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15 timeless tips to help improve your personal finances

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From car insurance to credit cards to your employee retirement plan, there are opportunities big and small to save and protect your hard-earned money for you and your loved ones.

This guide reveals how you could improve your

financial situation with 15 personal finance tips.

You will find practical, realistic and truly helpful

information to help you achieve financial success

for yourself and your family.

Personal finance tips you need now

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15 action steps you can take now to help improve your finances

1 Save until it hurts! 4

2 Thinking about a new home? 5

3 Safeguard your home … with a list and pictures 6

4 Review your home insurance coverage 7

5 The best way to max out your retirement plan 8

6 4 ways to trim your grocery bill 9

7 Have your auto insurance premiums unexpectedly gone up? 10

8 Get water and sewer line insurance protection 11

9 Should you use a fireproof safe for important documents? 12

10 Ask the bank for a break 13

11 Check your credit report 14

12 Estate planning for the digital age 15

13 Are your beneficiary designations correct? 16

14 Beware of TV infomercials promoting reverse mortgages 17

15 Prepare now for this retirement expense 18

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Tip 1

Here’s how to tell when you’re saving enough.

We have been asked whether saving 20% of one’s income is sufficient.

Although the answer depends on your situation, here are a couple of

broad statements. First, no matter how much you’re saving, we could

argue that you should be saving more. (After all, nobody has ever

complained that they’ve accumulated too much money, while many

have lamented that they saved too little.)

Second, the best way to know that you’re saving the right amount each

month is to simply save until it hurts.

Say you’re not participating in your retirement plan at work. Many who

don’t participate say they can’t afford to save – they need the money

to pay their bills. If you’re making that claim, we encourage you to

contribute just 1% of your pay to the plan. Say you’re earning

$50,000 a year and are paid twice a month. Each paycheck is $2,083.

A 1% contribution is $21. Your net pay, though, will drop only $16.

That’s because your taxes go down by saving in the plan.

We don’t think cutting your pay by $16 will hurt. But maybe we’re wrong.

Maybe it will hurt. OK, then. That means you’re saving enough.

Keep contributing to the plan at the rate of 1% of pay. After a few

paychecks, you’ll get used to the fact that your net pay is only $16 less.

It won’t hurt anymore.

And that’s your cue to increase your savings by another 1%. Keep doing

this – saving only until it hurts. Before you know it, you’ll be saving 15%

of your pay and you’ll be well on your way toward financial security!

Keep contributing to your

retirement plan at the rate of

1% of pay. After a few paychecks,

it won’t hurt anymore.

TIP

Save until it hurts!

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Evaluate the risk of natural disasters before you buy.

Wildfires. Floods. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Earthquakes.

It’s not your imagination; the frequency of natural disasters has

indeed increased in recent years. That’s why the cost of property

insurance is rising in risky areas.

Some companies are even canceling policies on hapless

homeowners.

If you are thinking about buying a home, evaluate the risks of the

community. Don’t assume you’ll be able to buy coverage – or that

the coverage won’t be canceled in future years.

Tip 2

If you are thinking about buying

a home, evaluate the risks of the

community.

TIP

Thinking about a new home?

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Simplify the insurance claim process with an inventory list.

Hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, hailstorms, earthquakes,

snowstorms, floods and wildfires. We know a natural disaster may

come, even though we don’t know when.

You can protect yourself financially by living in areas that are less

susceptible to damage and using construction and prevention

techniques that minimize damage.

But that’s not enough. If your property is damaged, you’ll need to file

a claim with your insurance company, and it’ll require a detailed list

of everything that was lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed.

In other words, you need to create and maintain an inventory list of

all your possessions.

To create your inventory, enter each room of your home. Take photos

of everything in the room – and put a ruler, your hand or a person in

the photo to provide scale.

Attach receipts to the photo. Provide as much detail about each

item as you can, including:

Brand and model

Date purchased

Purchase price

Serial number

Description (such as a sofa’s length)

Store your inventory in the cloud or place a copy at a remote

location. After all, keeping the list at home won’t help if the house –

and everything in it – is destroyed.

