Cybersecurity Strategies You Can Implement Today
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
Living in the digital age certainly has its benefits. Things like online banking, automatic bill payment, and mobile wallet apps on our smartphones add ease and convenience to our lives. They also make our personal finances more accessible to us. Of course, having so much of our personal information on the internet also opens us up to scammers who try to take advantage of online consumer financial data.
Below, we'll discuss ten cybersecurity measures you can take to help keep your financial and personal information safe and secure.
Impart Money Lessons and Values Early On to Give Wealthy Kids Greater Financial Understanding
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 05 July 2021
Do you remember the 2015 news coverage of a Texas teenager caught fleeing the country to avoid the consequences he was facing after violating probation? During his drunken driving trial, a psychologist coined the term “affluenza” to refer to the impact financial privilege can have on a child’s ability to understand the impact of his or her actions. While this notorious defense didn’t hold water in court, the concept of wealth as ill-gotten, rather than hard-earned, has become more mainstream.
While it may seem counterintuitive, being wealthy poses its own set of unique challenges when it comes to raising financially literate and responsible children. Parents who don’t need to worry about money tend to be more likely to forget the necessity of teaching their children how to properly manage their finances. This leaves some privileged kids at a significant disadvantage because they never learn the skills they will inevitably need later in life.
How to Use Your Values to Guide Your Investments
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 28 June 2021
When you think of your finances, your first thoughts probably aren’t about your core values. You’re more likely to be focused on the debt you are trying to tackle or the long-term goals you have for your money. Often, conversations about finances are more focused outwardly on things like interest rates, rather than inwardly on things like intrinsic values. At times, it may even feel like the values that guide your life and the pursuit of money are at odds with each other, but that doesn’t have to be the case.
With values-based financial planning, you can pursue your goals while staying true to yourself and the most important aspects of your life. Fortunately, it’s a fairly straightforward process, too. First, identify what matters most to you. Then, visualize your goals. Finally, determine a plan to reach those goals and get started implementing it.
It’s Time to Stop Believing These Financial Untruths
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 14 June 2021
When it comes to women and money, the relationship can certainly be complicated. However, the reasons behind that complexity are equally stratified and problematic. From dangerous stereotypes about women’s natural inclination for overspending to channeling women away from high-income jobs when making decisions about career choices, the lies women are told about money from a young age can wind up costing us in more ways than one.
Today, I want to debunk seven of these damaging money myths that keep women stalled in the workplace, stuck in negative relationships, and halted in the pursuit of their dreams for themselves and their families.
Six Steps to Solidify Your Family’s Guiding Philosophy
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 24 May 2021
Companies often use mission statements to describe their purpose, conveying why they do what they do and what they believe, often in a single sentence. While a mission statement might sound like a formal concept reserved for use only in the business world, the principles behind developing this guiding philosophy apply to families, as well. This mission statement, which succinctly defines your family’s values and goals, will be the standard against which all of your decisions - financial or otherwise - are measured.
Each of us makes hundreds of decisions every day. From buying that artisanal coffee in the morning to picking your route to the grocery store, some decisions are so subtle you may not even realize you are making a choice. Others, like purchasing a home or car, are topics that clearly require more thoughtful deliberation. Whether the decision is big or small, a family mission statement will help you and your loved ones stay true to your values and feel confident that you are moving in the right direction. Here’s how to create yours.
