Personal Finances

Tips For Reaching Your Financial Wellness Goals

Reach Financial Dream of Home Ownership

Chances are, if you set goals for the new year, one of them is to improve your financial wellness. According to the 2020 Pinterest 100 Report, enhancing our relationship with money will be one of the year's most popular trends. It’s not surprising since, for many of us, managing our money is a challenge.

Save Money to Buy a Home

The challenge is to find the yin and the yang of responsible financial management. You cannot put a value on the ability to drift off to sleep without worrying about paying the bills, crushing credit card debt, finding the money to buy a home, or having a secure retirement. So how do we achieve financial peace of mind? We set goals and then implement a plan to achieve them. According to the Pinterest report, the most popular money goals were budgeting, paying off debt, saving, and investing. Thankfully, there are many tools and tricks available to help us reach those goals and secure our economic future. We can do this! Yea us!

Creating a Budget

The budget is the foundation upon which your financial plan rests. I think of it as the roadmap to plan the best route to get where I need to be in terms of my goals. To control your money, you must know how much is coming in and where you spend it. There are several techniques to help you keep track.

Popular Budgets

The 50/30/20 is the budget Elizabeth Warren highlights in her book, All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan. The basic plan is to break down your after taxes income into the three expense categories of needs (50%), wants (30%), and savings/debt...

Before Buying a Home in MN

Numbers to Know Before Buying a Home MN

Recently a friend told me she was never good with finances and never really cared until the day she wanted to buy a home and discovered she didn’t qualify for a mortgage. For her, it was a great wake-up call, and she got up to speed pretty quickly. About a year later, she moved into her condo. Today, she not only knows all her financial statistics, but she tracks them regularly.

So just what are these numbers we should know, and why are they important? As you plan for your future, these vital financial statistics will show you where your finances are healthy and the areas where your finances need improvement. If your life plan includes buying a home, putting your kids through college, or retiring early, these numbers will be the guideposts along your path.

Before you Buy a Home, Know Your Credit Score

What exactly is a credit score? It is a snapshot of an individual’s entire credit history translated into a numeric value. Lenders use this number to help them determine if you are creditworthy. The score is calculated by FICO (Fair Isacc Corporation) using data provided by the three credit reporting bureaus, Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. In addition to your FICO Score, another commonly used is a Vantage Score.

Why is this score important? Like your shadow, it follows you everywhere. It is not only a major determining factor in getting a mortgage approved but also getting a car loan, a credit card, cell phone service, internet, cable, and utilities. Landlords use it to decide if they want to rent to you and how large a security deposit they will require you to pay. When you insure your car, the insurance company will use it to calculate your premium. Some employers...

10 Ways to Save for a House in MN

Saving Money to Buy a House in MN is not Easy

Let’s be honest. Spending money is fun, and for some, shopping is a sport. But when the packages from Amazon are coming every week, and you’re spending all of your discretionary income, you might want to consider changing the way you handle finances. No one was born with the saving gene. Saving is a behavior we learn. Many of us have been on the saving path since childhood because our parents encouraged us to save. But if that is not the case, as an adult, you can modify your spending patterns and experience the joys of saving.

Starting to Save Money for a Down Payment

An excellent starting point is to change how you think and feel about money. Don’t consider saving a sacrifice, but instead think of it as a means to a better future. Once you start practicing some of the savings strategies I’m going to share, you might be surprised to discover how good you will feel about having some money in the bank. 

1. Reward Yourself

Saving money is like putting your spending on a diet. Anyone who has counted calories will tell you, if you eliminate every guilty eating pleasure, you are going to fall off the wagon at some point. Give yourself a monthly “allowance” that you can spend...

Saving to Buy a House in MN

Money Tips From the Greats/MNPropertyGroup/blog

Saving to Buy a House in MN

For some of us, taking control of our finances is a challenge. One crucial element of the process is saving money. Americans are not very good savers. According to Bankrate, 58 percent of us have less than $1000 in savings. Many of us are in that 58 percent because saving was not a habit we learned as children, but we can embrace it as adults. We can develop and nurture positive saving habits with motivation and inspiration.  

Money Tips From the Greats/MNPropertyGroup/blogDo not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving. – Warren Buffet 

If you have a 401K benefit with a company match from your employer, make sure you have the maximum amount deducted from your paycheck to take full advantage of the matching funds. Your 401K should be one of the significant elements of your retirement savings. The added benefit of the 401K savings is the money is not taxed until you take it out of your account.

Take Saving For your First Home in MN up a Notch

Deduct a fixed amount from your salary to your emergency fund, down payment for a home fund, vacation fund, or whatever other goals you have established for your money. Consider saving as a bill you pay to yourself first. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result...

The Monthly Budget and Yes You Need One

Use a Budget to Control Your Money

When we gain control over our finances, many positive outcomes will follow. The door to new opportunities will open to us, and we will have more lifestyle choices to consider. How exactly do we control our money? We set financial goals, monitor our spending, keep a debt limit, save regularly, and invest wisely to achieve those goals. The very first step on the journey is following a budget.

