If you or your partner have ever spent (a lot of) money without telling the other, you’re not alone.

This has become such a widespread problem for couples that there’s even a term for it: Financial Infidelity.

Calling it infidelity might seem a bit dramatic, but it makes sense when you consider that finances are the leading cause of relationship stress. Each couple has their own definition of “a lot of money,” but as you can imagine, or may have even experienced yourself, making assumptions or hiding purchases from your partner can be damaging to both your finances AND your relationship.

Here’s a strategy to help avoid financial infidelity, and hopefully lessen some stress in your household:
Set up “Fun Funds” accounts.
A “Fun Fund” is a personal bank account for each partner which is separate from your main savings or checking account (which may be shared).

Here’s how it works: Each time you pay your bills or review your whole budget together, set aside an equal amount of any leftover money for each partner. That goes in your Fun Fund.

The agreement is that the money in this account can be spent on anything without having to consult your significant other. For instance, you may immediately take some of your Fun Funds and buy that low-budget, made-for-tv movie that you love but your partner hates. And they can’t be upset that you spent the money! It was yours to spend! (They might be a little upset when you suggest watching that movie they hate on a quiet night at home, but you’re on your own for that one!)

Your partner on the other hand may wait and save up the money in their Fun Fund to buy $1,000 worth of those “Add water and watch them grow to 400x their size!” dinosaurs. You may see it as a total waste, but it was their money to spend! Plus, this isn’t $1,000 taken away from paying your bills, buying food, or putting your kids through school. (And it’ll give them something to do while you’re watching your movie.)
​
It might be a little easier to set up Fun Funds for the both of you when you have a strategy for financial independence. Contact me today, and we can work together to get you and your loved one closer to those beloved B movies and magic growing dinosaurs.

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_________________________________________________________________________________________


Sources:
CNBC: "Surprise! Your partner may be lying to you about money." 2.8.2017 
CNBC: "Fighting with your spouse? It's probably about this." 2.4.2015

​

Do You Rely On Your Spouse’s Income?

Many married couples rely on both of their monthly incomes such as social security, but when one spouse passes away, the surviving spouse will receive less monthly income.  Some people buy two traditional life insurance policies to help offset this loss of income. However, a traditional lump sum benefit solution can be expensive.

Survivor Income Protector can be a more affordable alternative to help in the transition period of having less income! 

Survivor Income Protector, offered by Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company, is a whole life insurance product with a Joint Life Rider designed to provide a benefit paid in monthly income payments to the surviving insured.

This benefit can help offset the loss of income when a spouse passes away.
Want to know how much it might cost to cover the loss of income for your family?  Simply fill out the information below and I’ll get a quote together for you ASAP!

Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company is authorized to conduct business in the District of Columbia and all states except NY.

Survivor Income Protector (Policy Series 305) and Joint Monthly Life Insurance Payment Rider (Rider Series 2189/2189(36)) are underwritten by Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company (Americo), Kansas City, MO, and may vary in accordance with state laws. Some products and benefits may not be available in all states. Some riders are optional and available for an additional cost. Certain restrictions and variations apply. Consult policy and riders for all limitations and exclusions. For exact terms and conditions, please refer to the contract.

The company reserves the right to contest coverage for up to two years due to any misrepresentations in the application. If the insured, sane or insane, dies by suicide while the contract is in force and within two years (one year in Colorado, Missouri, and North Dakota) after the issue date, the proceeds payable will be limited to the sum of premiums paid, less any indebtedness. See Missouri contract for special provisions regarding suicide.
​
Neither Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company nor any agent representing Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company is authorized to give legal or tax advice. Please consult a qualified professional regarding the information and concepts contained in this material.

​At WFGInsuranceQuotes.com we help protect families all over the country. Let us help you . Contact us today

​

Ladies, in today’s world we are exposed to all kinds of sound bites, headlines and political propaganda….. “the war on women,” “wage inequality,” and other such catch phrases designed to incite feelings of helplessness, fear, betrayal and injustice.

