Every  new year brings promise, but sometimes this annual ritual can feel more like Groundhog Day. You start the year determined to keep your resolutions, but before too long, you default back to bad habits. For many people, this is especially true regarding old behavior patterns with money. People develop their relationship to money from a young age, and it’s reinforced by family dynamics. By the time they become adults, it can feel permanent. Yet, it is anything but. Increasingly, psychologists are looking to the brain’s neuroplasticity as the pathway to change patterned behavior.1 Neuroplasticity is “the ability of the brain to modify its connections or rewire itself.”2 In other words, anyone can reshape mental (and physical) habits towards money.   IDENTIFY YOUR TRIGGERS Let’s say you’ve developed a shopping vice. You’re spending too much money on things that you don’t need. One approach to curb this is to examine the triggers that lead to a shopping binge. Do you shop before a big date or a job interview to calm your nerves? Is there a favorite store on the way to work?   STOP THE PHYSICAL REPETITION Habits are reinforced by repetition. To break a habit, you have to stop doing it over and over. When you feel prompted to shop by a familiar trigger, it’s time to change your next action in the chain of events. If the store on the way to work pulls like a magnet, find a new route. If the problem is compulsive online shopping, add website blockers to your browser to bar the sites that eat up time and money.   CONSIDER A SPENDING FAST Another way to stop bad financial habits is to go cold turkey with a spending fast. For instance, perhaps you always treat your friends to dinner, whether you can afford it or not. For a set period of time, resist the temptation to grab the check when it lands on the table (especially if it’s going on a credit card). Bear in mind that studies show it takes at least sixty-six days for a new habit to become automatic.3 So if you fall off that horse, keep getting back on it!   PRACTICE MINDFULNESS Acting on old behavior is usually preceded by old, negative thinking. Often people are hardly conscious of negative thoughts; they simply act on them without examination. By practicing mindfulness, however, we can avoid the effect of mental autopilot. Mindfulness involves bringing your attention to your immediate experiences and helps us examine anxious thoughts more rationally.4 If you’re feeling anxious about an upcoming date, for example, perhaps you’re at risk of splurging on new clothes. But if you look at this thought mindfully, perhaps you’ll see you have plenty to wear already. Or better yet, you may imagine yourself enjoying the date, regardless of what you’re wearing.   ENVISION THE BIGGER GOAL Lastly, take the time to write out what you want. Make a plan and add in the financial numbers that will make [...]

If it were easy to talk about money, everyone would do it. But in reality, conversations about finances are tough for a lot people. Money is an intimate topic that can make people feel vulnerable. This is true even for (or especially for) people in long-term romantic relationships. Some couples hardly discuss money at all. In fact, one survey found that six percent of married people commit “financial infidelity,” by keeping a bank account hidden from their spouse. Further, 20 percent of the respondents have made a $500 (or higher) purchase, and not disclosed it to their partner.1 Meanwhile, financial problems are a leading cause for break-ups and divorce. To avoid this path to heartbreak, here are some strategies for helping couples establish a financial plan to achieve both of their goals.   MONEY: THE HOT-BUTTON TOPIC Money conversations can often make or break a long-term relationship. Early on, as couples start to become serious, they’re often hesitant to share about their finances. Can you relate? How about making a game out of it? Imagine you each have $1,000,000 to do whatever you wanted with it, what would that be? Write down five answers without showing the other person. Then when it’s time for the grand reveal, you can learn to appreciate your differences, look for commonalities and assess your real-world finances to see what’s possible.   THE BIG DAY AND FINANCIAL BEYOND Once a couple decides to take the plunge and get married, hopefully they have discussed their finances apart from and inclusive of each other. That’s the best case scenario, not always a viable one. Ideally before saying their wedding vows, couples can make a vow to one another to always be an open book when it comes to money and finances.  A vow to not judge or criticize one another, but to be considerate of each other’s point of view and be willing to come to a mutual agreement. Also, consider seeking the advice of professionals who can help “quarterback” your financial decisions for you.   INVESTING IN EACH OTHER Most Americans are conditioned to immediately start saving big into their 401(k)s, and they neglect their responsibility to establish liquidity. So the need for cash may come from unnecessary debt or loans. It’s important for couples to invest in their future by asking themselves the following questions: If we need cash, how risky is it to borrow against our 401(k)? How much of our monthly income should be going toward rent or mortgage? What percentage of our paycheck should be going toward retirement, investments, savings? Based on their answers, a financial professional can help them develop a custom-fit plan.   IT’S NEVER TOO LATE  It’s never too late to change your investment strategy. Life sometimes throws us curveballs. It is important to always communicate financial emotions and feelings. It’s also vital to understand you don’t know what you don’t know when it comes to money matters, which is where a financial professional adds value. For instance, [...]

