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Expand Your Financial Literacy with MassMutual

April 27, 2015 by Alison 16 Comments

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Thank you to MassMutual for making this post possible. All opinions and my love for being financially literate is 100% my own. 

April is financial literacy month. To some that may sound kind of boring, but to me, financial literacy is crazy important. Little known fact about me, I had to file bankruptcy back in the day, and so did my husband. Now before you judge, the reasons for each of us were different, but neither time was it a case of frivolous spending and living beyond our means, or simply not paying bills. Life threw some curve balls and left few options. Those experiences though, made us very aware of how important planning for the future and the unexpected are because neither of us ever want to have to deal with being in that situation again.

 

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Part of what I learned was because of the tools and resources made available by companies like Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Now when you hear life insurance you may be thinking well, I already have a life insurance policy, but how does that help me now? The fact is, MassMutual has a variety of financial products that help you plan for the future, including, but not limited to life insurance. Each of the tools and resources available is a small step toward gaining a better understanding on your current financial situation and also gaining insight on what you can do now to make sure you and your family are taken care of in the future.

 

I’m sure you’re a little curious about what hubby and I personally have done to help ensure we don’t end up where we did ten years ago.  Well we’ve worked really hard at following these tips for increasing our financial literacy:

 

1. Identify Your Financial Goals – that means both short-term and long-term goals. Right now our short term goal is paying off student loan and credit card debt so that we can save for our long term goal, building a new house. For others it may be retirement or long term care savings.

 

MassMutual Goals

 

 

2. Get Organized – This is super important. I wasn’t always very organized in the past. I didn’t know how much I owed and I basically kept a running tally of my checking account in my head. I just made sure I made payments by the due date and figured that was good enough. Wrong! I was never going to get ahead if I didn’t know where I stood. Now I am very strict with myself about keeping tabs on balances and payments and use a color coded spreadsheet each month to determine what bills need to be paid from each paycheck. It’s allowed me to make extra payments to pay things off faster and squirrel a bit away into savings because now I always know where I stand.

 

3. Use Tools to Help Project Your Savings Needs – This is where the online financial tools from MassMutual come in handy. You can plug in the numbers and see where you’re at and what you need to to do get to where you want to be. This can be saving for college, retirement, or even a large purchase.

 

MassMutual College Savings

 

4. Teach Your Kids Early – Teaching doesn’t always have to be “work”; there are many fun activities out there that help those kiddos become financially literate. With my own son, we give him an allowance, which he earns each week for chores. The more he does, the more he makes. Once he spends it, its gone. If there’s something big he wants, he has to save for a few weeks or even months. He understands the concept of a budget and is much more responsible with items he’s purchased on his own. Our three year old is just starting to “earn” a $1 to put in her piggy bank here and there, but when the time comes, we’ll use some of the same methods with her.

 

5. Find the Right People to Help You – Understanding all the financial and investment options out there isn’t easy. There’s so much to consider and an uninformed decision can hurt in some cases. That’s why it’s important and advised to seek out help from the professionals when beginning the journey of financial literacy or future financial planning. This is where MassMutual comes in. Their strong team of professionals can help you stay on track and informed so all you have to do is carry on and enjoy life.

 

Do you have any financial goal? What’s your biggest financial concern in the present or in the future? Which of MassMutual’s financial tools do you think would be most helpful? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for reading! 

 

 

This is s sponsored post written by me on behalf of MassMutual.

Filed Under: Helpful Hints, Saving $$ Tagged With: Budgeting, Finances, Financial Literacy, financial planning

Comments

  1. Robin (Masshole Mommy) says

    April 27, 2015 at 8:53 am

    My husband is an accountant, so I like to think that our finances are in pretty good shape. I hope so at least 🙂

    Reply
  2. Heather says

    April 27, 2015 at 10:24 am

    I think it’s important to teach our kids finance as early as possible. My mother was a chronic overspender, so much so that she couldn’t pay the bills, we couldn’t answer the door or phone due to bill collectors calling all the time. As I child it was kinda scary and I remember the sacrifices we had to make. I learned a lot from that behavior and I’m always very careful not to spend more than I have. The only times I’ve done that was when we needed to furnish our home, pay for surgeries or car repairs.

    Reply
  3. Corina Ramos says

    April 27, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    Great tips! It’s very important to teach our kids about money at a young age. My daughter is off to college in the Fall and we’ve been having lots of money discussions and helping her create a budget.

    Thanks for sharing! Passing this along. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Trisha Haas says

    April 27, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    These are some good tips to help someone get their finances in order. They are bound to help many people. Thanks for sharing them.

    Reply
  5. Michelle F. says

    April 27, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    My husband and I are planning to move out of state and purchase a home. I will definitely be giving this a try.

    Reply
  6. Crystal says

    April 27, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    It was really important for my family to get some guidance on how to save and eliminate debt. There are tons of options, and I felt overwhelmed. I need to check out the financial tools MassMutual provides. They sounds like a great way to get ahead.

    Reply
  7. Denise says

    April 27, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    It is very important to teach your children about finances. This is a great article.

    Reply
  8. Debra says

    April 27, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    This is such great information! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  9. Michele says

    April 28, 2015 at 12:34 am

    The real problem is finding the right adviser who truly understands what YOU want and your goals. I have been there a couple of times–it can get pretty messed up–lets just say that I lost a bundle both times the stick market went south.

    Reply
  10. Liz Mays says

    April 28, 2015 at 6:29 am

    I really appreciate all those helpful planning tools they have available.

    Reply
  11. Rosey says

    April 28, 2015 at 11:57 am

    No one taught me early, so I take great pains to teach my kids. So far, so good…though I have one (grown) son who does like to sometimes impulse shop… with cars. -_- He’s at the age where I step back and let his wife try to be the voice of reason. 😉

    Reply
  12. K. Lee Banks says

    April 28, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Hubby’s and my financial goals are to get out of debt and open another IRA. With retirement fast approaching (or not – have no idea what’s considered “retirement age” now, but I’m 57!), we really need to have a workable plan in place. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  13. Ann Bacciaglia says

    April 28, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    These are such great tips. I am lucky to have a brother in law that is an accountant and really good with finances.

    Reply
  14. M from The Stay-at-Home Life says

    April 28, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    It sounds like a really great resource to tap into and use.

    Reply
  15. Caitlin says

    April 28, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    I always love digging into our finances and getting to really understand what they are doing. It makes me feel good when I know were we stand and when we can afford to do the things we want.

    Reply
  16. Ayesha says

    April 30, 2015 at 11:10 am

    Great points here! Indeed it is very important to have a knowledge about financial stuff.
    Thanks for sharing these. Very informative!

    Reply

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About Me

My name is Alison. My favorite color is glitter. I love tattoos and finding ways to simplify life. Life with my husband, two children, five dogs, three cats, and lots of miniature horses is never boring but I still find the time to advocate for brands that I love and share my life, helpful hints, and a laugh or two with my amazing fans! Read More…

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