What to know about Robert F. Smith, the man paying off Morehouse grads’ student loans

CNN Newsource
-
0
What to know about Robert F. Smith, the man paying off Morehouse grads’ student loans

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN

(CNN) — Robert F. Smith lifted a huge burden off the graduating class of Morehouse College when he announced during his commencement speech that he would pay off the student loan debt of more than 300 students.

The exact amount to be covered for the 396 students is still being calculated, Morehouse President David A. Thomas told CNN on Monday, but the figure will likely be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Here’s what you need to know about the 56-year-old billionaire investor.

How he made his billions

Smith is the richest black person in the United States, with a net worth of $5 billion, according to Forbes. Yes, he’s richer than Oprah.

He’s the founder of the investment firm Vista Equity, which boasts capital commitments of $46 billion, according to its website. In 2019, Smith was #355 on the Forbes Billionaires List.

Smith is the son of educators who started his career as a chemical engineer for Goodyear and Kraft. He attended business school at Columbia University and went on to make a fortune off investing in the technology sector, working for Goldman Sachs before starting Vista Equity in 2000.

Smith has praised the potential of technology to create capital and wealth for people across the globe as well as improve lives.

“Intellectual capital has become the new currency of business and finance — and the promise of utilizing brainpower to move individuals, families and even entire communities from poverty to prosperity within one generation has never been more possible than at this moment in time,” he wrote in an essay for the Giving Pledge.

He cautioned, though, that not everyone gets to reap the benefits of that potential.

“Potential is no guarantee of progress,” Smith wrote in the essay. “We will only grasp the staggering potential of our time if we create onramps that empower ALL people to participate, regardless of background, country of origin, religious practice, gender, or color of skin.”

He has quite the generous streak

Smith is a big believer in paying it forward.

Before Sunday’s student loans announcement, he donated $1.5 million to Morehouse College for scholarships and the development of a new park. In 2016, he pledged $50 million to Cornell University, one of his alma maters, to support its chemical and biomolecular engineering school, as well as black and female engineering students.

In 2017, he signed the Giving Pledge, an effort spearheaded by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates to enlist wealthy Americans in giving away half of their fortunes.

Smith said he would invest half of his net worth during his lifetime to causes that support equality for black Americans and the environment, while his wife, model Hope Dworaczyk Smith, would focus on helping children.

He’s one of the founding donors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, committing $20 million to the museum before its opening.

He’s also the founder and president of the Fund II Foundation, which provides grants for causes such as human rights, the environment, music education and “preserving the African American experience.”

He’s married to a Playboy playmate

In 2015, Smith married model Hope Dworaczyk in a lavish ceremony on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, featuring performances by John Legend, Seal and Brian McKnight.

Dworaczyk was named Playboy’s playmate of the Year in 2010 and was a host and co-producer for the Canada-based show “Inside Fashion” on E!

The couple has two children together, and Smith has three other children from a previous marriage.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

NASCAR VIP Experience & Interview with NASCAR Managing Director Brandon Thompson

Keosha Thomas
-
0
NASCAR VIP Experience & Interview with NASCAR Managing Director Brandon Thompson

NASCAR VIP Experience 

Recently, I was invited to attend a NASCAR /ACRA VIP Experience tailgate in Nashville to engage minority press. The goal of the event was to deliver awareness for career/internship opportunities for minorities interested in pursuing careers in the NASCAR world, increase awareness for diversity in the sport, and most importantly gain the attention of future generations to come.

(l-r) Caryn Grant, Keosha Thomas, Destini Orr and Brandon Thompson
(l-r) Caryn Grant, Keosha Thomas, Destini Orr and Brandon Thompson

Upon entering the event, while the weather was rainy, our host provided top-notch access on the NASCAR tour bus. Greeted and welcomed with open arms of Southern hospitality, the bus was catered with pizza from Slim and Husky and a full open bar on the bus.

The event was hosted by NASCAR Touring Series and Managing Director Brandon Thompson. Thompson a Nashville native and Pearl Cohn High School alumnus, is a product of the NASCAR internship program. We met his diversity team, led by two educated African-American women, Manager of Multicultural Development Caryn Grant and Touring Series Racing Operations Destini Orr.

We learned a great wealth of information on the NASCAR Diversity Internship program and how it can benefit minorities interested in working with NASCAR, as well as athletes interested in driving for NASCAR.

