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Author Archives: Kristina Tahnyak

Avatar photo About Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.

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Are you afraid of retirement?

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retirement, retire, afraid of retirement, retirement goals

sunset retirement

Good morning Dinks.  I am 33 years old and  can’t wait until my retirement.  Almost on a monthly basis I look at my employer’s retirement calculator to make sure I’m still on the track to retire at 61 years old.  I look at the contribution amounts into my retirement fund, I look at my employers contributions and I check to see how my investments are performing.  Of course I would never make a change, but I just like to see if I am gaining or losing on a monthly basis.

In my industry (financial planning) retirement is a buzz word.  Right now financial planners are working with retiring baby boomers to consolidate their assets and invest their life savings.  Everyone wants to have clients who are retiring because that usually means big money for the bank.  However, clients may feel differently about their retirement.

Planning for retirement

I personally can’t wait to be retired…only 28 years to go.  I look forward to the day when I no longer have an obligation to wake up and go to work, but at the same time it scares me a little bit.  There are so many questions that need to be asked (and answered) before I am ready to retire.  Will I like it? What will I do with my time? Can I afford it?  The good thing is I have a while to plan what I’ll be doing in retirement.

Does retirement mean you are old?

I have a client who is eligible to retire but decided not to.  When I asked her why she chooses to continue working said “Because retirement is for old people.”  That got me thinking, are people afraid of retirement?  Retirement is the next phase of our lives and it is generally reserved for the older population who have already put in their working years.  Maybe some people don’t want to be labelled as old or maybe some people don’t want to retire because not working will make them feel old and that’s not fun.

I wonder what it is about the word retirement that scares people.  Technically retirement is the next phase of your life, the phase before the final phase…the after life – maybe that has a factor on my client’s decision to continue working.  Maybe it’s not the word retirement that scares her, maybe it’s what retirement represents…the end.  Maybe she feels not retiring will stop time and she will remain in her late 50s forever.  I wish that were true.

Instead of be scared, look forward to retirement

I think the idea of not being on a schedule sounds like fun.  After I retire I will never have to use my alarm clock ever again and that is definitely something to look forward to.  As you know I hate the sound of my alarm clock.

Maybe retirement does mean we are getting old, but that’s going to happen anyways.  So why not enjoy it and spend your retirement years not working and doing whatever it is that you want to do. Perfect.

Photo from Flickr

What’s in Your Spam Box?

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spam box, junk mail, junk email, spam email, emailing

Spam

Your spam box is the trash can of the virtual world, it’s where emails go to die.  Usually people don’t give their spam box a second look because it’s the spot where your mail service sends unwanted notes from people who are soliciting money…and other things.  But surprisingly this past week I found some rather interesting things in my spam box.

I use both Gmail and Yahoo as mail services.  From the dawn of time we have been warned not to open emails from people we don’t know and I never do, but that doesn’t mean I can’t browse the headlines.  I like to check my spam box just to see the kind of nonsense that’s out there in the space.  From scammers telling me my Paypal account password needs to be reset to overseas businessmen telling me that I have a chunk of money waiting to be claimed.  My spam box is full of unwanted nonsense.

However, once in a while, every now and then I find some really great emails in my spam box.

4 amazing emails I found in my spam box this week:

A job offer.  This was absolutely the best thing that I found in my spam box this week.  Thank goodness I found it only a day after it was sent so it wasn’t too late when I responded to graciously accept the offer.  This is the great thing about being a freelancer, you can think you’re having a normal day and then BAM you get a totally great job offer.

An interview.  I reached out to another blogger at the beginning of May because I wanted to email him for an upcoming article I am writing.  After a couple of weeks I wondered why he was ignoring me, especially since I sent him and email and a Facebook message. Oh yes that’s right I can be a stalker when I really want something.  Anyways it turns out he actually emailed be back within a week but for some reason it went directly into my spam box. I politely excused my tardiness and thankfully he was understanding and still wants to do the interview.

An award nomination.  This is another piece of good news that Gmail thought was spam.  Dinks Finance got a shout out from BadCredit.org for listing DINKs as one of their Top 5 couples Finance Blogs.   That’s really exciting news.

An email from a colleague.  I had a colleague reach out to me on Facebook saying she sent me an email almost two weeks ago and is wondering why I haven’t responded.  I was on vacation for a couple weeks so I thought I missed her note.  But it turns out that my colleague’s email went right to my spam box.  I’m not sure why because she has a legit email address.  Maybe it’s because I’ve never received an email from her before.  But if that was the logic we would never receive emails from anyone.

