Putting their internal financial management aside, let’s think about a few of the reasons our Postal Service is in this mess:

• Technological advances make sending and receiving information easier, cheaper and faster.
• Increased environmental awareness has influenced businesses and consumers to change to electronic delivery.
• ‘Opt-Out’ regulations have allowed consumers the ability to stop unsolicited marketing from credit card companies.
• Businesses give customers incentives for going ‘paperless’- lower monthly fees, reduced interest rates, and in some cases, discounts on their goods and services.
• With much of the USPS former services going towards handling promotional materials and consumer bills, multimedia has taken over as a more cost effective alternative of sending information.

While USPS may change their structure of ownership and management in the future, say becoming more of what the other big shipping companies are today, the concept of ‘snail mail’ will most likely never go away, with the help of the following:

• ‘Original documents’ for items like real estate transactions and financial paperwork often require original signatures, seals or raised stamps.
• Greeting cards, personal letters and small gifts are still sent happily through regular mail (though not as often as they used to)… and we still enjoy receiving them.
• People often prefer reading a magazine, newsletter or catalog while holding it, rather than viewing it on a screen.
• There is a generation of people that do not have nor want electronic delivery.

Legislation, internal practice improvements and raising postal costs may be necessary to give the USPS a re-boot, but it is the people the USPS serves that can start the rebuilding process now.

So go ahead and send a handwritten note to someone. I bet you will make both a postal worker’s and a friend’s day.

Photo credit to imurf.

Photo by: Shea Hazarian

Have you ever wondered what it means to be able to call oneself a CFP®? Or, what does it mean to be a member of NAPFA or FPA?

At Financial Symmetry, we understand that it can become easy to get lost in the long list of acronyms that financial planners use. Some planners use letters after his or her name, while other mention specific membership affiliations.

Let’s take a look at the credentials and membership affiliations of Financial Symmetry’s primary advisors.

CFP®

FPA

Looking forward for 2012 contributions, some contribution limits for this year have increased.  This does not include the limits for the Roth and Traditional IRAs, but does include the majority of employer sponsored plans such as 401ks and 403bs. A very good practice is to contribute enough of your salary to receive at least the employer match.  Also, pay raises often present an easy opportunity to increase your deferral, while reducing your adjusted gross income.

If you will be celebrating your 50th birthday this year, it is also a good time to make sure that your HR Department enables the ‘catch-up’ provision on your employer sponsored plan. This will help you meet the maximum contribution limits throughout the year.

The contribution limits for nearly all types of retirement plans are listed in the following chart:

Still unsure how much (in which accounts) you should be contributing to? An updated financial plan may be your first step in understanding how to take advantage of the best investment accounts for your situation.

Need investment management and an ongoing, evolving financial plan? Our wealth management service monitors your income and determines each year how much you should be contributing to each of these investment accounts that are applicable to your eligibility.  We also review your income tax and estate picture, which may provide opportunities for tax savings.

If you are interested in either of these services, please contact us.

While many of us do not consider budgeting to be even remotely exciting, it is one of the most important things we can do to understand where our money goes and figure out ways to either spend less, save more, and/or plan for goals throughout the year.

Whether you have been tracking your budget for a few months or for a few years, now is the perfect time to re-examine it. Take some time to align your monthly estimated budget and actual spending.  Are your monthly budgets higher than your targeted annual expense number? Are you really spending as much as you anticipated on items such as transportation or utility costs?  You may find that some of your targets need to be readjusted, either increased or decreased, depending on changes in your lifestyle. 

It may also help to take a look at your current expense-tracking categories and see if you can condense any to better capture the broader picture. We recommend tracking wide-ranging categories such as ‘Food and Dining’ and ‘Utilities’ rather than breaking down ‘Fast Food’ and ‘Coffee Shops’ or ‘Cell Phone’ and ‘Internet.’ In the long run, your total regular expenses are what is most important.

We understand that everyone’s situation is unique and some households require more categories than others.  Some households may want to trim expenses, and separating out the smaller categories for a short amount of time can help you see where money is being spent.  If you are interested in reducing expenses in one particular area, try setting both a timeline and dollar-savings goal, and then, consistently monitor your progress. Once your goal has been achieved, readjust your budgeting categories to see the big picture again.

The start of the New Year is also a great time to update (or begin) a financial plan. For our current clients, we are more than happy to assist you with both setting up and monitoring Mint.com accounts.  Contact us to learn more about the ways in which we can to help you not only track your expenses, but also help plan for your financial goals along the way.

Financial Symmetry has covered several current events on our blog throughout 2011, and here are what we think the Top 10 Stories of the Year have been:

(Click the plus (+) symbol to expand the story.)

