Reflecting on the Positives in an Unusual Year

By Kate Welker, CFP®

Can we all agree this year has just been weird? As we head into the end of the year and the holidays it is a natural time of reflection and a slower pace and I believe we all need to embrace that, especially this year. Our holiday celebrations look a little different than in the past. Many of our readers will not be able to see their family, may be struggling financially, or may just be overwhelmed with the changes we have seen. Along with all the craziness and negatives that the world is focused on, there have been positive opportunities this year! I want to encourage you to think back on the year and find the positive moments that might not have happened if we hadn’t been in a global pandemic. Regarding your finances I want you to look back at the year, and decide how you want to move forward.

Below are some of positive changes I have seen this year in my life and I have heard others say the same things.

Family Time - Forcing the world to hit pause changed the way the week looks and families interacted. On my side we went from rushing out to door in the morning, rushing home from work, running to dance, cub scouts, softball, board meetings and managing to squeeze dinner and a few moments together in there. When everything went on pause it felt a little like being on a merry go round that suddenly stopped and threw you off (think more the terrifying metal playground merry go round than the gentle amusement park style) and you had to lay there and catch your breath for a minute. Switching everything virtual meant that by evening everyone was tired of their devices and we made meals together, sat at the table to eat, played games and went for walks, so many walks. My yard looked the best it has in years and I also have the strongest Mario Kart game I’ve had since I was 12. As things started to get a little back to “normal” we have really rethought our lifestyle and are being very conscientious of the obligations that will get us back into the rush and run that was exhausting.

Exercise and Nature - I have found the time to get into a great habit of making a workout a part of my day. My husband and I have been able to do this together, it keeps us accountable, and it’s a bonding experience. Sitting as much as I do, it has made me feel so much better to know I’m doing something good for my body to start the day. Watching the increasing numbers of walkers and runners head down my street and the kids out riding bikes I know more people have had a chance to get outdoors to enjoy nature and move more. With the normal entertainment and amusements closed we explored the state finding parks and open areas where we could still maintain safe guidelines and might not have thought to explore before.

Finances - I want to make sure I don’t discount the financial difficulties many people are facing this year as a result of the pandemic and resulting ripples, and we encourage you to reach out for assistance if you need it. For others this year was an opportunity where you may have found yourself bringing in additional money from stimulus sources or staying home more meant you saved more money. We have seen more clients that feel like they have the time now to focus on their finances and their overall financial wellness.

Reflecting on finances is always important and especially important after this year. Set aside a little time for yourself to look back at the decisions you’ve made this year and the progress or backwards steps taken. If there have been some poor decisions, face them and admit to yourself what you did and how you can change that, but don’t continue to beat yourself up about it. Talk about how you can prevent those same poor decisions from happening again and set yourself up for success in the next year. If you had really positive changes talk about why that was and ways you can continue to move that momentum forward.

Enjoy your holiday and set aside a little time for reflection. We’d love to hear any positive changes this year has had on your life or ways you are changing your financial decision making.

Fresh Starts - How Health AND Wealth Planning Intersect

by Kate Welker, CFP®

January is a time for fresh starts, resolutions, and goal setting. Resolutions notoriously fail so what can you do if you are heading into the New Year committed to making progress in your finances?

One thing at a time - instead of trying to accomplish everything at once, pick one task and focus on that. I also recommend making this a specific task. Some examples could be contributing 3% more to your 401k, saving 10% of your income, increasing your life insurance, or reviewing your will. Once you are comfortable with that item you can choose another task to focus on.

Small Changes - Big drastic lifestyle changes are hard to maintain. We tend to deprive ourselves and then give up and go overboard. Take little steps towards positive change. If you want to spend less on food, pack lunch one more time each week instead of eating out. For those looking to be more educated, choose one article to read each week.

Set up Accountability - Look for a friend or professional to help you reach your goals. Share your goals with a friend so that they can check in with you and keep you accountable. Hiring a financial planner to be your financial life coach will allow you to look at all of your goals and create a plan to reach them.

