Daily Money - 4 Popular Scams to Avoid

Here’s a timely reminder for tax season: the IRS will never call you out of blue. (Same goes for the Social Security Administration.) Government entities usually initiate contact via snail mail. What’s more, the IRS will never demand immediate repayment, although fraudsters pretending to be from the government may threaten you if you don’t settle your alleged tax bill right away via money transfer or prepaid gift cards. I remember a former colleague relating how spooked she got by such a call, even though she knew full well what the scammers were up to — they were that good at intimidation. So keep your guard up, and warn your loved ones to do the same. Learn more about scams in today’s edition.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth

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We plan to move abroad, perhaps to Spain, so I’m also learning Spanish via Duolingo.

Nice! How did you prepare for retirement?
We've done well, even though we really didn't start socking money away until around 2003 (ages 40 and 43) with advice from our accountant who was helping us with our computer consulting business. Through setting up a SEP-IRA, to contributing to Roth IRAs, to purchasing two rental properties (which we are selling this year), we have amassed a net worth of over $1.4 million, neither one of us ever having earned more than $100,000 annually. (Double-income, no kids.) We've invested in low-cost index funds through Vanguard and haven't hired a financial advisor yet, although we are thinking about using a fee-only advisor as we approach full retirement to make sure that our asset allocation is appropriate and to help us learn how to spend in retirement.
 
That’s impressive! What advice do you have for other late starters? 
Learning about money is intimidating, but not knowing about money can be catastrophic, so find authors who explain things in easy-to-understand terms and start taking small bites in order to become informed. 
 
The first book I read on money was "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach. It took me a couple of hours to read, and I made a list of the things he recommended. I promised myself I would implement the things that pertained to us by the end of that week. And, thus, our financial journey began in earnest.
 
My advice for those who started saving "late": The best time to start saving was yesterday, but the next best time is today! Pay yourself first and make it automatic! Contribute to your 401(k), at least up to the match! Open a Roth IRA at a low-cost brokerage firm, such as Vanguard, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab! Get out of (and stay out) of consumer debt! Talk to your significant other (and children) about money and keep the dialogue open! Jim and I are on the same page regarding money, and that has helped immensely in making good financial decisions together.

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