As usual, I watched Suze Orman show tonight. At the beginning of the show, Suze mentioned the top 10 things you can do to make the most of your money in the year 2008:
1. Try to get out of credit card debt – I am not surprise this is the #1. 🙂 My credit card has balance at 0% for life, so no hurry on that.
2. Save 6 – 8 months of emergency funds – I am not sure I can save that much, but I will try.
3. Contribute to 401K up to the company match point (if company match), open an Roth IRA – No 401K, but have Roth IRA set up by Hubby. Hubby will also take care of contributation.
4. Buy a house if have money (with at least 10% – 20% down, and 30/15 year fixed interested loan) – already own house, can’t refinance in 2 years.
5. Never co-sign a loan with anyone (except spouse?) – sure.
6. Annuity: don’t buy variable annuity, and don’t invest it in a retirment account. Simple fixed rate annuity is ok. – will do more research on annuity.
7. Buy individual bonds, not bond funds. –will do more research on bonds.
8. Get a Will and revocable living trust – I think this has been taken care of, but have to check to make sure. – will do more research on will and living trust.
9. Term life insurance only – if you need to have life insurance, get term life insurance. should get this done this year.
10. Invest in no load mutual funds which is no expense to buy and sell, stock diversified. – Not sure about this one. – will do more research on no load mutual fund.
Suze’t best selling books:
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying
The Road to Wealth: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke
[!AdServe:mortgage!]
I saw a bit of Suze Orman’s program where she taelkd about allowances for children. Her adamant approach to the incorrectness’ of allowances made me take a step back and think about it. I am a grandmother and I’m now watching grandchildren who are teens and tweeners’ and wondering how I might contribute positively to their financial literacy.I think we cannot ignore that personalities play a big part in how we handle money. Those who feel deprived seem to feel deprived no matter how much they have (and continue to deprive themselves as a result) and others are generous to a fault. They will give away their shirt in the middle of a storm. Whether or not you give an allowance with no strings attached will not change that. But we can help them to be aware of how they approach spending.I like Suze’s idea of a job list that kids can select from to earn the money for the extras that they desire. And I like the idea that a certain base level of contribution is expected from everyone in the family, just to keep things running smoothly.I treated my kids the same. They had a small allowance not tied to anything. One grew up a saver, one a spender and one in between. I believe the differences are inherent in their personalities.What I would do differently is talk more about money, and be more open about the family finances.I think that adolescents ought to be given an allowance that covers their basic needs for clothing and let them do their own shopping. If they choose the expensive jacket and have nothing left for the jeans to go with it ??Children definitely need assistance to learn the ropes of getting a bank account and putting a portion of everything they earn (or receive as a gift) away. They need to learn to save for extras and to save for long term needs like education. But what sensible advice can you give them when returns on their little savings’ account are less than inflation?I guess I’ve strayed from your subject of allowances enough chatter.
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult.
Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on interent. This is a great story. Thanks!
Good post. I enjoyed reading it.