On March 9 we got some wonderful tips from our guest speaker Jeff K. Thank you for your great advice.
Here are just a few.
-First thing to remember is that everything with finances is a personal thing, everyone has different goals and needs.
-Before making any financial changes make sure to speak with your spouse, kids, qualified Tax professional and consult books.
-2 recommended books to read:
-Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
-Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
Here are just a few.
-First thing to remember is that everything with finances is a personal thing, everyone has different goals and needs.
-Before making any financial changes make sure to speak with your spouse, kids, qualified Tax professional and consult books.
-2 recommended books to read:
-Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
-Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
-Not always the best idea to have all of your money invested in your house.
Budgeting/"Spending Plan" Tips
6 LEVELS
Level 1: 3R's
Roof (housing)
Refrigerator (food)
Budgeting/"Spending Plan" Tips
6 LEVELS
Level 1: 3R's
Roof (housing)
Refrigerator (food)
Religion (tyth)
-Everything else comes secondary
Level 2: Necessary Bills
-Utilities, communications, anything that actually makes life livable.
Level 3: Minimum Payments (on Debts)
-Work on getting this to zero
Level 4: Plan
-Savings/ Debt
Level 5: Non-essential Bills (not necessary for life)
-example: cable, phone features, etc.
Level 6: FF (fettered frittering)
-Fun Money
(where family values come in, this could be clothes, things for only one person in the family, allowances for kids)
TIPS:
-Should have $1000 in savings before work on other debts, then try to make an emergency fund with enough money that if 2 major things go wrong, you are covered.
-When debt is down and handled, get a CD ladder so that you get about $1000 dollars a month
-Try to have 5 months (minimum) worth of income saved in CDs
Life Insurance
2 major kinds:
-Term- in 20 yrs you get this much money
(get enough to pay off mortgage, a couple years of life and cover burial costs)
-Whole life- build cash value, can pay own premiums (if interested in whole life, spend a long time looking at policies, do your research. Be careful, because agents make a good commission off whole life. Never sign papers on first time visiting an agent)
-Good to get life insurance on kids. Good to wait until they are 5, because cheaper rates, then get about $10,000 dollars in life insurance per child. Look into Gerber Life insurance (whole life policy)
Investing When on a Tight Budget
-Pay down debt, so all money you are making is yours
-CD ladder
-Stocks (piece of ownership in company)
-Growth mutual funds (company buys shares of other companies. As company grows, you make money) (Don't put money in that you want in the next 5 years)
-Investing Books- Books by Warren Buffet, http://www.fool.com/
TIP: DON'T INVEST IN ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND
College Savings
TIP: Make sure your finances are in order (retirement) before you start investing in kids college funds.
TIP: Start investing in college when children are young.
Check out the websites: savingforcollege.com and upromise.com
-Savings bonds are not the best for college savings, don't keep up with family gain.
-Can buy stock, but make sure to put in the child's name, since they are in a lower tax bracket
-Investments to look into:Coverdale IRA plan, UGMA (buy stocks into kids name), 529 plans (tax deferred payment plan)
-If don't make a large income, think about helping getting kids scholarships (make sure involved in lots of activities) and look into financial aid loans and grants
