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personal finance club

September 29th, 2011 at 03:25 am

Yesterday, at work, I listened into a web broadcast put on by the national HQ of our non-profit. It was about preparing for retirement. It wasn't bad - there were a couple of pieces of knowledge that were novel and useful to me - but there is a lot of the "it depends on your individual situation" and "see a financial planner" ... not to mention, the ever popular "keep an eye on your financial planner."

Weasel words, I think. If you have to know enough about financial planning/personal finance to keep an eye on your financial planner, wouldn't it be cheaper to be your own financial planner?

Anyway, I'm on a jag here. There are a couple of hobby clubs, book clubs, etc - I wonder if there is a place for a personal finance club at work.

Anybody out there start one or participate in one? If you have, how do you structure it, keeping things simple for the newbies and interesting for not-newbies?

Posted in Workplace | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “personal finance club”

  1. My English Castle Says:
    September 29th, 2011 at 04:28 am 1317270503
    1317270503

    I would love a personal finance club at work. That's a great idea.
    Anyone hear the NPR story about the "Rule of 33" today?
    You should take your estimated first year of retirement spending and multiply it by 33 to figure out how much money you'll need for the rest of your retirement.

    I need to do the math, but I'm think I'm very short (and I never think that!)

  2. ceejay74 Says:
    September 29th, 2011 at 03:04 pm 1317308675
    1317308675

    I have that very problem, baselle! My retirement picture is so complex that I really feel like I need professional help -- but how will I know I've got the right professional who know's what S/HE's doing? And, like you said, if I ever knew enough to keep tabs, I could just do it myself.

    It's really holding me back from attacking my retirement-savings goals, because I'm not sure the best place to put money. I do have the excuse of getting rid of debt, but I can't meander along without understanding ex-pat retirement too much longer.

  3. baselle Says:
    September 29th, 2011 at 05:45 pm 1317318314
    1317318314

    Well, for laughs I threw it out on the Marketplace Money personal finance blog. I'll see whether anybody bites on it. I took a look at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau website - so far there's no obvious place to throw out this idea. I might just pick the non-obvious place.

    MEC - I did see that! I read it as the ever changing answer to the question "How much should I take out to make sure that I don't outlive my money?" I've seen 4%, I've seen 5%, in the flush times of 2005 - 2006 I've seen the "above 5% is all right as long as you also have some stock because it'll grow" Hah hah. Apparently, the current number is 3.33% (100/33). Big Grin

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    September 29th, 2011 at 07:49 pm 1317325774
    1317325774

    I don't struggle with this so much because I know a fair amount of wealthy millionaire next door types. (My dad and boss being my primary mentors). They both told me they don't trust anyone with their money, and that was after decades of paying advisors. So, I stopped paying advisors at age 25 as opposed to age 55. I think, too, in my industry I do see a lot of people really getting screwed over by bad advice and fees. Of course, the kicker is I like this stuff, and am in the type profession that probably gives me a little more financial knowledge and a bit of an edge. But, then again, my dad has absolutley no financial background - he has just always been a very DIY guy.

    Ceejay is a rare exception because she has some really unique issues that even I can't help her with. BUT, as she has noticed, it's hard to really find someone who knows what they are doing and treats you well. Ceejay is less than 1% of the population though. Big Grin I think most people don't really need any help.

  5. My English Castle Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 01:25 am 1317345907
    1317345907

    Ceejay: If you find someone in the Twin Cities who understands ex-pat stuff--and retirement in the UK, let me know. I'll drive 300 miles for that. We're not sure what we'll do at retirement, but after we sold DH's flat, we started looking for something else there. I expect we'll be both here and there (and everywhere). Or at least we would if we had 33X what we needed!

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