Good Financial Reads: Clean Your Room, Money Moves for 2017, and More

Following along with the blogs of financial advisors is a great way to access valuable, educational information about finance — and it doesn’t cost you a thing! Our financial planners love to share their knowledge and help everyone regardless of age or assets.

Catch up on some of the latest posts with this week's roundup:

Clean Your Room: 4 Reasons to Get Your Financial House in Order

by Pam Horack, Pathfinder Planning

We’re only one week into 2017 and, if you’re anything like me, you’ve already grown tired of the New Year’s Resolution blog posts and social media overshares. While I’m not against the “New Year, New You” resolve, I worry that it’s too broad a goal to actually gain any real traction -- at least in a year's time. That’s why, instead of convincing you to make a complete “financial 180” -- I just want you to focus on something simple: cleaning up.

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17 Quick & Dirty Money Moves You Can Make in 2017

by Sophia Bera, Gen Y Planning

It’s a new year, and you are pumped to make some changes to your finances. Only you don’t know where to start and you’re afraid to make a mistake. You’ll totally get around to it, though … once you’re done with a bunch of other chores you just remembered you had to do right now.

I know. It’s easier to wrap your head around a to-do list item like “mop bathroom floor” than the one that says “start saving for retirement.”

But here’s the thing: you can make pretty big changes to your financial situation with just a few teensy money moves. Many of these only take a few minutes! Some take a little more time, but trust me — they’re worth it.

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Help Your Kids Develop a Healthy Relationship with Money

by Todd Sensing, FamilyVest

How did you learn about money—I mean really learn? For most of us, our first dose of reality comes when we begin providing for ourselves. This once magical resource, which was always shrouded in a bit of mystery and sprinkled with fairy dust, suddenly morphs into a concrete brick that knocks us in the head and introduces us to its true reality.

Money is like a brick. A brick is just a brick—it can be used to build or it can be destructive. It all depends on who holds it.

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How Do You Guarantee Investment Growth

by Eric Roberge, Beyond Your Hammock

Let’s say your cash flow is set and you have extra money at the end of the month. Now you need to establish a plan to grow that money. You also need to keep in mind the reason (or reasons) why you want more money in the first place.

This is the essence of goals-based financial planning — but how to do you go about setting an investment goal, and work toward it by achieving investment growth?

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