Monthly Archives: November 2015

Girly Squeal Spotlight on Valerie Smith: Retired and “Sitting Pretty” #WWW #WWA

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Valerie Smith, 60, Retired
Administrative Assistant
Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University

You may ask why in the world is she squealing about retirement?!?! She’s only 35! If we are going to maintain our wealth the first thing we need to learn is how to save. We think we will be youthful forever and have that steady paycheck until we get old and grey. We just buy, buy, buy and never think about the future. Or we say, I’ll save $100 a month and think we will be fine. Ummm, no! Before you know it you will be 35, 45, 55 and start wondering where has the time and money gone?

Take a look at your savings account. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Okay, now take your current savings….well I’ll be generous for this example. Let’s say you have $10,000.00 in savings and you save the same amount each year for 30 more years. That’s $300,000. You only have $300,000.00 on hand and no steady paycheck. You retire and live 20 more years. You have $15,000.00 to live on per year. Can you live off of that? I’m sure many do, but a large percent of us would not be able to maintain our current lifestyle. Probably not even close to it. What if you live more than those 20 years? Sure you can get another job, maybe. But then can you even enjoy what they like to call the golden years? If you’re not careful, before you know it, you are back to doing what you have to do, not what you want to do.

To get more insight on preparing for retired life, I spoke to recently retired administrative assistant, Valerie Smith. She is a 60 year old retiree that has worked for the same employer for 30 years. She explained how thankful she was to have an employer that offered a decent retirement plan similar to a 401K. She took advantage of her employers retirement plan by having a certain percentage of her paycheck automatically deposited into her retirement account. Her employer would then match the funds that she deposited. That’s free money ladies! In addition to her employer retirement plan and joint savings accounts she shares with her husband, she kept her own personal savings account. Valerie mentioned to me that she was glad to have a husband who has the ability to make money and know what to do with it. She praised him for making intelligent decisions regarding investing and saving. Valerie believes that if you are going to be married, you need someone that can help with finances not hinder. Valerie knew the importance of setting a savings goal in order to afford the lifestyle she wanted when she retired. Because of the sacrifices she made early on in life she is still sitting pretty during her golden years;collecting her coins, traveling, and loving on her grandchildren. And that’s exactly what she wanted to do.

BIRTHDAY BONUS (Valerie turned 60 today!)
Valerie’s Girly Squeal saving but still shopping secrets and tips:
If available, use direct deposit to make deposits into your savings/retirement accounts. If you don’t see the money, you don’t miss it. Valerie owns one credit card for reservations and emergencies. Credit cards are not for daily shopping.
And her all time favorite, hoard your birthday, holiday and miscellaneous gift money. It keeps you from going into your household money when you want to shop. “I can shop without ever worrying about dipping into my bill money”.

By the way, Valerie Smith is my mommy, the girly squeal originator. I need a moment to publicly love on her and thank her for helping make me financially responsible. Thanks mommy for teaching me how to start from the back of the store because that’s where the clearance racks were. Thanks for teaching me that pricey labels aren’t important, it’s what’s on the inside that matters. Thanks for letting me help you clip coupons on Sunday afternoon after church and comparing prices to get things almost free. Thank you for showing me that paying tithes and giving offerings wasn’t just something you do, but there was a purpose for it. I know I wasn’t a perfect steward over my money all the time and I still make mistakes, but the more I watch you the more I want to do better. You are the best mommy any girly could ever hope for. I’m glad you let me be an individual and not a cookie cutter little girl. You put me in ruffles but let me climb trees. I especially thank you (and daddy) for teaching me the importance of being able to stand on my own two feet. And to be kind and gentle yet strong and stern. You told me once that your prayer for me was that one day I would be able to take care of myself. Well what do you think?
Love you and Happy Birthday. *Girly Squeal Salute*

If any of you girly squealers want further information or need help finding information on retirement/ saving opportunities you can email me at girlysqueal@gmail.com. If I don’t know the answer to your financial question, I am committed to helping you find it. The Wealthy Women Alliance has your back.

Find me on Facebook: Kimberly Smith
Find me on Instagram: @girlysqueal

#WWW: Wealthy Women Wednesday begins!

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The morning of November 1st I was lying in bed and an idea came back to me that I thought about a while ago. Funny how things keep coming around until you decide to proceed with them. I would often think some women, young and old are not able to do well financially, simply because they just don’t know any better. Maybe no one showed them. Maybe they need additional help. Maybe they need you, to give them an extra push to begin to care and pay attention to their finances. That’s when I noticed that I am surrounded by women handling their business; be it financial, following their dreams, taking care of their children and maybe husbands. These ladies are living life to the fullest and still maintaining a sensible lifestyle. I felt like the knowledge these women possess would be helpful if it were just given to the right person. We often see society reducing women to gold digging thots, dependent on someone else for financial security. Because of all the hate and “shade” we get as women, we need to assist each other and lift each other up. It’s enough money, men and Monolos out there for all of us! So, I started a list of chicks that I thought I could put a girly squeal spotlight on to help some of us who really want to see more, do more and have more out of life, but may not know where to start. If you have never seen $5,000, you don’t think its attainable. If you have never see anyone travel outside of their city, you may not think it’s worth doing. Wealth isn’t only about money to me. It’s a way of life. Wealth is usually quantified by how many “riches” you have. In what I like to call my Wealthy Women Alliance, we believe our riches lie in being financially independent/intelligent, good health, life balance and spirituality. WWA is a compilation of knowledge I obtain from women willing to share their struggles and successes in order to make women better as a whole. We can learn so much from each other if we are willing to listen. In the coming weeks I will be calling on family, friends and associates to share about your businesses, life experiences, money woes and victories! Please consider it an honor. Something in you has been a positive influence to me and so many others you don’t even know are watching you! Who will I be girly squealing about next????