Posts Tagged ‘Saving’

Personal finances on the slide despite national upturn?

July 28th, 2010 Vijaianand

According to a recent survey by the Washington-based Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. (CFP), Americans anticipate the national economy could be more likely to improve than decline during the next six months. However, as Bloomberg reports, the CFP study also shows the majority of Americans do not have as much faith that their personal finances will improve.


Personal finances fall as recession fades


Forty-four percent of CFP poll respondents see the U.S. waking up before their own personal finances, when 28 percent are pessimistic on all fronts. “Americans are generally hopeful, and much of the economic news leads us to conclude that we are out of the recession, and a double dip is unlikely,” said CPF chair Robert Glovsky to Bloomberg.


But this optimism doesn’t stick to the personal finance problem, it seems. Consumer confidence may be up while the declared unemployment rate was down .2 percentage points from May 2010 to June 2010 (it was 9.5 percent in June), but the CFP survey indicates that nearly two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) indicate that their worries over basic matters of long-term personal finance have grown significantly since the beginning of the recession. Individuals know they’re in need of cash now, but often find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to a bank loan. Relying upon a poor credit personal cash loan is an choice, but not one that has inspired consumers to view their financial futures within the most good manner.


A three-fold path to bad-time personal finances


The CFP survey, which was conducted via telephone by market research firm Penn Schoen Berland, found the vast majority of the 1,000-member sample group of consumers ages 18 and older were afraid they wouldn’t be able to maintain sufficient savings, pay for college or have enough money put away for retirement. Not only that, but 80 percent of the group agreed that Congress wasn’t doing enough to regulate financial markets. However, various media sources indicate a reform bill may pass through Congress soon.


More information about this topic at these websites


bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-13/americans-are-more-optimistic-about-economy-than-own-finances-survey-says.html


cfp.net/media/release.asp?id=253

Posted in Economy, Finance, Financial Literacy, Saving Tags: , No Comments »
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I want to become a Millionaire…

July 16th, 2010 Vijaianand

Last blog post was an article from Trak.in about “India’s Millionaires” and how the number got doubled last year even with all the economical uncertainity. I decided to continue the topic by writing about Millionaire Mindset and evaluating my own goal of becoming High Networth Individual (HNW).

I remember a funny saying, “You can easily get rich in two ways, by birth or by marriage.” First one is obviously not in your hands but second option is feasible if you are confident about your people skills. But if you are a believer of  yourself, there are better ways. Things took a new turn especially during the dot com era and people mentality started dreaming on high places. Thats the same timeframe when “Who wants to be  a Millionaire?” show started airing and creating buzz all about becoming a millionaires. It surely boosted the moral of many individuals to aim big particularly many entreprenuers in the middle class.

Following the hit of the show and dot com era, many millionaires made news more often than ever and millionaires list started growing. According to the “World Wealth Report” which is a report on individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million in all assets except their primary residence. In the World Wealth Report 2007 – “The 11th annual World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch/Capgemini finds the World’s High Net Worth (HNW) population growing to 9.5 million with their assets rising to $37.2 trillion.

Talk about becoming a Millionaire was everywhere in the internet. Many self made millionaires called themselves as gurus and grabbed the chance to preach their very own mantras via seminars and books. To name a few, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosoki and more… But recently due to economy crash, investment values plummented and many millionaires dropped from the list.  “The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including first homes, fell by 2.5 million to 6.7 million in 2008, according to the Spectrum Group report, as reported by Reuters. As of 2009, there were 2,886,200 HNWI’s in United states. 

Even after seeing the uncertainity of market, job losses and economy struggle, millionaire fire continues to live on among many brave souls. Whether I consider myself as a one among wannabe millionaires or it is just one of my goals, I strongly feel it is a challenging goal to have in your list. It is surely not a easy task for any one especially a guy like me who came from middle class indian family. But it is an achievable target for any hard working individual.

If there is a WILL, there is always a WAY to reach it.  Whether you choose to work hard in your profession, spend less and save more or putting money on different invest vehicles or trying to invent new business ideas or products like iPhone or Joined MLM network, every route has got challenges and worth trying it out.

First thing I did was started tracking my progress by updating networth every month towards my goal to become millionaire in 2015. It really helps me to put things in perspective like where I was, where I am now, know periodic progress and what I need to do move forward in my journey.

Being a hardcore wannabe Millionaire, many times I asked myself number of questions like,

Is the Millionaire goal truely worth it?
Do I have to become a millionaire to live happily?
Why do you need to have Millionaire goal?
Can I have my Financial Freedom when I become Millionaire?
Does only men are up against Million dollar goal?
What is Millionaire Mindset?
Are Millionaires lavish spenders?

Are some things just myths about being a Millionaire or real truth? I plan to dwelve more into these questions in my next post. If you have any questions like above, please share your thoughts and views.

Posted in Frugal, General, Saving Tags: , , No Comments »
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Five minute can save you…

May 21st, 2010 Vijaianand

I am sure many of you heard of the famous line from GEICO Insurance ad, “A five minute call can save you 15% or more on car insurance“. I don’t know whether that’s really works or not. But I am going to steal their tag line to stress a point, “A five minute call or googling can really save you some dollars every day“.

That’s right. Five minute which may be a small amount of time but reasonable enough to save you tens of dollars. It’s saved me and saving me everyday. You can save too, just spend five minutes for a worthy cause to save yourself some money.

A five minute call…

Every year I have a tradition to call my service providers asking them for any promo’s or discounts. I pitch my tone in a way, asking them whether they can save me money for being a loyal customer. I don’t see anything wrong in it. If you are giving business to somebody and being with them as a long time customer, they should be able share some profit with the customer to show their appreciation.

So I called Vonage last week and happened to get good customer service rep in a long time. She was mindful and understanding. She couldn’t find any promo but she gave did waive one month of service fee including all taxes which was worth $34. That will surely pay for a sunday lunch with my family.  She even encouraged me to call me back next month to see whether they got any offer if not they can do something about it. I like the way I was treated by Vonage. I surely deserve it for being customer for almost 6 year with them and recommended atleast 10 people to signup with them.

If you are loyal customer to your phone company, cable provider or pest control company, any business. I urge you call them every year and try out in a nice way by asking them to save money and share some profit with you. I don’t see anything wrong with it. Let me know how it goes.

A five Minute Googling…

Googling can be addictive. These days, everytime we think of something and need answers, we automatically go to google. Why not google when you think of buying something? I know many frugalers and money smart savers research and google before buying anything. Being a frugaler myself, I do it all the time and don’t have too be scientist to do research. Just google for 5 mins and you will know whether your purchase is a deal or no deal.  I saved more than $100 on my online orders in last few weeks. See the list below,

1. Bought USI Electric Smoke detector – $54(w shipping) – saved $15
2. Bought Wireless Router from Buy.com – $39.99(free shipping) – saved $15
3. Ordered Perfume from Amazon for my in-law – $42(free shipping) saved –  $30
4. Purchased Laptop Battery – $49.99 with $5 discount from seller and also saved $30 compared to hpdirect.
5. Got new DC Adapter for vonage router – Free from vonage – saved $10

These are just few purchases from last few weeks. Almost all purchases only needed 5 mins of googling to price shop and order them.

You can also save money in this tough economy and keep it stored up in your saving account for future. Please share your experience about googling and 5 min calls. I can’t wait to hear.

Posted in Personal Finance, Saving Tags: No Comments »
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