Plan Your Spending

Budgeting is not a difficult task; it’s a primary step to financial freedom. You only need a simple plan, a sheet of paper will do. When you plan your expenses they take on real cost; planning helps identify expenses that are not actually necessary. Simply list them all. If you are paid weekly plan your budget weekly, or budget on your pay schedule.

Below are 10 tips from our financial guru Ric Reily and author of Money Is The Root Of All - Skip The Debt Habit.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to make some changes in your financial life. Rather than making resolutions that will quickly fade, choose to remove the stress of money from your life. Stress is a result of not getting what you expect, yet achieving a stress free financial life is simple, fast and fun.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Six couples, including four gay couples and two straight couples, have sued a county clerk in Kentucky for refusing to issue marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned bans on same-sex marriage nationwide.

Employer sponsored retirement plans, like your 401(k), have an administrator who is usually a company employee overseeing the plan for participants. The financial company that actually holds the assets and makes investments is the manager.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The latest economic data from Canada shows that it is inching toward recession, after its economy posted its fifth straight month of contraction.

CARMEL, Ind. (AP) — City officials in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel are waiting to take action on a proposal to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

(AP) Students in same-sex marriages will be treated the same as their straight married classmates when it comes to federal college loan applications, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday in a shift that reflects this year’s Supreme Court ruling that broadened gay rights.

Roberto Torok encouraged attendees of Tuesday morning’s Coffee & Conversation program to consider leaving an after-life gift.

Worry takes a great deal of energy. Can you define worry? After all if you worry about money, employment, love, health or gay drama you might just as well understand what you are really doing. So, what is worry? My definition of worry: worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due. Here is an interesting conundrum, because regular readers are aware of my abhorrence to paying interest. Thus, I simply don’t worry.

How often are you asked that question? Me? Never.

Do you know where your money goes, are you carrying too much debt or would you like to have some freedom from worrying about your money? Saving does not mean going without, using coupons or only buying on sale. Though the latter two are great options.

Socially responsible investing has its genres. Many investors avoid companies that produce or trade in weapons, cigarettes or prisons. Some investors consider environmental and social governance concerns. More and more LGBT investors prefer investing in companies with language in their Equal Employment Opportunity Statement prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Companies offering health benefits to same sex partners or spouses of employees also communicate acceptance. Younger LGBT investors are even more likely than older investors to turn to socially responsible investing. 

Here is the Table of Contents for SFGN's special Financial Issue...

NEW YORK (AP) _ Gay and lesbian individuals are less prepared financially for retirement than their straight counterparts, according to an exclusive analysis by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

With the craziness of the ever-changing stock market, one group has made it easier for investors to know who to put their money into.

There’s perhaps no more insidious an attack than identity theft. Though many crimes are more physically traumatizing, identity theft attacks are done quietly. And often the damage is done before you’re even aware of the crime. Your life, as you know it, can be fundamentally changed.

South Florida is hot.

MOREHEAD, Ky. (AP) — As April Miller drove to work, still too stunned to grasp the magnitude of the fight erupting around her, an old song crackled over the car radio.

LGBT Americans living in states without protections are more likely to have a lower quality of life, according to a study released by the Williams Institute.

In honor of Pride Month, NerdWallet calculated the top 20 most LGBT-friendly cities in the United States. Seattle topped the list while California had the most cities, three, on the list. Florida though didn’t make the cut.

Same-sex couple families with kids have a similar financial profile as “traditional” families, but report having lower levels of debt than other “modern” families that were studied.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender headlines for the week.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's been one year since the Supreme Court's monumental ruling on same-sex marriage, and many couples have already seen their lives change dramatically.

Financial markets do what financial markets do. They go up, and they go down. Sometimes they go way up, like in the past decade.

Pope Francis declared on Wednesday that divorced Catholics who remarry, as well as their children, deserve better treatment from the church, warning pastors against treating these couples as if they were excommunicated.

First comes the proposal, then comes a mad rush of planning the big day, whether it’s at the courthouse or a lavish wedding with matching cummerbunds. With the ban on gay marriage lifted in Florida, same-sex couples across the state are finally able to make their relationships official under the eyes of the law.

As the Wells Fargo Bank branch in Wilton Manors unveils their gay themed mural I am reminded of the actual business of banks. The business of a bank is much different than most bank customers think it is.

This three part series takes a look at the Prudential LGBT Financial Experience Research Studies of 2013 and 2016. Analyzing demographics, data and expectations derived from the studies this series will deliver a high level look at how LGBT in each of the four primary groups is faring financially and how we have changed in the past three years. Visit SFGN.com/Prudential to read the series.    

This three part series takes a look at the Prudential LGBT Financial Experience Research Studies of 2013 and 2016. Analyzing demographics, data and expectations derived from the studies this series will deliver a high level look at how LGBT in each of the four primary groups is faring financially and how we have changed in the past three years. Visit SFGN.com/Prudential to read the series.    

Today’s uncertain financial environment is notable for the disappearance of many long held fundamentals of money management. The old rules have disappeared or changed and seem to continue to change daily. Equity markets vacillate in great daily waves. Bonds act counter intuitively. Banks are deemed too big to fail. Commodities are in free fall.