Every  new year brings promise, but sometimes this annual ritual can feel more like Groundhog Day. You start the year determined to keep your resolutions, but before too long, you default back to bad habits. For many people, this is especially true regarding old behavior patterns with money. People develop their relationship to money from a young age, and it’s reinforced by family dynamics. By the time they become adults, it can feel permanent. Yet, it is anything but. Increasingly, psychologists are looking to the brain’s neuroplasticity as the pathway to change patterned behavior.1 Neuroplasticity is “the ability of the brain to modify its connections or rewire itself.”2 In other words, anyone can reshape mental (and physical) habits towards money.   IDENTIFY YOUR TRIGGERS Let’s say you’ve developed a shopping vice. You’re spending too much money on things that you don’t need. One approach to curb this is to examine the triggers that lead to a shopping binge. Do you shop before a big date or a job interview to calm your nerves? Is there a favorite store on the way to work?   STOP THE PHYSICAL REPETITION Habits are reinforced by repetition. To break a habit, you have to stop doing it over and over. When you feel prompted to shop by a familiar trigger, it’s time to change your next action in the chain of events. If the store on the way to work pulls like a magnet, find a new route. If the problem is compulsive online shopping, add website blockers to your browser to bar the sites that eat up time and money.   CONSIDER A SPENDING FAST Another way to stop bad financial habits is to go cold turkey with a spending fast. For instance, perhaps you always treat your friends to dinner, whether you can afford it or not. For a set period of time, resist the temptation to grab the check when it lands on the table (especially if it’s going on a credit card). Bear in mind that studies show it takes at least sixty-six days for a new habit to become automatic.3 So if you fall off that horse, keep getting back on it!   PRACTICE MINDFULNESS Acting on old behavior is usually preceded by old, negative thinking. Often people are hardly conscious of negative thoughts; they simply act on them without examination. By practicing mindfulness, however, we can avoid the effect of mental autopilot. Mindfulness involves bringing your attention to your immediate experiences and helps us examine anxious thoughts more rationally.4 If you’re feeling anxious about an upcoming date, for example, perhaps you’re at risk of splurging on new clothes. But if you look at this thought mindfully, perhaps you’ll see you have plenty to wear already. Or better yet, you may imagine yourself enjoying the date, regardless of what you’re wearing.   ENVISION THE BIGGER GOAL Lastly, take the time to write out what you want. Make a plan and add in the financial numbers that will make [...]