Photo from Flickr

How will starting a business impact your relationship?

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starting a business, business relationships, business proposal

Office David Ning

Good morning Dinks.  Are you thinking about starting a business?  If you are there are several things you need to consider such as how will your income flow, how will your money habits change and how will your new business affect your relationship?

David Ning from Money Ning sat down with us to discuss his journey of leaving his 9 to 5 job to start his own business.  He tells the story of how his money habits changed throughout the years and how e fully supported his choice to start a business.

4 things you need to know about money and starting a business:

Starting a business isn’t cheap

“My money habits have evolved through the years. As my situation changed from being single to having a family of four, the expenses have gone seriously upwards.”  Ning admits he is much more aware of how he spends his money since becoming self employed.  “Running MoneyNing.com leads itself to me thinking about my own finances” says Ning.

Starting a business can be expensive with start up costs and advertising, not to mention the numerous personal hours that are required to start a business.  Your time is valuable and time spent on your business is time away from your family, but it can be worth it.

A new income equals new money habits

Ning admits he now has more expenses but he also has a better bottom line because he spends wisely and still makes time to save.  “I’m spending more but (my finances are) in better shape because I know where my money is going, I’m living below my means and my finances are getting better all the time.”

Ning has always been a saver.  Even though his income changed he still makes time to save.  “I was fortunate I recognized the power of saving early, and the magic of compounding is definitely starting to pay dividends now because I’m more at ease about tiny expenses that I would have freaked out about just a few years ago.”

Talk with your spouse about leaving your regular income behind

Ning chose to leave his stable biweekly paycheck behind when he took on MoneyNing full time.  Although it was an adjustment Ning has no regrets.  “Quitting to pursue irregular income is a big decision that can impact many fronts, but one of the most important discussion to have is with the immediate family.”

Ning says it’s important to talk with your family and make sure everyone on board with the loss of income before leaving your 9 to 5.  It will be an adjustment for you and your spouse both emotionally and financially.   The transition from 9 to 5 to being self employed requires the support of your spouse.  “It’s impossible to make it if the family isn’t supportive about the whole move” says Ning.

Be financially ready before you make the move

Having a strong financial foundation is important when deciding to leave your day job because being OK financially gives you more options and peace of mind.  “I would never have had the courage to quit my job if I didn’t have a small budget and sizable savings to cover expenses for the medium term” says Ning.

Photo from Flickr

Weekly roundup: Sports, boyfriends and Formula One

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Race Car

Good morning Dinks and Happy Friday.  I hope you all have great plans this weekend.  I have been laying flat for three days because I hurt my back earlier this week.  I will be taking it easy this weekend (and probably won’t leave my apartment) while Nick will be out at the Formula One race.

As you know my boyfriend is a big sports fan so needless to say having the NBA playoffs, Formula One, the French Open and the World Cup all in the same month is taking a toll on our relationship.  I am looking forward to July!

Enjoy these great posts from our personal finance friends:

Money Talks News – Americans Demand Super-Sized Housing

Wealth Pilgrim – 3 Money Mistakes You Shouldn’t Worry About Anymore

Man vs. Debt – Re-Evaluating Your Financial Priorities

Money Crashers – Buy Now, Save Later – 5 Upfront Purchases That Save You Money

Cash Money Life – Can You Afford Where You Live?

Save Up – Blogger Interview with David Ning from Money Ning

Photo from Flickr

Will there always be upper class?

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upper class, more money, society, in society, rich people, minimum wage people

Mansion

Good morning Dinks.  If there is always a gap in wages will there always be a difference in classes?  Well yes, classes will always exist in society but only if people let money come between them.  Money didn’t create classes, people created classes.  Having more money than someone doesn’t make us better than them, or does it?  If we could all just stop idolizing people for the amount of money they have and judging people for their lack of money the world will be a better place.

I wasn’t born into money but I’m grateful for what I have.  Sometimes I wish I had more money and I definitely think my life would be easier if I did, but that doesn’t mean I put people who have more money than me on a pedestal.

If you are a long time reader of Dinks Finance you know that I have had my share of financial troubles in the past.  I have no one to blame but myself and although it was a very emotional period in my life I am a better person because of what I went through.  I worked very hard to be where I am today and for what I have today and that has made me appreciate the value of money.  I don’t by any means consider myself upper class because I don’t think I am above anyone.