Caryn Grant reveals, “I was introduced to NASCAR’s multicultural development efforts through my graduate school program which has a focus on diversity and social impact in sports. I joined NASCAR in 2017 and have been able to see the impact of our initiatives both on and off the track through my role as Manager of Multicultural Development.”

Overall, it was a great event and a once in a lifetime experience that all should embrace and experience. It was eye-opening to learn there was a multi-cultural diversity department within NASCAR and a lot of opportunities for college students, recent graduates and professionals who are passionate about sports careers

For more information on the NASCAR Diversity Internship program go here: https://hometracks.nascar.com/drive-for-diversity/nascar-diversity-internship-program/. To learn more about current career opportunities visit here: https://careers.nascar.com/ .

Q and A with NASCAR Managing Director Brandon Thompson

Meet Brandon Thompson, a native Nashvillian and proud Pearl Cohn Magnet High School

(l-r) Keosha Thomas and NASCAR Managing Director Brandon Thompson
(l-r) Keosha Thomas and NASCAR Managing Director Brandon Thompson

alum who happens to be the fearless leader at NASCAR. Today he is making major strides in the world of NASCAR as the Managing Director of the NASCAR Touring Series. He received his formal introduction into the world of NASCAR as a college student at Clark Atlanta University when he was selected to be an intern for the NASCAR Diversity Internship program. He worked with the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee and worked his way to the top.

Take the time to get to know Brandon Thompson here:

Hobbies:  Youth basketball coach, collecting vinyl records and attending concerts/live music performances

College:  Bachelor of Arts in Business from Clark Atlanta University

Fraternity: Member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc.

Who are some of your top picks as NASCAR drivers?

BT: There are a few drivers that stand out to me for different reasons. I admire the personalities and impact on the sport. My top picks would be: Richard Petty (200 wins, 7 Championships) Wendell Scott (only black driver to win a Cup Race), Tim Richmond (polarizing figure), Dale Earnhardt, Bubba Wallace (only active Black driver in NASCAR), and Kyle Busch (200 wins across all NASCAR National Series).

What do you enjoy most about your career?

BT: I enjoy the opportunity to make a positive impact on the sport. My uncles have told me stories about how they used to sneak into the races at the Nashville Fairgrounds. For me to be a part of putting on races at the same venue decades later makes me feel like I’m honoring my family’s history.

When did you fall in love with your job?

BT: On June 7, 2003, Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon. I was standing on the pit toad when the engines fired and the hair on my arms literally stood up and I got chills. That is a moment I will never forget.

What is the most important thing you have taken with you from
your internship into your current role as Managing Director of NASCAR?

BT: Never leave meetings without action plans. Additionally, leave no ambiguity.

What is your motivation or goal?

BT:  I am passionate about three things. My family, Black Culture and NASCAR. What motivates me is the opportunity I have every day to impact those things and the opportunity to create opportunities for these things to overlap.

What advice would you give a minority or native Nashvillian that is seriously interested in pursuing a sports career or role at NASCAR?

BT:  Attend races, follow the sport on social, learn as much about the business as possible.

Who has been your role model or mentor in college as an intern to your current role?

BT: I’ve had a few mentors. Phil Horton who is an HBCU grad, is the first Pit Crew Coach in NASCAR and is responsible for placing a large amount of diverse and women crew members in the industry. Max Siegel who owns Rev Racing and is also the CEO of USA Track & Field.

Discover the requirements to the NASCAR Diversity Internship program below:

   NASCAR Diversity Internship Program 

NDIP is a 10-week, paid summer internship that seeks diverse undergraduate and graduate college students with high academic standing at elite institutions. NASCAR Diversity Interns contribute to the complex motorsports workforce; learn from leading sports executives in weekly Lunch and Learns; and network with industry professionals.

2019 Requirements: 

  • Be a member of one or more of the following races/ethnic minority classifications: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Latino or Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
  • Be currently enrolled in, or be considered a recent graduate of an undergraduate or graduate degree program who has not graduated before fall semester 2018
  • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible to work in the U.S.
  • Be at least in their sophomore year of college
  • Have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
  • Be willing to relocate to Florida, North Carolina or various locations across the United States

NASCAR Making Efforts in Diversity

Mike Patton
-
0
NASCAR Making Efforts in Diversity

For years, NASCAR has been known as a predominantly white sport that catered to that demographic of the country. Well, over the last few years, NASCAR has been on a mission to make their sport more diverse and on Saturday, NASCAR brass was in town as their new property, the ARCA racing series, was on display at the Nashville Fairgrounds Raceway.