What can you, as an individual woman, do about it? Instead of trying to figure out this Rubik’s Cube of global and national women’s issues, how about taking a look at your own personal situation first?

How educated are you on your finances and estate planning? As women, we are most profoundly affected by the death or disability of a loved one. Not only are women more often the care-givers, but women are also more often widowed than men.

Regardless of age, women need to play an active role in their own financial and estate planning, as well as that of their families. Often times it’s the women in the family that are the ones to initiate the process for other loved ones.

If you have young children, have you created a Last Will and Testament to name a Guardian for those minor children? If not, a judge will make that decision for you.

If you have recently married or divorced, have you updated your estate planning documents to add (or remove) your (ex)spouse? What about updating beneficiary designations on your life insurance and retirement accounts? Remember that the current designations on those accounts control the distribution of those assets – even if you have updated your Will.

If you are the care-giver for older or disabled parents, have you discussed with your parents their wishes and helped them to take steps to memorialize those wishes within their estate planning documents? If you have other siblings, a family meeting can be very helpful to make sure everyone is clear on the wishes of your parents.

If you are a widow, have you reviewed your financial plan with a professional? Have you updated your estate planning documents and beneficiary designations? Have you met with an attorney to discuss electing portability of your deceased husband’s unused federal estate tax exemption?

Currently, (in 2016) every individual can exempt $5.45 million in assets from estate/gift taxes (during life or at death). The unused exemption of a deceased spouse can be passed to a surviving spouse, but only by making an election and filing an estate tax return in a timely manner (regardless of whether any taxes are due).
​
Since women typically live longer, often times we are the ones left in control of how the family’s assets will ultimately be distributed. With this control comes great responsibility.
Make sure you are educated on how to protect your wealth and your health!

Learn more about our Premium Probate Package with Probate Avoidance
for as little as $50 a month.

NetLaw was proud to have Deron Tucker as a guest speaker on one of our weekly webinars. Mr. Tucker is a NetLaw Network Attorney and is barred in both Georgia & New York.
Everyone over the age of 18 needs a Power of Attorney. With this document, you name someone you trust to have the legal authority to make financial decisions on your behalf should you have a stroke, car accident or other circumstance that render you incompetent or incapacitated.
A general durable Power of Attorney allows the document to remain enforceable if the person becomes incapacitated or unable to care for themselves, physically or mentally. The specific language of this Power of Attorney is crucial.
Without a general durable Power of Attorney, the process to appoint someone to make your financial decisions can be complicated and costly. It may involve a court process to declare you incompetent and appoint a guardian, conservator or committee to handle your financial affairs. The court may require a psychiatric evaluation and other medical assessments.
Most people are familiar with a general Power of Attorney where a person acts on behalf of an individual known as the “principle.” A general Power of Attorney offers a wide range of power and is a very flexible document in terms of the ability to limit the power. This ranges from handling banking transactions, buying/selling properties, managing safe deposit boxes and government affairs.
A special “Limited” Power of Attorney is where an agent’s authority is limited to acting with regard to certain areas or assets. For example, you could say, “I only want my agent to handle a real estate transaction” or “I only want my agent to have access to my bank safe deposit box.”
The powers conveyed under a springing Power of Attorney can be as broad as a general/durable Power of Attorney and/or a special/limited Power of Attorney. A springing Power of Attorney can become effective when certain criteria are met, such as physical and/or mental incapacity. Before a springing Power of Attorney can become effective the mental and/or physical incapacity of the principal must be proven. This process can be lengthy and can involve mental and/or physical assessments conducted by multiple physicians. Another challenge is if/when the principal regains capacity.   At such time, it must then be proven that the individual is competent and capable of handling his/her own affairs. Again, mental and/or physical assessments are needed to prove capacity has been regained.

