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I am a freshman at kansas state university, and I was wondering what major I should choose. I am not completely sure if I want to be a personal financial advisor, or even do anything in finance, but right now it is at the top of my list. I have heard that KSU has one of the best programs for personal financial advising and is also tops for their finance and accounting majors. Which would be better for a potential career in personal financial advising?

I read an article that in the future older people are going to need more help with investing that ever before. Pensions are no longer existent (for the most part) and people retiring have no idea what to do with their 401K plans. You might just have a really good future.

Personal financing for regular folks does not work.
These people generally have no money to pay you the big bucks you will want.
Middle class people read magazines and educated themselves in finances so they do not need help. Rich people just call Goldman Sachs.

how you would manage your finances to last you till next pay?

I would manage my finances between pay by setting up a budget.

You start off with your gross that you take home after taxes and anything else and then budget out all of your expected expenses for the pay period. Then leave a cushion for unexpected expenses. You should stick to the budget and be fine… Also, one of your expenses should be savings, meaning you should put a portion of each check into a savings account. Also, NO CREDIT CARD DEBIT.

For more financial advising tips visit my blog http://personal-financial-advising.blogspot.com

I would like to know how do you get a list of forcloseures and tax lein properties available. i would also like to know what is the best way to work with finances through a bank or a mortgage company.

The Best Place to Start is to Partner with a Local Real Estate Broker. They can point you in the right direction of local forclosure properties and investment opportunities. You may also look for a local investment club to help you get information and started. Many investors like to help you out.

Also, call around and find a mortgage professional you like and that may have a program you can work with. They will need to pull your credit in order to get you point in the right direction from the financial side.

You know your self better than they do or will, so determine based on your personal criteria what, where, and how much?

A Good Book is the Millionaire Real Estate Investor. Good Tips for you to get started.

I just started a small online Crafts store and need advice in how I can set up something in Excel or anything else to keep track of Finances, Inventory, bills, etc (IN AN ORGANIZE WAY)
Thanks

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I am considering purchasing Quicken but I’d like to know more about how it keeps track of my money… does it have a check registry or a way to ‘balance my books’? I guess what I mean is, can I use Quicken as my checkbook instead of pencil and paper like I use now? Can someone fill me in? The website wasn’t very helpful. Thanks.

Quicken and the whole genre of personal finance software does the most basic of functions: help you keep track of your finances.

One of the first things I did when I got Quicken for the first time was trash my paper checkbook register and keep all of my transactions on Quicken. Then, when the end of the month arrived and I got my statement, I used the Reconcile feature to balance the books. No more pencil and paper reconciling anymore for me.

It can do a whole lot more than that, with downloading transactions directly from financial institutions, forecasting income and investment performance, and so forth. But the basics, definitely no problem.

I need to set up a computer program to better manage our finances.

Well I suggest you get a feel for what you want your budget to look like (how are you going to categorize items and the such). No program will do it ALL for you. But you can get an excellent start here :

http://financialbasics.blogspot.com/2006/11/creating-budget.html

Good luck

I want to find a personal accountant to help me with my finances, what should I look for in one?

Any tips?

A license, current continuing education and the ability to work with this person.

Make sure you are in synch and he/she does not talk over your head. No matter what, YOU are still responsible.

Helen, EA in PA

I’ve been reading all these articles about people trying to get out of debt because they can never pay off their credit card balance, people living paycheck to paycheck, or those that doesn’t have enough savings for their retirement.

Just wondering how many of you out there are really this much in trouble? If you don’t gamble and use your money wisely, poeple should be able to save. I’m lucky to say I don’t know anyone this much in trouble yet. So, is media just exaggerating?

well i am a loan officer so i deal with the finances of many people who are in trouble and need help. And i can attest through personal experience tha it is absolutely true. 95% of the clients i deal with are in a considerable amount of debt! and they are trying to fix it by refinancing but often times cannot because of the way the market is. and just so you know everything that the media is talking about when it comes to losing homes is true as well. i sadly am not able to help and deal with way too many people who are losing there homes. the main reasons why this is happening is people are not being smart about there money. they are not spending it wisely. they either get more than they can afford not allowing themselves enough money to go beyond getting by so as soon as bad times hit they are in the whole. and some people are just irresponsible. i worked with one person who made 7 thousand a month and only had four thousand in bills but still would be missing payments. and i actually was going to be able to signigicantly decrease his debt and get him on the right track. all he had to do is send me one sheet of paper and the deal was done. yet he didnt i kept calling for two weeks and he would not answer. Three months! later he calls me and tells me hes ready to do it and he really needs the money i was going to give him because his daughter is going to school. so i said ok i was ready three months ago but no problem lets do it now. i reran his credit and it turned out that he was 3 months late on a payment and was going to lose his house! i remember the very last conversation we had before those three months i told him dont forget to make your payment otherwise this loan is dead. and his words were "c’mon man im not stupid ive learned from this mistake before i alredy made my payment". yet that was the payment that put him in foreclosure. Why simply because he procrastinated on things that should have been a priority. sadly this is only one of so many stories i have. people are just irresponsible. i mean seriously you should never take on a large debt if you cannot easily be able to properly afford it. i hate seeing people lose their homes!

I don’t know where to start, or how to go about finding out answers to things like savings, pensions, college funds etc

Regular finances? Are you talking about investment options? It depends on how much money you have if you should get a financial advisor. It can be expensive or you can risk getting some not great advice.
First: what are your goals? How much discretionary income do you have? How much can you put towards each of your financial goals (savings, college, etc.)? A pension plan is a type of retirement plan that is completely company or government sponsored. The participants contribute nothing out of pocket to them. They are dying because they are very expensive to operate.
There is a such thing as a 529 College Savings plan.
There are lots of books out there. I would recommend reading a basic book on finance, probably something called personal finance.
You might be able to find something on amazon.com.
Personal Finance for Dummies. It’s from 2003 but selling for under $5. The basics don’t really change. I would recommend starting there. Once you have the basic language and a general understanding then you can move forward.

I recently lost my salary and I am frustrated and frozen. For the last five years, I find myself surrounded by stifling individuals both at work and in my personal relationships. My companion is non supportive and continually send mix signals. I’ve decided to start all over again. Where should I begin, without causing financial hardship on myself? I’m looking for suggestions before I proceed.

You don’t give that many specifics, but if you want to start over again there are many things you can do.

Are you saying that you don’t want to stay in the relationship that you are now in? I wasn’t quite sure what you meant, but if you are saying that then I suppose the best thing is just to be honest. Once you are in a situation where you can find yourself another worth while relationship, start slow. Go hang out with some friends, meet some nice people, and see if there’s anyone interesting. Be yourself and treat others well and they will all love you. If I misunderstood and you do want to stay in your relationship, be honest about that too. Sit your companion down and tell them how frustrated and stuck you feel. Maybe they’ve been feeling the same way, and you just need to talk it through? Or maybe you’ll come to the conclusion that it isn’t going to work? Who knows, but atleast you’ll clear the air and know what’s going on.

As for finances, do something you truly enjoy and try not to worry too much about how much you get for it. Make sure you get enough to pay the bills of course but remember, there’s more to life than money. Keep in touch with your children and be a part of their lives. Eat good foods, always be on the lookout for new interesting things and avoid falling into routines that you are uncomfortable with.

Your question was quite general so I just threw out a couple suggestions. Hopefully you got something out of it, and if not I’m glad to give some other tips. Goodluck, and just remember that you are worth it and shouldn’t make yourself stay in situations in which you are unhappy! It may be hard breaking the mold now, but you’ll thank yourself later.

P.S. You are very beautiful. Saw your pictures 🙂