Weekly Savings Tip: September 9, 2009

Annuities as an Investment Option

Your retirement may be decades away but it’s important to start saving and investing now. Consider annuities, a retirement funding strategy that was often neglected in the face of a boom economy. Now, however, the stability of an annuity often looks just as appealing as other retirement funding options. Here are some basic facts to help you decide whether an annuity might be right for you:

- An annuity is a tax-deferred investment contract. You invest your money (either a lump sum or a series of contributions) with a company that sells annuities, such as life insurance and mutual fund companies and banks. In exchange for your investment, the annuity issuer promises to make payments to you or a named beneficiary at certain points in the future.

- Rates of return and costs can vary widely between different annuities, so shop around! You'll also want to shop around for a reputable, financially sound annuity issuer. There are firms that make a business of rating insurance companies based on their financial strength, investment performance, and other factors.

- Payout options, also known as annuitization options, differ based on how you’ve elected to spread payments over the coming years. The amount of each payment depends on such factors as the amount of your principal investment, the particular type of annuity, the length of the payout period and your age if you elect for
lifetime payments.

Annuities may be a good option to explore if you’re looking for investment options outside the stock market. As with any investment, remember to research and educate yourself before making any decisions. For more information visit the Retirement Planning section of the 360 Financial Literacy website.

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Invitation LOVE!

If you remember, I posted here about how I just wasn't in love with my invitations. Even admist catering issues, I set out to find those that made me drool. I enlisted the help of my wonderful SIL (designedbygrace09@gmail.com) and dearest FI... Without further delay, here are the mock-ups of our invitations.



And of course, Mr. CB hard at work...



My darling SIL worked hard and never griped about my million edits. She even enlisted again to do our programs. Unfortunately, we never took any pictures of the programs, BUT they are GORGE.

Weekly Savings Tip: August 17, 2009

What's Your Financial IQ?

According to a recent survey conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, almost half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 have no savings. Additionally, 47 percent of Generation Y respondents gave themselves Cs, Ds or Fs in personal finance skills such as budgeting and saving for retirement.

The time to act is now! Take this short quiz to test your financial literacy IQ so you can improve your personal finance savvy.

This quiz is a good starting point, but the more you educate yourself on personal finances and savings, the more prepared you'll be when facing financial situations in the future. Be smart, and remember to feed the pig!

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Weekly Savings Tip - August 10, 2009

Avoid Overdraft Fees

Did you know the median overdraft fee on a checking account is $26? Here are steps to take to avoid this penalty:

1. Don't trust your "Available Balance." Many financial institutions engage in a practice where they will reflect a direct deposit in your "Available Balance" but will charge overdraft fees on any transactions that occur prior to the deposit actually posting. Any purchases that are made which exceed the previous running balance during the time BEFORE the direct deposit actually posts will result in overdraft charges even though the bank shows the funds as available.

2. Balance your checkbook. Not only will balancing your checkbook help you avoid overdraft fees, but it'll also give you a firm knowledge of how much money is in your account, which helps you prevent bounced checks and detect errors from your bank.

3. Pay cash. Or use a debit card. When you don't pay with a check, you don't have to worry about when the payment will clear. Many people forget that they've written checks, then spend the money that should have been sitting in the account for the check to clear.

4. Create an artificial buffer. Decide on a certain amount that you will always have in your account, and never dip into it. Subtract it out of your checkbook so that the balance you see is what you can spend.


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Invitations - How Important Are They?

So. In my humble opinion, invitations set the tone for your celebration. I had previously had some designed, but have since fell out of love with them. Here they are:



Don't get me wrong, they are nice - but they just don't have that WOW factor that I'm looking for.

With that being said, I stumbled across these. Can we just say absolutely GAW-JUS?!?!?!? Oh my! However, can I get these designed, printed and mailed in 3 weeks?

At any rate, ENJOY!




Images from Etsy
And these:




Images from PW's Jojo

Beer, Wine and Bellini Bar?

Technically a Bellini is white peach puree and Prosecco. That’s it. However, it seems that today people loosely associate the term Bellini with just about any fruit and Prosecco combination.

The day before the party I can make several fruit purees so they would be ready to go the next day. These are super easy to make. At that time of year using frozen fruit will probably be best

Here's the recipe for the fruit puree:

Fruit Puree
1 pound of frozen fruit, such as strawberries, peaches or blueberries, defrosted
1/3 - 1/2 cup simple syrup
Water

Place the frozen fruit in a blender. Add some of the simple syrup and a splash of water. Blend until the mixture is very smooth. You will need to pause the blender now and then to taste, add a bit more simple syrup until the fruit has reached your desired level of sweetness. Once that has been reached add enough water to make the puree thin enough to pour.

Puree can be made a day or two ahead of time and held in the refrigerator.

At the wedding, the guests can choose which flavors appeal to them and even mix purees to make their own custom blends. In addition to the purees we may offer other options such as orange juice (which, when mixed with sparkling wine actually makes a Mimosa) or fruit nectars such as Guava or Mango. The addition of the fruit juices also adds a non-alcoholic option for your guests.

With that being said, what do you think of my beer, wine, and bellini bar menu to help keep costs low for our celebration?

Welcome to Macon! - OOT Box

Found these today and fell in LOVE. Our boxes will have a "Georgia" theme and include a welcome brochure, old-timey glass bottle of Coca-Cola Classic, peach candles, personalized matches, snacks, and either peach preserves or some type of University of Georgia memorabilia.