[Suzanne Oldham – Ambassador]

There is something about back-to-school. While it has been 25 years since I went “back-to-school”, this time of year gives me renewed energy and focus. I shop alongside my children for new pens and journals. I organize my office and desk. So when I received my Sum 180 plan I viewed it as my “homework.” I printed the 15-page document to focus on it as I would have an english assignment or math problem all those years ago. Let me share with you what my homework revealed about Sum 180:

What I like:
1) The plan feels customized to me in every way: I feel confident that someone put this plan together considering all the information I provided. I had a little bit of fear that I would get back a “stock” plan with few specifics related to me. That was not the case. The entire plan had my unique situations at the center of each recommendation.
2) The plan highlighted my accomplishments: I have accomplished a lot but am so used to the accomplishments that I don’t give myself credit (like owning my own house.) I appreciated the reminder and should celebrate these accomplishments.
3) It isn’t too late to straighten out my financial picture. At 51 I have my work cut out for me. Raising children and the expenses that go along with them have really set me back in terms of saving for retirement and an emergency fund. Yes, I knew I needed to do more. Sum 180 told me exactly what I needed to do now.
4) Reducing credit card debt is doable but a tall commitment: I know I shouldn’t use credit cards but I fell back on them a few years ago. Sum 180 gave me an exact $$$ figure by credit card to pay each month to pay the cards off in 10 months. That is the good news. The bad news is that I can’t afford to pay as much as Sum 180 wants me to.
5) Allocation of retirement investments: I have wondered if my retirement investments are allocated properly between growth and income. Sum 180 gave me the proper allocation and also how to request the allocation change with my funds’ manager.

What I don’t like:
1) The plan feels ambitious and not achievable in a short period of time. In reality this is not Sum 180’s fault – I have some ground to make up.
2) I wish I knew how much I need to save to retire. Sum 180 did provide monthly and yearly goals for retirement funding but I wish I had a firm idea of the number I will need based on my age.

A suggestion:
To make your plan more realistic and achievable, make sure to capture all your cash outlays on a monthly basis. I short-changed this calculation so it looks like I have more cash on hand each month and a greater capacity to pay down debt.
Be as precise as possible with your cash outlay so Sum 180’s recommendations are doable.

At the end of the day, Sum 180 let me know I am better off than I thought in some areas and not doing so well in others. Most important, I have a plan and action steps I can take immediately — and I already have.