Posts Tagged ‘money management’

3 Tips for Teen Investing

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Parents like to complain that their teenage children do not listen to them. However, when it comes to matters dealing with money, the opposite is actually often true. Teenagers often welcome the advice that their parents have to give regarding finances, money management and investments. In the past few years, teenagers have been earning billions of dollars through summer jobs and part time after-school work. Many of these teenagers have gone on to spend all of the money that they have made, while only a few have saved it up, only to end up spending on a larger purchase down along the line. Kids these days need to become more aware about their income and investment basics so that they can learn how to better manage their money as they get older. If you want your teenagers to manage their money more effectively in adulthood, then they absolutely have to learn the investment basics now.

Start training your teen about money.

Start training your teen about money.

It is your responsibility as a parent to begin training your teenage children to use their money more wisely now while they are listening. Here are some of the things that you can do to teach your children how to save and invest wisely so that they can have some money left over at the end of the weekend following payday.

1 – Lead by example!

This seems simple but it has an extraordinary impact. Your children are going to look at how you spend money and act accordingly. If you show them how you allot money to different purposes for household needs, bills and budgets, they will learn how to do the same over time.

2 – Help open a bank account for your teen.

Establishing a bank account for your teenager will allow him or her to have instant financial responsibility. Sit down with them and explain how they can manage their own account, and take a moment to talk about the rewards that can be received once they have saved enough money. These savings, for example, could go toward their college tuition or even to purchasing a car. The entire process of saving and earning will give them a significant sense of accomplishment, and they will have something concrete to show for their hard work and dedication to saving and investing wisely.

3 – Construct a spending plan for your teen.

Teens tend not to like the idea of budgeting, but you should not allow them to get by without a budget or a spending plan just because they don’t like the idea. Instead, you and your teenaged son or daughter should sit down and build a spending plan that will help them get excited about the idea of earning, saving and investing their money. Take the time to teach them the differences between what they need and what want, and what things are worth saving for. Once they know what they can do without, it becomes easier for them to save their money for investing.

Photo Credit: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-12 05:57:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Should You Be Worried About the Economy?

Thursday, February 25th, 2010
If you are worried about gas, try carpooling.

If you are worried about gas, try carpooling.

If you follow the news, chances are the state of the economy may have you a little concerned. Bad news is rampant, the housing market is shaky and doom appears to be around every corner. While there are some definite problems with the economy right now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to start panicking. Smart money management is always important, but if you find that you are overly worried about the state of the economy, there are a few steps that you can take to shore up your financial defenses and stop worrying.

The first step is to take a hard look at your mortgage payments, car payments and any other loans that you may have. If they are calculated under a variable rate, now is the time to start allocating a little extra each month to ensure that you have enough to keep up with the payments. If your mortgage payment looks like it is going to be too high, act quickly by negotiating with your bank for either a payment deferment or even a refinance. No one wins in a foreclosure situation and most banks will be willing to work something out with you.

The second step is to think about consolidating your credit card bills if necessary. If you are paying on multiple cards that all have high interest rates, you could be wasting a lot of money each month. Take advantage of a low or no interest card that will allow you to transfer those high balances into one. Just make sure you read the fine print to see how long the interest rate will remain low. Or use Loanio to receive a loan from lenders, this is easy and painless to do. This not only helps you save money on high interest fees, but you can also save time by paying only one bill every month.

Next, you can take a look at what you’re spending and how rising prices are affecting you. For example, the cost of gas right now has many people worried. You may find that you’re spending more to get to work than you may make for the day, or the ratio may have changed dramatically. If this is the case, consider setting up a carpool with other workers to save money, or you may even be able to arrange to telecommute. There are many ways that you can reduce your monthly expenses and free up more money to handle the rising cost of necessities.

This is also a good time to think about setting up an emergency fund. This is a very beneficial type of savings account that can tide you over if you run short during the month, or if you end up with a personal crisis on your hands. When you have the security of a savings account, emergency fund or other means of income, you’ll be in a much better position to weather any economic storm.