Just because I work in an office and another 33 year old woman works at McDonalds does that make me better than her?  Absolutely not.  I worked at McDonalds for almost a year when I was 16 and let me tell you it’s hard work.  Maybe it doesn’t require a college degree, but by the end of the day I was exhausted.

For some reason life always seems to work out like that, people who work the hardest are paid the least amount of money.  I actually don’t think salaries are based on the level of work.  I think they are based on decision making powers.  The CEO of a company probably works a lot less than a customer service representative at the same company, but he makes more money because he makes decisions that affect the lives of thousands of workers and stockholders.  A CEO playing golf all day is not as tiring as a front line customer service representative who has to work eight hours a day dealing with angry clients.

Over my 18 years of working I have held a variety of jobs from a retail sales clerk in the mall to a customer service representative in a call center.  I have definitely worked my way up over the years and I know that’s an opportunity not everyone has.  I would love to have more money, but I don’t necessarily want the responsibility that comes along with it.  I know that some people who make less money would probably love to be where I am and I would like to be in the position that many other people are in.   But that just creates a world full of people with ambition, it doesn’t create classes in society – or does it?

Photo from Flickr

Buy a Home and be Free From Broke

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buying a home, first time home buyer, purchasing a property, buying a house

House Free From Broke

Good morning Dinks.  Are you thinking of buying a home?  Our friend Glenn at Free From Broke sat down with us to answer questions about how he and his wife bought their first home together.

Buying a house can be a big commitment, but it can also be very stressful.  If you plan ahead you can get through the experience together and come out with a new home.

Here’s what Glenn had to say about his homebuyer experience:

When did you buy your first home and why?

We bought our house in 2010.  At the time we had three kids, one of which was a baby.  We had sold our co-op and were renting and knew we needed more space in a place that was our own.

How did the conversation of buying a home come up?

The conversation was basically born when our little guy was conceived.  We already had a daughter who was in the 2nd bedroom.  As a baby our son stayed in our room with us so even though things were getting tighter it was still manageable.  We knew we would eventually need a bigger place and figured we’d buy a home when the time was right.

And then my wife was pregnant again.  We really needed more space so we took steps to put our place on the market.  Our plan was to sell our co-op, rent for a bit, then use the money we got selling our place to buy a house (which is what we did).  I can’t say we ever argued about what to buy or where.  Buying a house was new to us both and we were doing it during the chaos of a newborn.

What was the biggest surprise about buying a home together?

One thing that surprised us was how the bank went through our finances so meticulously.  We were buying a house post-recession crash so banks were making sure all loans were good.  They needed documentation on everything.  The other thing that surprised us was how many houses we saw that were just plain bad.  We had to start looking at some higher priced homes in order to find something that didn’t need a lot of work.

What is the best thing you like about owning a home with your spouse?

When we come home it’s ours.  It took a bit of time to get used to that.  Our family lives in this house.  It’s nice knowing your setting down roots.

Did you take precautions in case of separation such as a prenuptial agreement?

We didn’t take any separation precautions.

Have you talked about what will happen when you sell your home? What will you do with the profits?

When we sell we expect it will be either to move somewhere else with the kids, a move in retirement, or a move once the kids are out of high school.  Any money we’d make would go toward a new home.

If you have any questions for Glenn about his homebuyer experience please ask away.  He is happy to open up about the purchase of his first home.

Photo from Flickr

Venus and Mars and Your Relationship

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your relationship, venus and mars, men are from mars, women are from venus, men and relationships, women and relationships

Happy Couple Venus Mars

They say that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.  I admittedly haven’t read the book, but I do fully understand the concept.  Nick and I have been together for almost fifteen years and I would like to think that we have a lot of things in common.  However I can’t help but notice our biological differences.

Even if we find our soul mate, a person who completes us, the inevitable genetic differences between men and women will always exist.  I always wonder if the differences I see between men and women are just differences in my relationship between Nick and I or if they are actually in our DNA.

Spending money like a man

My boyfriend never makes impulse purchases and he does not go out on a Saturday afternoon because he’s in the mood to shop.  I however like to buy nice things to cheer me up when I’m having a bad day.  To be honest I like to keep my “nice things” under $20 and they usually include books.  But nevertheless I use money to control my emotions and my boyfriend doesn’t.  He also doesn’t eat a whole roll of chocolate chip cookie dough when he has a bad day.

Women have emotions, do men?

I admit that I am more emotional than my boyfriend.  On a good day I am full of energy and on a bad day I can go from happy to raging angry in less than a second.  I try to keep my temper under control because it’s really not a good look on me, but sometimes I literally can’t help it.