While January is the month society focuses on for fresh starts every day is a chance to start again. If your plans to make changes in January don't happen, rethink, replan and start again. On the path to progress we may take a wrong turn, don't give up and turn around, correct your direction and keep moving forward.

Kate lives in Hornell, New York with her husband and two children. Go to Kate’s Bio for more about her.

Tips for a Low Stress Tax Season

In this weeks blog Financial Planner Becky Eason writes about the big "T" word, that's right - TAXES!

As the end of 2019 quickly approaches, it’s time to start thinking about taxes. As we all know, tax season catches up with us very quickly with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and the recovery period in the weeks after the holidays.

Our goal is to make your tax season as low stress as possible. A great way to begin your tax season, is to create an easily accessible folder to keep all of your tax documents in. As you receive these documents in the mail you should open the mail and review the document, then put it directly in your tax folder. If you have any documents that you think may be important, include them in the tax folder and your tax preparer can review them to see if they need to be included with your taxes. I’m a firm believer in the fact that it’s better to have too much information than not enough. Once you believe you have received all of your tax documents you could do a document comparison to your prior year tax documents to make sure it looks like you have everything. At this point you can grab your folder and send the documents off to your tax preparer, or in the case of self-preparing a tax return, you can go ahead and get started.

If you have someone prepare your taxes for you make sure that you let them know of any significant changes that you’ve had during the year. Some of these significant changes would include a change in marital status, filing status, dependents, address, new driver’s licenses, change of income sources, and if you made any estimated tax payments during the year, especially if this is something that you haven’t done in the past. Failing to update some of that information could result in having a rejected tax return or losing out on potential tax credits or deductions. It’s much easier on all parties if you remember to update this information right from the start. In your tax document folder that we talked about earlier, you could keep a running note page with updates that you want to make known or questions that you might have.  

Another tip I have is to review your driver’s license. To help reduce identity theft, some states, such as New York State, require the information on your driver’s license to be entered prior to filing. Make sure that your license hasn’t yet expired and that it won’t be expiring during tax season. If your license is going to expire between the time of giving your tax preparer your tax information and the time that you will be e-filing the return, you will want to let your tax preparer know, because in some states your tax return can’t be filed if your license is going to expire.

As tax season approaches do your best to not feel overwhelmed. We are here to help you and answer your questions. 

The Intersection of Self Improvement and Wealth Improvement

In this weeks edition of Monday Morning Quarter-Buck, financial planner Kerrie Beene, CFP® (our resident self-help “junky”) dives into her favorite topic! She shares the top 10 books, podcasts, and YouTube videos and her current favorite self-help tip.

By: Kerrie Beene, CFP®

September is designated as Self Improvement Month. Most of us want to “improve” and become better people.  Someone once coined the phrase, “there is always room to improve” and it has stuck around for decades. I firmly believe this.  Each day I think we should all wake up and say, “How can I be better than I was yesterday?” 

However, thinking about improving can be overwhelming. Especially given all the areas in life there are to improve.  My suggestion is to look at the 8 areas of life and just pick the one you need the most work on at this time.  

8 Areas of Life

• Personal/Spiritual Development

• Physical Environment

• Finances and Wealth

• Friends and Family

• Career/Business

• Fun, Recreation, and Entertainment

• Health and Fitness

• Love Life

Once you decide which area you need the most work on, your options to educate and improve yourself are limitless.  As a self help junkie, I use every form of consumption I am aware to absorb the information. You can read books, listen to content, attend seminars/webinars, etc.  

The self improvement industry in the United States continues to grow each year.  According to marketresearch.com, the self improvement industry was worth $10 billion in 2016 and continues to grow each year.  Below, I will list some of the easiest ways to increase your knowledge about how to “improve” yourself.

Reading - There are multiple books available for any area you would like.  Amazon has a list that updates hourly based on the top sales. Currently (August/September 2019) these are the top 10 books in the self improvement category.