Tip 3

Store your inventory in the cloud

or place a copy at a remote

location. After all, keeping the list

at home won’t help if the house –

and everything in it – is destroyed.

TIP

Safeguard your home … with a list and pictures

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It could be out of date.

When did you last check your home insurance policy?

If your policy is based on the house’s value as of the date you bought

it, your policy may not provide adequate coverage.

Review your policy and talk to your home insurance carrier to

make sure the values are up to date for your property and all

your belongings.

In a world where you can sue and win for being served coffee that

is too hot, you need to protect your money with an umbrella liability

insurance policy. These policies provide a minimum of $1 million in

coverage for an auto or homeowners claim that exceeds the normal

limits on either of those individual policies.

Those with higher-than-normal risk (swimming pool in the backyard,

owner of a boat, entertain at home frequently, have kids, etc.) should

consider additional amounts.

Talk to your homeowners insurance company.

Review your home insurance coverage

Tip 4

Those with higher-than-normal

risk (swimming pool in the

backyard, owner of a boat,

entertain at home frequently,

have kids, etc.) should consider

additional amounts of coverage.

TIP

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If your employer offers a match, make sure you’re getting all you’re entitled to.

Are you contributing the maximum to your workplace retirement

plan? And does your employer match your contributions?

If you answered yes to both questions, you need to be careful

about how much money you place into your account each month.

Getting it wrong could cause you to inadvertently lose some of your

employer’s contributions.

You see, once you’ve contributed the maximum to your employer’s

retirement plan (the 2021 IRS limit is $19,500, with an additional

$6,500 catch-up for those age 50 and older), you can’t contribute

any more. If you hit that limit in, say, September, you can’t contribute

to the plan in the final three months of the year. And here’s the

problem: Many employers match only if you contribute. If you don’t

put in money in October, neither will your employer.

Some employers true-up their matches at the end of the year to

protect workers in this situation. But not all employers do this. So

check to see whether your employer offers the true-up. If it doesn’t,

ask HR to spread your paycheck deductions throughout the year, so

you don’t miss any of your employer’s matching contributions.

Tip 5

Check to see whether your

employer offers a true-up. If it

doesn’t, ask HR to spread your

paycheck deductions throughout

the year, so you don’t miss any

of your employer’s matching

contributions.

TIP

The best way to max out your retirement plan

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Amid rising food costs, frugality makes sense.

Americans spend more than $8,000 on food each year, with more than

half of that spent on food at home, according to the U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

You can find ways to save money on your visits to the grocery

store. Here are four ideas for you:

1. Shop around. Visit competing grocers. You might find lower prices.

2. Shop local. Farmer’s markets and community-supported

agriculture programs often sell products at lower costs than

big-chain grocers. And farms in your area might sell directly to

you, for bigger savings.

3. Choose private labels. Your grocer’s brand is usually 20% to 30%

cheaper than national brands.

4. Avoid prepared foods. They’re not only bad for you, but they’re

more expensive, too. Make more meals from scratch instead.

Turn cooking into an event instead of a chore!

Tip 6

Make more meals from scratch

instead of eating prepared foods.

Turn cooking into an event instead

of a chore!

TIP

4 ways to trim your grocery bill

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If so, get a C.L.U.E.

You should look for errors in your C.L.U.E. report.

That’s a database operated by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. More

than 99% of auto insurance carriers send it claims data – including

who was at fault for an accident. Information in the database

affects how auto carriers calculate your insurance premiums.

That’s why you should periodically get a copy of your C.L.U.E.

report from your insurance carrier or the LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Consumer Center, at P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta, GA 30348-5108.

If you find an error, request a correction in writing, and send it

via Registered Mail, Return Receipt Requested. Write to your

insurer and LexisNexis. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires

LexisNexis to investigate; the error must be deleted within 30 days

of receiving your letter. If problems persist, contact your state’s

insurance regulator.

Tip 7

Periodically get a copy of your

C.L.U.E. report and look for

errors in it.

TIP

Have your auto insurance premiums unexpectedly gone up?