As a part of the race festivities, NASCAR had a VIP experience and invited out minority media to check out the race. Although the race did not happen due to weather, plenty of information was passed out as well as good times.

To many this may not have been seen as possible, but the wheels have turned on this for some time now and Caryn Grant, who is the manager of NASCAR’s multicultural development, has been part of creating a space for minorities in NASCAR.

Caryn Grant NASCAR Multicultural Development Manager
Caryn Grant NASCAR Multicultural Development Manager

“I was introduced to NASCAR’s multicultural development efforts through my graduate school program which has a focus on diversity and social impact in sports. I joined NASCAR in 2017 and have been able to see the impact of our initiatives both on and off the track through my role as Manager of Multicultural Development.”

Caryn plays an important part in many different programs with the NASCAR Opinion Leader Initiative, the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program (which produced current African-American NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace) and the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program.

“The NASCAR Opinion Leader Initiative allows us to engage, connect and partner with diverse businesses, community organizations and local influencers in key race markets, much like the racing event that took place May 4th at the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.”

While the NASCAR Opinion Leader Initiative and Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program are huge, so is the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program.

“Programs like the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program continue to introduce eager and talented minority students to our organization. Two dozen internship program alumni currently contribute daily as employees and leaders within our industry.”

“Brandon Thompson, Managing Director of NASCAR’s Touring Series, who organized the NASCAR event in Nashville, is a perfect example of the importance of the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program. He began as an intern at Nashville Superspeedway and has risen through the ranks of the industry. “

The drive for NASCAR to be more diverse is becoming more and more evident and another initiative that has begun is the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program.

“The NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program is designed to identify, coach, train and develop minority and female collegiate athletes who possess the skill, ability and attitude to be a successful pit crew member in one of the three NASCAR national series. Combines are held at various universities throughout the spring and high performers are invited to compete during our national combine held in Charlotte, N.C. in May. From the national combine, we select a group of athletes who will train with our partner team Rev Racing and Coach Phil Horton. One hundred percent of our program graduates have gone on to work on pit road within our sport with more than 30 currently pitting at our premier level, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.”

NASCAR may have been perceived as one of the least diverse sports out there, but by the efforts of Caryn Grant and others, NASCAR is making strides to be more inclusive and more diverse. And the efforts were definitely noticed by those that were present in Black media.

“The event was well-organized and the hosts were very professional,” Said Eric Nyamor, who was in attendance with all of the media there Saturday night.

Although we did not get to see a race, the experience in itself was one that opened eyes and is indicative of the relationship NASCAR is seeking in trying to diversify its brand.

NewsChannel 5: Exposed Part 2

The Nashville Voice
-
0
NewsChannel 5: Exposed Part 2

Nashville Voice has reported on the saga involving Dr. Shawn Joseph, the first African-American Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, over the past six months. Our attention to this matter is driven by one simple fact: “What you do or fail to do as a City, tells the world who and what you are more than any marketing or branding scheme, strategy or gimmick.”

Our City has been divided and our true colors have bled from these tumultuous months. But, the Joseph saga is bigger than MNPS. Our City allowed the systemic, intentional professional and personal defamation of the highest profiled African-American leader in our City because he dared to actually bring equity to our schools and uplift Nashville students who have been historically left behind.

Now that he has reached an amicable separation from MNPS, it is important that we look at the circumstances surrounding his departure and separate the facts from the fallacies. To this end, Nashville Voice has investigated the allegations and sources of these allegations against Shawn Joseph and the true intentions behind them because Nashville deserves the truth!

In this latest installment of “NewsChannel 5: Exposed,” the Nashville Voice takes a closer look at WTVF-TV’s Phil Williams’ go-to sources: Teacher Mary Holden and blogger Thomas “TC” Weber.

During Williams’ MNPS investigation in February, he staged a ‘Teacher Town Hall’— giving 14 handpicked employees the opportunity to publicly air their grievances about low pay and morale problems. To the untrained eye, Williams’ town hall representatives appear to speak with honest transparency about their MNPS-related qualms. In reality, our sources have discovered that Williams’ town hall can’t be lauded for speaking for the district as a whole: His sample size totaled a mere 0.1% of the school system’s 10,900 employees.  

