Tip #1: Determine How Much Money Your Need for Retirement and Save More

Surveys indicate that most folks don’t know how much money they will need for retirement. For some their living expenses will decrease. The mortgage will be paid off, they’ll eat out less and transportation costs will be reduced. For other retirees, living expenses will increase due to more world-wide travel, visits to the grandchildren, and medical costs.  Bottom line, retirement changes spending patterns so it is best to know how much money you’ll need and start saving more. Mutual of Omaha has a free online calculator that can help you create a retirement budget and determine how much income you’ll need to support the retirement lifestyle you have selected for yourself.  The Mutual of Omaha calculator is located at http://www.mutualofomaha.com/tools/calculators/retirement-planning/how-will-retirement-impact-my-living-expenses.php.

 Tip #2: Track Expenses and Spend Less

Many people have informal budgets that include just a few important dates and amounts. This casual sort of budgeting isn’t very practical as retirement gets closer. Opportunities can be missed and can set an uncomfortable retirement course that can’t be corrected. Therefore tracking expenses and spending less is a key ingredient to last minute retirement planning. The internet provides several online calculators that will do the math for you. For example, Bankrate (http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/smart-spending/home-budget-plan-calculator.aspx ) offers a free online calculator. Enter the amount of your income and expenses, next click the “view report” button to compare your spending to pre-determined targets. The personalized report shows where you can save more money. Note: The calculator requires a Java-enabled browser for the plug-in.

 Tip #3: Consider Downsizing Your Home

Many baby-boomers purchased their homes before the real estate bubble. These folks have often paid-off their mortgages or have equity in their homes. If these baby-boomers don’t have adult children living at home, they can downsize now (and not later). This could lower house payments, reduce real estate taxes and home insurance expenses.

 Another alternative is moving to a city with lower housing costs.  This approach has some “starting over” risks but can radically lower housing costs.  For example, if you live in Virginia, move to Ohio. The average price of a home in Virginia is $240,000 and the average price of a home in Ohio is $99,900. Check out online calculators like Moving.com (www.moving.com ) which compares the average price of a home in one location to another location using zip codes.  Moving.com utilizes government databases that are updated annually to determine the average price of homes.

 Tip #4: Work Longer

Peer pressure and employer encouragement make retiring early or not working into the retirement years seem like the “right thing to do”.  A study T. Rowe Price using Monte Carlo simulations shows how working longer, even if it’s just a few years, can result in big benefits. The T. Row Price example focuses on a woman aged 62 with a fixed salary, full-time job that pays $75,000 per year, and has an IRA of $150,000. Let’s say that she saves $11,250 (around 15 percent of her salary) per year and works until she is 65.  In the future, if inflation is 3 percent per year, her investment income will increase by 14 percent per year.  And in today’s dollars, her annual retirement income would be 43 percent higher than if she retired at 62.  

 Tip #5: Delay Collecting Social Security Benefits

For many retirees Social Security benefits are a large percentage of their monthly income. Social Security unlike many other retirement plans, enjoys annual cost of living adjustments to keep up with inflation, is usually exempt from income taxes, and is immune to the volatility of the stock market. Each year you delay claiming Social Security, up until you are 70-years old, the bigger the monthly check will be. There are qualitative and quantitative reasons for postponing Social Security benefits. The qualitative reasons for putting off collecting social security benefits include determining how likely you are to live until your 70s, 80, or 90s. If you are in good health and members of your family are “long-lived” delaying Social Security benefits is definitely for you.  If you are married and your wife is younger (and / or has earned less than you) give delaying claiming Social Security benefits serious thought for her sake. (For many widows Social Security is their primary source of income.)  For more quantitative details about delaying Social Security benefits take a look at About.com at http://retireplan.about.com/od/socialsecurity/a/delayed_retirem.htm

1. Gather all your financial information. Some monthly or annual payment amounts you’ll know immediately. Other expenses are difficult to track. To make this first step easier, focus on the major recurring income and expense categories. You can use the Sample Budget Template to enter your annual dollar amounts earned and spent. Items that you should easily remember are:

a. Rent/mortgage payments
b. Auto payments
c. Utilities
d. Credit and bank card payments
e. Food at home expenses
f. Contributions to retirement accounts or investment accounts
g. Life, health, disability, long-term care, insurance (that is not automatically deducted from you salary)
h. Transportation including auto insurance premiums
i. Taxes (semi-annual real estate and personal property taxes)