As of mid-2019, 45% of Americans have a side hustle1, and that figure is only continuing to grow. In any economy, side gigs can be a great way to earn extra cash or explore new interests. And especially in these uncertain times, it may also be essential. How can you take those side-hustle dollars one step further—from using them to make ends meet to turning to them as a key savings resource? The first step to making the most out of your side hustle starts with taking a look at your specific skills and interests.   CAPITALIZE ON YOUR SKILLSET While side hustles that makes today’s top lists can be great for earning extra money—think driving for Uber and Postmates or selling on eBay—the best side hustles are actually those that don’t feel like a hustle at all. The key is to leverage the skillset and passions you already have so you’ll be more likely to not only stick with it, but to also make more money at it. And for millennials, this can also align perfectly with our current virtual landscape. The first generation in history to be truly digital natives, millennials have a broad base of versatile skills that can be easily translated to today’s digitally driven marketplace2. Side hustles like creating virtual chatbots, offering online courses or instructional YouTube videos based on your specific skills—from teaching kids how to perfect their baseball swing to yoga routines to fashion and beauty how-to’s—and even reselling curated closets on niche fashion apps can all allow you to dive into your distinct skills and interests. This allows you make it your own, which may mean more chances to earn, faster.   TREAT YOUR DAY JOB LIKE AN ACCELERATOR Side gigs can be ideal for more than money. They can also be an easy way to explore your passions—and a recent study showed that more than half of people would like to transition their side hustle to be their main income-generator3. But if you’re hoping to turn your side hustle into a real hustle, the key, according to former Google exec and business coach Brook Taylor, is to view your day job as an accelerator—not a venture fund4. Look at your 9-to-5 as a lab where you can maximize all the opportunities a corporate or full-time setting offer: for career learning, for networking, for gaining a competitive edge. This will help you get in a better position to make the leap to shifting your side gig to a full-time one.   MAXIMIZE YOUR EARNINGS In order to make your side hustle fully work for you, you’ll want to tap into the experience of financial professionals. There are tips and tricks they can share to make sure you leverage your side hustle, from managing cash flow and expenses to retirement planning. A financial professional can also help you take your side hustle to the next level by helping you implement a growth strategy and plan for maximizing your earnings—and turning your [...]

Do you love wine? Next question: Are you financially confident? This one is a little harder to answer, right? To be financially confident means that you feel good about your current financial situation and future outlook. If this sounds like you, you’re a confident planner. Research shows that 21 percent of Americans are Confident Planners when it comes to their financial lives.1 (The remaining 80 percent of Americans are stressed-out, largely due to financial worry.) In exploring answers to the questions above, you may be surprised to learn that the worlds of wine and financial planning have a lot in common.   HIGH-QUALITY INGREDIENTS The best wines in the world begin with top-quality ingredients. Starting with the land, vintners plant premium grapes in rich, verdant soil. And not all land is of equal value. For example, the celebrated wines of the Burgundy region in France come from land priced at around $5 million per acre.2 The land is the first factor in the quality of wine. For confident planners, the same principle holds true for a strong financial plan. One of the best ways to begin is with a plan that includes products like life insurance, disability income insurance and a retirement strategy.   IMPROVE THE HARVEST OVER TIME Wine lovers know that their favorite vintage doesn’t happen overnight. On the contrary, it’s a long, steady process of planting, growing, harvesting, storing and bottling. Through continually refining their process, vintners can improve their final product. For example, a maker may use machine harvesting in the field, and produce a wine that earns an 85 rating — “very good.” Yet if this maker transitions to harvesting by hand, he’s more likely to earn a coveted 95 rating for “classic” wine excellence.3 Like those high-performing vintners, confident planners, have model behaviors that can help them optimize outcomes. And like vintners, anyone — Day-to-Day Decision Makers, Ambitious Spenders, or Retirement Realists — can adopt these practices. One of these behaviors is to work with a financial professional to develop a financial plan. Next, Confident Planners understand that it takes time for a financial plan to come to fruition, just like wine needs to age. During the process, they live within their means and stick to the long-term plan. They understand that their efforts will pay off in the end, as it will with the vintage.   THE MASTER VINTNER Think back to a recent occasion when you enjoyed a bottle of wine among friends. Even if the wine was unforgettable, it’s likely no one craved the years-long experience of producing it. Thankfully, there are vintners around the world who begin each season with a harvest plan based on years of experience in the field. Over the course of the year, they gauge the ever-changing factors that may affect the harvest — like the levels of sun and rain, for example. No growing plan is identical from one harvest to another. Likewise, there is no one-size-fits-all financial plan for everyone. (You can find [...]

