James C. Molet's Blog, page 59

Find Your Balance Point – A SavvyReview

Brian Tracy and Christina Stein, the authors of Kiss That Frog!, have teamed up again to write Find Your Balance Point: Clarify Your Priorities, Simplify Your Life, and Achieve More. Brian Tracy is chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. As a keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year. He is the bestselling author of more than fifty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His co-author, Christina Stein, is a speaker, author, and psychotherapist who focuses on work-life balance and female empowerment. She works Read the Full Story

Why Every Small Business Needs a 401(k)

Lately, the number of small businesses that offer retirement plans like the 401(k) to their employees has been on the decline. This is mainly because of budget limitations that make them worry about even the smallest costs. Of course, if I was a small business owner, I’d be worried about these expenses as well, but I would also try my best to maximize profits by keeping my employees happy and motivated. As an employee myself, I know I would enjoy the choice of having a retirement fund set up for Read the Full Story

A Richer Understanding: Mortality

In September I will turn forty-five years young. I am consciously aware of my own mortality, believing that with daily effort (exercise, better food choices …) I can successfully prolong my life; however I am also grounded in the reality that no matter what I do, some things are beyond my control. While I am generally interested in generating thought processes that lead to creativity, productivity, pleasure, and relaxation, there are reminders that generate melancholic thoughts. We only have to look at the news surrounding our lives at the present Read the Full Story

Living Frugally: Preparing for “Death Do Us Part”

Taz Bright helms this series. Taz is a father, speaker, long-time business owner and graduate of the school of hard-knocks. Taz uses his past business and personal finance experience to help steer others in a positive financial direction while, hopefully, avoiding the mistakes he’s made along the way. As a former 6-year victim of Identity Theft, Taz shares unique lessons learned while trying to regain his financial footing. Taz is a member of Toastmasters International, a martial artist, former bodyguard and a CrossFit athlete. As the owner of Bright Balance Read the Full Story

Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em … or Not

Smoking, and its impact on physical and fiscal fitness, has been addressed multiple times here at RetirementSavvy. I noted in Manage Your Fiscal and Physical Fitness that not only are there numerous health consequences associated with smoking, it is an expensive habit. Money used to buy cigarettes cannot be used to build an emergency fund or contribute to retirement plans such as 401(k)s or IRAs. To be certain, smoking is a sure-fire way to negatively impact your physical and fiscal well-being with one habit. A couple of recent occurrences, well actually an occurrence Read the Full Story

The Four Money Bears

As I have often noted, education is a key, if not THE key to achieving financial freedom; and the earlier someone begins the process of learning about various personal finance concepts, practices and philosophies, the better. Over the last couple of years I have identified two sources for teaching kids about money. There is Money As You Grow.  This web site was born as an initiative from the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability (PACFC), which was created by Executive Order 13530, signed by President Barack Obama on January 29, 2010. Its charter is to advise the Read the Full Story

A Richer Understanding: Gifts and Charity as Part of Your Spending Plan

Brian Tramuel helms this series. He lives with his wife Michelle, their children Geneva and Brian, and their Cocker Spaniel Maestro in Charlotte, NC. They, along with his two older children from a previous marriage, Davina and Aaron, provide a constant source of inspiration. Aaron lives, works and plays in Charlotte and Davina lives, works and plays in Roanoke, VA. “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Simone Weil Creating a spending plan (budget), while very detail oriented, it includes only a few basic steps; identify income, list expenses, Read the Full Story

My Race to Retirement and What You Can Learn From It

The following is guest post from Bill at TradeRushReview When I was in my early twenties, I never thought about planning for my retirement. I was so caught up with earning and enjoying whatever money I earned I never thought to put away a portion of my salary to prepare for my retirement, and even for savings. Now that I am a professional and in my thirties, I feel I am so far behind in the retirement savings game and I really wish that I made a conscious effort to Read the Full Story

A Healthier, Wealthier Retirement

While most of us are working to ensure we’re financially ready for retirement, one thing that occasionally gets overlooked in retirement planning is how we’re going to manage our health. There’s no point being comfortable financially if we’re not well enough to enjoy it! There are three core components to staying healthy as you get older – a sensible diet, regular exercise and good quality medical care. Here we’ll give you some tips on improving each element to ensure you’re as healthy as possible when you finish working. Healthy Eating Read the Full Story

Sunshine Blogger Award

I very recently had the pleasure of being nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by my friends over at Save Money Dammit! As they say in Romania, multumesc! As part of their own nomination for the award, they answered five questions. You can check out their great responses here. Below are their questions for me, followed by my responses: What inspired you to start a personal finance blog? During the course of my journey to achieving fiscal fitness, I often spoke to family and friends about the topics of budgeting, saving, investing, Read the Full Story