 2. Calculate how much money you earn each month. This includes regularly occurring salaries, part-time salaries, reimbursements, self-employment income, retirement and investment income

3. Use The Sample Budget Template to assist you in dividing your expenses in non-discretionary (the necessities) and discretionary expenses (the luxuries).

a. Non-discretionary expenses are your fixed (for example, rent or mortgage payments) or near fixed (such as semi-annual property taxes, pets, personal care) costs.
b. Discretionary are luxury expenses or expenses that you have complete control over.

4. Use The Sample Budget Template as an example format for your annual budget. Using the same or similar categories enter the dollar amounts that are your actual amounts.  If you are uncertain of actual costs enter your best “guess estimate”. (You can find tune your personal budget amounts over time.)

5. Enter the amount you pay in payroll taxes and other taxes. This will assist you in determining after- tax income.

6.  For planning purposes you may want to budget for three to five years to determine if you can reach a long-term financial goal. This is especially useful if you know that you have to make a major capital expenditure. For example, the down payment on a house, buying a new furnace, or repairing the roof.

7. Make certain that your budget is flexible and adaptable. To be successful,  a budget takes commitment from each family member. Therefore it is important that everyone “buys” into the spending plan you have all created.

8. Fine tune your annual budget into a monthly budget. Compare your monthly actual to your monthly budget and determine the difference. You will likely discover “money leaks”. Please refer to the Top Three FAQs about Budgeting and Personal Finance for suggestions about how to stop money leaks and advice for staying on budget.

9. It is often difficult to keep track of “pocket change”. Walking around money can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars spent each month. One way to keep track of where this money goes is to keep an envelope in your car or purse. Write the month in the corner of the envelope. When you pay cash, list what you purchased and the amount on the envelope. If you pay for an unusual expense put the receipt in the envelope. This will help you remember what you purchased. At the end of the month, you can reduce the number of unassigned personal expenses by categorizing the items listed on your envelope.

10. Calculate your total expenses.

11. Subtract your total expenses from your income. The difference is your net discretionary cash flow. This amount can be used towards achieving your financial goals.

In conclusion, it is important to get started today. Understand that your first budget won’t be “on the mark”. Your budget will be subject to small changes and revisions. The budget will likely not be accurate until it has been in place for three to four months.

Some people consider themselves wealthy because they can live in a very expensive house and travel when they feel like it. Others believe that they are wealthy if they can pay their bills on time. The way I define a wealthy person is someone having over $1 million in investable assets. In other words, the value of your home is not included in the definition of a millionaire.

Wealth is being in possession of material goods above and beyond what is actually needed to fulfill an individual’s needs and having so much money after purchasing excessive material goods that it can accrue interest until there is so much that it would be difficult for a person to spend it in one lifetime without being wasteful or extravagant.

If you do not have great inherited wealth you will likely have to do three things over a 40 to 50 year period: (1) you will need to make money, (2) you will need to save money, and (3) you will need to invest money. Overall, wealth is equated to money. However, it also encompasses many other aspects such as power, status, and individuality.

One way to get motivated to save is to look at the benefits of saving. A quick summary is as follows:
1. Even out household cash flow: Many occupations experience fluctuations in income. Self-employed individuals may have delays at the beginning of contracts. Additionally, client payments can be scheduled for 30 to 60 days after the work has been performed.
2. Home purchases: Saving for the down payment on a primary or secondary home.
3. Capital expenditures: Saving for large household expenses. Examples include new automobiles, major appliances, and home repairs, home improvements or home maintenance.
4. Investment planning: Saving to take advantage of investment opportunities.
5. Education planning: Saving for the college education of your children.
6. Leaving an inheritance for the children: Many people want to leave money for their children.
7. Uncertain times: Saving to cover the loss of income due to illness or disability.
8. Better tomorrow: Saving to fend off inflation when retired and living on a fixed income.
9. Financial independence: Saving to be financially secure.

