Wishing all of my listeners a Happy Holiday Season and a Healthy and Happy New Year! Wise Women Radio will be back on the air, Tuesday, January 6th. Thanks so much for all of your great insights, suggestions, and emails for our show. Lisa

All of us at Wise Women Investor want to wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. We will be back to blogging on January 5, 2009.

Enjoy your time with family and friends and take a moment or two for you!

Lisa

1. Start saving early. Since women spend fewer years in the workforce than men, it is critical for us to start making contributions to our retirement plans as early as possible.

2. Wise women actively participate—we don’t leave our future to chance. Invest in what you know, understand and feel comfortable with. Use Entrust as their self-directed IRA administrator so you can make wise women investment choices.

3. Wise women diversify. We do not put all our eggs in on basket. We have a balanced financial plan and understand where we want to invest today, tomorrow and are not afraid to make changes to the plan

4. We vote on our own money. Wise women always stay in control!

It is never too late to start saving and controlling your financial future. Log onto www.theentrustgroup.com and open an IRA account today!

Check these 3 web sites and see if they cannot help you grow your business!

Google Alerts: www.google.com
Set up custom searches with Google Alerts on the Google News homepage. You can receive daily e-mails on any subject, industry or search criteria.

Stumble Upon www.stumbleupon.com
Create a free account, install the Stumble Upon tool bar, and you can click on a button and be sent to sites that match your preferences. Great place to pick up tips for your business or niche.

Yahoo Answers www.answers.yahoo.com
Get answers to anything you wish to know.

If you have to pay out of pocket for medications, shop around. Prices can vary $100 or more within the same chain, according to a recent study by Consumer Reports. Researchers checked prices of 4 medications at 163 pharmacies nationwide. They found that Costco, aarp.com and Wal-Mart ranked the best for the lowest prices overall. Shop before you buy!

Even though the airlines are forecasting a slower holiday travel season, don’t bet on it! At the busiest times of the year, both on the road and in the air, stay sane by taking advantage of these travel tips.

1. Plan ahead. Pre-book as much of your travel as possible. This includes accommodations, car rentals, etc.

2. Delegate responsibilities. If you are traveling with children, assign them tasks, like looking out for your luggage or younger children.

3. Pack your luggage at least 2 days earlier so you will not run around the house thinking you forgot something and stressing yourself out over it!

4. Arrive at the airport at least an extra 30 minutes before the minimum check in time so you get through the lines at check in and security with time to spare.

5. Finally, don’t forget to enjoy yourself and live in the moment!

Are you in the difficult situation where you have a parent who is in financial trouble? You always thought they would have the money to take care of themselves, then something castrophic occurs that puts you into an uncomfortable situation, or worse?

Loans to relatives can be an emotional roller coaster ride. The times I have made loans to relatives, I make the assumption from the get go that I will probably not get paid back, so I am looking at this “loan” as a gift.

If you have a parent or for that matter, a grown child who needs a loan and insists that they will pay you back, consider having an outside service do the loan documentation and receive the payments on your behalf. Both of you might feel better for it. The other suggestion, try to put yourselves in their shoes, especially a parent. They have worked their whole lives and still don’t have enough…

Many of us have been forced to cut back on expenses—postponing a vacation, not eating out as much, that new car, or cutting back on entertainment, etc. in order to avoid drawing down on our savings. This is a much better strategy than prematurely withdrawing funds from your IRA or (k) plan.

Here are 5 strong reasons not to touch that IRA!

1. You will pay penalties for early withdrawal.

2. Your retirement plan is one of the last tax breaks available where any profits on your investments are enhanced due to tax deferral or, in the case of a Roth, tax free when investing with an IRA.

3. The money you invest today compounds over time. The more you can put away and invest, the more of a financial cushion you will have when you do decide to retire. By depleting your retirement dollars, you deplete your financial future.

4. If you are a Baby Boomer or younger, there is a significant chance social security will not be available or limited or taxed in your later years. Do you really want to take that risk?

5. Do you really have time on your side to catch up and recoup your losses?

It is so tempting to borrow against the future. But, if there is anyway possible to avoid having to tap into your retirement plans that are still growing, do it!

Take the test from The President’s Council on Physical Fitness—yes, the same council who monitors children’s fitness have introduced an adult version of the test. You will time yourself on how fast you run or walk, how many sit ups and push ups you can complete, and more. Your score will determine where you need help and the site provides you with information to improve your fitness level. Try it today!

Year end is quickly approaching. It is time, no matter what investments you have, to get your paperwork in order. If you do real estate and have expenses for fix-up, property management, etc., get them together. It might serve you well to have a brief conversation with your accountant or whoever does your taxes to make sure you have the right documentation you need to get the biggest tax break. Use up the section 179 business expenses. Get your docs together now and take advantage of your tax situation on your investing.