Saving & Budgeting - North Light Financial Services

What Expenses Could Change When You Retire?

What Expenses Could Change When You Retire? Some costs could rise, fall or even disappear. Your retirement may seem near at hand or far away, but one thing is certain: your future will differ from your present. Financially, that fact is worth remembering. Some of the costs you have paid regularly all these years may suddenly decrease or fade away. Others may increase. Will your insurance costs rise with age? Maybe not. You may find that your overall insurance expenses decline. [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:13-04:00November 23rd, 2016|Personal Finance, Saving & Budgeting, Savings and Investing|Comments Off

Why Are We Saving More and Spending Less?

Why Are We Saving More and Spending Less? Have our memories of the Great Recession altered our habits? Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States. Lately, that spending has moderated. Across the 12 month sending in March, personal spending advanced 3.4%. That matched the gain seen in 2015.1,2 Is a 3.4% annualized gain in personal spending adequate? Not in historical terms. During 2014, consumer spending accelerated 4.2%. The average monthly gain in consumer [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:15-04:00June 9th, 2016|Financial Fitness, Saving & Budgeting, Savings and Investing|Comments Off

Should You Plan to Retire on 80% of Your Income?

Should You Plan to Retire on 80% of Your Income? Examining a long-held retirement planning assumption. A classic retirement planning rule states that you should retire on 80% of the income you earned in your last year of work. Is this old axiom still true, or does it need reconsidering? Some new research suggests that retirees may not need that much annual income to keep up their standard of living. The 80% rule is really just a guideline. It [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:15-04:00April 29th, 2016|Retirement, Saving & Budgeting|Comments Off

Reducing the Risk of Outliving Your Money

Reducing the Risk of Outliving Your Money What steps might help you sustain and grow your retirement savings? “What is your greatest retirement fear?” If you ask retirees that question, “outliving my money” may likely be one of the top answers. Retirees and pre-retirees alike share this anxiety. In a 2014 Wells Fargo/Gallup survey of more than 1,000 investors, 46% of respondents cited that very fear; 42% of the respondents to that poll were making $90,000 a year or more.1 [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:16-04:00March 10th, 2016|Retirement, Saving & Budgeting, Savings and Investing, Social Sercurity Planning|Comments Off

Making and Keeping Financial Resolutions

Making and Keeping Financial Resolutions What you might do (or do differently) in the months ahead? How will your money habits change in 2016? What decisions or behaviors might help your personal finances, your retirement prospects, or your net worth? Each year presents a “clean slate,” so as one year ebbs into another, it is natural to think about what you might do (or do differently) in the 12 months ahead. Financially speaking, what New Year’s resolutions might you want to [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00January 4th, 2016|Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving & Budgeting, Savings and Investing|Comments Off