Tools
Worksheets
Understanding your Expenses is critical in developing a financial plan.
Use our Goal Development Worksheet to list your goals and set priorities.
Quicken Software Tips
What is Quicken and why should I use it?
Quicken is a brand of personal finance software that allows you to track your expenses and assists in the budgeting process. As many of you know, it can be hard to create a budget and even harder to stick to it.
The key to sticking to your planning is continuous monitoring. To do so, we generally recommend using software like Quicken that is designed specifically for expense tracking. Quicken allows you to easily download data from your bank account and other financial institutions that you use. Once downloaded, you can categorize each individual transaction so that you can create an accurate picture of where your money goes.
How many categories should I use and what are they?
Some common problems we see are trying to over-categorize and coding a large amount of regular expenses as one time occurrences. Simplification should be emphasized when creating your budget and categorizing each transaction. We recommend using the following categories:
- Clothing
- Communication (Phone, TV, Internet)
- Discretionary (Cash, Travel, Fun, Church/Charity Contributions)
- Food (Dining Out, Alcohol, Groceries)
- Debts (Mortgage, Equity Line, Car Payments, Credit Card or Student Loan Payments)
- Education (Books, Private School, College Tuition)
- Health & Hygiene (Gym Membership, Doctor Visits, Prescriptions)
- Household (Maintenance, Home Improvements)
- Investments (Roth/IRA Contributions)
- Risk Management & Financial Services (Bank Charges, Insurance)
- Taxes
- Transportation (Gas, Repairs, Car Insurance)
From these basic categories, you can create future sub-categories, but it is important to keep the bigger picture in mind when monitoring your expenses.
Should I be trying to hit the same number every month?
Comparing expenses on a monthly basis can be another source of frustration as there are many fluctuations that occur throughout the year (Holidays, Summer Vacation, etc.). Therefore, it is important to measure your progress against a rolling year period. For example: You’ve just finished January, so you will want to measure Feb 1st of last year to Jan 31st of this year against the calendar year amount of your budget. If the amount is more, then you know you are a little ahead of pace and you should scale back. Performing this exercise monthly can greatly improve your overall financial picture as it allows you to have greater control over your regular expenditures.
Avoiding Elderly Fraud
Contact numbers to report fraudulent activity:
NC Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Office: 1-877-5-NO-SCAM
Fraud Fighter Line: 1-800-646-2283
NC Task Force Chair: 919-716-6000
Website of to see recent scams:
The NC Division of Aging and Adult Services Senior Consumer Fraud Task Force
Real example of elderly fraud and tips for avoidance:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520056162621509.html
Link to article for new elderly fraud legislation:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/09/16/2009-09-16_us_sen_kirsten_gillibrand.html
The legislation would accomplish the following objectives…
- Charge an additional $50,000 civil fine for each violation that is targeted or is committed against a senior.
- Create a national grant program for states to protect seniors from misleading financial advisors claiming to specialize in seniors
- Direct the FTC to establish a one-stop-shop for consumer education on mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud against seniors.
- Establish a grant program to give states and local organizations the resources they need to initiate local mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud prevention and education programs for seniors;
- Declare a “National Senior Fraud Awareness Week” in May – coordinated with Elder Abuse Awareness Month – to increase public awareness of the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing and Internet fraud have on senior citizens in the U.S.
- Initial workshops to educate seniors on how to recognize risk factors and learn about who can help them if they are exploited.
