The 5 Commandments of Early Retirement

If we had to guess, we’d assume that nine times out of ten, any given person would love to be able to retire early. Thing is, that’s not always a realistic goal for a lot of people. But it can be! These five commandments of early retirement can help you be in a safe spot, financially, to beat the retirement clock by a few years.

1. Start Early: The earlier you begin saving for retirement, the earlier you’ll be able to actually retire. The second you’re able to start saving, do it. It takes years of diligent contributions to your retirement fund, but early retirement is a reward well-worth the effort.
2. Save 20% or More: The traditional number may be around 15% of your income, but to retire early, you need to be saving at least 20%. If you’re able to save more, that’s even better.
3. Increase Your Income: Whether you work super hard to earn a promotion at work or you get a side job for extra income, increasing the amount you're able to save from gives you the option to save more for early retirement.
4. Live Modestly: While it’s great to go on lavish vacations or buy a lot of cool gadgets, if you want to retire early, save the money you’d spend on those things instead. You’ll be able to go on plenty of trips later on.
5. Invest Your Money: While saving alone is great, investing gives you the option to increase your money. If you’re unsure what to invest your money in, you could always ask a financial advisor for help.

Early retirement isn’t always as far-fetched of a dream as some may think — especially when you have help. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

How to Save Money Without Even Trying

A lot of things are easier said than done — one of those things being saving money. It seems like every time you try to put some cash aside, there are surprise expenses that need to be paid or new things you “have” to buy. Even if you’ve probably attempted dozens of ways to stop spending, try out these ways to save money without even trying.

Negotiate your cable/phone/internet price.

If you think you’re spending too much on these services, call your provider and negotiate a better deal. Most companies will do just about anything to keep their customers, and that includes lowering the price you pay on your bill each month.

Start meal-prepping.

If you add it all up, you’d be shocked at how much money you probably spend on food each week. Instead of buying food while you’re out, start planning and cooking your meals for the week at home to bring with you to work.

Stick to the outer ring of the grocery store.

Grocery stores usually stock the more processed and expensive foods in the middle aisles, so when food shopping, stick to the outer ring where they stock fresh produce, meats, and dairy. You’ll save money and eat healthier — talk about killing two birds with one stone.

Join rewards programs.

First off — we mean actual rewards programs, not store credit cards. Rewards programs at grocery stores and pharmacies give you special discounts on your bill without making you spend a dime to join them.

Unsubscribe to store emails.

Just seeing what new things the store has to offer will tempt you to shop and buy things you don’t really need. By not getting those kinds of emails in the first place, you won’t be tempted to online shop until your bank account drops.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Student Loan Mistakes to Avoid

Student Loan Mistakes to Avoid

There are a few things you can rarely get out of in life — family dinners with your in-laws, rush-hour traffic on holiday weekends, and paying back your student loans. But just because you’re stuck with them, it doesn’t mean you can’t be smart about how you pay them back. These are some student loan mistakes you should avoid in order to make your life easier.

You wait to make payments until your grace period is over.

Most loans come with a grace period that gives you six months before you have to start paying back your debt after graduation, but it’s better to start making payments right away after you graduate to avoid accruing more interest.

You don’t set up auto pay.

Online, automatic payments take your loan amount directly from your account each month, which ensures you won’t miss a payment and incur late fees. Plus some companies will even offer you a lower interest rate for setting up auto-pay.

You don’t prioritize your different loans.

If you have multiple student loans, on top of paying them off as scheduled, you should work to pay more than your monthly minimum on the loans with higher interest rates. This way, you’ll make a bigger impact on the largest amount you owe and spare yourself from accruing higher interest.

Student loans don’t have to be a burden on your shoulders if you’re smart about how you pay them back. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From 529 college savings plans to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

How to Plan Your Wedding Budget

Start ringing those wedding bells — you’re getting married! Once the excitement subsides, or at least settles down a bit, you’re probably going to start planning your wedding as soon as you can. But before you start picking out flowers and china patterns, you need to plan your wedding budget first.

How to Plan Your Wedding Budget

Most wedding nowadays aren’t cheap. When it comes to planning your budget, the general rule of thumb is to break up your costs as follows:

• Venue: 45%
• Photography/Videography: 12%
• Attire/Beauty: 9%
• Music: 6%
• Rings: 6%
• Flowers: 5%
• Favors: 5%
• Transportation: 3%
• Stationery: 3%
• Cake: 2%
• Decor: 2%
• Miscellaneous: 2%

What to Consider When Planning Your Budget

Who’s Paying for the Wedding?

Are you and your fiance taking care of the costs on your own, or are you getting help from your your parents? And if your parents are contributing to the costs, what part of the wedding are they willing to cover? (It’s usually easier to have them contribute to a specific aspect, such as the ceremony or catering, rather than give a dollar amount.)

How Many Guests Are You Having?

The more people you invite, the more mouths you have to feed and the more plates you have to pay for. If you don’t want to spend as much on catering, you should consider only inviting close family and friends and leave out the extended family members and acquaintances you haven’t seen since college.

