On Today’s Money 911 we talked about planning for retirement versus saving for your children’s college education, monitoring an aging parents finances and how to prepare for an impending layoff. To learn more watch the video clip below.
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On Today’s Money 911 we talked about where to turn for holiday gifts for your children if you don’t have the funds. Where to look for financial help when caring for an ailing parent and how many credit cards is too many. To learn more on these topics and more watch the video clip below.
Last but not least, we have a few tips from the readers of PT Money, about how they’re helping their kids form smart money habits. Don’t forget to join them tonight for the National Money Night Talk. You’ll find all the information you need – including a tool kit to help you with the talk – on that website.
My tip would be to keep a notebook or Excel spreadsheet with expenses, and keep yourself on a budget. If you notice from your spreadsheet that you’re going over budget during the month, you have time to decrease your spending so you can meet your budget goal by the end of the month. More…
To continue what I started yesterday in celebration of my new book and the National Money Night Talk, here are a few great comments from the readers of Dough Roller about how they’re teaching their kids about money:
I taught my children to take any money they get (holidays, birthdays or paychecks/money earned) and divide it into categories and assign a percentage (i.e., church contribution, savings, specific fund like vacation money or something special they want to buy) and then no matter how big or small the amount, they are contributing to their financial goals.
This is a really exciting week around here, what with the launch of my new book (if you missed it, you can find more information about Not Your Parents’ Money Book here) and the National Money Night Talk tomorrow night. Leading up to The Talk, American Express and I asked a few popular personal finance blogs (PT Money, Moolanomy, and DoughRoller) to poll their readers for their favorite money saving tips for kids. They came through – big time – and over the next couple days, I’m going to be sharing their ideas here, starting with these three from Moolanomy:
Plain and simple, learn how to make a budget. Not necessarily establish a budget as a teenager (it’s hard to establish a budget when you are working a part-time, minimum wage paying job), but learning how to create a budget can really help kids learn to manage their money and know what it takes to stay out of debt. I truly wish that budgeting was a required class in all schools.
Start a retirement account now. Even if you can only put in a few dollars a month to start, it will help you develop a habit of saving while putting compound interest to work for you.
Don’t go into debt if at all possible. Plan ahead instead and pay cash for large purchases.
Dear Teachers,
I have a homework suggestion for the night of September 16 — charge your students to go home and talk with their parents about money.
As I’m sure you know, we have a financial literacy crisis in America. All too often, kids don’t have a good grasp on the basics of money management, and neither do their parents. So, working with the Council for Economic Education, and with the support of American Express, I developed a set of tools parents can use to talk to their kids about money – and vice versa. More…
Hi Jean,
Enjoy watching you on the Today Show. I trust you and would like your advice. A member of my family has credit card debt of about 20K and is unemployed, although has kept up with making the minimum pmt of about $300 a month. He is no longer able to make that pmt since he does not have UE funds coming in. He does have 6K in the bank and I believe he has a 401K, but drawing out of it is a part of his debt of about 10K, which he had to pay to the IRS with his credit card. He DOES NOT own a home. How should he go about consolidating his debt so he can get back on track until he finds a job. Should he consider bankruptcy? I wonder if that would affect his standing if prospective employers look at his background. Like many, he has a strong employment history in the tech field until he was laid off a couple of years ago. His finances and credit have always been very good with no problems. Would very much appreciate your advice and soon, if possible, as I believe he needs to take action.
Thank you very much.
- nchanting
Unfortunately, bankruptcy may be the right alternative for your relative. But before he goes that route, I want him to call a not-for-profit credit counseling service — he can find one at debtadvice.org. A good credit counselor will take him through an intake process where they look at how much he owes, what he owns, and the interest rates he’s paying. More…
Anybody want a dog? I can vouch for Benjamin, the 3 year old snuggle muffin I carried onto the set. Seriously, Jill and Richard do an amazing job with all of these pups. I was tempted to take one home with me but wasn’t sure Teddy (the cockapoo in residence) would approve!
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Are working women penalized for having a family? Some working mothers have reported everything from lower wages to job loss — but is it because they’re parents? This morning on TODAY, I reported with two other working women on how you can let family life integrate with work life — and still be a successful and productive employee.
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I get a lot of questions about preparing financially for a baby. We’ve all heard that if you wait until you’re financially ready to have kids, you’ll never have any, and I think that’s good advice. But it doesn’t mean you can’t do a few things to pad your savings account before the new addition comes along. Having a baby means two things, financially speaking: You need to start preparing for the future, and you’re going to have more – and different – drains on your wallet. We’re going to tackle both, starting with how to handle and prepare for new expenses. Check back next week for part two, when I’ll cover preparing for the future.
Here are my favorite tips when it comes for budgeting for baby:
Use your pregnancy to save. This is going to be a long nine months – trust me, I’ve been there. Twice. So use it to your advantage by setting a goal to put away as much money as you can in extra savings by the time you go into labor. This is especially useful if one of you would like to become a stay at home parent – I highly suggest you “practice” living on only the income of the parent who will continue to work while you’re pregnant so you can see if it’s possible. Bank the other income for that nine months, and not only will you be able to give your new arrangement a trial run, but you’ll supercharge your savings. More…
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