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The Savvy Guide to Coupons
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThink coupons spell cheap and cheesy? So did I, until a couple of weeks ago the woman in front of me in line at the grocery store used a whopping sixteen of them, saving over thirty dollars. This, with hardly any effort! I just had to ask...
5 Quick Fixes for Your FICO Score
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAAn old friend - a real estate agent in the Midwest sent me an email this morning with a topic she suggested I post in my blog. With real estate prices at record lows, many aspiring homeowners are looking her up. Many fulfill both the down...
How the Recession Can Help Your Finances
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA newsflash from travelzoo.com just plopped down in my inbox. Apparently, this weekend, flight fares between New York and the West Coast run as little as $99, round trip. Now, with two little kids, spontaneous travel is not as easy for me...
Opportunity Cost and Holidays: Should You Stretch Your Budget for a Longer Vacation?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFADuring the latest Savvy Ladies teleconference, the topic of conversation was much rosier than the typical ones these days (unemployment, recession, and ways to cut spending). One member had just quit her job to realize a long-lost dream: to...
Selecting Your Beneficiaries
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOne of my best friends is going through a divorce. Over the phone last night, she provided an endearing account of her efforts to make a clean break and start over. Apparently, she even remembered to take her ex out of her will. This...
Cash Crunch in Your Forties: Your Children’s Future or Your Own?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThis dreadful dilemma was the main topic of discussion at a recent Savvy Ladies event. And the economy being what it is, alas, it is one to which far too many of us can relate. We all want what’s best for our children, so what could...
Use the Wallet-Half-Full Approach and Make Your Financial Dreams Come True
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThe book “Unwinding the Clock. Ten Thoughts on Our Relationship to Time” sat on my bedside table for months after a friend gave it to me. This past weekend, I finally got around to reading it – and I liked it much more than I thought I...
Spousal IRA 101
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA woman approached me after maternity yoga last night. My husband is stoked about this child, she told me, and when my maternity leave is up, he would like to be a stay-at-home dad for a couple of years. I already know this means he won’t...
Term or Whole Life Insurance – Which Is Right for You?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI had breakfast with a new client this morning, at a cozy new bakery around the corner from my office. While the fruit and croissants couldn’t have been better, our conversation was anything but. My new client was- like so many people these...
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...
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...
Limiting Damage if You Have to Raid Your Retirement Savings
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFANo matter how hard we try to focus on the positives and maintain an optimistic outlook on the future, no doubt things are getting ugly out there. This really dawned on me while reading a report from a recent out-of-state Savvy Ladies...
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...
Family Budget: Keeping Your Kids’ Expenses Down
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI met with a group of new mothers last week, who were eager to sort out their budgets now that two had become three. They all had a good understanding of the types of costs involved, but like many new parents, had underestimated the dollar...
What Types of Insurance Does Your Family Need?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOne of the moms from the park called me last night, in tears. Not only had she come back to her apartment to find the door ajar and her things all over the floor – when she got hold of the landlord, he informed her that his insurance policy...
