Chatzky: 8 great rules to grow your money

In a USA Weekend issue from a month or two back, Jean Chatzky had written an article called "8 great rules to grow your money."

Here are the major take home points.  For more details, click the link below to be taken to the article on usaweekend.com.

• Bank your windfalls.
• Manage what you can.
• Credit cards don't have to equal debt.
• Don't let your money run out before you do.
• Put your 80-year-old self first.
• Buy experiences, not things.
• Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is smart.
• Face your finances.

These are all basic and important tenets to live by.

For more details, click here: http://www.usaweekend.com/article/20120330/MONEY/303300006/8-great-rules-grow-your-money

Money Magazine's 2012 Retirement Guide

Yeah, I must be going through a Money Magazine issue (still receiving for free).

They start living well on less with six recommendations:

1. Fine-tune your budget
2. Turn time into money
3. Live smaller
4. Move to a lower-cost area
5. Work part-time
6. Become debt-free

They also have articles on the following:

• How to draw the max - safely
• The right portfolio now
• Five great low-cost towns
• Medicare: What no one is telling you

To read what to do or for further details, click on the link on how to support me and purchase a subscription through Barnes and Nobles.com

To see how you can support me, click here.

You can also read more details on Money Magazine's website.

ING Compare Me / Money: Seven Secrets to a Richer Retirement

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have been getting Money Magazine for free (still).  In a recent issue, they were covering the retirement.  They had a couple things that were interesting including referencing ING's Compare Me website.  You can enter your age, your income, and how much you have saved.  It looks like more than 154,000 people have registered.

They also went through the Seven (7) Secrets to a Richer Retirement which include:

• Get a good picture of the future you
• Try to beat the other guy
• Use reminders and checklists
• Think bite-size pieces, not whole enchilada
• Make friends with an annuity
• Take losses in stride
• Protect the future you

Click here to go to INGCompareMe.com

To view the above in more detail, click here to go to their website.

To subscribe to Money Magazine, click here for 1-year auto-renewal

Money Magazine: Make the Best of a Bad 401(k)

In this article by Penelope Wang, she discusses some of the common problems (or concerns) with some 401(k) accounts and how to approach them.  For example:

• If it offers awful choices
• If there isn't an employer match
• If there are excessive costs
• A combination of the above

I am still getting Money Magazine for free. Click on this link to subscribe for one year for $10 through Amazon: Money (1-year)

Click here for the article on CNNMoney.com

43 percent have less than $10,000 saved for retirement?

We all need to start saving more.  Click here for the CNNMoney.com article.  Previously it was 39 percent in 2008.  It also says that 24 percent have postponed their retirement (working longer) compared with 14 percent in 2008.

What do retirees do all day?

A U.S. News and World Report study breaks down the average day for 65 to 74 year-olds.

Click here to see how the day is broken up. Only 15 minutes per day for mail, email, and telephone calls and 21 minutes for casual computer use. About 46 minutes is spend reading (maybe on the internet?).

Uhhh... Honey we need to talk. Couples disagree over retirement plans

Click here for the article.

502 couples were surveyed. 38% make decisions together. 60% don't agree on retirement ages. 44% don't agree whether they'll be working in "retirement." 42% disagree on whether they'll be well-off or scraping by.