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

2. Unlimited Memory - Kevin Horsley

3. Tribe of Mentors - Timothy Ferris

4. Find your Passion: 25 Questions you must ask yourself - Henri Junttila

5. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottlieb

6. Showing up For Life - Bill Gates, Sr.

7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

8. The Traveler’s Gift: 7 Decisions that Determine Personal Success - Andy Andrews

9. Empath: A Complete Guide for Developing Your Gift and Finding Your Sense of Self

10. Atomic Habits - James Clear

Listening - If you don’t like to read, consider listening to a book.  Audible.com has the section listed as “self development.” There are over 52,000 titles available and here are the current top 10.

1. Lightly: How to Live a Simple, Serene & Stress-Free Life - Francine Jay

2. Can’t Hurt Me: Master your Mind and Defy the Odds - David Goggins

3. Unf*ck Yourself: How to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life - Gary John Bishop

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

5. Girl, Stop Apologizing - Rachel Hollis (one of our favorites on the team)

6.  Atomic Habits - James Clear

7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

8. Dare to Lead - Brene Brown (One of Amy’s Favorites)

9. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie

10. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as Your Life Depended On It - Chris Voss

Podcasts - this form of medium is a little newer to the market compared to reading and listening to books, but I believe it is here to stay.  Google listed it as best motivational podcasts and here are the Top 10

1. The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes

2. The Gary Vee Audio Experience

3. The Tim Ferris Show

4. Hidden Brain

5. Art of Charm

6. The Dave Ramsey Show

7. Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations

8. The Minimalists Podcast

9. This is Your Life

10. TED Talks Daily

YouTube - According to gedground.com, these are the most popular YouTube channels for Self Development

1. TED

2. Actualized.org

3. Evan Carmichael

4. Lewis Howes

5. GaryVee

6. Goalcast

7. Neil Patel

8. Be Inspired

These lists are a great start to those of us who are always looking to improve.  There are other options, like seminars, however these are the forms available at your fingertips daily.  

I have read and listened to most of the items listed above.  However, one thing I have noticed is that as I age and life gets busier, it is a little harder to improve in multiple areas of life at a fast pace and it can be overwhelming to think we need to improve in all areas of our lives.  My suggestion comes from one of the books listed above, Atomic Habits, focus on getting 1% better each day. Often when we look to improve, we set the goal so big that we lose motivation and feel overwhelmed. So focus on just getting 1% better.  For example, if your goal is to start exercising, just start walking everyday and create the habit instead of planning to run a marathon next month. Create the habit, then work on small improvements. If your goal is to read more, don’t buy the thickest book you can find and try to read it in a few days.  Grab a book and just set a goal to read 15-20 minutes before bedtime. “Be the Tortoise, Not the Hare.” Don’t forget, if you would like to improve your finances, that is our passion at Rooted Planning Group and we are here to help!

Good Luck with your Goals and Happy Self-Improvement Month

Building a Plan to Relax, not React

In this week’s blog, Financial Planner Kate Welker, CFP® shares her “money stress” story and provides some suggestions on how to plan for those unexpected moments so that when they happen, you can take a deep breathe and relax instead of react.

By: Kate Welker, CFP®

Relaxation. The word sounds so happy and peaceful. I recently saw that it was Relaxation Day on August 15th, and the thought of a day set aside for relaxation sounded great. Quiet, a good book, a comfy armchair, sunshine in a hammock, a massage; whatever your variety of relaxation, the thought is sure to bring a smile to your face. I am a huge proponent of taking down time to recharge, but sometimes if you are dealing with stress it can be almost impossible to relax. 

A 2017 report by the American Psychological Association lists money as the number two cause of stress in America. This means more people are stressed over money than they are over work, relationships, or their health. Financial stress can begin to go deeper and lead to problems with your health and relationships. I am sure many of you reading can relate to this - if not currently, you remember a time in the past. You may have experienced that moment when you try to relax and feel the panic rising thinking about the bills to pay or the tasks to be done.

