing for advisors to help her learn how to manage her wealth and protect herself from predators.
Tags: Estate planning, Money Beliefs
From Rick Kahler
The recent discussion of the “Buffett Rule” proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy has focused attention on U. S. tax rates. It’s giving Americans a chance to better understand our tax policy and the economics of the free market system.
Mitt Romney, the probable Republican Presidential candidate, has come under attack from both Democrats and other Republican primary candidates for his high income and net worth and his low overall tax rate. The arguments are that Romney made his money by the wrong type of capitalism and that he pays too little in federal taxes.
Tags: Taxes
From Kathleen Fox
The old adage “Waste not, want not” sounds quaint to 21st century ears. The term “want” to describe poverty probably went out of style around the same time that counties closed their poor farms. Still, the saying still has a solid core of truth. Choosing to be frugal so you don’t end up in poverty has a lot to recommend it.
Given the incredible abundance that we’re surrounded with in today’s world—not to mention the incredible marketing that tries to persuade us we need all that abundance—it might be useful to turn this adage around. Let’s look at it this way: “Want not, waste not.”
In other words, if you don’t want something, don’t waste your money on it.
Tags: Conscious Finance, Waste
From Rick Kahler
Recently I read a news story about a small business owner whose landlord was not renewing her lease. A chain restaurant was buying the building and intended to raze it. The business owner was distraught, as she had recently spent $30,000 to remodel the property.
One common reaction to stories like this is anger at a landlord for unfairly selling a building out from under a tenant. Another is, “Why would tenants spend so much money remodeling a building they didn’t own?”
Neither response sees the whole story.
Tags: Business
From Kathleen Fox
This week a close friend had a heart attack. She started having severe chest pain and nausea on Tuesday morning. It was Wednesday morning before she went to the clinic.
The main reason she waited that long, hoping she just had indigestion, was that she doesn’t have health insurance.
Tags: Money and Health
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