Question #2: How Do I Stop Spending Leaks?
If I said that knowing yourself is the best way to stay on budget and save money you would probably laugh. However, it is absolutely true. Knowing your “spending triggers” is the best way to avoid situations where you are likely to overspend. In other words, knowing what makes you happy will make saving money easier. Many purchases are made due to unhappiness, depression or boredom. For both men and women, finding and purchasing just the right item, especially if it is discounted or on sale, will lift their spirits and bring a smile to their faces.

Unfortunately, this is often a short-lived experience. The credit card bill arrives and the amount due is higher than the amount in your budget. Over time, this may make it difficult to pay fixed but irregular costs such as quarterly utility bills and semi-annual taxes. The following are other triggers for overspending. It is likely that at one time or another each of us has overspent due to:
1. Competing and impressing others: Giving the best gift or needing to be the best dressed.
2. Celebrating: Overspending to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, or spending more than normal because you feel elated.
3. Having your credit card or money in your pocket: Spending more or treating others because you have the cash or credit on your person.
4. Overworking and feeling fatigued: You just can’t cook tonight so you dine-out, hire someone to clean the house or complete other tasks that you normally do yourself.

Bottom line, the more you know about yourself and your “spending personality” the easier it will be to stay within your spending plan. Taking the time to know your “spending triggers” and getting a grip on your financial situation will allow you to make better financial decisions. Ultimately, this will assist you in spending less than you earn.

Question #3: How can I Save More Money?
Individuals find it easier to save when they have a savings structure and a financial goal in mind. These financial goals can be short-term, long-term, or for any period of time. An example of a short-term goal is saving for next year’s vacation. An example of a long-term goal is saving for your child’s education. Different goals have different completion dates and should be placed in separate savings “buckets”.

The “bucket system” of saving is often a very effective behavioral finance approach to saving. Each buck has its own completion date. Don’t feel limited by the number of buckets you need for your financial planning. You can have as many buckets as you require. Most households need at least three buckets:
• The retirement bucket
• The college fund bucket
• The down payment for a house bucket

Exploring Difference Saving Methods
Each buck can be a different type of savings account. The best type of savings vehicle depends on your future plans for your savings. The following are four examples saving methods as defined by InvestorWords (www.investorwords.com):
1. Savings account: A deposit account at a bank or a savings and loan which pays interest but cannot be withdrawn by check writing.
2. Checking account: An account which allows the holder to write checks against deposited funds. Checking accounts which pay interest are sometimes referred to as negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts. The interest rate often depends on how large the balance in the account is and most charge a monthly service fee if the balance falls below a preset level.
3. Money market account: A savings account which shares some of the characteristics of a money market fund. Like other savings accounts, money market accounts are insured by the Federal government. Money market accounts offer many of the same services as checking accounts although transactions may be somewhat more limited. These accounts are usually managed by banks or brokerages, and can be a convenient place to store money that is to be used for upcoming investments or has been received from the sale of recent investments. They are very safe and highly liquid investments, but offer a lower interest rate than most other investments.
4. Certificate of deposit account (CD account): A CD is a short-or medium term, interest bearing, FDIC insured debt instrument offered by banks and savings and loans. CDs offer higher rates of return than most comparable investments, in exchange for tying up invested money for the duration of the certificate’s maturity. Money removed before maturity is subject to a penalty. CDs are low risk, low return investments, and are also known as “time deposits”, because the account holder has agreed to keep the money in the account for a specified amount of time, anywhere from three months to six years.

Ideally you should set up your”spending account” and your “savings buckets accounts” at the same bank or savings and loan. This way you can link your spend account to your savings bucket accounts. On pay day, if possible have automatic deposits that credit your spend and savings accounts. In other words, your income goes into your spend account and your saving buckets accounts by default. This makes savings much easier and reduces the temptation to skip saving for a pay period.