A Budget is Powerful

A budget is a map we follow on the road to establishing a positive relationship with our money. With a budget, we can better plan how to spend if we know how much we have left after paying all the bills. When we have a snapshot of our spending habits, we will be more likely to use discrimination in our purchases.

We need a budget because it is critical to keep our financial house to build our future. Budgeting can help you rent and furnish your first apartment, buy your first home, take a vacation, and begin planning for retirement. (Honestly, it’s never too soon) That is powerful stuff!

Budgeting Tools

We all need a tool to keep track of income and expenses because it’s critical to know where our money goes every month. Many apps are available to help you monitor your finances, such as Mint, Wally, Envelopes, and You Need a Budget. Some are just plain and straightforward budgets, while others help you save or invest. Many are free, while others will cost you. Don’t forget you will need to include the fee in your budget. 

If you are not app inclined, another option is to keep a spreadsheet. Many of these are free, and some...

5 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Money

5 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Money

Our relationship with money generally begins at a very young age. That connection is very simplistic. We want stuff, and we use the cash to get things. We get the money that gets us the stuff from our parents, grandparents or any family member that happens to be handy at the moment with a few bucks in hand. We are not particular.

Fast forward, and we grow up. Hopefully, along the way, our parents will teach us some fundamental money management skills because if, as adults, we don't have some control over our finances, they will control us. The result is mounting debt and sleepless nights worrying about how we will pay it down.

Money Management is an Acquired Skill

If I've just described your situation, don't take it as a personal judgment. You are not alone. Americans have a problem with handling their finances. Need proof?  Look at the 2008-2009 real estate market crash where 3.9 million Americans faced foreclosure. We collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loans and another $1.4 trillion in credit card debt. To make matters worse, 60 percent of Americans cannot cover a $1000 emergency expense, and nearly 45 percent of baby boomers (aged 55-73) have no retirement savings.

Maybe you are a rock star at handling your money, and you feel a bit smug. Kudos to you, and I say that with respect and sincerity. Adulting is hard work. But if you feel like inserting your head in a gallon of chocolate ice cream right now, please read on. The development of a fiscally responsible lifestyle is an acquired skill. Let's get started right now with five tips that will put you on the path to a healthy relationship with your money. 

Establish a Consistent Income Flow

If you do not have a steady job and cobble together an income with short-term gigs, part-time assignments, and occasional handouts from your mum, look for a full-time position with a steady income and preferably benefits. It's impossible...

A FICO Score Explained By MN Realtor

A FICO Score Explained By MN Realtor

By the time you experience initiation into the adult world, you've probably heard the term credit score. It's a number you should be concerned about because others will be, and they will use it to judge your ability to pay back a loan.

So who cares about your credit score exactly? Credit card companies, banks, mortgage brokers, cell phone companies, insurance companies, and landlords, to name a few. Some companies even want to look at your credit score before offering you a job to see how responsible you are.

How is Your Credit Score Calculated

Your credit score is a number that captures your creditworthiness based on your credit history. Three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, track your financial information. The Fair Isaac Corporation takes this data and uses a model to assign a number known as a FICO score. Most creditors use this score to evaluate you when you apply for a loan such as a mortgage.  

The factors that FICO uses to calculate your score include

  • payment history,
  • amount of money you owe,
  • length of your credit history,
  • credit mix,
  • recent requests for new credit.

Each of these categories determines a percentage of your score to create a snapshot of the state of your finances and your ability to take on more debt. Let's take a close look at each of the segments and how much weight they carry when tallying your credit...

Passive Saving - Like Giving Yourself a Raise!

Passive Saving Puts More Money in Your Bank Account

Sadly, Americans are not good savers.  A survey done last year by GOBankingRates found that 69% of us have less than $1000 in savings while 34% live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings whatsoever.  This holds true for Millennials as well and considering the fact that approximately 66% of them have a student loan to pay with an average balance of $40K, we need to do better. 

By the time we reach adulthood, saving should be a regular habit in our lives. We will need money to purchase our first home, then to save for our children’s education, and for our retirement. But given the statistics stated above, it is evident that for way too many of us saving money is not easy.  When we think of saving, it conjures up words like austerity, frugality, deprivation and we make a face like we just bit into a lemon. What if I can show you there is a way to start saving that is painless. It’s called “passive saving” as opposed to “active saving”. 

“What exactly is passive saving?” you ask skeptically, feeling sure I am about to scam you into leading a life of sacrifice. Passive saving is not changing your consuming habits or lifestyle. It means not giving up pleasures or activities you currently engage in or those nice things you like, but it does mean making changes in how you purchase them and from whom.  Once you initiate the changes you will never notice the difference except that you will have more disposable income every month which should go directly into your savings. Need more convincing? Here are some suggestions to get you started.    

Improve Your Credit Score

If your eyes just glazed over at the mention of the words “credit score” pay attention. This number called your FICA score follows you everywhere you go through life and will decide not only whether you get approved for a credit...