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The dilemma – will I be able to travel & buy shoes?

This post has been sponsored by SUM180. I was provided with product at no charge to sample in exchange for my review. The options expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with SUM180 and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.IMG_3275It’s no secret that there are a few things that I like to spend my money on.

  • Travel
  • Shoes
  • Striped Shirts

Those are in my top three for sure. I worry about what will happen when I no longer have my blogging to fall back on to help supply my closet and wanderlust. What if something happened to Mr. S or I? Would we be able to handle the financial burden of a big medical hit…or worse…TWO? We’re not getting any younger, and since we took our retirement early due to health issues for BOTH of us, outlasting any savings we have is yet another worry that’s very real. For someone who’s biggest pleasure is spending, learning how to save and where to invest isn’t one I come to easily.

My choices

I can learn how to best manage what I have saved, how to live on my social security, or continue to blog for the rest of my life. Be forewarned that you may start seeing subjects like: Singing Kindergarten Songs at the Home, How to cheat at BINGO, and OMG Rod Stewart got old (well, he did).

Time to take control

At 62, I thought it was a little late to tweak my financial future. Both Mr. S and I are already collecting Social Security. What could we possibly do? Still, I knew deep inside that there was more to making my money last than buying generic and clipping coupons.

That’s where SUM180 comes in

Financial planners scare me. I turn into an intimidated little girl when staring across the desk at some guy in a suit telling me which life insurance policy, mutual fund, or long-term care policy I should be buying. Yes, I go to my brother (who’s in the financial business) for advice, and he handles all of our joint assets so that I don’t spend them. I knew that I had to face my fears and have someone independent of my family look things over and give me some advice.

Using the a holistic plan, along with a community of users,SUM180 provided me with a non-intimidating look at what I’m doing right (more than I realized), how I can improve my financial situation, and even the opportunity to meet with a financial adviser for one on one time to fine tune the details. Your SUM180 Plan gives you the same sound advice that you would receive from a top personal financial adviser – but it costs thousands of dollars less.

Easier than I thought

If you can fill out a form online, you can do this…it’s THAT simple. Simply head to SUM180 and subscribe.

Tailored for ANYONE

From Millenials to Baby Boomers like myself, the goal of SUM180 is to get you on track to achieving your financial goals.

There are three different plans ranging from

  • The very basic FREE membership (where you can get an idea of how others are using SUM180 in the community)
  • A subscription – which is what I have. $129 per year gives me access for 365 days and I get a personally tailored plan that I can have updated any time that I want throughout the year.
  • Premium subscription – $199 per year that includes a 30 minutes of one-on-one time with a financial advisor…great if you have questions.

Gather your paperwork together

This for me was the most difficult part. WHY? Because I knew that if I had to get all of my statements together, that I’d have to really face the facts of how much I owe and what I have.

Input all of your information

I thought it would be like doing my taxes online, but it wasn’t. It was a much more pleasant experience as I inputted not only my information, but also my goals. It made me stop and take stock of what I wanted to achieve financially. It only took me about 45 minutes, and had I been prepared it would have been much less time. I should have just uploaded my statements online, but instead choose to manually input it all. I actually preferred dealing with the manual input, so I got a REAL LOOK at the numbers.

your plan

Check your e-mail

Once they’ve looked over your information and created a plan for you, SUM180 will send you an e-mail with the link to your personal financial plan.

Your 3 most important steps

I think this is what I liked the most. Rather than overwhelm me with a laundry list of things that I need to do, they break it down into THREE NEXT STEPS to take. Yes, you can go back to SUM180 and revise, something I plan to do once I complete my first steps.

Engage with the community

I love the fact that I am able to chat with others trying to get control of their financial well-being in a private community. Being able to chat completely unfiltered in a safe environment about money with others is so refreshing (and completely non-judgemental).

My 3 next steps

  1. By making a slightly larger payment (which I can easily afford to do), I will wipe out my credit card debt in 3 months.
  2. Fund my retirement account. I had no clue that I could do this even if we are receiving Social Security. Turns out, I can. The plan suggest that I put $2400 per year in, but I am allowed to add up to $6500 per year. I am planning on hitting a number somewhere in between.
  3. Reduce my cash reserves. Apparently I have WAY too much in cash reserves and SUM180 suggested that I reduce it to under $54,000 taking the rest and investing 50% in Income Funds and 50% in Growth Funds. I’ve already done this by moving some of the money into my Fidelity accounts.

Cape Cod Craigville Beach Massachusetts USA

Easy as pie

Everything you receive from SUM180 will be in easy-to-understand, plain English. If you ever need more help, SUM180 offers several types of support – from live online chat to unlimited emails to consultations with financial advisers. I found the suggestions to be not only easy, but VERY doable with my income. I was able to go to the Community and learn how to achieve my NEXT goal (which I’ll be working with SUM180 to achieve), to buy a cottage by the beach in Rhode Island. They even offer an AMA (ask me anything) with the CEO of Sum180 and financial advisors, and blog posts about everything from buying a house to saving, investing and managing debt. I love that they keep them up so you can read the suggestions that they’ve made to others!!!

Best of all, they don’t make money from their recommendations, so you know that they have your best interests at heart when them make a suggestion.

It’s Simple, Affordable, and even a little fun!

STATIONERY

  • Visit: SUM180 for full details and to start YOUR financial plan 
  • Save 50% by using the code: SPRING50

LOVE,

This post has been sponsored by SUM180. I was provided with product at no charge to sample in exchange for my review. The options expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with SUM180 and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.

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