When the problems are facing you it is easy to just try to avoid it. “Try to not think about it or talk about it and it won’t be real.” Obviously this is not a solution and will only make the situation worse, but it’s how we naturally want to work. It’s not fun to look at problems or talk about them so avoidance happens, but the only way to work through them and find some sense of control is to face your problems and make a plan. 

Following are a few suggestions of things you can do to help bring some breathing room and sense of control around your finances:

Face the situation. I mentioned you have to stop hiding from the situation, this means you will look at everything and have it in one place. Write down your bills coming up, the debt you might have to pay, and any long term goals you need to save for. Just seeing this written out and organized in one place should help with staying on track and making a plan going forward.

Missing a payment can be stressful. We all make mistakes and can miss things here or there, but if you find this being a consistent issue establish a system that works or you. Most vendors have online accounts that allow you to set up payments in advance. If it is scheduled you know it will be paid, there just needs to be diligence in leaving the appropriate funds in that account. A method here could be to have a bank account that is only for paying bills. This account gets funded first to cover all the bills to be paid each month and it is not touched for outside spending. Another method is a paper calendar where you write in everything on the due date and refer to that weekly. 

One of the things I think helps ease the anxiety around money is building an emergency fund. It is not always easy to do, but by making it a priority to build up those emergency reserves will eliminate a large amount of “what if” stress. Just knowing the funds are available if the car breaks down or your child flushes a toy down the toilet and your entire sewer lines need to be excavated and replaced (speaking from experience there) should help you worry less. Start with a small goal of $500-$1,000 and build towards a larger goal over time. Make it a priority to contribute to this and if an unexpected lump sum of money comes in like a tax refund use this to continue building that cushion.

Building a financial plan with clients, I will often state that one of my goals is to reduce their stress and worry over their financial picture. Choosing to look at your situation and take control can change your mentality around your finances. Sometimes it’s the little steps that are the hardest to take, but a series of them eventually gets you to your destination. 

3 Things to keep your Money "In Control"

In this weeks edition of Monday Morning Quarter-Buck, Financial Planner Kerrie Beene, CFP® discussed building wealth by keeping your spending “in control.” We all have busy lives and often do the “next thing” that is needed without realizing how much that is actually costing us.

In a recent conversation with a friend, we were laughing about how little we made when we first started our careers. What we lived off of and how did we do that? As our careers have grown and our lives have gotten busier, we focus on what’s important to us at that moment. This has a name - “life style creep.”

Often we are asked, “will I be able to retire with “x” dollars in the bank?” That answer to that question often is based around your desired lifestyle in retirement, in other words, how much do you spend?

Have you experienced life style creep? Here are some tips to help you take control.

By: Kerrie Beene, CFP®
Valiant, Oklahoma

Not sure everyone would admit it, but I bet there have been times when you were paying for something and you had to stand there and wonder if the transaction would go through??  Or when you go shopping and you plan to spend around $200 on your purchase but then once the swiping begins you have no idea how much you have spent but surely it is only like $205 so you should be fine, right?  And then you are wrong and you spent $450! This is mindlessly spending.  

Another way we mindlessly spend is by just ignoring what we spend our money on and how much money we actually have in our account.  With modern technology, most people just login to their bank and check their balance. This gets the job done and can be somewhat managed.  However, it is better when we have more control and some idea of how much we spend on each category. It is still really good to know where your money is being spent.

As a financial nerd, I have tried every way to budget, track expenses, and maintain sanity when it comes to our family spending.  I have tried online programs like mint.com, YNAB, Dave Ramsey’s budget tools, extreme spreadsheets, and I could go on and on. I have made my husband try all sorts of ways to budget and track our spending.  I also have spent time periods where I didn’t budget and didn’t track my spending but this way gives me too much anxiety and makes me feel like I do not have control over our money. And sometimes, being in control is just knowing your true account balance and what you have spent your money on, even if you are broke, at least you are in control.  I do still use mint.com for an overall picture, but here are 3 ways that give me a sense of “control.”