What Types of Savings Accounts are best for Which Savings Buckets?
If you don’t plan on using your savings for a particular fund for many years, how you save will be very important. Deciding on the right savings method for each savings bucket is critical to your success. The following are a few ideas about which types of saving methods are best for different types of financial goals.
1. Short and long term goals. Savings accounts are great places to park your emergency money due to their easy access. Savings accounts are excellent for short-term goals (the funds will be used within the year) and long-term goals (the funds will be used in ten or more years).
2. Short and long term goals with a $2,000 minimum balance: Interest bearing NOW accounts frequently have a minimum balance requirement, offer ATM cards, and online bill payment. The interest rate on the balance in the account is often higher than the savings account rate.
3. Medium-term and long-term goals: Money market insured accounts usually offer higher interest rates than savings accounts. In general, the larger the account’s balance, the higher the interest rate. Money market accounts are good savings methods for medium-term or intermediate financial goals that are achieved in two to ten years. Money market accounts are also a good choice for long-term financial goals (that are frequently considered a buy and hold strategies) of ten or more years.
4. Timed goals: Certificates of deposit are ideal savings methods if you exactly when you need your funds. For example, your education fund will be used when your child is 18 year-old. Therefore you know exactly how long you will be using your Education Fund Savings Bucket. Generally, CDs or “timed deposits” are for three months to six years. The longer the time period, the higher the interest rate.

An Annual Comparison Table compares the percentage of one year’s non-discretionary spending (for example, credit card, mortgage, and loan payments) to last year’s percentage of discretionary spending. Non-discretionary expenses are generally fixed costs for mortgages, loans, tuition, and so on. Non-discretionary expenses also include several types of variable expenses. These are expenditures that will be incurred but the amount will vary slightly for example semi-annual real estate taxes or quarterly water bills. Discretionary expenses are for the luxuries. Discretionary expenses can include vacations, entertainment, and gifts.

The Annual Comparison Table (shown below) for a sample family is a simplified budget that is divided into non-discretionary and discretionary expenses. The amount of non-discretionary expenses in 2008 as a percentage of total incomes was 80.8 percent. In 2009 the amount is 77.2 percent. This reduction in non-discretionary expenses is a significant improvement of 3.6 percent. And there is more good news. The Annual Comparison Table also indicates that savings increased by $2,095. The Annual Comparison Table is an excellent report card showing less debt and more savings for the sample family.

Tips for Not Straying from your Spending Pan
One approach to staying on a budget is to consider the budget a “spending plan”. Budgets can seem confining. Spending plans seem more flexible by focusing on what you can “spend”. The budget (or spending plan) starts with income from salaries, investments, self-employment, part-time jobs, and pensions then deducts fixed expenses and those pesky fixed /variable expenses (non-discretionary expenditures) and expenses that you have total control over (discretionary expenditures). Little can be done with non-discretionary expenses. Focus on discretionary expenses. A little maneuvering of discretionary expenses can frequently create opportunities to pay down credit cards, make automatic investments (for example, you can set-up an automatic payment plan for a mutual fund for as little as $25 per month), a fancy meal for your significant other, or set aside funds for a the purchase of a major appliance or anything else you might desire.
Here’s an approach that uses the percentages mentioned earlier. You can use this approach if you want to create this year’s budget and forecast next year’s budget. This is especially useful if you expect a decrease or increase in earnings. First, you’ll need to gather all your financial information. Next you will analyze this information to determine the dollar amounts spent. Then using the dollar amounts you will assign different items to various income or expense categories by month. Calculate the percentage of gross income that each category represents. You can use these percentages to forecast the annual budget for the next year

Give Your Budget a Reality Check
To give your budget a “reality” check you may want to compare your percentages of expenses to the averages listed by the US Department of Labor in their most recent report, US Bureau of Labor Statistics ConsumerExpenditures 2009 Annual Report(http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxann09.pdf). The following table shows a few examples of typical expense categories that are “money leaks”:

Table of Average Annual Expenditures
Average annual expenditures 100.0%*
Food at home 7.6%
Food away from home 5.3%
Shelter 20.5%
Apparel and services 3.5%
Transportation
Vehicles 5.4%
Gas and motor oil 5.2%
Healthcare 6.4%
Entertainment 5.5%
Personal insurance and pensions 11.2%

*Percent distribution of total expenditures by major category for all consumers 2009.

Another way to look at the Table of Average Expenditures is if you are spending 10 to 15 percent of your annual income on food away from home, you are spending two to three times the average. Let’s fine tune the Food Away From Home percentage in The Table of Average Annual Expenditures with a dollar amount. If your average annual expenditures are $49,067, the average annual amount you should be spending on Food Away From Home is $2,619 or about $50 a week. It is likely that if you buy lunch at work you are spending $50 a week. To stay within the average you would have to forgo going out to dinner.

