Financial Advice Center

General Financial Planning Articles

Preparing for Major Financial Events
Many life events are directly related to (or cause) financial events that are faced at the same time.  Preparing for the financial aspects of these events can help to reduce the stress that often accompanies major changes.  (click here to read more)

Nine Financial Planning Basics  (click here for the full article)

The Psychology of Handling Your Finances
Behavioral economics or understanding how consumers make financial decisions has become a very popular topic recently.  Companies as varied as brokerages, auto manufacturers and fast food restaurants are all trying to better understand how their customers make buying decisions.  With this understanding, they hope to be more able to design products and set pricing policies.  (click here to read more)

Taking Advantage of Company Offered Benefit Options
Most employers offer a number of benefit options as part of their overall compensation package.  Many of these options provide insurance and other benefits at much lower costs than what you would have to pay individually.  Be sure to review your options and take advantage of the ones that are right for you.  (click here to read more)

Eight Steps to Simplify Your Finances  (click here for the full article)

How Does Inflation Impact Your Finances?
For the past several years, inflation has been under control.  The overall rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index has been averaging less than 3% in recent years.  For 2007, the rate of inflation was about 3%.   However, the prices of some items, such as food and energy, increased at a much higher rate.  In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the inflation rate was much higher and the annual increases in the cost of living were much higher.  (click here to read more)