Dates and Settings

Spring and summer weddings are typically more expensive than fall and winter weddings, and different kinds of venues vary in costs. Catering halls will be more expensive than city parks, but vineyards or farms may cost you more since you’ll have to bring in all outside catering and entertainment.

Once you get engaged, your best bet it to start saving as much as you can for the wedding. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

How to Use Your Student Loans the Right Way

When it comes to paying for college, it’s almost impossible these days to not take out some sort of student loan. And once you have that kind of debt, there are smart ways and not-so-smart ways to handle it. If you take them out, make sure to use your student loans the right away.

How to Use Your Student Loans the Right Way

Pay for Things in the Right Order.

Once you have the money from your student loans, immediately pay for your tuition and room and board. If you have funds left over, use them to purchase a meal plan and then some — not all — of your books. (You may not even need every textbook on your professor’s syllabus.)

Return the Extra Funds.

If after all that, you still have money from your loans leftover, return it to your lender to decrease how much you’ll owe back. Remember, that money isn’t really yours, and by not returning it if you’re able to, you’re only adding to the debt you’ll eventually have to pay back.

Don’t Think of the Your Student Loans as Income.

Too many students think that they can take out larger loan amounts and use the money for everyday expenses. We can’t stress enough how bad of an idea that is. The more money you unnecessarily take out, the more principal and interest you’ll have to pay back. Only take out what you need, and get a part-time job to pay for other expenses.

While it’s somewhat hard to not take out student loans in this day and age, it doesn’t mean you have to take out large amounts. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From 529 college savings plans to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Apps to Track Your Spending Habits

When it comes to managing our money, some of us need more guidance than others. Whether it’s poor spending habits or you just simply aren’t saving as much as you should, there’s some technology out there that can help. These are some apps to track your spending habits and help you be more financially responsible.

Mint

This apps helps you create different budgets by showing you your spending habits broken down by category. When you’re nearing the edge of your budget, Mint will show you in the form of brightly colored graphs.

• Free: Yes
• Links to Bank Accounts: Yes

BillGuard

This app keeps track of your spending habits by category, location, and month. You even can get free access to your credit score and add on credit monitoring and identify theft protection tools.

• Free: For the basic use; for the credit monitoring and identity theft add-ons, it’s $83.88 a year.
• Links to Bank Accounts: Yes

Dollarbid

This app let’s you add past or future expenses and income to see how your spending habits affect your overall account balance and breaks down the purchases by category.

• Free: Yes
• Links to Bank Accounts: No

Fudget

This app is better suited for those of you who have a pretty good handle on your finances but want to be a bit more organized. It works very well for planning short term budgets for trips and tracking work expenses.

• Free: Yes; you can also pay $1.99 for a version without ads that features an in-app calculator and exports.
• Links to Bank Accounts: No

As helpful as these apps are, there’s no amount of software that can replace the expertise of a human being. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Practical Issues When an IRA Owner Dies

When someone in your family passes away, there are a million things going through your mind — from grieving for their loss to arranging their funeral. One thing that may not immediately go through your head is handling their finances. If an IRA owner dies, complicated (and costly) legal issues can arise, adding more stress to an already painful situation. In order to prevent these issues, it is up to the IRA owner and his or her financial advisor to take the proper steps in protecting that legacy.

Practical Issues When an IRA Owner Dies

Year-of-Death Distributions

• If the IRA owner had been taking out required minimum distributions (RMDs), the IRA beneficiary will have take an RMD for the year of death.
• This requires the advisor to ensure the custodian of the account distributes the proper RMD to the beneficiary.
• The entire process involves taking unpaid RMDs, transferring the IRA to the beneficiary’s IRA, and naming new successor beneficiary of that account, should that person pass away.
• If this is not done before the beneficiary passes away, the chance for the IRA to be stretched to future generations can be lost.

Default Beneficiaries

• Many major financial firms have default beneficiaries included in their IRA adoption agreements, so if a person dies without naming a beneficiary for their IRA, a default person, such as a spouse, is chosen — but that may not be whom the IRA owner would have wanted the IRA to go to.
• A person may also forget to name a beneficiary due to mental or physical incapacity, which is when an advisor should suggest assigning a power of attorney to make financial decisions in the person’s stead.
• These issues can be avoided as long as a financial advisor ensures proper beneficiaries are named.

Trust Issues

• Many IRA’s are now being put into trusts at the time the owner passes away, but this is only beneficial when proper beneficiaries are named.
• When setting up a trust, it is important to list out all possibly beneficiaries — spouses, children, etc.
• If not, all the time, effort, and money spent setting up the trust will be for nothing since the value to stretch the IRA will be lost.

Minor Beneficiaries

• Some financial firms will not pay IRA money to beneficiaries who are technically minors, such as children or grandchildren.
• This issue can be avoided by using language that explains that a custodian can be named to handle the money until the beneficiary comes of age, usually 18, 21, or 25.

Most IRA beneficiary issues can avoided with the help of a skilled financial advisor. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to estate planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.