Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Is It Always This Difficult to Find a Financial Planner?

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Thanks to working at my “traditional” job for 11 years that included a dollar for dollar match on my retirement contributions after 5 years of service, I have a nice 6 figure retirement account.  However, I left that job 1.5 years and the money is still just sitting there with my old employer.  The problem?  I can’t find a financial planner I trust, especially since that is currently our only retirement savings.

Jedi Salesman
This is not the Adviser you are looking for…

Adviser 1–In It for The Money

I first met with a financial adviser at our credit union to discuss transferring the money into my own IRA.  This is important because my retirement is currently part of the state’s retirement fund.  Unfortunately, in the state I live in, the higher officials have been siphoning money from the state pension fund and can’t agree on how to replace the money.  If I don’t move the money soon, I am worried it won’t be there!

This adviser highly recommended an annuity even though I am still fairly young.  He promised it was a safe investment that would give me money every month.  The problem?  I would only get about $1,000 a month 30 years from now when I retire.  After inflation 30 years from now, $1000 doesn’t sound like such a good guarantee.  A bit of probing helped me determine that the adviser works on commission and makes the biggest commission selling annuities.

Moving on, thank you.

Adviser 2–Helpful but Too Busy

Next, I turned to my accountant’s firm.  Her husband is a Dave Ramsey trained financial adviser.  This sounded perfect, and when my husband and I talked to him over the phone one night this past summer, he asked all of the right questions and seemed to have our best interests in mind.  He took the time to ask where we were financially right now as well as where we would like to be.  He recommended some investments, and we planned to talk in about 4 weeks to start the paperwork to move my retirement.

The problem?  We haven’t talked to him since.  I have left some messages for him; he has left some for me, but over the months, we have just played phone tag.  I last called in early December because I wanted this whole issue resolved before 2013 began.  We are well into 2013, and I still haven’t heard back from him.

Moving on.

Adviser 3–A Keeper?

When my cousin casually mentioned her financial adviser at Christmas, I pounced on her.  Who was he?  Would she recommend him?  Does he get back to her quickly?

She raved about him and said he was attentive and that the investments he chose were making them good money.  She gave me his number, and next week he is on my list of people to call.

When I quit my job 1.5 years ago, I would have never guessed finding a good financial adviser is so difficult.  I feel like I am back on the dating scene again trying to find just the right match.

Is my experience unique, or have you, too, had trouble finding a financial adviser to work with?  What did you look for in a financial adviser?

img credit:Brad Montgomery on Flickr.

What Christmas Expectations Are You Setting for Your Children?

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What are your children’s expectations for Christmas presents?  Do they expect many Christmas presents under the tree and their every wish to be met?  Do they expect a modest Christmas?

Believe it or not, the answer to this question doesn’t really depend on your kids; it depends on you.  From the time your children are small, you set their expectations, and what you set by example is what they come to know as “normal” (until they get married and find that their partner has a different “normal” than they do, but that is another post).

If you have small children, think carefully about what expectations you want to give your children.  Yes, retailers would prefer that you shop ’til you drop and give your credit card a work out, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Here are what some people do who have chosen to have a different Christmas celebration than retailers would prefer you have:

1.  Give some new gifts, some used, and some homemade.

Amy Dacyczyn, the original Frugal Zealot and author of The Tightwad Gazette had six children to buy for.  Each child got one new gift.  Then, they got a few gifts that were used items that she had purchased at garage sales and thrift stores.  She also made her children a few gifts.  If I remember correctly, she spent $50 or under for each child.  (Of course, this was 20 years ago, so accounting for inflation, she spent no more than $82 for each child in 2012 dollars.

While you might balk at the idea of giving garage sale gifts for presents, I can tell you that I followed Dacyczyn’s practices when I had my own kids, and some of our kids’ presents are nice finds that we got at garage sales.  My oldest is 8, and he has yet to complain about it because it is what he expects.  He still does get new presents, but there are used ones in the mix.  (I like the term recycled better, though.)

2.  Give a charitable donation instead of gifts.

Ann Voskamp, the blogger behind A Holy Experience, recounts that one Christmas Eve 10 years ago, her son asked her, “Why don’t we give up things so we can give to Jesus for his birthday?”  The question radically changed Voskamp’s way of thinking, and from that year on, her family has foregone giving Christmas gifts to one another.  Instead, each day during Advent they make a charitable donation using the money they would have spent on gifts.

This is a radical idea, to be sure, but it is the norm now for her family.

3.  Only give 3 gifts.

Another idea based in Christian roots is to only give your children three gifts.  Some do this because the Wise Men brought Jesus 3 gifts.  Others take a spin on this and give their children three gifts–something they want, something they need, and something they can experience.