The Entire Household must be Engaged in the Budget’s Success
Don’t overlook emotional resources and hurdles when developing a budget and trying to stay on budget. Human behavior has a large impact on the success of your budget. Individuals have important feelings about spending and saving. How we spend money is affected by how we were raised, our family backgrounds and cultures. Budgeting can cause tension within the family if there is poor communication. Therefore it is important to make budgeting a family affair. Make certain that each family member “buys into” where to spend and not spend.

To sum it up, budgeting is the process of projecting, monitoring, adjusting and controlling future income and expenditures. It is important to keep your spending under control and to save as much as you planned. Don’t forget to be flexible and adjust your budget if your family situation or job changes. Times change and you should be adjusting the budget accordingly.

Recent statistics indicate that most Americans spend about 10 percent more than they have. This does not mean that Americans are “shopaholics” or deadbeats. In most cases, Americans overspend because they only have a vague idea of where their money goes. How many times have you gone grocery shopping without a budget or spent more than you intended? The following are eight tips for making a budget you can stick with:

1. Don’t think of your budget as a way of penny-pinching. Your budget is your spending plan. Your spending plan will instantly indicate how much money you have at any given time. This valuable information allows you to profit from opportunities and react in a positive way to emergencies.

2. Base your budget on getting organized and not “penny-pinching”. Organizing and prioritizing spending can show you how you can easily save money without giving up the things you truly feel that you can’t live without.

3. Make certain that you include the spending priorities of everyone in your family. For example, you’ll have to make adjustments if one person values going out to dinner more than purchasing new clothes. Make an agreement so that you both get some of what you want. If everyone who participates in the budget doesn’t support the budget, then the budget will fail.

4. Keep the things you love the most in your budget. For example, let’s say you value buying bestselling books over going to the hair salon. Your budget should reflect those values. If you need to cut back, reduce the number of times you go to the hair salon.

5. Don’t forget to include savings as a budget category. Without setting aside some savings you may find yourself in difficulties when a “budget buster” happens. It doesn’t matter how little or how much you save. You just have to have a savings plan. This way when you need car repairs or the plumber you don’t have to rely on a credit card and bust your budget.

6. Keep in mind that your budget is not “etched in stone”. Review your budget periodically. Be flexible and make adjustments when the household changes. However, if you don’t have enough to pay all the monthly bills, you may need to change the amount in a certain category or trim money from another category.

7. If shortfalls continue then you are overspending. You may have to consider larger financial changes. One example is selling the newer family car and purchasing a used car for cash. This way there are no monthly payments.

8. If you are still have a hard time making ends meet, consider what you are willing to sacrifice. Be honest in your evaluation of the budget. What are the essentials and what are the luxuries? Which luxuries can you forgo for the next six months?

If you follow these eight tips you can create a successful budget your household can live with. Keep in mind, even millionaires have budgets. A carefully constructed budget can allow you to sleep in peace and eliminate many of the household’s monetary worries.

I have a theory about why housing demand was low during the first week of April and continues to be soft. To my way of thinking, the current loan limits of Fannie Mae (www.fanniemae.com) and Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com) have greatly contributed to this moribund market. As of the first quarter of 2011 federal and related agencies held $5.87 trillion in home-mortgage debt compared to $1.21 trillion in private-issued mortgage backed securities, $2.87 trillion held by banks and other savings institutions (as whole loans in their portfolios), and $493.8 billion held by others (Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2011). These statistics indicate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae provide the majority of support for housing loans. Consequently, the credit guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae dominate housing sales.

Here’s my observation, every three-months I receive a card from a local real estate broker in Alexandria, VA. The card includes data about 20 to 25 one-unit homes sold in my neighborhood in the last quarter. In contrast to previous cards, all of the homes are selling prices below $1 million. Additionally, home owners are reducing their prices by three to five percent to arrive at a selling price that is below $1 million. Here is my theory about why the homes are selling at prices below $1 million and why this trend will continue.

The Fannie Mae 2011 conventional loan limit is $417,000. However, in high-cost areas for loans originated on or before September 30, 2011 this amount can be greater than $417,000. These “high cost” areas are established for each county (or equivalent) and published online at www.eFannieMae.com and on the FHA Web site located at www.fhfa.gov. For example, loans for a one-unit home in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (Metropolitan Area) have a loan limit of $729,750.

