Smart401k Blog

In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The executives at AIG avoided criminal charges
• AIG’s sale of its AIA unit to Prudential Plc may be saved by a price cut
• Economists at the National Association for Business Economics raised its growth forecast for the U.S.
• Pending financial reform may put bank ratings at risk

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During the month of May, Smart401k has placed extra emphasis on women and investing. One element of our Women’s Series has been a set of blog articles highlighting women’s opinions, challenges, interests and unique situations with investment, budgeting and general finance. We met three women who are in different phases of life with distinctive financial situations.        Meet Amy -   Meet Shannon -   Meet Ellen

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During the month of May, Smart401k has placed extra emphasis on women and investing. One element of our Women’s Series has been a set of blog articles highlighting women’s opinions, challenges, interests and unique situations with investment, budgeting and general finance. We met three women who are in different phases of life with distinctive financial situations.        Meet Amy -   Meet Shannon -   Meet Ellen

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The euro spent most of the week under pressure
• A vote in the Senate sent the financial reform package to a reconciliation with the House’s bill
• BP made some progress in controlling the underwater oil leak
• A top government official resigned in response to the Gulf of Mexico disaster

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Nineteen months ago I made the best decision of my life when I got down on one knee and asked that little question, “Will you marry me?” Now, after over a year and a half of planning I will be getting married in just a few short weeks. After Trisha and I unite our lives by saying “I do,” it’ll be time for another union — a financial union. Though we’ve been living together for nearly two years we still maintain separate accounts. Because I’ve done most of the handling of our finances, I decided to sit down with Trisha to discuss a few of the questions she had about marriage and money.

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During the month of May, Smart401k will place extra emphasis on women and investing. One element of our Women’s Series will be a set of blog articles that highlight women’s opinions, challenges, interests and unique situations with investment, budgeting and general finance. We will meet three women who are in different phases of life with distinctive financial situations. Amy is in her 20s with a successful career and an independent lifestyle. She has been cognizant of remaining within her budget, and she actually has faced challenges because of her prudence. Shannon is a married mother of two who is more than 15 years into her career. She grew up in a single-mother household. Ellen is a mother of grown children who is preparing to retire this year from a full career. She also is in the midst of a divorce.

Ellen has worked hard her whole life. Her mother died when Ellen was nine, and she took on the household cooking and cleaning duties. At 16, she started working at as a grocery cashier – a position she held through the time she graduated from college. Ellen taught math for 33 years, taking nine years away while her sons were young. She served as department chair in two schools, and most recently Ellen has been a math coach and math subject chair. Ultimately she decided to retire at the end of this school-year because she plans to buy half of her house from her soon-to-be-ex-husband as part of their divorce, and she said the house will require a lot of upkeep. But there is no rest for the weary, as Ellen intends to find a part-time job soon.

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In the headlines

A look at some of the market movers over the past week:

• The European Union agreed to a near $1 trillion bailout package to backstop financially troubled member countries
• The eurozone bailout couldn’t quash doubts over the eurozone’s future
• Uncertainty in Europe led to new highs for gold
• BP continued to wrestle with the growing calamity in the Gulf of Mexico

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As a fairly recently married person, it is hard to think that my wife could be left to live her later years in life as a widow, but statistics show that it is more likely than not that she will live a significantly longer life than I will. In fact, nearly half of American women over the age of 65 are widows, and women are more than four times more likely to be widowed than men of the same age, according to the 2002 census. Both of my grandmothers were widowed, and one of them lived as a widow for more than thirty years. She was able to maintain her lifestyle with a stream of income from my grandfather’s pension that was guaranteed to last the rest of her life. Most spouses today do not have these guarantees from a partner’s retirement plan and must take a more active role in securing their financial future.   While the thought of losing a spouse is difficult, there are a few things you can do as a couple to ensure your security if you are widowed.

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During the month of May, Smart401k will place extra emphasis on women and investing. One element of our Women’s Series will be a set of blog articles that highlight women’s opinions, challenges, interests and unique situations with investment, budgeting and general finance. We will meet three women who are in different phases of life with distinctive financial situations. Amy is in her 20s with a successful career and an independent lifestyle. She has been cognizant of remaining within her budget, and she actually has faced challenges because of her prudence. Shannon is a married mother of two who is more than 15 years into her career. She grew up in a single-mother household. Ellen is a mother of grown children who is preparing to retire this year from a full career. She also is in the midst of a divorce.

Shannon was living on her own with student loans and trying to save money for graduate school immediately after graduating college. Like most new graduates, her job was entry-level. In Shannon’s chosen profession of social work, that did not translate into enough income to cover her bills. After a year of struggling, a friend offered to provide her a reference with a company that could offer great long-term potential for advancement. With loans, savings and basic living expenses in mind, Shannon made the career change that would turn out to be a good move for her then-present and future budgeting and saving. She worked her way through that company for more than 13 years, beginning in customer service and moving into communications and product development. Only recently did Shannon leave to accept a new challenge.

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I am a fairly new parent with 22-month-old twin boys. Everyone who is a parent, whether your kids are two or fifty-two,  knows that there are loads of challenges – with financial concerns chief among them. It can feel like the budget is being pulled this way and that way. Living expenses, childcare costs and unexpected ‘miscellaneous kid expenses’ (parents, you know what I mean) sometimes stretch our budget. And then there are the challenges of saving. There are two major life events for which I know we must save and invest: our children’s college education and our retirement.

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