Simplify Your Life
Streamline your finances, cut the clutter and free up time for things that matter.
By Laura Cohn, Associate Editor
Pat Mertz Esswein, Associate Editor
Candice Lee Jones, Reporter
Elizabeth Ody, Associate Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, June 2009
Advertisement
Below you will find smart moves you can make to consolidate and simplify your investments, retirement plans, credit cards and more.
SIMPLE INVESTING
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on simple investing, you should consider:
Consolidating your assets in fewer accounts to cut down on paperwork and save money on fees.
Buying index funds, which replicate an index of stocks or bonds and will provide at least average returns.
Looking to target-date funds if you want only one investment because they handle asset allocation and rebalance automatically.
MONEY TASKS MADE EASY
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on money tasks made easy, you should consider:
Signing up at a personal budgeting site, such as Mint.com, to see how much you're spending and where.
Taking advantage of online bill-paying through your bank to eliminate paperwork and the need to balance your checkbook.
Consolidating credit-card balances onto a single low-interest card or with a home-equity line of credit to cut down on the number of monthly payments you have to make.
STREAMLINE RETIREMENT
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on streamline retirement, you should consider:
Saying "yes" to your company's automatic 40(k) enrollment plan and auto-escalation option for account contributions.
Investing in a target-date fund and let the pros handle the details.
Consolidating retirement accounts from previous jobs into one IRA -- or just a few.
BENEFITS WITH LESS STRESS
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on benefits with less stress, you should consider:
Signing up for automatic flexible-spending account deductions to save you the trouble of submitting claims or use an FSA debit card.
Getting 90-day prescriptions for drugs you regularly take to save yourself the trouble of monthly trips to the pharmacy.
Setting up a personal health record on your insurers Web site and print out your records when you go to a new doctor so you don't have to fill in all that paperwork.
LOWER MAINTENANCE
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on lower maintenance, you should consider:
Planting slow-growing trees and shrubs so you don't have to spend time pruning.
Choosing turf and flowers suited to your climate to save on water, fertilizer and work.
Planting ground covers to replace annual mulching.
HELP WITH HOME TECH
Among the tactics revealed in the full article on home tech, you should consider:
Buying a universal remote so you don't waste time looking for multiple remotes to operate your electronic systems.
Downloading free mapping software to your smart phone, rather than buying a separate gadget.
Hiring the pros to help install game and home-theater components.
MORE GREAT WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE
Online Tools to Help You Simplify
Find the best online broker, evaluate college-savings plans, pick a credit card, figure out how much life insurance you need and more.
QUIZ: Lighten Your Financial Load
Are you making mountains out of mole hills when it comes to managing your money? Take our quiz to see how easy it is to simplify your financial life.
SLIDE SHOW: Zap the Clutter
Free up space in your closet, basement or garage and earn extra cash -- or a tax break.
VIDEO: Turn Clutter Into Extra Cash
These sources will help you sell items you no longer need.
SLIDE SHOW: Let the Pros Handle It
If you need to lighten your work - or stress - load, let someone else do the heavy lifting.
Goodbye, City Life
Felicia Fisher quit her high-powered job to spend more time with her kids on the family farm.
Take a Service Sabbatical
Downsize your life by enrolling in a public-service program that will take you overseas.
Reader Comments (3)
Posted by: Bob at 05/15/2009 11:43:11 AM
While most of the article's suggestions are good, I have found online bill paying to be the most troublesome. If there is a billing error and you pay it, good luck on getting your money back. I have been having a terrible time with over-billing errors from the local Doctor(didn't file the insurance claims properly) to my propane supplier(promised one price on the phone but billed me a higher price). You can only fight these errors if you have the paperwork along with documented names,dates,and phone times. I only pay AFTER the bill is corrected. If they threaten to send it to collection I have the documentation to go to court. Nor would I say yes to an employers automatic 401K unless they have a matching donation. A few years ago my employer offered a non-matching 401K which turned out to have very limited options and extremely high fees. Needless to say I rolled it all over to an IRA that I controlled. 90 day prescriptions can be another money loser unless your condition is very stable. There is always an extra time delay(up to 2 weeks) on mail orders and if your medication changes frequently you could end up with an extra two months supply of a drug which you now have to dispose of. "Planting slow-growing trees" only sounds good if you plan to live there another 50 years. "HELP WITH HOME TECH" Why hire a PRO? Offer the 14 year old neighbor geek kid a cold soda and some ice cream to set up your electronics. It will probably take 10 minutes or less.
Posted by: Claire Schapiro at 05/16/2009 08:54:01 PM
June-2009-Money-"LET THE PROS HANDLE IT" Tax Preparer - you list only H&R BLOCK and CPA. Neither are licensed by the federal government or permitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service anywhere in the world on any form of U.S. INCOME unless they are also ENROLLED AGENTS. Enrolled Agents are specifically acknowledged by the I.R.S. as tax experts and are the only Circular 230 practitioner who's license is WORLD WIDE. How could you have missed the key people who work closely with the I.R.S.?? There should be a correction in the next issue to advise the public that the Enrolled Agents are the only ones who specifically must pass the Internal Revenue examinations. The Department of the Treasure specifically enrolls us to practice before the Internal Revenue Service,!!
Posted by: Talk2me at 05/19/2009 10:28:24 AM
This is a fine post! There are many ways to simplify our lives. I dumped my land line for a cellphone. Then I got rid of my AT&T contract and got a prepaid Tracfone. Same good phone to talk and text but no more overcharges and funky extra cost and surprises. Yay!