Let’s do a little math, if you are approved for a $729,750 loan and make a 20 percent down payment (about $182,438), you can purchase a home priced at $912,188. With a 25 percent down payment of $243,250 you can buy a home priced at $973,000. This next example shows the break point for home buying. Purchasing a home priced at $1, 042,500 with a 30 percent down payment is about $312,750. This amount is nearly twice the down payment amount for the $912,188 priced home. With this in mind, it is easy to see what makes housing demand low for upscale homes. To sum it up, without a change in the Fannie Mae guidelines this downward pressure on home prices is likely to continue.

Middle Schoolers- The Quest for Money Online Game: In April 2011 online money management program Mint.com (www.mint.com) introduced the “Quest for Money Game” located at www.mint.com/education. The amusing characters in the game are based on the characters in the Mint Quest for Credit video located at http://www.mint.com/blog/goals/quest-for-credit-complete-version/. The Quest for Money Game is a fun way for middle-school students to learn about the ramifications of personal finance decision-making. Game players will learn money management strategies, such as earning and saving money, and budgeting to meet specific financial objectives. To move ahead players must correctly answer questions about money, shopping, and saving. Smart choices and correct answers receive rewards. Mint provides teachers with lesson plans and online resources. These classroom materials will be distributed to 30,000 classrooms this year. Mint also includes parents in their financial literacy initiative. Parents can download family worksheets and activities that can be used at home. To download lesson plans and family financial educational materials visit https://www.mint.com/education/resources.

Low-Income Adults- Farm Blitz Online Game: The Rand Financial Literacy Center, a joint venture of Rand, Dartmouth College and the Wharton School, offer a free online financial literacy game for low-income adults titled “Farm Blitz” located at http://financialentertainment.org/. (Farm Blitz was inspired by the extremely popular online games Farmville and Bejeweled.) Farm Blitz let’s players experience how inferior financial decision-making can quickly result in high debt and make it impossible to save. Farm Blitz focuses on three personal finance lessons. First, the importance of minimizing high- interest, short-term debt. Second, the value of maximizing low-interest, long-term savings. And finally, understanding the importance of compounding interest. To watch a trailer of this no charge, adult financial literacy game visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBt8YaawQaU.

Children- The For me, for You, for Later: First Steps to Spending, Sharing, and Saving Online Program: The Wall Street Journal on June 20, 2011 had an advertisement for PNC that announced their new, free online financial literacy program for children. PNC and Sesame Street partnered to create the online program titled, “For Me, for You, for Later: First Steps to Spending, Sharing, and Saving”. The program and resource materials are located at www.pncgrowupgreat.com. The PNC program was developed by the Sesame Workshop, creator of Sesame Street. Children learn the financial basics as Elmo learns how to spend, save and share. The online programs is bilingual, has a parent and caregiver guide, children’s activity book, three jar labels, and a Sesame Street DVD that features Elmo, Cookie Monster and their friends. Educators can download a guide that can assist them in incorporating the program’s activities into their classroom lesson plans.

Background
In September 2009 Quicken purchased Mint for $170 million with plans to continue both Mint.com and Quicken brands. However, by January 2010 Quicken online was dropped. One reason may be that when Quicken online, developed in 2008, was compared to Mint it appeared to be cumbersome.
A major advantage of Mint is that it links to all your financial Web sites and aggregates the information in an easy-to-understand manner. Once a week, Mint sends via e-mail an automatic summary of your accounts for your review. Additionally, you’ll automatically receive e-mail alerts when bills are due, when your credit card interest rates change, and when you pay finance charges. It is important to note, that repeatedly receiving an e-mail messages stating that you have paid finance charges often motivates individuals to reduce outstanding debt. There is one advantage, these frequent e-mail alerts are helpful for quickly catching credit card fraud.

One of the biggest concerns about online money management is security. Mint uses all the technology that Intuit has developed over the years (multiple firewalls, encryption, read only access to data, and so on). If you are deeply concerned about Mint’s bank-level security please read Mint’s “Privacy and Security: How Mint Keeps You Safe” located at https://www.mint.com/privacy/.

