You are entering Uncle Leo’s Den. We are a friendly resource for savers, investors and retirees. Those who are wealthy can pay advisers and counsellors to help them with investment ideas and decisions. But if you have less than $100,000 in financial assets like cash, stocks, mutual funds and bonds, you may be underserved by financial professionals, or perhaps not served at all. We aim to help the ordinary saver and investor with free financial advice. You’ll learn the basic principles of saving and investing. You'll also learn how to manage some of life's financial risks. We present our special analysis of the Savings-Spending Dynamic, which will help you pick the amount of retirement savings that is right for you. Free financial plans are presented, and you can choose the one that suits you best. We can't promise you riches, but we want to help you build wealth for retirement. It doesn’t take a lot of expertise or income, just your commitment to have financial security. You don’t need to buy anything from us or give us any information about yourself. Whether you are starting out, have trouble saving, or simply can’t save, we offer ideas and suggestions.
For retirees and those nearing retirement, we offer ideas about how to manage your retirement finances and how to make your nest egg last. We discuss common problems such as how much of your retirement savings to spend each year, whether or not to buy an annuity, and whether or not to borrow against your home.
To make things interesting, we'll sometimes question the conventional thinking of financial professionals, and discuss the disadvantages, as well as the advantages, of fads and accepted wisdom. Even if you already understand the basics of saving and investing, we might increase your financial literacy. We don't promise to make you rich. (How's that for honesty!) But we will present uncomplicated ways for you to build wealth. Please check out our blog, Uncle Leo Rumbles at http://blogger.uncleleosden.com for more insights and commentary.
The most important step toward financial security is to start saving and investing. You maximize your ability to build wealth by starting as early as possible, and keeping at it. But don’t be discouraged if you’re already older and still haven’t saved much. Anyone who saves and invests at any age is better off than someone who never starts. When it comes to building wealth, failing to start is the biggest mistake you can make. It is far more serious than meager savings rates or poor investment choices. Use the free financial planning information in this website to help you get going.
To begin, go to the Introduction, where you’ll start learning the basics. You can work through our saving and investing tutorial step by step (the navigation bar at the top of each webpage includes links to all the steps). Each step begins with bullet points highlighting the key considerations. Focus on the bullet points if you’re short of time. The details follow, and little gems can sometimes be found in the details. Each bullet point links to the details for that point, so you can click on the link to get to the details you're interested in. If you want help with terminology, go to our Glossary.
If you are already financially literate and want to check out our free financial plans, go to our model plans. We also discuss saving for college expenses. For those who are retired or close to retirement, we discuss how to handle your retirement finances and how to make your retirement money last.
We also offer hope for the financially lost. Life events like job loss, illness, divorce, a declining parent, or a child with special needs can disrupt financial plans. Some people barely earn enough to afford the basics of life. Are you really, truly unable save? Have you’ve tried many times and failed? If so, we have a few suggestions for shoring up your retirement prospects. They aren’t as good as saving and building wealth, but we haven't given up on you. Read our suggestions.
You can do it. You can build wealth. It doesn’t take any special education or knowledge. It doesn’t require a college degree or even a high school diploma. Everyone understands the concept of saving. The key is to turn the concept into a reality—your reality. Even if you put only a few dollars a week into a savings account, you have started to build wealth. All you have to do is keep up the good work. Many people from all walks of life build wealth. You can make yourself one of them.
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Your visit to this website and use of its materials and information is deemed to be your agreement to the terms and conditions set forth in the About Us and Contact Us and Privacy Notice pages, and elsewhere in the website. Please understand that our information, suggestions and advice are general, reflect our opinions, and are not individualized or intended for any particular person; rely on them at your own risk. Sorry about all the legal loop de loop, but this stuff is part of everyone's repertoire these days.