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things themselves, but when they
add up it can be quite an expense.
Those are things you need to
consider,” she said.
Shore said people should
also build contingencies into
their budgets, including money
for emergencies and revolving
expenses that come up only oc-
casionally, including insurance
premiums and buying gifts for
Christmas or other occasions.
“If you don’t and something
comes up, especially an emer-
gency, what are you going to do
if the money isn’t there? The only
thing you can do is borrow. That
may take care of the immediate
need but then you will have the
expense of paying off the loan.
Once again, something will have
to give,” she said.
Shore said Novadebt expects
a rush of calls after the holidays
again this year but she added the
company has seen a definite drop
in debt delinquencies the last
couple years after the problems
wrought by the recession in 2008
and 2009.
“We hope it’s mostly because
people will remember what
happened and that they learned
and have no intention of going
back to where they were then,
she said.
“A good credit counselor can
help people get a fresh look at
things, a fresh pair of eyes that
can see things you didn’t think
about. For example, more people
are getting rid of their telephone
land lines because it is an expense
they don’t need. There may be
other little things that can help
cut the regular expenses so prob-
lems don’t come back.
“You want an agency that will
work with you, talk with you
about how you got into a mess to
begin with, then suggest possible
solutions. Whether it’s Novadebt
or another agency, if you need
help look for it,” Shore said. “You
don’t have to go it alone.”
The same holds true when it
comes to other parts of financial
planning, such as investing or
planning for retirement, said Bob
Miller, a stock broker with Heart-
land Financial Strategists, 6915 N.
Knoxville Ave., Suite B, in Peoria,
(309) 685-9595.
“When you are talking about
what to do with your investment
portfolio while worrying whether
you will have enough for retire-
ment, you need somebody who
is going to work with you on the
whole package. So much of it has
to work together on your future,
that only makes sense,” Miller
said.
Continued on page 32
money it will take to meet those
goals, whether they are short- or
long-term. Then, after setting
goals, is the client told to enumer-
ate the family’s other, normal
expenses, such as housing costs,
utilities, groceries or what have
you.
“If there is not enough for
all of it, something has to give.
You have to decide on what that
will be. Maybe you’re spend-
ing too much on housing so you
should think about downsizing
or refinancing your mortgage. Or
maybe just run the air condi-
tioner less in the summer and
keep the heat lower in the winter.
Perhaps you eat out too much or
you can cut out the latte you’re
grabbing on your way to work
every morning.
“The thing is, there are a lot of
things that don’t seem like big
The Present
Bob Miller, right, a stock broker and owner of Heartland Financial Strategists
in Peoria, and broker Kyle Clemson, confer about a client’s portfolio at their
office at 6915 N. Knoxville Ave., Suite B.
31
thePeorian.com