Rick Kahler's Financial Awakenings

How bored can you get waiting for your flight at an airport? Bored enough to think it’s a good idea to let someone stick a needle in your arm.

No, I didn’t get a tattoo, just a flu shot. The inoculation business was a little slow right then, so I had time for a conversation with the young man giving the shots. When he found out I was a financial planner he said, “I am just graduating with my nursing degree. What do I need to do to take care of myself financially?”

I didn’t shut up for 15 minutes, and he took down every point.

Here is some of what I told him, plus a few things I thought of after I had to leave to board my flight:

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Financial consultant Rick Kahler says there are still many good reasons to stay away from credit cards.

Kahler says, “I’m a great advocate of not using credit cards, especially for anything consumer related. The best use of a credit card is to pay if off every month. And I recommend to people, when you hit that first month when you can’t pay it off, you cut up the card.”

Card companies now have to give 45 days notice before raising interest rates, but they can close your account or lower your credit limit at any time and for any reason without telling you.

Watch Rick’s complete interview with KEVN Black Hills FOX here.

If you’ve been lying awake at night wondering what is the one bit of financial advice I want the world to know, you can find out on Sunday.  I answer this question and a few more on KEVN’s Focus With Jack Caudill this Sunday, February 7th.

Also featured on the program are Dr. John Quinn, President of the Rapid City campus of NAU,  and Terry Mills from Consumer Credit Counseling Service.  The topics we discuss range from the psychology of money to what’s ailing the US economy.

You can watch the program on the local FOX channel, KEVN, at 9:30 pm on Sunday, just after the Superbowl.

Economically, the first decade of the 21st Century has been, to put it mildly, “interesting.” It’s been a bit like riding a bobsled down a Black Hills slope, scooting up the other side, going off a steep cliff, and landing softly in a haystack. Continue Reading »

In June of 2009 I wrote a column, “Weathering The ‘W’,” on the possibility we will have a “W” shaped recession and recovery. This model would have the global stock market crash of fall 2008 as the first dip in the “W” and this year’s market rise as the high point in the middle of the letter. The second dip would be another crash, equal to or deeper than the initial one, and the final high point of the “W” would be a sustainable recovery. Continue Reading »

If you’re in the habit of making New Year’s Resolutions, one that you might consider for the coming year is this: “I resolve not to pay more in taxes than I need to.”

When it comes to keeping a resolution, this one might seem like a no-brainer. In fact, however, making sure you don’t overpay your taxes requires some planning, research, and attention to detail. Here are some factors to keep in mind, both as you prepare your tax return for 2009 and as you plan for 2010: Continue Reading »

Charles Dickens has a scene in A Christmas Carol where two charity workers approach Scrooge on Christmas Eve:

          . . . “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”

          “Nothing!” Scrooge replied.

          “You wish to be anonymous?”

          “I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge.

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Here is an interesting article posted on Bankrate.com that suggests one of the reasons so many people are having trouble selling their home is not the market, but their own money scripts.  “Your money scripts could very well be keeping you stuck in your home,” says Rick.

In the article, Rick Kahler suggests to Marilyn Kennedy Melia that potential sellers need to figure in the annual costs of keeping a house while it’s on the market.  It often makes sense to further reduce the cost of the home when you consider the savings in carrying costs.  You can read the article here.

In recent months I’ve been suggesting that my retired clients consider increasing their cash reserves and keep two years of income needs in a money market or ultra short term bond fund.  While the time-tested standard of six months to one year of living expenses has worked fine over the past 25 years, it just makes sense to me to step up one’s liquidity in a financial crisis. Continue Reading »

Keeping up with the Joneses all year is hard enough. It gets even worse during the holidays, when we feel pressured to keep up, not just with the Joneses, but also with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the elves. Continue Reading »