*Our “network’ is a listing or directory of attorneys and that those attorneys may be available to offer legal services but that NetLaw is not associated with any attorney and the advice and counsel of any attorney listed is between the consumer and the attorney.  NetLaw is not an attorney referral service and it does not receive any compensation for any of NetLaw’s customers that may engage an attorney in our network.   The only requirement for an attorney being listed in our attorney network is that the attorney maintains malpractice insurance and is in good standing with the attorney’s state bar.

The average U.S. household owes over $5,500 in credit card debt, according to a recent USA Today article.¹

Baby Boomers and Gen Xers lead the charge, so to speak, with each of those groups scoring close to $7,000 in credit card debt, nearly double the average balance of Millennials.

High interest debt (like credit cards) can slowly suck the life out of your budget – often we may not even realize how much that borrowed money is costing us.
The average APR for credit cards is over 16%.² Think about that for a second. If someone offered you a guaranteed investment that paid 16%, you’d probably walk over hot coals to sign the paperwork.

So here’s a mind-bender: Paying down that high interest debt isn’t the same as making a 16% return on an investment – it’s better.

Here’s why: A 16% return on a standard investment is taxable, trimming as much as a third so the government can do whatever it is that governments do with the money. Paying down debt that has a 16% interest rate is like making a 20% return – or even higher – because the interest saved is after-tax money.

Like any investment, paying off high interest debt will take time to produce a meaningful return. Your “earnings” will seem low at first. They’ll seem low because they are low. Hang in there. Over time, as the balances go down and more cash is available every month, the benefit will become more apparent.

High Interest vs. Low Balance 
We all want to pay off debt, even if we aren’t always vigilant about it. Debt irks us. We know someone is in our pockets. It’s tempting to pay off the small balances first because it’ll be faster to knock them out.

Granted, paying off small balances feels good – especially when it comes to making the last payment. However, the math favors going after the big fish first, the hungry plastic shark that is eating through your wallet, bank account, retirement savings, vacation plans, and everything else.³ In time, paying off high interest debt first will free up the money to pay off the small balances too.

Summing It Up 
High interest debt, usually credit cards, can cost you hundreds of dollars per year in interest. If you made payments of $150 per month on a $5,500 balance (the U.S. average) at 16% APR, your total interest charges would be over $2000 and the balance would linger for 51 months – and that’s assuming you don’t buy anything else in that time period.

Doubling the payment to $300 per month cuts the total interest charges to less than $850. The balance would be gone in 22 months. Now you just have to figure out where you can save 5 dollars per day to put toward that pesky balance – and what you’ll do with all the extra money when your “investment” pays off. (That part should be easy.)

At WFGInsuranceQuotes.com we help protect families all over the country. Let us help you . Contact us today

Click here and get a low life insurance rate in seconds - apply in minutes.
Quick Quote & Apply. 
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Visit us online at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com or call us at 855.236.2992
#insurance #affordablelifeinsurance #termlifeinsurance #financialeducation #debt #saving
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources:
¹ Frankel, Matthew. "Here's the average American's credit card debt -- and how to get yours under control." USA TODAY, 1.25.2017, https://usat.ly/2LkHX4n.
² Dilworth, Kelly. "Rate survey: Average card APR remains at 16.15 percent." creditcards.com, 11.21.2017, https://bit.ly/2kbCRv3.
³ Berger, Bob. "Debt Snowball Versus Debt Avalanche: What The Academic Research Shows." Forbes, 7.20.2017, https://bit.ly/2x9Q1lN.

How do you handle job stress?Sticking to a solid workflow? Meditation? A stress ball in each hand?
Whichever way you choose to lessen the stress (that 80% of American workers and 58% of Canadian workers experience), there’s another stress-relieving tactic that could make a huge difference:
​
Relieving financial stress.
Studies have found that money woes can cost workers over 2 weeks in productivity a year! And this time can be lost even when you’re still showing up for work.

