Last week’s blog addressed the concept of not spending as a form of saving. This is a good learning experience for kids who, by nature, have short attention spans. The idea of saving for something next week or next month makes sense because it is within a kid’s perspective. How can you possibly talk about [...]
A billboard for a local bank shows a happy parent saying, “They encouraged my kids to save.” For many parents, the concept of saving is one of those good values we want to instill in our kids. But what does saving mean to a kid? Financial institutions tell us that money will grow in a [...]
In my annual number gathering prior to filing our joint tax return one number in particular jumped out at me. $3.47. That’s the interest our checking account earned during 2011 with a monthly yield ranging from $.04 to $.73. We accumulated barely enough to treat one kid to an ice cream cone, which as of [...]
Here’s the scenario. Parents say to their kids, “You are going to receive some money but you can’t use it now. This money is for something in the future. You are too young to really understand what that something is, but you have put money away for it.”
According to a 2010 nation study by Gallup and Sallie Mae, parents rank saving for college almost as high of a priority as saving for retirement. Parents rank saving for college at 21 percent compared to 22 percent who rank saving for retirement as their top priority.
Would you knowingly overpay one of your bills by $250 every month? Most people would say, “No, of course not.” Yet, that’s what can happen when taxpayers have too much money withheld from their income for taxes.
The average income tax refund is up nearly 10% from a year ago according to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. Through March 12, the average tax refund was a record $3,036, up $266 from the same period a year earlier.
Here are three habits that are guaranteed to increase the amount of money you can save. In fact, if you train yourself to do these every week, month, every year, you will have more money for the rest of your life.
When parents describe their kids’ money habits to me, they quickly label them as either a spender or saver. Granted, spending and saving are the either-or when it comes to money. But being all one or the other is not the best preparation for managing money as adults. If we applied the same labeling to [...]
The message during this, America Saves Week, is to spend less than one’s income and save the rest. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The problem is that we’d rather spend money than save. How does spending and saving relate to our kids and their money?