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.
Don’t Let Money Come Between You and the Person You Love
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 27 July 2020
Relationships, by nature, are fraught with challenges. Busy schedules often mean not spending enough time together, silly arguments about who should do the dishes can build to resentment over time, and jealousy or control issues permeate many relationships. When you add in difficulties related to in-laws or infidelity, things become even more complex.
Despite all these potential troubles, the biggest relationship roadblocks tend to be related to money. Financial disagreements can sink a relationship quickly, so it’s important to go be proactive and work together with your partner to avoid the most common money-related relationship mistakes.
Lose Your ‘Right or Wrong’ Mindset
Perhaps the biggest mistake you and your partner can make is to approach your financial disagreements from a “right or wrong” mindset. You know the one that tells you one of you must be right and the other must be wrong? This type of framework is common since more than 70 percent of individuals have money management styles that are different from their partner’s, but it’s also incredibly destructive.
During a time of such uncertainty, focusing on the things you can control can lead to better decisions for the long-term
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Thursday, 16 July 2020
If someone had told you at this time last year that you’d be spending your summer reeling from a global health pandemic that forced you to be inside for 12 weeks with every member of your family, an unprecedented economic downturn that will likely result in a recession in the months to come, a civil rights debate that would bring the world into a conversation that needed to be had a long time ago, you likely wouldn’t have believed it. Last year at this time, while things were assuredly not perfect, none of this could have been predicted.
And that’s the thing about predictions: they are uncertain. Just as we cannot time the markets, we cannot really predict what outside forces will impact our lives, livelihood, and social existence. For all these things we cannot control, though, we can find strength and resilience in knowing that there are things we can control, too.
Taking Back the Reins
We can control what information we take in as truth. We can control what we eat and drink, along with how we sleep, exercise, meditate, and practice self-care. We can control how we treat others and how our emotions affect the way that we react to the things happening around us. Of course, we have to be intentional about all of these things. Otherwise, we risk falling into patterns that leave us susceptible to poor decision-making. For example, a pitfall we all fall victim to at times: confirmation bias.
No matter what stage of life you are in, now is the time for strong communication and mutual respect in your relationship
By Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA
Monday, 29 June 2020
Disasters often strike with little notice. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria surprised us with their ferocity in 2017, the Equifax security breach caught us by surprise that same year, and so it has been with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although some public health experts had coronavirus on their radar for some time, the general public was caught largely unaware as this worldwide health crisis forced us to abandon our usual way of life. While these three forms of disaster may seem to have little in common, they have all left financial devastation in their wakes, and they all represent periods of great transition for many people.
Right now, people around the globe are facing anxiety about the future, uncertain job situations, loss of income, health concerns, illness and loss, and lives put on hold. The news media reminds us of the major impacts of the coronavirus – nearly ten million confirmed cases worldwide, more than 20 million jobs lost in the United States alone – but there are a great many other consequences of this pandemic that aren’t making the headlines. Our relationships with one another are changing inside homes and within communities. Times of transition are often marked by confusion and feelings of uncertainty, but these difficulties are compounded when our loved ones are experiencing life transitions at the same time. This is particularly true with regard to our spouse or partner. When left untended, these relationships can become strained even in the best of times, let alone during a global health and financial crisis. Below, I will discuss several strategies for successfully moving through a period of transition while supporting and strengthening your relationship at the same time.