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This policy could save you thousands.

As a homeowner, you know you’re responsible for maintenance

and repairs in your home. You might not realize that you’re also

responsible for many costs that occur outside your home.

Tree roots or shifting soil can clog or break sewer or septic lines.

Backed-up drains can cause sewage to flood in your basement or

percolate in your yard.

If a water or sewer line between your house and the street must be

repaired or replaced, the average cost is about $5,000 and you must

pay for it; water and sewer companies are responsible only for pipes

in the street. And the typical homeowners insurance policy does not

cover pipe breakage outside the house.

Check with your insurance company. If your policy excludes pipe

breakage outside your home, consider buying a supplemental policy

for $10 to $20 per month. Your water and sewer provider might also

offer these policies. Spending a little each month could help you

avoid spending many thousands of dollars should a problem arise.

Tip 8

If your policy excludes pipe

breakage outside your home,

consider buying a supplemental

policy for $10 to $20 per month.

TIP

Get water and sewer line insurance protection

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Yes. But not all safes are created equal.

Installing a home safe is an excellent idea. Even better: Bolt it to

the floor. Otherwise, thieves will simply pick it up and take it with

them – because they don’t want to spend any more time in your

house than necessary.

It’s also smart to select a safe that’s fireproof. But that word is

deceiving – we recently heard about a couple whose home burned

down while they were away, and although they had a fireproof safe, all

the papers inside it were destroyed anyway.

Why? They didn’t realize that the safe protected against heat of a

certain level and for only two hours, and the fire burned for hotter and

longer than that.

Indeed, there’s really no such thing as “fireproof.” Safes are more

properly referred to as “fire resistant” – and manufacturers tell you

how much heat the box can handle and how long it will protect its

contents before failing.

In most cases, firefighters will extinguish flames within two hours. But

sometimes they burn longer, and sometimes hotter, depending on

nearby chemicals and other factors.

If you do suffer a fire, don’t open a safe for at least a week afterward.

The safe’s interior needs time to cool down; if you open the door

while it’s still hot, the surge of oxygen can trigger a flash fire, instantly

destroying the contents and possibly injuring you.

Tip 9

Installing a home safe is an

excellent idea. Even better:

Bolt it to the floor.

TIP

Should you use a fireproof safe for important documents?

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One in three credit card holders and homeowners have called their bank and asked for a break – and 91% who asked got one, according to online lender LendingTree.

If you or someone you know is facing financial challenges, have

them call their credit card company or their auto or mortgage

lender. They can ask the lender to raise their credit limit, reduce

the interest rate, delay payment deadlines, lower minimum

payments, waive the late fees or not report late payments to the

credit bureaus.

The worst thing the lender might do is say no. But there’s a chance

they’ll say yes.

Tip 10

If you or someone you know

is facing financial challenges,

have them call their credit

card company or their auto or

mortgage lender.

TIP

Ask the bank for a break

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You can do it weekly for free until April 20, 2022.

Covid-19 has caused the nation’s three major credit bureaus (Equifax,

Experian and TransUnion) to let you check your credit report for free,

every week.

The pandemic has created new fraud risks for Americans, especially

with millions working from home. Your internet connection might not

be as secure as the devices you use at the office or workplace. Online

crooks are taking advantage of opportunities to steal your identity,

borrow money in your name, divert money from your online accounts

and more.

Creditors that aren’t getting paid might be posting errant information

on your credit report, damaging your credit score. This can hurt your

ability to borrow, rent or buy a home and even get or keep a job

(especially if a security clearance is required).

This is why you should check your credit record often – and now, you

can do it for free every week.

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com to get your free report.

Tip 11

Check your credit record often –

and now, you can do it for free

every week.

TIP

Check your credit report

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Don’t overlook your online accounts and assets.

Your estate plan provides instructions for the

distribution of your financial and physical assets.

But what about your digital assets?

