Meeting with my Financial Advisor Today

I'm meeting with my financial advisor today – long overdue considering the progress I’ve made since our last meeting (a. became a personal finance blogger, b. applied to business school, c. moved in with the Guy, etc. etc.)


I completed the two update worksheets – one which had all of my income statistics and also what I hoped to be making in three years which was a lovely exercise in “who knows” now that the ceiling has come crumbling down. And the other was my monthly budget. I remember being handed this at our initial meeting and thinking it was pretty preposterous. How was I supposed to know how much I spent on all of this stuff? How naïve and not-yet-anal I was! I flew through it more or less with ease, applying a few ranges where appropriate, and was happy to see how close I was matching their categories with mine… I came up with only having a $38 surplus from my income to my expenses. We all know how quickly $38 can be sprinkled throughout multiple categories, so I’m sure that’s where it actually goes.

But it did make me think. Could I contribute $38 more to my Roth? Could I up my cash savings $38? Or more? I know it will only work when I increase something that I don’t already see. So I might just ask my friends at Northwestern Mutual to increase something without telling me. More later to report on the meeting....