A little over a year ago I came to the realization that my financial life wasn’t mine anymore and began a quest to become debt free and reclaim my finances.  So far I think I’ve done pretty well with my New Year’s Resolution and trying to save money at the grocery store and eating out.  After a year, we’ve paid off a little over $4000 of our debt.  Not bad, but not great either considering where I started.

A friend of mine suggested that my husband and I go see his financial planner.  She has really helped him and his wife set goals and stay on track.  Oh, and it’s free!  Figuring we had nothing to lose, we set up an appointment.

Driving to her office, I felt nervous thinking about airing out all our dirty laundry and hearing the “Tsk. Tsk.” But I was also ready to hear some expert opinions on what we should do.  She told us not to bring anything to this meeting since it was just an initial consultation to gather information about us and our goals.

Carol first started off by asking each of us why we were there. I said I wanted to know how to get out of debt the fastest way possible with my new raise.  My husband said something similar.  Yeah!  We were on the same page.

She asked us a little about our debt situation, and she was pleasantly surprised when we told her we were on a cash-only basis right now. It wasn’t until she started prodding some more that we remembered those car repairs we put on the Sears card and some European souvenirs I put on a credit card.  Oops!  But, she was still happy for our efforts and told us that most people are not that far along.

She presented us with a portfolio of our future financial life and retirement if we began saving money now.  I’ve seen all the charts and figures before.  Basically they all start at age 30 and suggest that if you saved $600 a month for 8 years and then stopped, we’d have over half a million dollars.  Considering that’s not an option for me because 1) I’m over 30 and 2) I don’t have an extra $600 laying around to save, it was more depressing than hopeful. But it did make us realize that unless things change, we will become a burden to our kids, and we’ll be working until we’re 80!

Then she threw my words into my face about how I like to spend money now while I’m young. (Hey, at least she’s reading the blog).  Ouch, that stung!  But, she was right.

She asked if we had a will for what would happen to our kids? No. Were we saving for their education? No. Did we have extra life insurance to take care of them if something happened to us? No.  Now, in addition to feeling guilty for being in so much debt, I felt like the most irresponsible parent in the world!

We left the meeting feeling hopeful that things were going to get better.  I also felt confident that we were already on the right track.

Our homework for our next meeting is to figure out our “cash flow”.  That should be fun….and the subject of Part 2.

Have you ever been to a financial advisor?

What question would you most want answered if you went to a financial advisor?