Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Personal finance does not have to be complicated. Rather, most people can manage their finances quite well by doing just a few key things right. Below are ten suggestions to improve your personal finances:
Spend Less Than You Earn– The only way to save and invest is to have money left over after expenses. Shop around for bargains (e.g., online
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Tips for Beginning Investors
Every year, some people start to invest for the very first time. Many investment “newbies” are young adults who have recently landed their first full-time job and enrolled in a tax-deferred 401(k) or 403(b) employer retirement savings plan. Others are older adults who have accumulated (or inherited) a lump sum of money. Below are eight tips for successful investing:
Develop an “Investor’s Mindset”- When
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Seize Control of Your Financial Life
Want to be a successful investor? Seize control of your financial life with the eight strategies described below:
Accept What You Can’t Control (e.g., stock market volatility, cutbacks made to employer benefit plans, and declining housing market values) and Control What You Can (e.g., spending decisions, enhanced training and education, and money contributed to an IRA or employer retirement savings plan). Buying …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
June 2016
Tips for Keeping Spending Plan Record
Want to be a successful investor? Start by managing your cash flow. A spending plan (a.k.a., budget) is a plan for spending and saving your income. Two keys to developing a successful spending plan are using realistic figures for each expense category (e.g., food) and an easily manageable record-keeping system.
Looking for an easy way to manage your finances? Below …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
July 2016
Challenge Yourself to Save and Invest
What’s the best way to “find” money to save or invest? There is no one right answer. Automatic payroll deductions work well for many people, For example, they have deposits into a credit union account or 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings plan automatically taken out of their paycheck, before they spend it. Other people do well saving loose change in …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
October 2016
Seven Side Effects of Saving and Investing
An important result of saving and investing is having a sum of money available to use for emergencies or to fund future financial goals such as a vacation, new car, or retirement. With savings also comes peace of mind in knowing that you’re not on the “financial edge” with little or no money in reseve to handle negative life …
Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
October 2016
Seven Side Effects of Saving and Investing
An important result of saving and investing is having a sum of money available to use for emergencies or to fund future financial goals such as a vacation, new car, or retirement. With savings also comes peace of mind in knowing that you’re not on the “financial edge” with little or no money in reseve to handle negative life …
Dr. Barbara O’Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Did you ever wish that there was a “perfect investment”? That would be an investment that is risk-free, tax-free, and pays a double-digit rate of return. Unfortunately, it does not exist. Every type of investment product has some type of risk. The types of risks vary for different types of investments, however, (e.g., stocks versus bonds). The causes of investment risks include inflation, economic trends, political uncertainty, …
When investors take more risk with their investments, they generally have the potential for, but not a guarantee of, a higher average return. For example, stocks (and stock mutual funds), which are very volatile in the short term, have historically produced the highest average annual returns of any asset class over the long term. By comparison, cash-equivalent assets, such as money market mutual funds and certificates of deposit, have less risk of loss of principal but generally pay relatively low …
To calculate your RMD, divide the amount of money held in your tax-deferred account(s) at year end by the number of years left in the account owner’s life expectancy and take out at least that amount. The amount of your RMD withdrawal is then added to your other taxable income for the year and taxed according to your marginal tax rate. Thus, the whole amount of a distribution or withdrawal from an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other tax-deferred retirement savings …