My boyfriend has more of a vanilla range of emotions.  He has a fun personality, but he is definitely not emotional.  I am planning a trip to my hometown in a few weeks and I booked my tickets over three months ago.  I made plans with my family and friends so I can try and see everyone while I’m home. Two days ago my dad calls me and says we are spending one day with his side of the family at a family picnic.  I was thrown for a loop because I’m not a big fan of change.  I got really upset and my boyfriend just said “Why are you so upset, you still get to see your family.”

It’s not about the lemons

Remember the movie The Breakup starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn?  There is a scene where Aniston asks her boyfriend Vaughn to bring her 12 lemons for a dinner party they were hosting that night.  Vaughn in turn comes home with only four lemons.  Aniston freaks out and breaks up with him.

While I was watching this movie with my dad he said “I can’t believe this crazy woman is breaking up with her boyfriend over lemons.”  I tried to explain to him that it wasn’t about the lemons.  It’s about mutual respect in a relationship.  If someone asks their spouse to do them a favor it should be done.  I honestly don’t understand why someone would only bring home four lemons if your girlfriend asked for 12, but that’s just me.  My dad on the other hand said “Well at least he brought her something.”  I guess that’s the difference between men and women.

Photo from Flick

Weekly roundup: Post Memorial Day Memories

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Barbeque Friday

Good morning Dinks and happy last Friday in May. I hope you all had a great Memorial Day and now we can officially start enjoying our summer.  Some people think July 4th kicks off the summer but I think it’s Memorial Day.  Just think about it for a second.

Memorial Day is the first time we have a family barbeque and I think that kicks off the summer season.  Spending my weekends outside, firing up the barbeque and enjoying ice cold iced tea definitely means that summer is here.  Oh and it’s the first time all season that we eat fresh corn on the cob. I just love everything about Memorial Day weekend.

Enjoy these posts from our friends:

Wise Bread – 21 Decisions You’ll Never Regret Making

Financial Samurai – How Much Is The Average Credit Card Debt Per Household?

Money Talks News – When was your last money makeover?

Money Ning – When Is It Worth Buying New Instead of Used?

Sprout Wealth – How to Turn Your Business Idea Into Reality

Young Adult Money – 5 Things Young Professionals Should be Doing (But Probably Aren’t)

We also wanted to give a shout out to BadCredit.org for listing DINKs as one of their Top 5 couples Finance Blogs.

Photo from Flickr

Sandy from Yes I Am Cheap tells it like it is

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not having kids, delaying having kids, dinks, choosing to not have kids yet

Yes I am Cheap

I wrote an article a few years ago entitled, “Don’t Have Kids If You Can’t Afford Them”.  I knew telling people to hold off on having kids until they were more financially stable was a touchy subject, but I wasn’t prepared for the volume of comments that the article received – both good and bad.  The thing is, I never give advice that I wouldn’t take, so I’ve delayed parenthood, on purpose until this point in my life.

For the past five years I have been on a steady journey of getting out of debt.  I began my blog, Yes, I Am Cheap owning nothing but my six-figure debt, migraines and a roll of TUMS.  At that point I was at rock bottom emotionally and financially but at 29, I was in the prime of my child-bearing years.  Conventional wisdom would have told me to go ahead and have a child and, as more than one commenter on that article has said, “God would provide”.  But I live in the world where God help those who help themselves and having a child would have been the absolute worst thing that I could have done.

I grew up in poor in America and knew that I would do whatever it took to never experience the poverty that I had known as a child.  The people who have said that you have children when you can and then figure out the details later probably never experienced life as I did as a child.  I remember waiting in line at church for food distribution.  I remember the imprint of my toes on the outside of my too-small sneakers.  I remember going on entire winter without a coat while living in New York City.  Those who have experienced poverty as I have are loath to push those same conditions on their progeny, at least, if they can avoid it.

Here I am now, a DINK in my mid-thirties and I am still choosing to not have a child for at least another year.  While my other half’s biological clock is screaming like a banshee, we’ve made the decision to calmly hit the snooze button because we know that we are not financially prepared just yet.  I know that you have seen the United States Department of Agriculture Department’s estimate of approximately $241,080 to raise a child (a heck of a lot more in the Northeast if you have a combined income of $105,360 or more).  Since we live in New York City and everything just costs more, I suspect that we will be spending a lot of money to raise the one child that we intend to have and I want to be well prepared financially and emotionally.  Am I disillusioned enough to say that we have planned for everything? Absolutely not.  It’s a baby, not a clock.

