Teach financial Stuff to our children
Countless parents pay a lot of money to assist their children acquire the best professional training but forget to forfeit the little essential to help them acquire the skills of managing their education paybacks- salaries.
Financial decisions are almost attached to every aspect of our lives and this is what makes financial literacy very important to both parents and their children as they grow up.
Why teach your kids about money
There are several benefits a child can gather from being wise on money matters, some of which my include the following.
Children can administer their own incomes that parents provide now by spending on necessities while avoiding extravagance.
A child will value savings and investment decisions. Money matters education along with parent’s intervention on the child’s financial use enables him or her to think and take action about tomorrow.
A child becomes independent when still young. How many parents have brought up grown-ups who remain parasites even when it is obvious that they should be out of the nest and facing the world on their own?
Children who grow up understanding that earning money requires handwork, determination and smart spending and saving decisions, can be said to be self-sufficient.
Becoming an entrepreneur is thought out to be inborn for some people while others are made.
Your child could later become his or her own boss in a business and if they will be financial literate then, it will make them strategic business and money planners.
Simple ways a parent can use to train kids personal finance
Soon after he/she learns counting, introduce them to money. To do this, parents need to be patient with the kids as they take these lessons. Normally they understand fast by observing a repeated money lesson.
Open up your own money values, saving it, growing it, and most notably spending it and this means as a parent you need to consider how well you master your own finances.
Assist them in making distinctions between needs, wants and luxuries. Not understanding these ends up in overspending and really bad debts even to the adults.
Emphasize on setting spending goals every time kids request for money, or items, to discourage impulse buying; in other words, let them learn the process of budgeting.
Initiate the principle of savings against spending and demonstrate how swift money grows.
This will begin if you showed them how to list their needs in order of priorities and emphasize on spending based on urgency not luxury, when cash is limited. Involving them in shopping will sharpen spending skills more.
Allow them to participate in opening their own bank saving plan by letting them accompany you there.
Some parents open many of such plans on behalf of their kids and say nothing until a time to join college comes.
One way of raising a completely responsible child is by leaving them to be vulnerable on financial issues, and without you around, they will find a solution to the problem.
Let them participate to such easy tasks as opening bank accounts, applying for credit cards, collage loans, and the like, only come in if they need any clarifications.
Keep your distance and allow your children make their financial decisions on their own, whether good or poor.
The bad ones motivate them to be careful with money tomorrow while good ones mean they are progressively getting on track on their own.
One way you can enhance this process is by all means training them how to keep track of the money they have spent, invested or saved by maintaining good records.
Paying a personal finance management course for your collage going child or talk them into paying if they are already done and independent is the best decision a parent may never regret why they made it.
Family Budget So Important
All businesses have a focal point where everything focuses around and this is their budgets. Without them, businesses can not go very far. Planning ahead and having complete control on their finances is vital for their survivals.
Why in families is it different? Of course families are not financial institutions but without a basic financial knowledge and a basic budget as businesses families can also go burst with even worse consequences than businesses.
What is a Budget?
A budget is a sum of money designated to cover a particular purpose. It is a list of expenditures and income for a period of time. It is nothing more than a plan on how you are going to spend the money you earn in an organized and smart way.
Why budget?
The main reason to have a family budget is to avoid financial disorganization which leads to serious money problems. Being organized with money will allow you have more fun and enjoy life more. Other reasons for budgeting are to:
· Be prepared to avoid surprises
· Save money to buy something
· Get out of debts
· Get out of the vicious cycle of spend now and pay later
· Rediscover that having fun can be FREE
· Be financially comfortable
How to budget?
The first thing you need to do is develop a deep awareness about how you deal with money and to see it in a crystal clear way is to write down on paper all the money you bring home (income) and all the money you pay out (expenses).
Make a list of all your income as a family then make a list of all your expenses. It might take sometime until you finish your list and the reason why is that we always have a lot more expenses that we can remember. So don’t think you are going to do it in 15 minutes. Keep the list open for a whole month and keep entering your expenses as it happens. Try to keep records of everything: coffees, tips, drinks and every little expense you make each month.
After the month has ended add up all your expenses and all your family income to have a clear idea how and why your money is going so quickly. Now you have to start making the cuts in your expenses if you are not happy with the results.
This is a really simple strategy to start to get you and your family out of debt. You have to be persistent and have the will power to continue until you get the results you want.
Consequences of denial
If you always avoid facing and managing your finances properly you will regret it later on. Some of the consequences are:
· Live constantly in debts and under constant stress
· Bankruptcy
· Serious conflicts in your family
· Repossession
· Cause grief to your children
How Determining Life Insurance You Need
The amount of life insurance that you need depends on how much money your beneficiary would need if you should die. If you are the sole breadwinner of your household and if you have small children, you will want to have a higher amount of life insurance than if your children are grown and both you and your spouse have well-paying jobs.