1. Balancing my Checking Account - with current technology, the majority of us do not balance our checkbook.  Heck, some of us may not even know how to balance a checkbook. However, I have found that the task of logging on and balancing my account gives me reassurance that I know what is going on with the money.  Also, if you are married and the one who keeps up with the financial stuff, a simple text or conversation updating your spouse every day or two keeps everyone on the same page.  

   The habit of balancing is something I do normally once per day or every other day.  It really doesn’t take much time when you do it this often. When I get busy and miss 3 or 4 days, that is when I feel out of control.  I may not be out of control, but this is how I feel. And often the way we feel, affects how we spend.  

2. Track Expenses - the second thing that I do that is a little more time consuming is track expenses.  This can be done manually with an excel sheet, plain ole pencil and paper, or you can use an online tool like mint.com that does it for you.  Either way, taking just a few extra minutes each time you balance or even once a week, shows you where the money is going. This gives a sense of control, even if you did not create a budget ahead of time, at least you know where the money is going and who you should be mad it.

3. Have 2 Checking Accounts - the 3rd thing that makes No. 1 and No. 2 go smoothly, is have at least 2 checking accounts.  The 2 accounts we use are one for bills and one for living expenses. This makes it easy to keep up with bills vs. living expenses.  By making sure the bill account has all the money needed for monthly bills we do not have to worry about spending more than we should on living expenses… plus there is no mental math to do when we are busy and login to our accounts.  Mental math has to be done when you have one account and the bills come out but at a later time so you have to figure out what can’t be touched. No one wants to do mental math.

These are three things I have done for years and have helped us stay on track during our busy everyday lives. If you are interested in getting help with any of these 3 things or interested in our Busting Bad Budget Habits class, reach out to us at rootedpg.com or feel free to email me at kerrie@rootedpg.com

The Intersection of Vegetables and Finance

Monday Morning Quarter-Buck

By Financial Planner Becky (Partridge) Eason

Hornell, New York

Did you know that today, June 17th, is national eat your vegetables day? What better time to talk about getting vegetables on a budget! A common misconception is that it’s expensive to eat healthy. There are ways that you can eat healthy and actually save money, especially during the summer if you live in the north.

The biggest way to save money on vegetables is to have a garden. Even for those of you living in cities there are options for gardening available to you as well. If you don’t have a yard you can try small window or balcony planters. Also, many cities offer community garden plots where you can have your own section of a garden to grow what you want. A pack of seeds usually costs in the range of $1 - $3. Think about how many yummy veggies you can grow for $1 - $3, you’ll be well on your way to saving lots of money. Not only do you get to save money but you also get to enjoy the fresh air while working in the garden. The best part is that in the end you get to eat the “fruits of your labor”.

Another way to eat your veggies on a budget is to shop at your local farmers markets and roadside stands. You will likely find fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the cost of chain retailers. Not to mention the fruit and vegetables will be much more fresh and you will be supporting local farmers.

There are also ways to save money on produce at your regular grocery store. For instance, many stores offer “family packs”. These “family packs” are a larger quantity of produce usually sold for a lower price per pound. Remember though that if you know you won’t be consuming the food before it spoils, you won’t be saving money if you have to throw out the extra food.

Eating your vegetables doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. In fact, for a family it’s almost always cheaper to buy your vegetables and cook at home than it is to go to a fast food restaurant, not to mention the health benefits!

Monday Morning Quarter-Buck: A Gift for Grads

Congratulations to all the college graduates and their families!  

We know last weekend was a big event in your family and we want to provide a gift that helps college grads jump into the “real world” with a solid financial foundation. That’s part of why we created our "Untangle Your Roots" Series. This program is $30 per month for 12 months and it offers a variety of information and education to help the recent graduate get financially fit. Each month, the participant will complete another task on the road to success. 

In addition, we have something different for the blog this week: With the Indy 500 approaching, we thought it would be fun to put together a quiz about both the Indy 500 and the S&P 500.

We hope you enjoy this week’s fun trivia:

Test your Indy 500 and S&P 500 Knowledge