Do you have a family member or close friend who is:

• contemplating how much house he/she can afford to purchase?
• expecting the birth of a child?
• sending a child off to college?
• changing jobs?
• planning for retirement?
• or just unsure where they stand financially?

Then the Gift of Financial Planning may be just what a family member or friend needs to start 2012 off on the right foot!

What is the Gift of Financial Planning?

• A projection of cash flows and net worth, including saving and expense strategies.
• Situation specific recommendations on how to best reach goals.
• The chance to ask financial questions and receive honest, candid answers.

If you are interested in learning more about the Gift of Financial Planning, contact Heather Gudac at hgudac@financialsymmetry.com or (919) 851-8200 ext. 205 for more information.

Grace graduated from NC State University with a B.S. in Business Management – Finance and a Minor in Accounting.  Shortly thereafter, Grace joined Financial Symmetry, Inc. (FSI) full-time. She began her career with the firm as a financial intern in October of 2009.

As Financial Symmetry has continued to grow, so has Grace’s role within the company. In addition to her responsibilities of assisting with portfolio and wealth management, Grace’s new position includes supporting the growing operations team. Grace assists with new account transitioning, trading and account maintenance processing, and gathering data and information for our investment and wealth management clients.

Going forward, she is looking forward to benefiting FSI’s clientele in each of FSI’s fee-only services- financial planning, investment management and wealth management.

For more information about Grace and what she does for Financial Symmetry, click here to read her bio or contact her by email, grooth@financialsymmetry.com, or by phone, (919) 851-8200 ext. 206.

Serving 67 North Carolina counties, the O’Berry Center Foundation strives to improve the quality of life for persons with developmental disabilities through family support, community services, education, quality of life initiatives and scholarships.

Financial Symmetry is proud to support an organization that provides such an important service to North Carolina.

So you’ve started tracking your budget, congratulations!  But now, you may be second-guessing a few of your category choices, or find yourself going over-budget each month. We’ve compiled a few ideas to try to help you get back on track.

Here are a few of our favorite “I’ve started budgeting, but now what?” tips:

• Budgeting software often has trouble correctly categorizing a few expenses, specifically towards the beginning of use.  Take a quick look at your transactions and identify and correct those that are mislabeled. If you are using Mint.com or an online version of Quicken, be sure to take advantage of their easy to read ‘trend’ or reporting sections.  You can see where you’ve spent money over specific categories in charts that allow you to drill down to the transaction level, helping to spot inaccuracies. If you are not using budgeting software, compiling data from your receipts and statements will be a good way to get started.  Remember, you are trying to identify where your spending money and look for ways to reduce spending, if necessary.
• Revisit the items you have budgeted.  Now that you have been tracking for a few months or longer, are your budgeted items realistic? Maybe some adjustments need to be made to common expenses like household utilities, food and dining, transportation costs (including gas and regular maintenance), and discretionary (misc. spending).
• It is common for your expenses to fluctuate over time and for some expenses to occur only during parts of the year.  Some items, like car insurance, homeowner association dues, and professional fees may be paid quarterly or semi-annually, so be sure to include those expenses in your budget now.
• If you are spending more than your budgeted amount on a regular basis, take some time to plan out ways to reduce your spending.  Little things like taking your lunch to work once or twice a week, making coffee at home, or planning errands around one trip can all add up over time.
• Have you had any lifestyle changes that should be reflected in your budget?  A home purchase, renovation or new child can increase (or decrease) spending and should be accounted for.  Adding new expenses to your budget while taking time to review your overall spending picture can help set you back on track.

For our current clients, we are available to help answer questions that you may have about Mint and Quicken.  We may also be able to assist you in starting the expense tracking process from the very start.  Please contact Heather Gudac at hgudac@financialsymmetry.com if you are interested to learn more information.

Cameron joins the firm after participating in FSI’s financial planning internship program in the spring of 2010. He recently graduated from NC State University with a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance, with a minor in Accounting.  As Financial Symmetry has continued to grow, so has Cameron’s role within the company.

Cameron’s responsibilities include supervising data collection and processing for our clients’ accounts, developing new processes to manage incoming data, and assisting our advisors with wealth management reporting. Cameron also supports our team’s cost basis reporting and tax preparation services.

He is looking forward to improving and establishing new data processing procedures that will benefit FSI’s clientele in each of their fee-only services- financial planning, investment management and wealth management.

To find out more about Cameron, click here to read his bio, email him at chendricks@financialsymmetry.com or call him at (919) 851-8200 ext. 207