Resources

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. 
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
-- Albert Einstein

or as Snoopy says ....

 This site is always being updated.  Please e-mail me with your favorite links or if you find a link not working

Finding a financial planner

Fee-Only Financial Planners

Check out your potential advisor: Investment Advisor Public Disclosure - Investment Adviser Search

Specialists:

  • Find a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst

  • Find a Sudden Money Institute Advisor National Network of Advisors includes financial planners, wealth coaches, psychologists, attorneys and philanthropy experts trained in Financial Transitions Planning developed by The Sudden Money® Institute 

  • Kinder Institute of Life Planning   The Kinder Institute trains and coaches financial advisors worldwide in a method we call financial Life Planning.  This method is based on the premise that advisors should first discover a client’s most essential goals in life before formulating a financial plan, so a client’s finances fully support those goals

Free Financial Support for Women

Cash Flow, Credit and Debt Management

Download Financial Spreadsheets for:

General Information and Managing Money

Banks, Rates and High Interest-bearing online accounts

Comparison of loan rates

  • Bankrate

  • LowerMyBills Refinance Mortgage, Home Loan, Home Equity, Home Purchase, Debt Consolidation , Compare Credit Cards

Credit Cards

Debt Management

Credit Reports

Saving and Spending

  • RetailMeNot.com Coupon codes and discounts for 15,000 online stores

  • Honey  Automatic Coupons, Promo Codes, and Deals

  • GasBuddy.com Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada

Job Tools

Investments

Investments: General

Comprehensive Sites

Investing Support

Market Index Statistics

Discount Brokers

Low Cost Investment Management Firms/Robo-Advisors

Investing: Mutual Fund and ETFs

Index funds

Exchange Traded Funds

Investments: Asset Allocation

Asset allocation: General  

Asset allocation: large cap versus small cap   

Asset class diversification: Water

Asset class diversification: Clean Energy

Asset class diversification: GOLD

Asset class diversification: Further Diversification

Investments: Annuities

Annuity Basics

Variable Annuities

Fixed Immediate Annuities

Low Load Annuities

Investments: Bonds, CDs, and Fixed Income Instruments

Fixed Income: General

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

Comparison of CD & money market & other key rates

Investments: Socially, Responsible & Impact Investing ...Environmental, Social & Governance Investing 

SRI/ESG: General

Specific Investments that make a difference

Asset class diversification: Clean Energy

Shareholder Activism

A principled portfolio  by Linda Tucci. Sharon Rich helps a young woman invest in Socially Responsible Funds in a Boston Globe Money Makeover, Dec. 17, 2006

The longer you have to invest, the more risk you can afford to take.  

Review your asset allocation and rebalance portfolios annually

A diversified portfolio of mutual funds can be the core of most individual investor's portfolios

MORTGAGE QUESTIONS TO ASK:

  • Interest rate and what index is it tied to?

  • What term? 15 years or 30 years? fixed or variable?

  • Prepayment penalty?

  • Closing costs?

  • Locking in time frame?

  • Points? (% of the loan upfront)

  • What % down?

  • Any first time home-buyer programs?

  • Avoid PMI (principal mortgage insurance if you put down less than 20%). Alternative, 2nd mortgage

Insurance

General information

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Health Insurance, Medicare & Health Savings Accounts

Long term Care Insurance

Auto Insurance

Home Insurance

Umbrella Liability Insurance

Trip Insurance

Pet Insurance

Insurance is not a glamour topic but is a necessary part of financial planning.  You need to protect
yourself and your investments.

While the key tenet of buying insurance is that it all should result in a financial loss on average (or else the insurance policy is unsustainable), that doesn’t mean all insurance is a losing proposition. It simply means that insurance should be targeted specifically for those situations where the risk would be so severe and catastrophic that self-insuring is either not feasible or just too disruptive to other goals.