This phenomenon is called ‘presenteeism’: you’re physically present at a job, but you’re working while ill or mentally disengaged from tasks. Presenteeism can be caused by stress, worry, or other issues – which, as you can imagine, may deal a significant blow to work productivity.

So what’s the good news?
If you’re constantly worried and stressed about financing unexpected life events, saving for retirement, or funding a college education for yourself or a loved one, there’s a life insurance policy that can help you – wherever you are on your financial journey.

A life insurance policy that’s tailored for you can provide coverage for those unknowns that keep you stressed and unproductive. Most people don’t plan to fail. They simply fail to plan. Think of a well-thought out insurance strategy as a stress ball for your bank account!

Contact me today, and together we’ll work on an insurance strategy that fits you and your dreams – and can help you get back to work with significantly less financial stress.

Ever heard of the “Sandwich Generation”?Unfortunately, it’s not a group of financially secure, middle-aged foodies whose most important mission is hanging out in the kitchens of their paid-off homes, brainstorming ideas about how to make the perfect sandwich. The Sandwich Generation refers to adults who find themselves in the position of financially supporting their grown children and their own parents, all while trying to save for their futures. They’re “sandwiched” between caring for both the older generation and the younger generation.
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Can you relate to this? Do you feel like a PB&J that was forgotten at the bottom of a 2nd grader’s backpack?

If you feel like a sandwich, here are 3 tips to help put a wrap on that:

1. Have a plan. In an airplane, the flight attendants instruct us to put on our own oxygen mask before helping someone else put on theirs – this means before anyone, even your children or your elderly parents. Put your own mask on first. This practice is designed to help keep you and everyone else safe. Imagine if half the plane passed out from lack of oxygen because everyone neglected themselves while trying to help other people. When it comes to potentially having to support your kids and your parents, a tailored financial strategy that includes life insurance and contributing to a retirement fund will help you get your own affairs in order first, so that you can help care for your loved ones next.

2. Increase your income. For that sandwich, does it feel like there’s never enough mayonnaise? You’re always trying to scrape that last little bit from the jar. Increasing your income would help stock your pantry (figuratively, and also literally) with an extra jar or two. Options for a 2nd career are everywhere, and many entrepreneurial opportunities let you set your own hours and pace. Working part-time as your own boss while helping to get out of the proverbial panini press? Go for it!

3. Start dreaming again. You may have been in survival mode for so long that you’ve forgotten you once had dreams. What would you love to do for yourself or your family when you have the time and money? Take that vacation to Europe? Build that addition on to the house? Own that luxury car you’ve always wanted? Maybe you’d like to have enough leftover to help others pursue their goals.
It’s never too late to get the ball rolling on any of these steps. When you’re ready, feel free to give me a call. We can work together to quickly prioritize how you can start feeling less like baloney and more like a Monte Cristo.

​At WFGInsuranceQuotes.com we help protect families all over the country. Let us help you . Contact us today

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Protect your today and prepare for their future at the same time - apply in minutes
​#insurance #affordablelife insurance #termlifeinsurance

3 big reasons to fix meals at home instead of eating out:

1. Spending some precious quality time with your family.
2. Getting a refill on your drink as soon as it’s empty.
3. Taking your shoes off under the table without getting that look from your partner (probably).
   
   

Here’s another reason to fix meals at home more often than going out: 
Each ingredient at your favorite restaurant has a markup. (Obviously – otherwise they wouldn’t be in business very long.) But how much do you think they mark up their meals? 50%? 100%? Nope. The average markup for each ingredient at a restaurant is 300%!¹

A $9 hamburger (that’s right – without cheese) at a diner would cost you less than $2 to make at home.² Go ahead and add some cheese then! Restaurants need to make a profit, but when you’re trying to stick to a financial strategy, cutting back on restaurant-prepared meals can make a big difference.

