Saw an interesting article this morning about predictions for Black Friday. Overall, shoppers expect to spend 4% less than last year. But the interesting numbers were in the breakdown by income. Households making 50,000 are expected to cut black Friday spending by 12%, while households earning $200,000 or more are expected to cut spending by 18%. Conventional wisdom would say the people who make less would be cutting more as the economy tightens. But it’s the higher wage earners who are reducing spending at higher percentages. It could be that higher wage earners are cutting out the extras, where lower wage earners use Black Friday as an opportunity to save on necessities. But during the recession I saw a phenomenon that I call “perceived poverty,” where donors with literally millions of dollars in the bank felt they couldn’t make a charitable contribution to my organization because they were “broke.” Anyways, this is fascinating to me. Why do you think higher wage runners are cutting back more?

With this being the big “shopping weekend” I like to ask how you budget or plan for how you spend over the week of Thanksgiving? Many people talk about not having money over the holidays, but how are they preparing for it? Is it worked into the annual or monthly budget? Should it be? 🍲🍗First, people often spend more on food with Thanksgiving; many travel to be with loved ones for the holiday too. 🛍️Then there is Black Friday shopping (which now seems to fall over more than a week somehow). 🎁And finally, we have cyber Monday, and giving Tuesday! Did I miss anything? If you are interested in a free financial needs analysis to assess your budget, let us know. You can be scheduled with a licensed financial professional for a complimentary assessment.

How much do you know about term life insurance? Did you know there is an old term and a new term option? What does that even mean? Term life insurance is exactly what it sounds like. You are paying for coverage for a specific period of time, and once that time period is up, so is the coverage on your life. Originally, the only way the life insurance company would pay out is if the person covered, passed away during that time period. And it was generally only used 2% of the time, because you had to die for your loved ones to get paid! Often times I hear people say, “Why would anyone pay for that?!” Well there are really great reasons. If you split the bills with someone in your household, and they pass away, do you know how you’ll cover their portion of the bills, long term? If you own a home but still have an extremely large mortgage, do you want your loved ones taking on that giant bill and responsibility? If you have small children (they’re expensive) will they be taken care of and have enough money over the next ten years after you pass away? If you answered “no” to any of these, then even this old term would be a great option to cover and protect additional hardships, above and beyond the emotional hardship of losing a loved one. And term life insurance is the cheapest of all insurances, if you get it at a younger age and you are healthy. Someone who is older and has maybe already saved the bulk of their retirement has less liability and therefore maybe less need for term insurance. So why aren’t we taught about this in school either before or right when we would need it most… just after college, when we join the workforce, when we are starting a family, and/or when we buy a home???! And now, how is new term life insurance even better? Remember how you had to die to use the old term? Well, for your loved ones to use it? What if you can actually protect YOURSELF with it too?! Cause now you can. New term life insurance is actually used 30% more of the time. Not only does it still serve the purpose or covering your debts and liabilities and protecting your loved one’s futures if you pass away, but it also will pay out to you if you are diagnosed with a chronic, critical, or terminal illness, or if you are severely injured and cannot perform 2 of the 6 activities of daily living, i.e. walking, eating, bathing, sitting, transferring, or continence. So what does this mean?

Of the four options below, what is your number one priority as a small business owner? If you aren't a small business owner, but hope to be one day, what would you say is most important for the success of your future business? Comprehensive Planning for your business: Here is a list of some areas that may have been ignored or unprioritized in the past but really SHOULDN'T be ignored. ☑️Business Preservation ☑️Wealth Accumulation ☑️Estate Planning ☑️Executive Benefits ☑️Business Transition Planning Here are some questions for thought: ✅What if you can not only strengthen your employees loyalty, but also support your own personal long-term business goals at the same time? ✅Would you want to learn more about how? ✅What is your 4+ month plan? ✅Are you protected and able to pay your bills long-term if you get injured or sick and cannot work for an extended period of time? ✅Will your business survive if you or a major key player on your team is out of commission? In the comments below, tell us about your business and where you feel like you struggle the most? What you would be most interested in learning more about? ~Additional information to be provided and discussed in Small Business Owners Part 2.

Who’s paying your bills if you’re injured or sick and you cannot work for 6 months, a year, or longer? Life insurance can. For just pennies to the dollar, you can ensure a backup plan if something happens. Just like you can replace your cellphone for free it it is ensured. You don’t have to pay out of pocket. Do you have insurance on your life, or just on your phone?