On top of that, Williams either failed to vet his sources, or declined to come clean about the potential for conflicts of interests. The Nashville Voice discovered that one of the most outspoken and disgruntled members of his TV town hall was a teacher who had a personal reason to be dissatisfied with MNPS. H.G. Hill Middle School teacher Mary Holden’s household income took a hit as a direct result of  MNPS decisions.

Our sources have confirmed that Holden’s husband David Holden is CEO of the American Alliance for Innovative Systems (AAIS), an education consulting company. Going back to 2009 under former superintendent Jesse Register, AAIS inked procured several contracts with MNPS — including one that went as high as nearly $1.3 million.

Over time, AAIS’s contractual engagement dwindled to $300,000 — and in 2018 MNPS officials under Joseph declined to increase the current contract’s value. Coincidentally, around the same time, Mary Holden began complaining about Joseph on social media.

Although organized employee groups have consistently refuted Holden’s claims of a widespread morale crisis, NewsChannel 5 and Williams refused to give these groups a voice in his TV town hall.

For example, SEIU Local 205 — representing MNPS support employees, many of whom are women and minorities — routinely praised Joseph for inviting them back to the negotiating table after Register disenfranchised them and outsourced hundreds of custodial jobs. Support employees represent nearly one-third of the MNPS workforce– a far cry from Williams’ town hall cast totaling a fraction of a percent of the district’s workforce.

Similarly, leaders of the Metro Nashville Education Association spoke at school board meetings to confirm that employee morale problems were not worse than in previous years — and they were also not invited to Williams’ handpicked TV town hall crew.

The Nashville Voice has also discovered that one of Williams’ other sources is equally biased and unreliable.

Thomas “TC” Weber, a local blogger who lost to Rachael Anne Elrod in last year’s District 2 school board race after The Tennessean reported on his extensive criminal record. 

Even though Weber’s rap sheet includes past charges of felony indecent exposure as well as disorderly conduct and trespassing, NewsChannel 5 and Williams routinely relied on him for testimonies against Dr. Joseph and MNPS.  

The Nashville Voice discovered that Weber has displayed harassing behavior toward school board members and employees so much that MNPS’s security division opened a file to document his behavior.  

After peeling back the layers, we’re beginning to notice a trend. NewsChannel 5 and Phil Williams have a moral responsibility to the City of Nashville to report accurate and ethically sound information. Failing to thoroughly vet sources deprives Nashvillians of their right to honest, unbiased journalism.

The Nashville Voice Opens Nominations for Nashville’s Top Bachelorette

Jason Luntz
-
0
The Nashville Voice Opens Nominations for Nashville’s Top Bachelorette

Nashville has so many amazing single women that we felt it was time they deserve the spotlight. We need your help identifying the Bachelorettes that make this city such a great place to live, work, and play.

Please use the form below and enter the name of the top Bachelorette you feel is doing a lot of great things. Each vote is anonymous, so we just need their name and the reason you choose them.

Voting is open May 14 – May 31

Nominate Your Top Nashville Bachelorette

  • Please enter the first and last name of the Bachelorette you are nominating
  • Please leave your nominee's Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, or Twitter account.
  • Please describe the reason you have chosen your nominee to be one of Nashville's Top Bachelorettes

‘Game of Thrones’ character names being given to more newborns

CNN Newsource
-
0
‘Game of Thrones’ character names being given to more newborns

By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — A decade ago, in the days before dragons and direwolves ambushed our televisions, Arya didn’t even make it into the list of the 1,000 most popular baby names in the United States.

But last year, 2,545 babies were given the name Arya, making the name of the “Game of Thrones” sword-swinging heroine the 119th-most popular for girls in the US. Arya is now among a number of baby names inspired by “Thrones” characters that are pushing their way into the mainstream, according to data from the Social Security Administration.

Arya takes the cake as the “Thrones” name that has most smoothly transitioned into a common American name. That shouldn’t be too surprising, given that Arya Stark’s role on the show is as the widely popular trained assassin and Night King-slayer. Also, it’s easy to spell.

But even difficult-to-spell names inspired by the show have crept up the list of baby names.

There were 560 babies named Khaleesi last year in 2018. Khaleesi, the name for queen in the fictional Dothraki language, is even more popular than the dragon-riding character’s actual name of Daenerys, which was given to 163 baby girls in 2018.

