Wealthy Wednesdays - How much is your life worth?

Wealthy Wednesdays – How much is your life worth?

Everyone knows that insurance is a necessary evil.  But how do you really know if your over insured or under-insured.  You need life insurance, home insurance, car insurance, jewelry insurance, medical insurance and the list goes on.  When we purchased our co-op we were told that the co-op insurance covers the four walls, everything else is our responsibility.  We contacted family friends, our real estate attorney and of course our insurance agent to come up with a number we were comfortable with as far as a figure that we rebuild our entire unit God forbid something happens.  It is very hard to put a number on memories so considering a lot of our things were new we tallied all our receipts and added a couple of bucks and we went on our way.  Everyone who knows me knows I’m in constant search of ways to better organize my life and I came across Quicken's website.  (As far as finances go, I’m a financial analyst (depending on the day of the week) and an Accountant for the rest of the days so I built myself a really detailed worksheet in Excel to manage my finances.  I’ll share a demo worksheet that I sent to all of my friends and family in a later post.)  Quicken has a product called Quicken Home Inventory Manager.  You can actually take pictures of an item, load it into the software, scan your receipts and applicable warranties and even list a beneficiary for the item.  The software compares your insurance coverage to actual replacement costs and tells you if you are under-insured.  I mean who thinks of these things?  You can also back up your information onto Quicken Online Backup which allows you to be anywhere and still have the ability to retrieve your information online.  The software is only $29.95 and considering it can save you thousands of dollars in the event of a claim this would be a FANTASTIC investment.  There’s one drawback.  You have to have Windows software.  My heart sank when I read this.  I’m in a monogamous relationship with Apple.  Well…I was actually just thinking about getting a Netbook since I’m going back to school this semester for another degree *shudders* Nonetheless for those of you who do have Windows I would definitely suggest taking a closer look into this product and seeing if it was something that works for you.

**Disclaimer – Quicken did not reach out to me in order to endorse this product.  I just really think it’s cool. 

Wealthy Wednesdays: Want vs. Need

With the state of the current economy many of us have experienced some sort of reduction in income. Whether it is a layoff, cutback of hours, no raise or bonus this year, I think everyone is feeling the pain.  It's times like these that call for the natural resourcefulness of a woman. There are so many ways in which we can cut back.

Wealthy Wednesdays

I decided to use Wednesdays to write about building wealth.  I was an Economics major in undergrad and I work in finance now so I love sharing little tid bits with my family and friends about saving and more importantly managing money.  So in true busy wife fashion…let’s jump right in shall we?  Does your job offer a flexible spending plan?  If so, and you’re not taking advantage of it you’re missing out on free money.  Flex Spending gives you the opportunity to take PRE-TAX earnings and use them for qualified expenses.  You can use the money for prescriptions, co-pays, daycare, adoptions costs, over-the-counter medications and the list goes on. (Important to note: the gov’t may be changing the allowance for over the counter medication next year 2011).  For a hypochondriac like me Flex Spending is the best thing since creation.  I have a cardiologist, primary care physician, chiropractor, optometrist, dermatologist…you name it…I got it.  I have a $40 co-pay everytime I got to see one of these doctors and that can add up very quickly over the course of a year.  I reviewed my online bank statement at the end of 2009 and estimated how much I spent in health care costs and I rounded down and put that amount towards my Flex Spending Account for 2010.  It’s important to get an accurate idea of what you will spend as Flex Spending has “use it or lose it” rule.  Any monies not used at the end of the year are forfeited.  I get six new sets of contacts twice a year so it’s important for me to have these monies available.  Every plan is different; some come with debit cards that you can give right to the pharmacist or your doctors’ office.  Other plans require you to pay and then submit your receipts so it is important to contact your Benefits Administrator to get the details about your plan.  Want a rough estimate of what your new paycheck will look like after you take out Flex Spending?  Head over to www.paycheckcity.com and view their salary calculator, you can put in special deductions and see what your final paycheck will look like.  Hope this helps.  Come back next Wednesday for another tip.