SeminarsEach of us has multiple responsibilities and chocked-full schedules that often leave little time for educational enhancement in areas that we may think are very important - and few things are more important than knowing how to establish and maintain your financial health and well-being. Money Matters for Women is here to help! We believe that among the most important life skills everyone, especially women, should and must acquire are the basic skills necessary to manage their money wisely and achieve a lifetime of healthy personal financial freedom. Learning how to save, spend, and invest your money wisely - and avoid the common pitfalls of debt, unnecessary costs, and poor planning and their often dire consequences - are critical skills that benefit each of us. Money Matters for Women educates and empowers women of all circumstances by giving them understandable, actionable information they can use to appreciate and develop responsible financial habits. Emphasizing seminar participation and conversational informality, Money Matters for Women delivers small, informal, interactive seminars led by a financial education expert that provide the relaxed, comfortable environment in which everyone can learn how to take control of their present and future financial well-being. In addition, individual meetings can be arranged in order to focus on your personal situation without distraction. The content of our seminars - tailored specifically to the unique needs of women - has been carefully developed to maximize each participant's understanding and implementation of basic financial knowledge through discussions and explanation of relevant Concepts, easy to use Tools, and common Financial Terms. The content of our program is not designed to offer investment advice, nor is its goal to sell any products or services, recommend specific financial professionals, or acquire any assets to manage. We are educators, not money managers. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about Money Matters for Women educational problem-solving seminar programs. Here are some of the topics we discuss and explain: I. THE MEANING OF MONEY What Does Money Mean to You? How to Create a Budget: Your Road map to Financial Health The Difference Between Saving and Investing What Is A Bank? What Does It Do? What Benefits Does It Offer You? Choose a Bank Checking Account That's Best for You - Comparison Shop! Now You Have An Account - What's Next? What is Credit? The Relationship Between Credit, Interest, and Debt All Credit Cards Are Not The Same - Here's How to:
What are Credit Agencies? Credit Reports? Credit Scores?
Uncomfortable with a Credit Card? There Are Other Kinds of Cards for You
YOUR MONEY Investing Basics:
Basic Concepts:
VIII. BUMPS ALONG THE ROAD IX. ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM X. GLOSSARY OF FINANCIAL TERMS CURRENT SEMINAR DESCRIPTIONS HOW CAN I PAY ALL MY BILLS AND STILL HAVE MONEY TO SAVE OR INVEST? Do you dread the end of the month and the mountain of bills you'll have to pay? Do you worry that that you aren't saving enough, or any money, for emergencies or investing for the future? Will you use your credit card(s) to buy what you want when you want it, knowing that you will pay only the minimum due in each billing cycle and that over time the interest that is charged to your account will grow into a seemingly insurmountable burden of debt? In this seminar you will learn how to understand how much money you actually have coming in and going out. Once you understand the relationship between income and expenses (the different kinds we all have: fixed, variable, discretionary), you'll be able to readjust what you spend and where you spend it, and learn how to avoid credit card debt ' the single most compelling reason that many people can't, or don't, save any money. If you think 'budget' is a bad word, you'll learn that it is really a gift to yourself. Creating a realistic budget does not mean 'doing without'! It means you are taking control of your finances responsibly: giving yourself a guide to your personal money management so you can live comfortably within your means. Doing that requires knowing the difference between 'needs and wants,' developing the discipline to resist the lure of immediate gratification and keep you debt free. You'll also learn about the real cost of credit, hidden fees, and your rights as a card-holder, how to pick the right credit card for you from the very many that are available, how to increase your credit worthiness (score), and the strategies you can use to pay down any credit card balances you may have. You'll learn all this and more - and leave our seminar confident that you can manage your personal finances with ease and success. INVESTING BASICS: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR YOUR FUTURE What are your short- and long-term investment goals? What is the difference between a stock and a bond? What else can you invest in? Do all investment vehicles behave in the same way? Should all your investments be the same type thing, or should you diversify among asset classes? What are asset classes? What are mutual funds and why do so many people invest in them? Have you ever read a fund's prospectus? If you have, can you understand it? Why is that so important? Do you know what fees are associated with investing in a mutual fund or in any other investment vehicle? When does 'profit' not mean real profit? Did you forget about fees, taxes, and the impact of inflation on investment returns? Do you know your life expectancy and your long-term investment time horizon? Do you know your investment risk profile, what types of risk exist, and how to manage them? How does the magic of compounding work to your benefit, and why should you start saving as soon as you can for as long as you can? Do you know how to build an investment portfolio, how, and how often, to re-balance it? How do you find a financial adviser who is right for you? What will he or she do for you and how much will it cost? This seminar answers all these questions and many more. Investing wisely requires having a solid foundation of broad-based basic knowledge not nearly as difficult to learn and understand as many women think. No one expects you to be a financial expert: when you got your driver's license you were expected to know the rules of the road and how to operate your vehicle safely; you were not expected to know how to fix your engine! But you should know the basic concepts associated with investing in order to ask your financial advisers the right questions. Join this seminar and you'll leave it a smarter, safer, and more successful investor. RETIREMENT? IT'S NEVER TOO SOON OR TOO LATE TO START PLANNING FOR IT! Thinking about planning for your retirement? Gosh, no! I'm only in my twenties! I' m worrying about paying down my student loans, having the rent for my apartment every month, buying a car, pretty clothes for work, going out with my friends and having some fun. I've got lots of time for planning retirement is so far away! Me? Thinking about planning for retirement? No way! I'm only in my thirties and got married a few years ago. Now we want to buy a house and start a family. We want to buy a new car and take at least one more vacation before the kids start coming. And I still have college loans to pay off! There is lots of time left to save for when we are old. I'm in my forties and I think about planning and saving for my retirement all the time. It scares me! We haven't saved much, what with the kids, the house, child care costs, health, house, and car insurance, endless stuff and I still have my student loans to pay off! We need the money we have now. How much could we save anyway? It's probably just too late to start. I'm in my fifties. If I don't lose my job, I'll just have to keep working as long as I can, longer than I ever expected to. What if I do lose it and can't find another at my age? Hopefully, Social Security and Medicare will still be there when I need it, but I'm not sure. And I'm not sure what I'll do if it isn't. Sound familiar? No matter how old you are, or what stage of life you're in, there are a million and one excuses we can think of to convince ourselves that planning and saving for retirement can wait. The truth is that it's never too early to plan, or too late to start saving for those years that seem so far way. This seminar gives you a set of solutions for every age and circumstance. It will show you how to increase the benefits you'll get from making the maximum contributions to your 401(k) or 403(b), and help you understand how to choose where your money is being invested through those plans. It will teach you how you can actually save less money over a longer period of time and end up with more money than someone who starts a decade later and has to save more in total than you did. | |||