No matter how big your income is, budgeting is the key to a stable financial situation. Why income doesn't matter you may ask? Well, if you cannot budget when you have $1,000 how will you budget when you have $10,000? Budgeting is a habit, or rather a lifestyle that you have to get used to and keep applying. Below are five simple budgeting tips to get you started!   Make a full review of your income and costs Take a while to consider all the bills and monthly outflows that you have to cover. Put them in a clear list, so you see the total outflow. Do the same with your income. If you have one job, that is quite easy. If you are working several part times jobs - put the number together. Particularly, in the case of costs this a crucial point. You have to get things under control, and the only way to get them under control is to have a clear view on what your costs really are.   Needs and wants You have to strictly differentiate between what you really need and what you just want. Needs are the things that you really need in life. You need to pay bills, you need to buy groceries and so on. Wants are not necessities. Those are the things that you can go without, but in this moment you feel like you need them. In most cases, you do not. If there is a bigger “want” that you are going for, give it a few days. In most cases, your desire to get the item will pass.   Push your costs down Seems obvious right. You would be surprised. How long has it been since you revised your mobile plan? What about cable TV? Maybe you could switch to Netflix, it’s cheaper. If you will go into details, there are many areas of your spending where you can push the costs down. Do it and keep it that way. Pushing down the costs is much easier than making more money. Do it every quarter. You have to constantly keep revising it, or else it will grow over you again.   Be consistent It is not enough just to sit down one evening, make some financial planning and then forget about it. You have to stick to it. Consistency is the key here. Check your budget every week, see if your spending is in compliance with the budget. The fact that there is a number written down and you have a plan will help you immensely when taking control over your spending.   Make projections and save historical results Save your spending history. Monitor your monthly balance and write it down in a spreadsheet. Time flies by very quickly and just by looking back you will know if you did well this quarter or not. You cannot improve what you do not measure. If you will monitor your balance and spending month to [...]

Individuals who win court awards, or receive proceeds from lawsuit settlements, or receive certain governmental benefits, often question whether the amounts received are taxable or not. The answer to this question typically is, “it depends.” What drives the result usually stems from the specifics of the facts and circumstances.   WHAT GENERALLY ISN’T TAXABLE As it pertains to awards, settlements, and certain government benefits, some income items that aren’t generally taxable include: Income, disability, and death payments received in connection with military or terrorist attacks. Workers’ compensation awards if paid under a workers’ compensation statute. Compensatory awards for “personal injury” or “physical sickness”. Damages you receive for emotional stress caused by the injury or sickness. Damages awarded to reimburse medical care costs due to emotional stress. Disaster relief received under the Disaster Relief & Emergency Assistance Act, provided the relief is for “necessary” expenses, including housing, medical, dental, funeral and other expenses. Awards and damages for replacement or loss of personal property (e.g., a building you own is damaged by someone recklessly driving his/her automobile.)   WHAT GENERALLY IS TAXABLE Some income items that are generally taxable include: Retirement plan benefits received under a worker’s compensation statute. Lost wages or income due to damages from the Gulf Oil spill. Damages from emotional distress that are NOT due to “physical injury” or “physical sickness” Back pay and damages due to emotional distress under a claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Awards for compensation for lost profits or lost wages. Any amounts received as a result of a settlement where the amount represents a “pension right,” i.e., the right to the money is due to contributions not made by you. “Punitive damages” regardless of whether they came from sickness or injury If interest is credited to an award, then the interest is typically taxable. Copyright infringement damages. Any awards or damages due to “interference of business operations.” Note that most employer/ employment-related settlements and damages are considered returns of lost pay or wages. Since wages are taxable as a general income tax principle, these amounts are generally subject to income taxation, as well. Certain amounts received shown to be attributable to medical expenses that were previously reported as itemized tax deductions on one or more previous returns. Legal fees to the extent those fees can be allocated to time spent recovering non-taxable awards (if the award isn’t taxed, then the legal fees can’t be deducted.   TAXABLE OR NOT TAXABLE, IT’S STILL CONFUSING Taxation of settlements, judgments, and certain government benefits is complex. The scenarios listed above are a mere sample and largely dependent on unique facts and circumstances. Consult with your CPA and/or tax and legal advisors.   Brought to you by The Guardian Network © 2018. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America®, New York, NY 2018-53403 Exp. 01/2020 -- About the Author: Jerry Maldonado pecializes in retirement, insurance and tax off-set strategies for professionals and small business owners.  His focus is to [...]