4.  Meet needs as gifts.

Gifts don’t have to be all luxuries and things you want.  When I was growing up, my parents’ money was extremely tight.  I got some new clothes during the back to school season, but my winter clothes and sometimes even my uniform clothing or new backpack were all given as Christmas presents.  I was always excited to get these things and never felt deprived.  My mom told me a few years ago that she had to give gifts this way because money was so tight, but I never knew.  This practice was normal for me.

Christmas gift giving was not always the extravaganza it is now.  As an adult, I reread the Little House in the Prairie books, and I was struck by how happy Laura was to get her very own handmade tin cup and an orange for Christmas one year.

If you are a parent of small children, you can start your Christmas gift giving traditions now, and they don’t have to involve credit card debt you can’t pay off until March or April.

What is your favorite way to give gifts at Christmas?

img credit: South Granville Live on Flickr

A Review of Dave Ramsey’s Revised Financial Peace University & New Speakers

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Dave Ramsey has changed thousands, if not millions, of lives with his Financial Peace University.  Now, he is looking to improve on that formula with the newly revised Financial Peace University.  While this latest version of Financial Peace University has all of the benefits of the old version, some of the material has been changed, and there are new speakers added to the mix.


The revised Financial Peace University kit includes a workbook; Ramsey’s book, The Complete Guide to Money; a welcome guide that includes a pencil, sharpener, and eraser;  an envelope system; a laminated Financial Peace University Progress Chart; a folder for Financial Peace forms; and most importantly, 10 audio CDs containing Ramsey’s lessons.

The 10 audio CDs cover the following topics:

CD #1:  Super Saving:  Common Sense for Your Dollars and Cents

CD #2:  Relating with Money:  Nerds and Free Spirits Unite!

CD #3:  Cash Flow Planning:  the Nuts and Bolts of Budgeting

CD #4:  Dumping Debt:  Breaking the Chains of Debt

CD #5:  Buyer Beware:  The Power of Marketing on Your Buying Decisions

CD #6:  The Role of Insurance:  Protecting Your Health, Family and Finances

CD #7:  Retirement and College Planning:  Mastering the Alphabet Soup of Investing

CD #8:  Real Estate and Mortgages:  Keeping the American Dream from Becoming a Nightmare

CD #9:  The Great Misunderstanding:  Unleashing the Power of Generous Giving

CD #10:  Dave’s Story:  Learn How Dave Found the Peace He Was Missing

 

There are three major changes I noticed in the newly revised Financial Peace University.

1.  The course has been shortened from 13 weeks to 9 weeks.  Some may say that this time frame is too short, but I think it is great.  Ramsey is such a motivational speaker, that after hearing him speak for one class people are fired up and ready to get their finances in order.  Shortening the course to 9 weeks allows them to make quicker progress and begin working on their financial situation sooner.

2.  Content that wasn’t relevant to everyone has been moved to the website.  Some content, while useful to those in a particular situation, isn’t applicable to the majority of people.  For instance, Ramsey skillfully explained exactly how to deal with harassing bill collectors in the original Financial Peace University, and that information is essential to those in that situation.  However, since the majority of FPU participants are not in that desperate situation, that content has been moved to the website.

3.  Ramsey has brought in three new speakers–Rachael Cruze (Ramsey’s daughter), Jon Acuff and Chris Hogan.  Fans of Ramsey will probably have mixed feelings about these new additions.

Rachael Cruze has the hardest job.  Ramsey is a dynamic motivational speaker who makes his job seem effortless.  People will naturally expect the same of his child.  In reality, Cruze is young and new at this business.  She is definitely not as polished as her famous father, though truthfully very few people are.  However, she offers the voice of a person who has been raised following Dave Ramsey’s principles and hearing her success is encouraging.

Jon Acuff shares Ramsey’s sense of humor, but his jokes don’t go over quite as well.  However, his tips on negotiation are good, and readers can definitely learn from him.  A few more years of working with Ramsey, and he will have the natural, relaxed attitude as Ramsey does.

Chris Hogan is the most charismatic new addition.  While he is not Dave Ramsey, he is a natural public speaker.  He gives important information about buying a home, but his lessons are peppered with humor that naturally engage the listener.

My husband and I both listened to the CDs, and I didn’t mind the addition of the new speakers and know that Ramsey is probably adding them to prepare to eventually hand over his dynasty.  However, my husband did not like the new additions and felt that most of the speakers were simply reiterating what Ramsey always says.

Overall, Dave Ramsey’s newly revised Financial Peace University is an improvement on the first version and can inspire participants to pay off debt and improve their financial situation once and for all.