This month’s Money Makeover
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This month’s makeover
Subject: Paul Schnebelen, 41, of Oxnard, a technical expert at the U.S. Social Security Administration
Income: $87,000 a year
Goals: Buy a home. Pay off debts. Choose between seeking a promotion and starting his own business.
Assets: $40,000 in non-retirement savings, $12,000 in non-retirement bonds and $108,000 in retirement savings. Expected pension income at age 62 of $1,500 a month and an equivalent amount in Social Security income.
Liabilities: $3,000 in credit card debt and $4,500 balance on a car loan.
Recommendations: Wait to buy a home until he can commit to a neighborhood for five years or more. For now, move to a smaller apartment. Keep two independent life insurance policies if he decides to go to work for himself. Move savings to discount brokerage accounts. Maintain a $500 to $600 “mad money” account in the first year after his breakup to fund new activities such as his improv comedy and dancing classes.
About the planner: Delia Fernandez is a fee-only financial planner and founder of Fernandez Financial in Los Alamitos.
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