Michael Kitces, Financial Planning,  12-1-14
"Smart Insurance Buying Rule"

Retirement Planning

Retirement Accounts & Contributions

Roth IRAs & Roth Conversions

Social Security Projections (also see financial calculators)

Some specific calculators - play around with several of them:

Retirement Distributions

Planning for Retirement

Books

Active Retirement - What to do next

Retirement planning is often the primary reason people go to financial planners.
As life expectancy increases, we need to plan to have
resources to cover our expenses well into our 90s.

Philanthropy & Non-Profits

Evaluating the places you give to

Finding support around philanthropic giving

Organizations of interest

Planned Giving

Donor Advised Funds

Serving on Non-Profit Boards

Micro-Finance

Donating Personal Goods & Determining the Fair Market Value of donated goods

Donating you computer ...
    be sure to have your computer's memory wiped clean before donating

Donating your Time

 Estate Planning & Legal Docs

Estate Planning: General

Massachusetts

Trusts

If You Are an Executor, Estate Administrator or Personal Representative of an Estate

Health Care Proxy: MASSACHUSETTS

Ethical Wills

HIPAA Release
Sample Forms:

Providing for Your Pets

Legal Docs

  • DocuBank.com  The Docubank Emergency Card provides immediate access to your healthcare directives and other legal documents, any time, anywhere they are needed.  Available at a reduced rate if working with an advisor.  To find an advisor, go to napfa.org or check with me.

Organ Donation

Digital Lock Box

ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST :

  • Will  

  • Trusts  

  • Health care proxy

  • Durable power of attorney

  • Homestead exemption

  • Beneficiaries on retirement accounts

  • Beneficiaries on life insurance

  • Ownership of assets (title)

Financial planning must include planning for the time
when you are no longer
able to care for yourself
or you are no longer here

Elder Care

Elder Care: General

Elder Care: Massachusetts

Long Term Care & Insurance

Elder Care: Financial Help

  • American Association of Daily Money Managers  a membership organization of individuals who provide daily money management services directly to clients

  • GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model - free Medicare program. The Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model is a voluntary, nationwide model testing the impact of providing comprehensive services and supports for people with dementia and their caregivers. The model began on July 1, 2024, and will run for 8 years.

ElderCare: Legal Help

ElderCare: Medications

Aging and Dying

Special Needs

Women & Money

Young People & Money

Raising money-aware children

Cost of parenting

Money Games

Children's Books

Young People and Philanthropy

  • Change for Change aims to create a charitably-minded generation of young adults engaged in philanthropy, always reminding young people that even small change can lead to big changes.

  • Resource Generation  "a national organization that works with young people with financial wealth who are supporting and challenging each other to effect progressive social change through the creative, responsible and strategic use of financial and other resources"

Allowance and Apps

Money Psychology

Psychology: General

Articles

Books (check your library for these books and more)

Inheritance

Car Buying

 Financial Planning Calculators

General Financial Sites 

Blogs, Social Networks, & Podcasts

  • Covestor.com tracks members' investment records, allowing people to judge their portfolio's performance against the crowd


Financial Blogs (let me know of others you like)

Money Makeovers

Other Links

  • Consumers CHECKBOOK  Unbiased Reviews and Undercover Price Research on Local Services auto, healthcare, home, financial, personal, pet care, stores, travel, etc. ... including Boston

  • National Do Not Call Registry Avoid telemarketers

  • Catalogchoice.org: free service to stop junk mail

  • Paperbackswap.com: Swap books with other book-lovers - Paperbacks, hardbacks, audio Books, textbooks, and more

  • Craigslist.org: Read (and post your own) listings in a huge array of categories, including discussions, services, jobs, housing, childcare, and more

  • Freecycle.org: The Freecycle Network - A grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving away (and getting) stuff for free in their own town

  • Yelp.com: Real reviews on what's great (and not so great) in your area, including restaurants, stores, services, and more

  • How to reach a customer service person Tells you how to avoid machines & find a human at the end of your phone conversation with companies

Free university courses online

Setting up direct payments or credit card payments (for businesses or non-profits)

Phone and video connections

Cheap checks

Trivia and Fun Facts

Copyright © 2025, Womoney , updated 12-2025