To sum it up, Mint offers budget and goal features that assist individuals in planning, tracking progressing and reaching financial goals. Mint is available free on the Web, on Android personal assistants, and its iPhone app. However, it is important to keep in mind that Mint makes its revenue from credit card, checking account and mortgage referrals. The easy-to-use program takes about a half-hour to set up. Mint immediately offers a good idea of how much money you are spending. Expenses are assigned to predetermined categories. Therefore, when you start using Mint these pre-assigned categories may not be exactly right so be prepared to do some tinkering over the next several months.

New Features or Enhancements since the Intuit Purchase
The following are a few examples of the features that have been added or enhanced since the Intuit purchased of Mint in the fourth quarter of 2009. To get a hold of how much Mint has changed the following examples of added features and improvements are listed chronological order:

February 2010: Find $1,500 in tax-time savings using Mint. Targeted for individuals who are seeking last-minute tax savings, the Mint IRA Center is located www.mint.com/ira. The IRA Center is available 24/7 for opening a traditional or Roth IRA account (it takes about 10 minutes to open an IRA account). If you already own an IRA, that financial information can be included with your new IRA information in Mint. The Mint IRA Center offers education, blogs, and the ability to view daily updates.

May 2010: To make Mint more mobile, new iPhone apps are developed. Folks claim that using Mint on their iPhone is like having a “mini-port” that shows if they have reached their spending limit before making a retail purchase or going into a restaurant. To get started it only takes a few minutes, download the free iPhone app and import your transactions from the online version of Mint by entering your user ID and password. If you want to know your exact bank balance, the Mint iPhone app is the way to go. In regards to privacy, the Mint iPhone app is password protected. If you lose your iPhone no one can see your accounts.

June 2010: A new financial goal setting feature is added. The goals feature uses pop-up windows. Users enter information such as income data (salaries, recurring part-time income, pensions, and investment income) into the pop-up windows. Next the program estimates how much the user needs to save for a certain financial goal, (for example, this year’s vacation, a child’s college education, or a down payment). Users set their aggressive or conservative savings plans with a click of the mouse.

Note: Mint works with Expedia (www.expedia.com) and Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) to provide travelers with planning tips.

July 2010: Kelly Bluebook sets automobile values. Mint now allows users to access Kelly Blue Book (www.kellybluebook.com) data to provide a more convenient way to manage their funds and to get a clearer view of their finances by eliminating the extra step of having to search another Web site for data about car prices.

September 2010: Mint adds Zillow for real estate price estimates: Mint uses “Zestimate@” owned by Zillow (www.zillow.com) to determine home values. Zestimate values a range of data, including comparable sales and individual home facts, such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and remodels. The home’s value is automatically entered when Mint users enter the home addresses in the property search box. Users can decide if they accept the Zillow valuation or if they want to manually enter their own estimated home value.

March 2011: Mint updates the “Get out of Debt” feature. “Get Out of Debt” has always been the most popular feature of Mint. “Get Out of Debt” illustrates what the user needs to do to eliminate credit card and student loan debt. The updated feature includes ways to:
1. Divides debt into categories.
2. Create separate goals by debt type (credit cards, loans, mortgages, and so on).
3. Develop a payment plan. Different types of debt require different types of payment plans. For example, this feature examines how changing the amount of monthly payments affects interest and savings.
4. The action plan illustrates the best and quickest way to get out of debt and maximize savings.

March 2011: Mint offers a new home loan and refinancing feature through Credit Sesame. Mint’s home loan feature has been included in its “Ways to Save” section. Based on an individual’s income, debt ratio, and credit worthiness, the new program looks through thousands of home loan options and tries to match them to the financial characterizes of the Mint user. In a matter of seconds, users can view personalized suggestions for home loans presented by numerous lenders. The application of this information can assist Mint users in reducing mortgage interest rates or lowering mortgage payments. For those who are considering refinancing this feature can reduce time and confusion by presenting different loan options and indicating if there is an advantage to refinancing. Additionally, for the 65 percent of American’s that own a home, this feature will automatically calculate the user’s equity. For those that don’t own a home, this feature is a good way to get educated about the home loan process.

Note: The Mint home loan and refinancing feature is available via a partnership with Credit Sesame, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA. Credit sesame is a company that analyzes consumer debts and matches consumers with competing offers.