What’s more, 434 baby girls were named Yara last year, boosting it to the 672nd most popular girls’ name, from a previous rank of 986th.

Still, despite the show’s popularity, the names of many key figures in the show simply haven’t spread as widely as a pot of wildfire. For example, just 58 baby boys were named Tyrion, 30 boys named Jorah, 29 girls were named Sansa and 14 boys were named Theon.

Jaime, the Lannister with the golden hand, has actually decreased as a baby name over the course of the series. There were 547 babies named Jaime in 2018, down from its most popular year in 2001 when there were 1,339 newborns named Jaime. (Kingslayer is also not a popular name, for obvious reasons.)

“Thrones” may be the biggest show on TV right now, but all these names have a ways to go before they displace the most popular baby names last year. Emma held its rank as the most popular girls name for the fifth straight year, and Liam made it back-to-back titles as the most popular boys name.

That said, Emma and Liam may want to watch their backs.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Uber plunges again — now about 17% below IPO price

CNN Newsource
-
0
Uber plunges again — now about 17% below IPO price

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Business

(CNN) — Uber was already the biggest high-profile IPO bust in recent memory. And it only got worse on Monday.

Shares of Uber fell more than 10% in late morning trading following a dismal debut Friday. The stock is now down about 17% from its initial public offering price of $45.

Uber is facing a lot of skepticism about its ability to make money anytime soon as it battles with rival Lyft for market share in the US.

Lyft, which went public in March, has been a Wall Street dud too. That stock fell 6% Monday and is now down more than 33% from its IPO price.

Uber and Lyft weren’t helped by growing trade tension between the US and China either. The broader market fell sharply Monday morning after China responded to a US increase on tariffs for Chinese exports with higher tariffs of its own on US goods.

Uber’s epic drop is also bad news for some of the top investors who bought stakes in the company relatively late in the game.

The company raised about $6.8 billion by selling nearly 140 million shares between December 2015 and February 2017 at a price of $48.77 a share, including a sale of about 71.8 million shares to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

That stake, worth $3.5 billion at the time, is now valued at around $2.7 billion.

Japanese tech investing giant SoftBank is the largest investor in Uber. It owns nearly 13% of the company through its SoftBank Vision Fund. SoftBank’s shares fell more than 3% in Tokyo Monday following Friday’s drop in Uber’s price.

SoftBank also has investments in several other so-called unicorns that could be close to going public, including Slack, WeWork and DoorDash. Wall Street’s sudden disdain for money-losing startups — Lyft has also fallen dramatically from its IPO price — could be bad news for SoftBank.

And shares of Google owner Alphabet, which owns a 5% stake in Uber, were down 3% on Monday.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

COPD: Do You Have This Disease?

StatePoint
-
0
COPD: Do You Have This Disease?

Chances are high that you know someone with COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., and more than 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with it. But according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), millions more people have COPD and don’t realize it. Could you or someone you know be among them?

Here are some clues: COPD typically comes on slowly. You may start experiencing shortness of breath while doing everyday activities, and though it’s easy to think of this as just a part of “getting older,” often it’s not. Shortness of breath is a common—and potentially dangerous—symptom of COPD, so see a health professional as soon as you can. And watch for other symptoms—ongoing coughing; wheezing; and excessive production of sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucus. COPD can progress quickly and make it increasingly difficult to breathe. Often by the time people see a health professional, their lungs’ ability to work properly has been significantly impaired, so don’t delay. Without treatment, COPD can prevent you from doing basic activities, such as walking and dressing.

COPD: Why me?

While COPD takes a devastating toll across many populations and regions, researchers now know that certain people are at increased risk of developing the disease, including those who smoke or have smoked cigarettes. About 75 percent of COPD cases are caused by smoking, but people who have never smoked can also develop COPD, and scientists are continuously working to understand why. Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke and other lung irritants such as air pollution, chemical fumes and dusts from the environment or workplace can put you at risk. If you have a rare genetic condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, your risk rises.

Race, sex and where you live can be influencers, as well. In the past, COPD often had been labeled a man’s disease. Yet, women are 30 percent more likely than men to have COPD. And while the vast majority of people diagnosed are white, COPD affects some other ethnic groups disproportionately. For example, COPD is more common among multiracial or American Indian/Alaska Native adults, but less common among Asian, African American and Hispanic populations.

