Tips for Transitioning to a Kid-Free Home
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 30 November 2020
The following article is based on the content covered in my book, Flourish Financially: Values, Transitions, and Big Conversations. If you’d like to read more, you may purchase a copy here.
When your children leave home to start their own lives as adults, the transition to having an empty house can be challenging. It can also be very exciting! Similar to retirement, divorce, or any life transition, the range of emotions can vary, and how you manage your time, feelings, finances, and relationships through the transition can have an impact on your well-being and lifestyle.
If you’re a new empty-nester or will be soon, it’s good to begin preparing for the changes you’ll experience. Read on for three tips to help you navigate this new phase of life.
Face Money Topics Head-On to Accomplish Your Family Financial Goals
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 21 September 2020
Do families and finances strike you as two words that don’t belong together? If so, you’re not alone. Money is a topic people often avoid discussing with family members – and even with their spouse or partner. It could be because they find it confusing or overwhelming, or because it often leads to disagreements and bad feelings. The fact that personal finance isn’t taught in most schools can also lead people to believe it’s not important.
All of these things are true: money is a charged topic that can leave us feeling confused, overwhelmed, or even angry, and most of us aren’t educated enough about money topics. Yet, these are the exact same reasons it is crucial to maintain open communication about financial issues within your family. Avoiding or ignoring this very real element of family life only sets you up for failure, whereas talking openly with your spouse and children is the best way to accomplish your financial and life goals together.
Below, we’ll discuss why you should consider finances a family affair, and why communication is the foundation of any family’s financial success.
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Communicating about money and finances can be very emotional because one must be vulnerable and open about their strengths, weaknesses, challenges, successes, and failures with money. One must also let go of judgment to truly have an open and honest discussion about financial decisions and their impact on life.
Head over to Investopedia to see Kathy's tips for having productive, constructive, and effective financial conversations.
Tuesday, 14 August 2018
Kathy Longo has been featured on WalletHub in 2018’s Best & Worst Places to Retire.
What financial factors should retirees take into consideration when deciding where to retire?
From experience working with clients who are transitioning into retirement or are retired now, there are a variety of non-financial factors that should be incorporated into the decision about where to live. Most of these factors relate to future events and transitions such as where kids are located or will be located (balancing the opportunity to see family against the possibility of becoming a daycare solution). We also look at a combination of housing costs that include real estate taxes, state income taxes, and sales taxes. Finally, it’s important to consider access to medical resources as demonstrated by my parents who will probably need to leave their dream lake home in the near future to get adequate medical care.
Monday, 13 August 2018
Kathy Longo's article How to Organize Your Finances for Retirement has been featured on Investopedia and Yahoo Finance.
