Family

I Lost My Job – What About Health Insurance?

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI received an email from a Savvy Ladies member today; a heartbreaking tale of how she had been laid off, and was now trying to figure out how to survive – and feed her two small children, as she is a single mom. One of the expenses she...

Cheap and Expensive Cars to Insure

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhen I bought my son a Scion Tc, a client told me over mid-morning mochas the other day, I didn’t anticipate that my insurance bill would skyrocket. I suppose I sort of assumed it wouldn’t make that much of a difference.The key to staying...

Collecting Unemployment

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend called me up this morning. I can’t quite believe this, she said, a tremble to her voice, but I was just laid off. Even worse, during the past five months my husband and I have barely been scraping by, so we’ve used up most of our...

An Expert’s Guide to Family Budgeting

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA "I’m a CEO", explained the new client with whom I had lunch yesterday, "yet I feel as though I have no control whatsoever over my family’s spending. I never have any money left to invest, store and credit card bills grow larger each month,...

Top 5 Tax Savers

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy friend, who would normally never talk to anyone about money, invited me over for dinner last weekend to discuss her financial situation. Her husband's salary dropped significantly and they're struggling to survive on her salary alone....

5 Money Lessons for Teens

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA, Founder Savvy Ladies Practical Money Tips for Raising Financially Mindful Children Start at Home. I read in the newspaper the other day that in a survey, high schoolers answered only 48% of basic personal finance questions correctly. The...

5 Reasons Why the Recession Rocks!

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA, Founder Savvy Ladies The conference I attended last week was a study in pessimism and negativity. I feel that right now, people are paying far too much attention to the negatives and far too little to the many wonderful aspects of the...

What Health Insurance Plan Is Right for You?

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWith the birth of my daughter just around the corner, my husband and I spent Sunday afternoon reviewing our family’s insurance coverage. Many times, the addition of a new family member means that a different provider or different type of...

Taxes: How Much Should You Withhold?

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWith only weeks to go before the arrival of my daughter, I go to a great deal of routine checkups. Fortunately, my doctor’s office is an efficient one, and I rarely have to wait for more than ten minutes. Yesterday, the other mother-to-be...

Top Ten Money Mistakes New Parents Make

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhen I showed up at a recent Savvy Ladies seminar with my big belly, naturally, the conversation gravitated toward money and parenthood. Many soon-to-be and new mothers expressed concern about making financial mistakes that could hurt their...