Struggling with Finances

An article this week in the Columbus dispatch make me think about all of the seniors out there struggling to pay the energy bill their gasoline bill their RX costs and even their food bills. On a fixed income this has got to be a very difficult year. Inflation in the Consumer Price Index is now 6%. The cost of fuel is up 100% in two years. Heating and air conditioning costs are expected to be up between 30 and 50 % this year alone.

What is a retired couple to do? Here are a list of things to consider beyond using less heat and air conditioning energy, considering more energy efficient appliances, using CFL light bulbs wherever possible, buy a more fuel efficient car and consolidate your trips. and shopping for bargains at the grocery store and buying generic medications if available and if you doctor believes it will be ok for you.Once you have considered these things lets look at the next steps.
1.Where is you emergency money kept? What interest rate are you currently earning? If less than about 3% you are making a mistake.
2.Next level are you parking some money in a bank CD? What interest rate are you earning? If you are making less than about 5% you could be making more!
3.Where have you positioned most of your retirement or long term assets? Have you every lost money where you are currently parking you growth assets? Do you have less assets there today than you did in 2006 or in 2007? Would you like to stop the bleeding in your financial assets or at least protect some portion of those assets from market risk? Would you be interested if you knew that you could earn a guaranteed 6-7.2% rate of growth in your income account value each year over a ten year period and still retain reasonable access to those funds with penalty free withdrawals meeting certain conditions? Would you like to be able to create a lifetime income stream with some portion of your total assets? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions we should talk about a safer financial alternative strategy.
4. Do you need to significantly reduce your expenses and improve cash flow? Are you still making mortgage payments? Are you and your spouse if married both over age 62 years of age?

Are you willing to reallocate assets to improve your financial conditions? Would you like to arrange an initial no fee consultation to assess your current situation and determine if we could help you improve your financial health. How can we help you?

www.columbusfinancialplanningpros.com

polarisfinancialservices@gmail.com