Making a conscious decision to work on myself and my finances before changing my name to “mom” was the smartest decision that I have ever made in my entire life.  I know that kids are a blessing, but each little blessing is incredibly expensive, much more so than new parents image them to be.  Beyond the diapers and formulas are all of the things that it takes to raise just one child, including more space and lots time from work.  I know that no parent envisions standing on a line to get food for their child but it’s the reality.

The National Center for Children in Poverty, run by Columbia University estimates that 22% of all children in the United States live below the poverty line, currently an income of $23,550 per year for a family of four.  Whether we like it or not, you subsidize the cost of these children with your tax dollars.  I refuse to sit on the sidelines and have a child go hungry, so if higher taxes will feed a hungry child, so be it, but, I also have a responsibility to not contribute to this issue.

I have been told many times that if people waited until they were financially secure to have children then the human race would be extinct.  I’ve also heard that I am making the case for reproductive rights being limited for the poor.  Not at all.  What I am simply saying is that if you find yourself struggling financially it might make sense to wait just a little bit.  If you are struggling with one child, maybe waiting a year or two to add a second to your family isn’t such a bad thing.  When my mom found herself single with two children she stopped having kids until she was secure.  My young sister came along many years later after a new husband and significant improvement in our collective financial stability.

I’ll most likely be giving up my DINK status in another two year or two.  If we are lucky enough to be blessed with one tiny crying baby, we’ll be grateful.  We will welcome this much awaited child with open arms.  Yes, our finances can change tomorrow.  Yes, we could end up with fertility issues.  Still, I would make the same decision all over again.  I’m happy that I took my own advice.

– Sandy Smith is the founder of both The Color of Money online magazine and the Yes, I Am Cheap blog where she shares personal finance stories, strategies for getting out of debt, building alternative income streams and generally annoys the internet with her thoughts about money.

Photo from Flickr

You did what for that cash?!

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do it for the money, what would you do for the money, money talk, money matters

Old People

Good morning Dinks.  Let me ask you a question, what would you do for money?  Yesterday during our lunch break I was talking with my co-workers about money and what we would do for a large lump sum of cash.  One guy asked the women in the room if they would make out with another woman for $1 million.

What would you do for money?

My answer was yes.  Through my ten years of working in banking I have lived through some unbelievable experiences with clients such as breaking up fights, cleaning up feces and having my life threatened.  As soon as he asked the question I immediately thought to myself, WOW kissing another girl would probably be one of the easiest things I ever did for money.  It starts and 30 seconds later it’s over, unlike the other client experiences that have been haunting me for years.

There are three clients from my years of working in a bank branch that I will never forget for as long as I live and these are their stories.

But before we get started let me ask you, what is the worst thing you have ever done for money?

Bad job, good money

AT the last bank branch where I worked, before I made the move to corporate communications, we had an area designated in the branch for senior citizens.  They could take a number, sit down and wait to be served by the next teller instead of standing up waiting in a long bank line.  Another perk of the senior’s waiting area was clients could drink coffee and tea while waiting for their number to be called.

Seniors have physical conditions that others may not have and one of them is the ability to control their bowel movements.  We had a client who couldn’t control herself and had an accident on one of our waiting chairs.  She was wearing a skirt because it was summer.  After the accident she got up out of her seat and before someone could clean up the mess another client who didn’t see the mess sat down on the same chair.  Yep that’s right.

Is your job worth a fight?

In the same branch we had a client who would be waiting outside for the branch to open an hour before we actually opened because he wanted to be served first.  The problem was this elderly client walked with a cane and when the branch doors opened other clients passed him on their way to take a number to be served.  The elderly man got sick of waiting to be served so he started hooking clients who passed him with his cane.  Oh yes you read that right, this old man hooked clients with his cane to prevent them from passing him in line.

Is it worth your life?

One of the scariest days I had in banking was when my life was threatened by a client who wanted to come in and make a deposit after the branch had already closed.  During my ten years in banking I was present during four robberies but they didn’t bother me because I never felt I was in direct harm since I didn’t work as a teller.

A client threatening your life is a whole other story.  This client was so upset that he couldn’t deposit his check he waited outside for us at 5 pm.  We had to wait around for an hour until he left  the premises so we could leave the branch.  When we did leave we had to leave two by two and call a phone tree to make sure we all got home OK.  That was an experience that  I would like to forget.

Photo by Flickr

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