You have lots of financial and personal records

stored on your smartphone, computer and in the

cloud, including:

Social media accounts

Personal photographs stored online

Online bank, investment and retirement accounts

Cryptocurrencies

Credit card rewards or airline miles

Website domain names

Information or documents stored in the cloud

Income-generating websites or blogs

Your online music collection

Digital photos, videos or written works that produce income

Email accounts

Digital copyrights or trademarks

Your online accounts are protected by passcodes,

security questions and firewalls. But two issues

arise if your estate documents don’t mention them.

First, your heirs might not know these assets exist.

Second, they might not be able to access them.

Imagine your family photos and videos being lost

forever, while social media accounts stay open long

after your death.

From a legal standpoint, digital property is like

any other property. But digital assets are a new

phenomenon, and the law is still adapting. Federal

and state laws prohibit unauthorized access to

computer systems, private personal data and online

communications. The laws were enacted to protect

consumers against fraud and identity theft, but they

hinder family members’ access to the digital assets

of the deceased.

Social media sites, for example, might destroy your

account upon notification of your death; others

permit another person to access your account only

with your prior permission. So if you don’t plan

properly, your heirs might not be able to access your

online accounts.

Your estate attorney should be familiar with planning

for digital assets. If not, we can provide you with a

list of estate attorneys to consider.

Tip 12

Estate planning for the digital age

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If you haven’t looked at your selections recently, now’s a good time to review them.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of making sure your

beneficiary designations are current. You’ll find them listed on your

annuities, retirement accounts, life insurance, IRAs and trusts.

If it’s been years since you’ve read those documents, it’s time to do

so – especially if your family has had any births, deaths or changes in

marital status.

Another reason to review your beneficiaries: You might have

forgotten that a person you no longer like is one of your designees!

If you want to make changes, call us. We can help you make sure

your assets will be distributed as you wish.

Tip 13

Make sure your beneficiary

designations are current –

especially if your family has

had any births, deaths or

changes in marital status.

TIP

Are your beneficiary designations correct?

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People needing money to pay their bills are often desperate – and thus susceptible to late-night television ads that claim to offer free money.

One such pitch is for a product called a reverse mortgage. But this

product should be used only as a last resort.

Reverse mortgages enable homeowners age 62 and older to convert

equity in their home into monthly income. The products often feature

high fees and interest rates, and contract clauses that could force

homeowners out of their homes. A reverse mortgage also could

prevent the house from being inherited by a spouse or children.

If your parents are thinking about a reverse mortgage, call us. We can

help you and them determine whether a reverse mortgage is in their

best interests.

Tip 14

A reverse mortgage should be

used only as a last resort.

TIP

Beware of TV infomercials promoting reverse mortgages

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Unexpected home repairs can be costly.

The water heater is on the fritz. Your driveway is cracking and

needs to be repaved. Mold appears in your basement.

In fact, unexpected home repairs are retirees’ most common

financial shock, according to the Society of Actuaries.

Set aside 1% of your home’s value for annual repairs and

maintenance. That’s $5,000 for a house worth $500,000.

And that amount might not be enough. If it’s been 10 years since

you purchased your home, get a professional home inspection.

It might reveal problems – giving you the opportunity to plan.

Tip 15

Set aside 1% of your home’s

value for annual repairs and

maintenance. That’s $5,000 for

a house worth $500,000.

TIP

Prepare now for this retirement expense

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Who we areWe’re the #1 Independent Financial Advisory Firm in the nation, as ranked by Barron’s.1

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1 The 2020 America’s Best RIA Firms Independent Advisory Firm Ranking issued by Barron’s is qualitative and quantitative, including assets managed, technology spending, staff diversity, succession planning, the size and experience of teams, and the regulatory records of the advisors and firms. Firms elect to participate but do not pay to be included in the ranking. Investor experience and returns are not considered.

2 Source: Vanguard Research – Putting a value on your value: Quantifying Vanguard Advisor’s Alpha – February 2019. The returns cited by Vanguard do not represent the returns of any particular investment, do not represent returns over any given time period and are not guarantees of future results. The actual amount of value added may vary significantly depending on clients’ circumstances and market conditions.

3 As of Dec. 31, 2020.

4 As of June 30, 2021.

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