Jennifer's Compass

Making better interest

It’s exciting that there are some interesting ways these days to make better interest while doing good. If you want to add spark to your fixed-income investing, microfinance, people-to-people lending and family lending are worth checking out.   

Planning for health care costs in retirement

Massachusetts recently took the controversial steps of mandating health insurance for all residents. The media buzz this created has prompted questions from clients about how to plan for health care in retirement.

Retiree medical costs and insurance premiums are among the more difficult retirement expenses to plan for. My colleagues and I study this constantly and it's truly a moving target. Easily 90 percent of our clients will be “self paying” when they retire – without corporate or state coverage — so we've decided the best way to reflect this in our calculations is by reducing Social Security inflation projections and planning for a higher monthly budget.

Teens need credit!

In his book, "Credit Card Nation," Robert Manning reports some pretty startling stats on college kids and credit. He writes:

• Three out of five students with credit cards maxed them out during their freshman year.
  
• Three out of five freshmen with multiple credit cards used bank cards to pay for other revolving credit accounts.
  
• Nearly three-fourths of students use their student loans to pay credit card bills.
  

Many people use these statistics as proof that credit card companies should be banned from campus. That may be a good idea, but that won't stop college kids from getting into trouble with debt. A better idea would be for teenagers to get their first credit card while they are still in high school.

OK, before you hit the "comment" button … think about this.

You teach your teens a vast amount before they leave for college. You've covered your opinions about drugs, booze, sex and driving. They're well aware of your feelings about their politics, their music and their friends. Why would you skip one of the most important lessons – how to manage credit?

Welcome to my blog

I'm Jennifer Lane, and as a financial planner for the past 10 years I've
talked to hundreds of people and families about money. Some of the money
decisions I encounter are easy, and some are very complicated. But over the
years, I've been surprised how the same concerns affect nearly everyone
regardless of income: managing cash, paying down debt, teaching kids about
money, choosing investments and planning for retirement. Managing money and
planning finances is definitely an art, not a science.

I've learned a lot from the people I've met over the years and I hope to
share some it with you here.