Financial Planning: A Money Guide for Families

Financial Planning: A Money Guide for Families in Tompkins County - ithacajournal.com

Financial Planning: A Money Guide for Families in Tompkins County

By ELIZABETH BAUCHNER
Special to The Journal

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Many families these days manage to save money for retirement or a child's college education. Others wish they could save but don't seem to have enough money to do it. Sam Ehrlichman, father of one, saves part of each paycheck for retirement and his daughter Cecelia's future college education, even though he's taken a large pay cut since his daughter's birth.

Despite earning less, Ehrlichman was able to plan ahead. "We did a lot of saving in the seven years before we moved to Ithaca from New York City," he says. Ehrlichman recommends that families who want to save money, should avoid credit card debt at all costs.

Joe Cummins, the community development educator at Alternatives Federal Credit Union, says that families can start saving if they make it a habit and learn how to track their spending habits. "When people find out how much they spend on eating out, how much they spend on coffee, how much on cable, they begin to see the holes where their money is leaking out," Cummins says. "Spending is so unconscious; it's a habit. We try to get families to make saving a habit."





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