Bill Burton, Financial Coach

My blog on living like a millionaire received the most clicks of any so far. Continuing on that theme, Dave Ramsey’s article linked below shares some ideas on how to save more money in 2020. Don’t we all want to spend less and save more? Joan and I have already incorporated some of these money-saving tips like shopping for a cheaper cell phone provider. For information on how you can realize your financial dreams, call me at 260-413-9589 or email me at BBurtonFC@gmail.com . https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-save-money-every-month

The Motley Fool article linked below states that over 25% of Social Security recipients thought they would receive more from Social Security (SS) than they are getting and on average non-recipients over-estimated their future Social Security payments by as much as 30%. Do you have any idea how much you will be getting from Social Security (If it is still viable) when you retire? You can easily get an estimate of your future Social Security payout from the website: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html . You can see the difference in payouts based on when you retire. Taking retirement benefits prior to full retirement age (age 66 for those born from 1943-1954, age 66 plus some months for those born from 1954-1959, age 67 for those born in 1960 or later) lessens the amount you receive each month. Waiting longer to take SS benefits, increases the monthly amount up to age 70. Retiring prior to full retirement age also places restrictions on how much you ca...

Many people think that millionaires live a totally carefree lifestyle never giving money a second thought. For many millionaires, nothing could be further from the truth. Most are very diligent about the way they spend their money. You see, that’s how they got to be millionaires in the first place. They carefully considered how they spent, how they saved and how they invested their money. In the article linked below, we see that one of the major ways in which millionaires differ from non-millionaires is on spending for food. Millionaires spend less on groceries and less on restaurant food.   They also use coupons to reduce their grocery spending. Take a few minutes to read the article and consider ways in which you could live more like a millionaire. Who knows, with hard work and careful planning you could be a millionaire one day. For information on how you can realize your financial dreams, call me at 260-413-9589 or email me at BBurtonFC@gmail.com . https://ww...

After paying off bills, developing an emergency fund and putting money aside  for retirement, many families want to start a college fund for their children or grandchildren. As with any type of investing, the sooner this is done, the greater the return. A friend recently showed me the account he set up to help with college expenses for his grandchild. At this point in time he has put $9400 into the account and it has grown to over $21,000. In addition, he was able to receive a tax credit on his state income taxes of 20% ($1,880). So, for $7520 after the tax credit, he has nearly tripled the amount of money available for tuition, books, room and board, etc. The good news is that this money will never be taxed as long as it us used for approved education expenses. For information on how you can set up a college fund for your family, please call me at 260-413-9589 or email me at BBurtonFC@gmail.com .

Who doesn’t love Christmas movies? What’s your favorite? It’s a Wonderful Life is mine. Who doesn’t root for George to figure out all of the wonderful reasons for which he has to live?  Dave Ramsey has listed some great financial lessons from the most popular Christmas movies at the link below. Check them out below. If you would like to talk to me about a better financial future, call me at 260-413-9589, or email me at BBurtonFC@gmail.com for details. https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/financial-lessons-from-christmas-movies