Claire Emory, MBA, CFA, CFP® | Unbiased financial advice from fee-only financial planners

Get Help Sorting Through Financial Planning Advice

Jan 09 2013

While you can get financial planning advice from friends or keep up with the latest investment news, you still have figure out how to apply what you have learned. In the New York Times, financial planner and author Carl Richards writes, “Most of what we hear about investing isn’t right or wrong. It’s a matter of applying what we hear to our own situation.” He encourages readers to not mistake investing folklore for personalized advice but to filter investment advice through the prism of personal goals.

But what exactly is investing folklore? Financial folklore is stock tips and other …

Down To Earth Financial Planning Advice

Jan 01 2013

Jean Chatzky is known for her approachable advice on financial planning and often shares tips that she thinks will be particularly helpful for women. Martketplace.org published a list of her “Top 5 Money Rules for 2013“:

“If You Don’t Ask for Money, The Answer Will Always Be No”

As an example, Chatzky notes, “In 2011 “newly-trained female doctors earned salaries that averaged $17,000 less than newly-trained male doctors.” and says it had little to do with their specialties or requests for flexible hours. It had everything to do with women not requesting more pay. However, she adds, “Whether …

A Fee-Only Financial Planner Can Help You Invest In Yourself

Dec 14 2012

A Fee-Only financial planner can help you with investments but first you have to make an investment in yourself and your future. Before you delve into stocks and dividends and learn the language of financial markets, you may need to unlearn some of your negative beliefs about money.

Financial planning is more than money and numbers; it is about gaining perspective and understanding that it is necessary to commit time and energy to grow your money.

According to MyFinancialAwareness.com,

“It is important to understand the reasons why you have avoided financial planning in the past (resistance) because these reasons

Financial Planning Can Add More Joy To Your Holidays

Dec 10 2012

Even if you have already shopped for the holidays, it is still not too late to do some financial planning to ensure that you do not overspend. As the 360 degrees of Financial Literacy website reminds readers, “The most helpful step in planning your holiday shopping adventures it so establish a realistic budget based on your current cash flow and financial obligations.”

It is possible to enjoy the holidays with friends and family without overdoing it and without undoing the sound financial plans you and your Fee-Only financial advisor have put in place.

Budgeting Your Money

You can set a …

Financial Planning Can Include Giving Back

Nov 28 2012

Financial planning? It’s work — the kind that can send you to the shoe store.”

That was the Courier-Journal paraphrasing part of a talk that finance expert and author Jean Chatzky gave at a luncheon aimed at women earlier this fall. Chatzky spoke of how you can look to others as examples for how to handle your own financial life and suggested that a financial planner can help.

While she referenced the idea that the challenging parts of life can make you seek comfort in the form of shoe shopping, Chatzky had an interesting approach to working against the desire …

Author - Claire Emory, MBA, CFA, CFP®