Before you decide which life insurance company to go with or even before you determine whether you want to purchase a whole-life or term policy, you should first determine how much money your beneficiary will need upon your death.
Determining Salary
Take a look at your salary first, when determining how much life insurance you need for your beneficiary. A good rule of thumb is that you should obtain a life insurance policy worth 10 times the amount of your salary. If you earn $30,000 each year, you should obtain a life insurance policy for $300,000.
The goal with a life insurance policy is to make sure your spouse and children have enough money to survive as if you were still around earning the money. By purchasing a life insurance policy worth 10 times your annual salary, you are securing your family for years to come while your spouse attempts to get back on his or her feet following your death. This also allows your family to continue with the same quality of life they are used to upon your death.
Ages Of Your Children
You should also take a look at the ages of your children when you consider how much life insurance to purchase for your family. The younger the children you have are, the more money you will need to support your family in the future. If your children are older, your family may not need as much if you should die.
One thing to consider is that if you have young children under the age of 10, you will definitely want to make sure your salary is covered for the next 10 years should you pass on. If your children are teenagers, you should make sure you have life insurance to last your family at least five years. Once your family is grown, you may determine that you don’t need as much coverage. If you have children who are all older than 18 years old, you only need to consider how much income your spouse needs from you when determining your life insurance coverage needs.
Other Life Insurance Considerations
When looking at your life insurance coverage needs, you should also consider whether your spouse is working, whether your spouse is working full-time or part-time and what percentage of your bills are paid using your salary. If you and your spouse combine your salaries to pay your bills, you should consider how much money you count on in order to get the bills paid.
Even if you have a spouse who has a full-time job that pays equal money, your family may count on both your salaries in full to pay your mortgage, car payments, student loans and other monthly expenses. When you are considering your life insurance needs, you should compute all your family expenses and determine how much money outside your spouse’s salary alone your family would need in order to survive for at least five years.
Small E-Business Success Stories
It is not uncommon to hear fabulous success stories from internet-based companies. We all know about the
Amazon.coms, Googles, Ebays, Yahoo!s, and all of these other popular websites that sell goods or services. The dotcom boom took place in the early 1990s and many internet companies went bust due to a poor reception from the public.
Today’s consumers are a great deal savvier than they were in the last decade, and internet-based businesses
are back in full force. One mistake common to the dotcoms that bombed shortly after forming was lack of leadership and poor business plans. Everyone saw the potential in this new and intriguing forum, but no one quite knew what to do with it. Since no one had ever run an internet business, CEO’s attempted to run them like traditional stores.
Although you may sell the same products or services as a traditional brick and mortar store, there is a great difference in the approach to running an internet business. However, in the field strewn with failed businesses of the past shine many small e-business success stories.
The “mom and pop” businesses have taken the internet in stride. The family run e-business is finding a great deal of success on the internet whereas it may have struggled in a traditional store. Furthermore, e-businesses can be run out of the comfort of your own home, allowing individuals to keep their commitments and responsibilities while working towards developing a fantastic e-business. Just because your e-business may be small, thinking small will be the most detrimental to your enterprise.
Surely the founders of Amazon.com did not think small when they founded the online store, and neither should you. It may be difficult to keep that professional attitude when you can go to work in your robe and slippers, but strive to keep that level of professionalism that goes along with traditional businesses. Starting your own small e-business is a huge undertaking and should not be taken lightly.
One such example of a entrepreneur who worked hard to develop a successful and profitable e-business is Sandy Stevens of Sandy’s Home-style Baking Company. Being able to channel her love of baking and sweets into a viable career, Stevens has experienced a great deal of success over the short time her e-business has been running.
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Stevens has found herself shipping her sweet treats all over the continent to a
wide array of incredibly pleased clients. Stevens had worked out of her home in the past, but the jump into the
unfamiliar realm of cyberspace was new. Working with web designer, Stevens was able to have a professional develop her thoughts and ideas into a professional website that promotes her baked goods to a world-wide audience.
Additionally, Stevens chose to advertise with popular websites such as Yahoo! and Google to further promote her website. Stevens likened internet advertising to traditional forms of advertisement such as newspaper or
yellow pages ads. Whereas these print types of advertisements can be quite costly, especially for a
developing business with little money to spare, internet advertising is a great deal less expensive for more
coverage. Instead of a pricey $2,000 a month for a full-page yellow pages ad, Stevens was able to promote her business all over the internet for a mere $500.