Variances can be found geographically, too. COPD is twice as common in rural areas than in urban parts of the country. Many people with COPD can be found in southeastern parts of the U.S., such as Kentucky and Virginia, the Carolinas, and in areas of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, where more rural communities are located.

COPD: What to do now?

Visit COPD Learn More Breathe Better, a program by the NHLBI, part of the National Institutes of Health, at COPD.nhlbi.nih.gov to learn more.

The key to keeping COPD at bay—or preventing it from getting worse—is to understand and recognize the signs and symptoms early and discuss the disease with a health professional. The sooner this happens, the sooner you or your loved one can get back to doing the things you love.

Help wanted: Luxury yacht tester

CNN Newsource
-
0
Help wanted: Luxury yacht tester

By Marnie Hunter, CNN

(CNN) — Yacht tester. It’s an exacting position. Really. But someone’s gotta do it.

HushHush, a London-based online luxury store and concierge service, is seeking a yacht tester to make sure the pleasure craft listed on the e-commerce site are up to snuff.

Each yacht review pays £1000 (about $1,300), and the right candidate could review up to 50 yachts per year, the listing says. So that’s potentially $65K a year.

“It will be on a pro-rata, self employed basis, so we’ll need you to be flexible with when we need you,” the listing notes. Each review will require a week aboard a yacht to create a detailed review.

The perks? Living on a yacht. The work? Testing and evaluating everything on board: “every plug socket, door, bed, shower, tap — everything to make sure that the yacht is up to our standards.”

“Obviously, we’re a very high end site and expect our products to be of the highest quality, which is why we’re looking to hire someone whose job is solely assessing the quality of yachts and ensuring they meets our high standards,” says HushHush.com founder Aaron Harpin in the job listing.

Candidates must have a passport, be over 21 years old and be available on short notice. No yachting experience is required, although knowing your way around yachts is a plus.

Candidates should be hardworking, reliable and detail-oriented with strong writing skills.

The Hush Hush e-commerce site launched earlier this year and has previously posted a full-time, salaried opportunity for a reviewer of a range of luxury products from art and jewelry to aircraft.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Tidying Up Your Finances

StatePoint
-
0
Tidying Up Your Finances

The cultural phenomenon sparked by professional organizing consultant Marie Kondo has motivated millions worldwide to declutter. While cleaning out your closet and making a financial plan may be two very different things, tidying up your finances can also “spark joy.”

A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) can help you commit to a plan that helps you take control of your spending, providing you with confidence today and a more secure tomorrow.

Here are nine ideas to get you started:

1. Write down your financial goals and post them somewhere prominent, such as your fridge. These can be small goals, like “I will bring lunch to work three days a week,” or bigger goals, like “I will pay off my student loan.”

2. Calculate your net worth to get an overall picture of your financial standing. Your net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe.

3. Update (or create) your budget showing what money is coming in and what’s going out. Make sure it’s not in the red, meaning you’re spending more than you’re earning.

4. Consider opening a Christmas club-type savings account to pay for big-ticket personal expenses. Originally pioneered during the Great Depression, Christmas clubs were financial accounts people added cash to throughout the year. They then used these savings to buy holiday gifts, helping to avoid the holiday spending “hangover.” You can create your own by automating savings each month, ideally in an interest-bearing account. If you save $75 a month, you’ll have $900 over the course of a year (or even more, if you earn interest).

5. Check your credit report. With Credit Karma, you can check your credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax for free weekly. Additionally, you can check your report from each of the three main credit bureaus once a year for free with AnnualCreditReport.com.

6. Set a deadline to pay off credit cards in full. This will help motivate you to take control of your debt.

7. Rebalance your 401(k) about once a year to see if you are out of balance from your original goals. For example, if your allocation was 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds, but stocks had a good year, you might now have a 65 percent stocks and 35 percent bonds allocation, so this will have to be rebalanced.

8. Increase your savings plans. This could be your employer plan at work, your own emergency fund, or both. Consider raising your contribution by 1 percent a year.

9. Meet with a CFP professional. If you haven’t begun planning for retirement or tying your financial goals to your life goals, there’s no better time than now to start. You can find a CFP at letsmakeaplan.org.

As you put your belongings in order, consider your finances. Simple measures can help you tidy up your finances.

1...161162163...196Page 162 of 196