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Shopping Triggers and How to Curb Them: Depression
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAAt a seminar today, a woman desperate to take control over her finances confessed that her worst shopping trigger was depression. Whether she was feeling lonely, overworked, fat, poor, or just blue in general, the only way she could cheer...
What Size Allowance Should I Give My Child?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAAt the park today, the moms were discussing allowances. At what age should a child start to receive them, and how much is appropriate? All at once they stopped and asked me, “You are the expert, tell us what to do!” Talk about pressure. I...
Taxes: Should You File Jointly or Separately?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAEven after tax season has come and gone, one of the main topics of discussion at a recent seminar was: what are the benefits versus drawbacks associated with married couples filing separately? An excellent question. However, just like with...
The 10% Rule
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAYesterday, I went shopping with a colleague of mine. (Yes, I know I advise against hobby shopping, but if kept under control it can be a great way to bond with your peers.) Everything was lovely, until she found a suit she liked, determined...
Finding and Understanding Your Credit Score
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA“Now that real estate prices are falling,” a woman told me over the phone today, “I would like to buy a town house or a condo. But I hear you need really good credit these days, and I have a feeling mine may be pretty bad.”I asked her what...
Four Rules for Paying Off Credit Cards
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFANumerous people have told me that Mary Hunt’s book Debt-Free Living is well worth a look. This weekend, I finally got a chance to read it. Sure enough, it had some excellent points. My favorite was her four rules for getting out of debt. I...
Talking to Kids about Money
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFADuring a dinner party last weekend, a woman told me her son had taken her by surprise by asking “are we rich?” She said she was dumbfounded, and as she had no idea how to respond, she mumbled, “no.” Her son got extremely anxious, and she...
Shopping Triggers and How to Curb Them: Sense of Entitlement
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWatching TV last night got me thinking about how our entire society is built around this shopping trigger. TV and radio ads, magazines and catalogues all scream to us: you deserve this, you’re worth it, treat yourself! This is because savvy...
The Prenup
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOver lattes today, my best friend reported that her friend was finally leaving the husband we all tried to tell her she never should have married in the first place. I am sure that you have a few girlfriends who you love in spite of their...
Living Together=Spending Together?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy always-single girlfriend surprised me the other day at lunch, by informing me that she is moving in with her boyfriend. As this is a first for her, she had a million questions. Should she keep her apartment in case things don’t work out?...
Shopping Triggers and How to Curb Them: Bargain Hunting
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThe more I blog about shopping triggers, the more they seem to pop up all around me. Here’s another one I have encountered three different times – just today.I saw that Gristedes has grapes on sale, so you can save over $2 per pound. Our...
Investing in Real Estate
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA client just called me up to ask what my take was on the real estate market. She half-wanted to get into what mass media refers to as “flipping houses,” but was concerned that this may be the end of the real estate boom.The truth is, of...
How to Benefit from Currency Fluctuations
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWalking from my office to my favorite lunch spot today, I heard four different languages spoken. The cameras, backpacks and maps made it difficult to take the people for immigrants – rather, I gather they were a few out of the countless...
The Financing Trap
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFASomeone told me the other day that whenever an American scores a 5% raise, he or she immediately ups spending with 10%. Crazy, you may say, but the thing is, our society is built around exactly this sort of behavior. It doesn’t actually...
Pet Healthcare and Insurance
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFALast week, I spent a long afternoon in the animal hospital with my cat. The good news is that Sunshine is doing just fine – the bad news is the bill - almost $700. Most people who – like me – love their pets to death have considered...
Reverse Mortgages
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI had lunch with a friend today, who works with mortgages. She said that while for obvious reasons, not that many people are signing up for conventional house loans at this time, many are inquiring about so-called reverse mortgages. For...
The Free Way to Clean Up Your Credit Report
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA client complained to me the other day about how she had spent months trying to have a certain entry removed from her credit report. It was a misunderstanding from the beginning, it didn’t belong there, and because companies use credit...
The Concept Time Value of Money
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI came across an interesting article in the newspaper this morning. Did you know that in many Muslim countries, it is illegal to charge interest when lending someone money? This got me thinking about the concept time value of money – in a...
How Much Is Your Time Worth?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend of mine, who is a lawyer, left work early today to clean her house before her in-laws were coming into town. With her earnings in excess of $350 per hour, I frowned and asked why she didn’t simply hire a cleaning service. No, she...
The Gas Issue
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI paid over four dollars per gallon at the pump today! While this may not impress Europeans, who have paid such prices for ages, the cost of oil certainly isn’t helping the US economy right now. Herds of people are making the switch from...
Tony Robbins for Your Money
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOne of my friends has grown to be such a Tony Robbins fan, she now quotes him daily. I went over to her house last night, to watch one of his videos and find out for myself what the fuss was all about.I liked it. Even more so, I liked that...
