Admit it, it’s on your mind a lot these days; cash, currency, funds, legal tender, money; and that thinking comes right after you worry about bills, bills bills. It’s a never-ending battle and being well armed with information helps. Money comes in many forms and seniors must be familiar with them all. Things like folding bills, clinking coins, and checks in and mostly out, money orders mostly out, and debit cards that make it easier to spend, poker chips that make it easier to raise the bet, and bus tokens. Do you remember tax tokens? Then there are the odd-ball forms such as bytes that can eat up your money; that is, electronic direct deposits and direct-deducted payments made from your checking or savings account while you are dead to the world at night.

Then there are the implied forms of money like coupons that can save you at the store; 50% off sales that keep money in your pocket longer; and worst of all, 2-for-1 sales, and worst, worst of all – buy 10 for this cheap-cheap price. These seem like money, but do you really need that many jars of chili peppers?

Expenses come in many forms these days and seniors must be familiar with them all. Oscar Wilde said it right, “When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.” On the on the other side of the coin are the words from the old country song, “Another day older and deeper in debt,” now that is closer to home. Food, rent (mortgage payment), utilities, gas for the car, a few beers with the gang, and a variety of taxes are musts and necessities. A vacation once in a while would be nice. New clothes on occasion will keep the gnats and moths away.

Determining a budget and sticking to it is one option to winning the battle with money. This is an important and simple item if you are already retired, and something to think about if you are near retirement. Understanding and estimating your current spending patterns and tracking it monthly and trying to account for every dollar spent. That’s it in a nutshell. For the next month or two, think very carefully about how your money is spent. Be critical and not creative while tracking it. A simple two-column penciled out budget, budget, and budget are your best tools: Left side for income, and the right side for expenses.

Hopefully, when subtracting expenses from the income at the end of the month, income out weighs the expenses and you can shift the balance to a new third column called savings. And try to work this column into your monthly budget, you know, for that vacation and new clothes, and of course, that expected ghoul called bad luck who appears every once in a while. Or, if the right side is larger, then investment must be considered.

The first thing you need to do is understand that there is no perfect way or time to start investing. And there is no perfect product for you to start in. The best investment choices you have are the ones that you are comfortable with and the ones you choose yourself, after a little research.

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons,” said the wise sage Woody Allen.

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