Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Money

Q&A: Social Security benefits and divorce

By

Dear Liz: You’ve been answering questions about ex-spouses and Social Security benefits. My first marriage was longer than 10 years, and I was the primary earner. My ex remarried but later divorced again.

Does his getting remarried nullify his claims forevermore — or is his ability to claim spousal benefits based on my income back on the table as long as he remains unmarried?

Answer: It’s the latter. Your ex can claim spousal benefits based on your work record as long as your marriage to him lasted at least 10 years and he is not currently married.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

By

download (1)Today’s top story: Are you behind the financial times? Also in the news: How to better organize your bills, talking with your family about inheritance, and learning the five parts of your credit score.

6 Signs You’re Behind the Financial Times
Still writing checks?

4 Ways to Better Organize Your Bills
And kiss late fees goodbye in the process.

On Inheritance, UBS Urges Families to Break the Silence
The importance of difficult conversations.

Everyone Should Know the 5 Parts of a Credit Score; Do You?
Let’s find out.

5 Ways to Make Peace With Money
What to do when money is your nemesis.

Take a year to Get Rich Slowly

By

Fixing material in the red plastic boxesJ.D. Roth went from being over $35,000 in debt to having over $1 million in the bank. He documented his journey at the excellent Get Rich Slowly site, sharing what he learned about frugality, investing and smart money decisions.

He also wrote a very good book, “Your Money: The Missing Manual.” But The Missing Manual series has a definite format (like the For Dummies and Idiot’s Guides). I’ve been looking forward to reading what J.D. could come up with on his own.

It was worth the wait. J.D. and fellow entrepreneur/blogger Chris Guillebeau just debuted the Get Rich Slowly course. For $39–75 cents a week–you get:

  • An email every Monday that features the best lessons from the blog.
  • A 120-page guide called “Be Your Own CFO”, that in my view is the highlight of the course. (J.D. agrees, calling it “the best work I’ve ever done.)
  • Supplementary downloads, including a revised version of my Roth IRA guide.
  • Interviews with people with a bunch of money thought leaders, including Jean Chatzky, Gretchen Rubin, Tess Vigeland, and yours truly.

I’m not getting paid or compensated in any way for recommending J.D.’s course. I just think it’s a great way to step up your game when it comes to money, and maybe your life.

Check it out at MoneyToolbox.com.

What you–and your kids–really need to know about money

By

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailIn case you haven’t noticed, efforts to teach financial literacy in schools and elsewhere are a pretty big failure.

As a nation we’re not getting much better at managing our money. Efforts to change that by teaching money skills in schools haven’t done much to improve the situation. Follow-up studies on people who took financial literacy courses in school typically show the education has little effect. So the debate rages on about whether we should still try.

You won’t be surprised, given what I do, that I think it’s essential people educate themselves and their kids about money. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Google Hangout with CFP Neal Frankle, who runs the Wealth Pilgrim site, where we’ll talk about financial literacy, including ways to get it and give it. The event is sponsored by Bankrate and AOL DailyFinance.

If you’d like to join us, our chat will stream live starting at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific. Hope to see you there!

Update: If you missed the event, the link to our conversation can be found here, on the DailyFinance site.