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Money Rules For Your Kids

All too often, kids end up having to learn from their own mistakes about how to handle money, because nobody formally teaches them how to handle it .  Sure, they can observe their parents’ behavior towards money but it seems to be a rare occurrence for parents to actually sit down with their kids and teach them about proper money management.  As a result, many young adults just starting out on their own end up with overwhelming credit card debt or simply get behind in paying their bills as they haven’t yet learned how to handle the expenses that were once all taken care of by their parents.

In order to prevent your own kids from feeling lost when they first set out on their own, start to teach them when they are young.  According to Jeff D. Opdyke’s article “The 15 Money Rules Kids Should Learn”, there are a lot of things parents can teach their kids at a young age.

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May 24, 2010
Family

Young Couples And Joint Bank Accounts

I read an interesting article on the Globe and Mail website recently that indicated that one third of young Canadian couples (aged 18 to 35) keep separate bank accounts, and that only one in ten couples share all their accounts.

This may be a bit surprising, except for the fact that many of the couples that were polled were not necessarily already married.  I think it’s important for couples to be on the same page with their finances, although I can understand why some couples choose not to keep everything joint.

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April 18, 2010
Family

Money Saving Tips For Brand New Parents

If you’re like me and have never yet had any children, you will likely be as surprised as I was at finding out just how expensive it really is to have kids.  I found this really interesting article on globeinvestor.com that talks about the first year of parenthood.  If you are thinking of taking that big step and having a baby in the near future, I would highly recommend checking out the article.

The article includes links to some helpful websites that can provide tips for saving money on baby items.  Suggestions such as using hand-me-downs instead of buying everything brand new could help with the financial side of things.  It also includes information on the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the Universal Child Care Benefit that will be important to know.  It’s important to understand all of the government benefits and tax credits you are entitled to when you are a parent.  Every little bit helps.

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January 20, 2010
Family

Should I Have A Prenuptial Agreement Before We Get Married?

prenuptial agreement?Well, that’s a good question! Only you can decide whether or not this will work for your particular circumstances.

Robert is engaged to Janet. They’re planning on getting married in a few months. Janet has several pieces of property, numerous investment accounts and is worth millions of dollars. She’s been dating Robert for almost five years prior to his proposal of marriage. She’s decided that she wants a prenuptial agreement prior to marrying Robert, but, is unsure how to tell him. Janet doesn’t want to hurt Robert’s feelings, but she knows that she should protect herself prior to marriage.

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October 22, 2009
Family

Marriage & Money Tips

I recently read an article that is worth checking out if you are planning on tying the knot in the near future.  It also would be helpful for newly married couples that are trying to figure out how to deal with their finances.

The article is titled Six Money Mistakes of Newlyweds and the author, Erin Burt, discusses the importance of being honest from the beginning about your financial situation.  You can only hide your credit card debt from your spouse for so long anyway, so it’s better to just be up front from the start. 

The author also emphasizes the need for couples to create a budget, taking into account their current debt as well as their financial goals.  She also suggests setting up a “money date” once a month to keep each other in the loop on how their finances are going. 

Another must do, according to the article, is to make sure to have an emergency fund in place so that couples are prepared in the event that something unexpected happens.  My favorite suggestion found in the article is to not sweat the small stuff.  There’s no point in arguing over small money matters.  It’s important to pick your battles carefully.  For more details, you can find the article posted on Kiplinger.com.

June 21, 2009