While the economy has been better, there is certainly no need to start panicking right now. Simply follow smart money practices, and you’ll be in a position where you can withstand whatever comes.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-28 20:01:41. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Defining Your Budget and Crafting Your Financial Future

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

A budget or spending plan is a specific money management tool that is designed to put you in control of your spending, keeping you out of credit trouble and other financial trouble. Your budget is vital because it is your personal plan for spending the income that you have, making good use of your credit and otherwise managing your finances in an efficient and effective way. Many people incorrectly treat budgeting like dieting, where you’re forced to suffer in order to achieve your goals, but this simply is not the case. A budget, on the other hand, is like the speedometer on your car in that it is letting you know how fast or how slowly you are going so that you can adjust accordingly. Your budget lets you know how you are doing in terms of earning and spending, so that you can make the necessary adjustments.

What are your budgeting goals?

What are your budgeting goals?

Most people are spending out of control without realizing it, which is why a budget is so important.

Here is a short list of some of the things that a budget can do for you:

- A personal budget can help you reach your financial goals, serving as a compass that keeps you on course and helps you put money aside so that you may reach your goals.

- A personal budget can help you control your money by allocating money for all of the different facets of your daily life, allowing you to better keep track of how your money is being used.

- A personal budget can help you to live within your means by showing you how your expenses compare to your incomes so that you can adjust things accordingly.

- A personal budget can help you to free up cash. One of the biggest bonuses that comes with budgeting is that you can decide how much you intend to spend, rather than spending all of your money on things you do not want or need, a budget will grant you the power to make smarter and better informed decisions regarding how you spend your money.

- A personal budget allows you to free up cash because an effective budgeting practice will involve your entire family and will help you come up with ways to free up money and better spend the money that you have.

- A personal budget can help you prepare for the unexpected, because you can put aside money every month for emergency expenses as part of your budget, and this will help you cover a variety of expenses including emergency auto repairs, medical bills and other expenses that come up unexpectedly.

- A personal budget can help you get out of debt, and even more importantly, stay out of debt once you are there. Budgeting will bring your expenses in line with your income, so you will stop adding to your debt.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-01-15 05:33:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Teach your Teens to Save Money

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Teaching your children how to manage their finances is absolutely critical if you want them to be successful at managing their money in the future. More than 80 percent of all parents are led to believe that their children are learning enough about personal finance and money management in school, unfortunately more than 90 percent of all students in high school and approximately 87 percent of all students in college have stated that everything they know about money management and financial planning has been learned from their parents rather than in school. Only 26 percent of parents with children aged 5 and older feel well enough prepared to teach their children the important details about money management. A study by the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy found that among twelfth graders, only around 10 percent of high school graduates were prepared for their personal financial future.

If you are not sure where, when or how to begin talking to your teens about saving money, you should rest assured that you are not alone. Teaching your kids about good money management, however, is a parental responsibility that is just as important as teaching them not to cross the street without looking both ways. As soon as kids become interested in money you can begin to lead by example, allowing them to pick up on good money management habits by following the direction that you give them. Here are some other simple and fun suggestions that will help your teens learn the value of money at an early age so that they can be prepared to take care of themselves as they get older.

Talk to your teen about money.

Talk to your teen about money.

1 – Explain to your children what money is all about.

As soon as your kids are old enough to count, they are old enough to understand the value of money. The earlier you can manage to teach them about money, including earning, saving and spending it responsibility, the better prepared they will end up being to manage their own finances in the future.

2 – Talk to your child about the family budget and allow them to learn by example as they grow up.

Let them ask questions about household finances so they understand early and receive consistent reinforcement of what it means to maintain a family budget and the financial matters surrounding it.

3 – Show your children how credit cards, debit cards and ATM machines work.

Show them that money does not grow on trees, and help them understand early what relationship exists between cash, credit, debit and other types of cards and accounts. Help your kids understand early that money has to be earned and saved before it can be spent.

When you discuss money with your children of any age, you will help them to develop a good sense of limits and positive, healthy financial planning in the process. You will teach them through examples exactly what it takes to spend money in a healthy way and make positive financial choices.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-12-16 05:30:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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