1. Make sure you have medical authority from parents of any children traveling with you this summer.
2. Make sure your Health Care Directives are updated.
3. Of course make sure you have Temporary guardians and Permanent guardians named separate from your Will.
If you are looking to get started with your finances, a good summer read, is a book that many recommend by David Bach, Smart Women Finish Rich. It’s for the financial beginner and not a woman with financial savvy. But it has a well thought out system of gaining and keeping control of your financial self-sufficiency. Bach has filled this book with definitions, resources, quizzes, systems, exercises and tables. It is impressive and most give it a must read if you’re serious about becoming more financially organized. The book is a fitting tribute to his grandmother who helped him buy his first share of stock at the age of seven. How many of us are fortunate enough to have such a role model so early in life?
David Bach addresses both the heart and the head in Smart Women Finish Rich. He used the lessons he learned from his grandmother, and his mother, as inspiration. After growing up with two such powerful role models, he was surprised by the number of financially uninformed women. Many of the women who came to him for financial advice, had no clue about building financial security.
Mass Mutual Research
Recognizing a need for new insights into the changing definition and dynamics of families in this country, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has introduced the "State of the American Family" program, consisting of a series of research studies conducted over the months and years ahead.
This multiyear initiative will bring a deeper understanding to the different forms families take, how family members interact on matters financial and otherwise, how factors like ethnicity and income affect family dynamics, and trends that will shape families in the coming decade.
The initial research study from this new series, Families, Financial Attitudes & Planning, conducted by Forbes Consulting group for MassMutual, focuses on women and finance.
"This new initiative is an important step forward in understanding family dynamics to better provide America's adults and children with the information and guidance to make responsible financial decisions," said Kelley Gay, an assistant vice president, MassMutual's U.S. Insurance Group.
The first study released under this platform, about women, their families and finance, shows the importance and value of this initiative. "The results of our study show that women, who according to the Boston Consulting Group now control $12 trillion in global consumer spending, recognize the need to get their finances in good order -- whether professionals, executives, mom-preneurs, household CEOs or caregivers," said Gay. "A clear path to the future is often paved with sound financial guidance and action-planning," she continued.
The study shows that one quarter of the women surveyed said they wished they were more in control of their finances, and 34 percent wished they were more confident in making financial decisions.
Thirty-four percent of the women surveyed were overwhelmed by all the information available regarding investments and finances, and only 37 percent said they can make financial decisions with a little guidance.
SStay tuned for more information and if you need further information from Mass Mutual I have a contact for you.
