Father's Day is upon us, and no matter what type of gift you decide to purchase, if you are not giving Dad the opportunity to retire soon, you are missing out on the most important Father's Day gift — financial independence.
When it comes to planning finances, parents always take the traditional approach. Especially dads! While he THINKS he knows it all, there's always more to learn when it comes to planning for retirement. That's where we come in.
As a father himself, Andrew Agemy knows the importance of financial planning; not only for younger generations, but more importantly for those in, or nearing retirement. This Father’s Day, keep the expensive gifting ideas aside. Instead, spend time with your dad talking about money, and help him get his finances in order.
Whether you're looking for a more meaningful gift this Father's Day, or indeed a father approaching retirement yourself, here are some financial tips to help achieve a stress-free retirement.
Control your cash flow to spend less than you make.
Being aware of what is going out every month and comparing it to what is coming in is a vital part of the financial independence process. We all have our own money management strategies, and we’re here to help you find yours. Whether it’s your first time budgeting or you just need some new ideas, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Budgeting is the key to financial success. It's a systematic way of managing your money that helps you make better financial decisions and get out of debt.
To get started, first list all your expenses, starting with the last month (although the last 2-3 months or more is ideal to help capture irregular expenses). If you prefer to write things down google sheets or excel. For the more tech-focused, try an easy-to-use online calculator. See our free retirement and budget calculators here. Choosing an approach that gels with your personal preference and lifestyle is key!
- Challenge your expenses and create a spending/savings plan that will put you in control of your money and make your spending more purposeful.
You would be surprised how things can find a way to creep into your spending and steadily increase your expenses while eating away at your savings. Things like subscriptions, increasing cable/wireless/insurance bills, irregular expenses- all of these can be budget crushers!
Take a look at these (mostly) painless ways to save money for some ideas. The 50/30/20 rule is an approach that seems to work for many individuals, and here are some other ideas on money management strategies that might work well for you. In order to make sure that you are getting the most out of your budgeting efforts, we suggest splitting up your income into three categories: 50% towards necessities (like housing and groceries), 30% towards wants and 20% to savings.
Paying Off High-Utilizing Debt
No matter how much you make or what stage of life you’re in, you’re going to have to prioritize spending and saving. And when it comes to big financial goals, such as paying down debt or saving for retirement, which one to focus on first isn’t always clear cut. If you do have extra funds, how do you prioritize? The good news: It doesn’t have to be an either-or question. It’s all about finding a balance that’s right for you.
By setting some debt-reduction goals, you can pay off your high interest rate debts and strengthen and protect your credit score at the same time.
The first step is to list out your debts, so you know exactly how much you owe, what kind of interest rate they come with, and how much money you need to pay each month. When it comes to paying off debt, there are two main approaches:
- The Debt Avalanche - The debt avalanche focuses on making maximum payments on your highest interest rate debts first and then rolling payments to the next highest interest rate until everything is paid off.
- The Debt Snowball - method focuses on paying off the smallest debt first (the one with the lowest balance) until it's gone, then moving onto the next smallest one—and so on until all of them are paid off!
Once you've made a plan for tackling your debt, it's time to stick to it! While it might seem like a good idea to spend some extra money every once in a while on something fun like new shoes or that fancy coffee shop drink you've been eyeing up lately—you might want to think twice before going over budget! Going over budget could mean not having enough left over at.
Ultimately the name of the game here is to strengthen and protect your credit score. You can do this by reviewing your credit reports on annualcreditreport.com and disputing/cleaning up any erroneous or stale data. You can do most if not all of it online. This step is super important as this is the information used to generate your credit score.
Once you've done this, you'll want to work on building a good payment history by making sure all your bills are paid on time, and paying them off in full when possible. Paying bills on time helps increase your credit score over time because it shows that you are responsible with your money (and therefore likely to pay back loans).
You don’t have to be debt free to save more for retirement though. It depends on your individual priorities and goals. It can be overwhelming to compare how much you need to save for retirement to how much you’re able to save. Instead, consider small steps which will eventually get you to your goals. To plan for your future, it’s helpful to know where you stand financially. If you’re overwhelmed, ask for help.
The Financial “Why”
Financial independence is a goal that many of us are working towards. But how do you know if your finances are on track? The answer lies in understanding what drives your financial decisions. It all starts with a financial why. Your financial why is the reason behind every decision you make. It's not just about making more money or being debt-free. It's about having enough money to do the things that matter most to you, and then some!
The best way to find out what matters most to you is by asking yourself these questions:
- Why do I need this?
- What does it mean for me?
- How will it help me get closer to my goals?
This sounds like a lot of work—and trust us: It is! But once you figure out what drives and motivates you, you'll be able to make decisions about your money that align with your purpose and goals.
Why We Care
For over 30 years, our financial planning has been installed with family values.
Andrew Agemy, Founder and CEO of Agemy Financial Strategies, has won the prestigious Five Star Professional Award in the category of Wealth Management for the last 11 years straight—as seen in Connecticut Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and many others. Additionally, he is in his second decade of receiving an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau as well as the National Ethics Association.
With the help of his son and business partner Daniel Agemy - and having dedicated his life to helping people retire and stay retired - Andrew’s and Daniel's specialty is helping clients move from the investment accumulation phase during their working years into the distribution phase, which will last the rest of their lives – retirement. As fiduciaries, they enjoy using real-world financial data to create personalized financial strategies best suited for each client’s situation.
AFSi became a national firm in 2020 when Andrew and Daniel opened an office in Denver, Colorado, and also became a franchise owner of the national network of Income Specialists known as The Retirement Income Store®. Our values are clear:
- We specialize in conservative retirement strategies with the goal of minimizing our client’s risk with an effective return. Our core objective is to satisfy our client’s needs… We listen.
- A customized approach is used with each individual situation. There are no preconceived ideas as each person has very different needs, backgrounds and circumstances. Being sensitive to each person’s situations, issues and concerns is a core value of our organization… We partner.
- We aim to use a servant’s attitude to develop long-term relationships as we strive to treat others as we would like to be treated… We care.
Happy Father's Day From Andrew Agemy
If you would like to learn more on our financial planning and education tools, contact us here today. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube where we regularly post valuable tips for those who could use some sound financial advice.