In addition to saving you money, cooking at home also has health benefits. 
The University of Washington’s 2017 Seattle Obesity Study found that those who cooked at home 6 times per week met more of the US Federal guidelines for a healthy diet than those who cooked meals at home 3 times per week.³ In other words, if you’re eating at home more often than you’re eating out, you’re more likely to be getting in your fruits, veggies, and other essentials of a balanced diet.

Taking better care of your health and saving money? Now that’s a reason to fire up
the backyard grill!

​At WFGInsuranceQuotes.com we help protect families all over the country. Let us help you .
​Contact us today.

Click here and get a low life insurance rate in seconds and Free $5,000 College Scholarship
- Protect your today and prepare for their future - apply in minutes

Visit us online at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com or call us at 855.236.2992
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Sources:
¹ "Should You Get the Guacamole on Your Burrito? A Price Analysis of Your Favorite Foods." Plate IQ, 4.3.2017, https://blog.plateiq.com/should-you-get-the-guacamole-on-your-burrito-a-price-analysis-of-your-favorite-foods-59ad19a6e13f.
² Ibid. 
³ "Cooking at home tonight? It's likely cheaper and healthier, study finds." ScienceDaily, 3.14.2017, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170314150926.htm.

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Both Americans and Canadians each owe more than $1 trillion in credit card debt.You read that right: more than $1 trillion.
​
That number is up 6.2% in the US and 6% in Canada from 1 year ago. At this rate, it seems like more and more people are going to end up being owned by a tiny piece of plastic rather than the other way around.

How much have you or a loved one contributed to that number? Whether it’s $10 or $10,000, there are a couple simple tricks to get and keep yourself out of credit card debt.

The first step is to be aware of how and when you’re using your credit card. It’s so easy – especially on a night out when you’re trying to unwind – to mindlessly hand over your card to pay the bill. And for most people, paying with credit has become their preferred, if not exclusive, payment option. Dinner, drinks, Ubers, a concert, a movie, a sporting event – it’s going to add up.
And when that credit card bill comes, you could end up feeling more wound up than you did before you tried to unwind.

Paying attention to when, what for, and how often you hand over your credit card is crucial to getting out from under credit card debt.

Here are 2 tips to keep yourself on track on a night out.1. Consider your budget. You might cringe at the word “budget”, but it’s not an enemy who never wants you to have any fun. Considering your budget doesn’t mean you can never enjoy a night out with friends or coworkers. It simply means that an evening of great food, fun activities, and making memories must be considered in the context of your long-term goals. Start thinking of your budget as a tough-loving friend who’ll be there for you for the long haul.

Before you plan a night out:

• Know exactly how much you can spend before you leave the house or your office, and keep track of your spending as your evening progresses.
• Try using an app on your phone or even write your expenses on a napkin or the back of your hand – whatever it takes to keep your spending in check.
• Once you have reached your limit for the evening – stop.
  
  

2. Cash, not plastic (wherever possible). Once you know what your budget for a night out is, get it in cash or use a debit card. When you pay your bill with cash, it’s a concrete transaction. You’re directly involved in the physical exchange of your money for goods and services. In the case that an establishment or service will only take credit, just keep track of it (app, napkin, back of your hand, etc.), and leave the cash equivalent in your wallet.

You can still enjoy a night on the town, get out from under credit card debt, and be better prepared for the future with a carefully planned financial strategy. Contact me today, and together we’ll assess where you are on your financial journey and what steps you can take to get where you want to go – hopefully by happy hour!

At WFGInsuranceQuotes.com we help protect families all over the country.
Let us help you . Contact us today
​
Click here and get a low cost life insurance rate in seconds - apply in minutes.
Quick Quote & Apply. 
No Exam Carriers: SBLI and Principal

Visit us online at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com or call us at 855.236.2992

Sources:
Business Insider: “Credit card debt hits $1 trillion.” 4.12.2017 
Toronto Star: “Canadian household debt hits another record in fourth quarter.” 3.15.17