The new grant will support a Financial Literacy Program featuring the FDIC MoneySmart curriculum and guest speakers.

We welcome the participation of Retirement Planning Club members!  Please consider becoming a volunteer tutor or mentor by contacting us at legacyforliteracy@minlib.net.  Or,  just plan on attending the monthly presentations.

Learn more about the program by coming to the kick-off meeting to be held in Druker Auditorium on Wednesday, October 20 at 7 p.m when Kip Child, FDIC Community Affairs Specialist, will present a lively introduction to the Money Smart program complete with a few rounds of financial literacy jeopardy!

Photo of atm by thinkpanama and republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The theme of this season’s conference is “Rebounding from a Recession”.  The goal is “to provide reliable money management, retirement and investment strategies that will financially empower individuals of all ages, racial, ethnic, economic backgrounds, and levels of financial knowledge”.

There is no charge for this conference and lunch is provided.  A great opportunity to learn!

Can’t make it?  Sign up for The Money Conference mailing list to be receive updates and information on all scheduled events.

Richard will now be managing the Club’s google group page and coordinating the monthly meetings held at the Newton Free Library.

Next month’s meeting will be held on August 18 at 7 p.m.   The discussion topic will be Paying for College:  Options and Strategies.

If you would like to learn more about the new Retirement Planning Club, please contact Richard at richard.suder@yahoo.com.

Topics to be covered include:

• Legal nature of nonprofit organizations
• Bylaws
• Incorporation
• Obtaining federal tax exempt status
• State tax exemption, registration and filing requirements
• Corporate book/board, resolutions/minutes
• The fiscal sponsorship organizational alternative
• Nonprofit governance including board roles and responsibilities, conflicts of interest and executive compensation
• Liability and insurance

This program is presented as part of the Newton Free Library Legal Series.

The Economy 101 column of the June issue of Practical Money Skills for Life newsletter features an article on COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment):  how it is determined and how it is applied by the SSA.

The basis for the COLA is the CPI (Consumer Price Index) as produced by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.   The specific CPI used by the SSA is the CPI-W, the one which incorporates changes affecting urban wage earners and clerical workers.  CPI-W rate changes are measured during the third quarter each year and then applied to monthly payments beginning in December.  Confused?  Read the whole article here.

Check out the Practical Money Skills for Life website while you are there, and think about signing up for the monthly newsletter,  testing your knowledge of all things financial by playing Financial Soccer, or learning how to improve your credit score.

Photo of splashing glass of cola (cc) by themysteryman and republished here under a Creative Commons license.  Some rights reserved.

Katharina Helmick will be leading a discussion on Annuities: what they are and if/when to include them in your retirement plan.  Ms. Helmick is a financial planner with an MBA equivalent from the University of Munich.  She has a wealth of business experience, including many years as an international management consultant.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about annuities and how they may play a role in achieving your retirement planning goals.

Carole, who graciously took over the reins in March from the Newton Free Library staff, is unable to continue in the role.  If the Club is to go on with its monthly meetings, a substitute Coordinator is needed.

Please think about taking on the job.  The time commitment is flexible.  The only requirement is allowing your name to be listed as the contact person for the Club in both the Newton Free Library newsletter and this Blog .  Monthly meeting information will need to be submitted to Ellen Meyers, Director of Programs and Communications.  Other than that, there are no set conditions.  Keeping up the Google Group and scheduling Speakers is optional.

Newton Free Library staff will continue to maintain this Blog and send out the monthly Retirement Planning Club Bookletter.

If you have benefited from the Club in the past, think about contributing to its future.  For more information, please contact Carole at plumluckyC@gmail.com.

Photo (cc) of ambulance from Powerhouse Museum collection available through The Commons on flickr.com.  No known copyright restrictions.

The site offers good general information for consumers of credit and banking services as well as a separate section for Retirement Planning.

Subjects under the Learn tab include Personal Finance, Using Credit and Financial Goals.

Read about Annuities, Social Security and setting up a Rollover IRA

For fun, try the Retirement Crossword!

Photo of New York Public Library by andyinnyc and republished here under a Creative Commons license.  Some rights reserved.

This month, we will focus on how investors can protect themselves from unscrupulous brokers and advisors and learn how to invest responsibly.  Attorneys from the Investor Advocacy Clinic of  Suffolk University Law School will be our speakers.

Topics will include:

• Selecting a broker, advisor or firm
• Identifying the latest trends, forms of securities fraud and protecting yourself
• Learning how to ask the right questions and get the right answers

There will be plenty of time for questions, so don’t miss this special opportunity to hear some practical advice from the legal experts.

Please visit our new Club website for updates on meeting information, discussions and information.

It has been enhanced and updated with a user-friendly interface and lots of links to  information from 20 federal agencies.  Content on the site is now easier to find by searching under three main categories:  Life Events, My Resources and Tools.

For retirement resources, go to the Life Events page and click on Planning for Retirement/Retiring where you will  find information from USG agencies such as the Department of Labor, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Department of Health and Human Services .

For information specific to women’s needs, visit the For Women section on the My Resources page.

Technical resources such as calculators, budgeting worksheets and checklists that can be helpful in making more informed financial decisions are easily accessed through the Tools page.

An easy to negotiate one-stop website of current, authoritative and free information. Worth a visit!

Photo of twenties (cc) by Acomment and republished here under a Creative Commons license.  Some rights reserved.