Friday, April 9, 2010

“Personal Finance - Pawtucket Times” plus 3 more

“Personal Finance - Pawtucket Times” plus 3 more

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Personal Finance - Pawtucket Times

Posted: 09 Apr 2010 02:28 AM PDT

By JON BAKER

SEEKONK — Just before 7 p.m., Monday, John K. Turner still stood outside the polls at Seekonk High, attempting to gather final-hour votes for the lone seat available to the Board of Selectmen. He wished at that point he knew how his election bid — against incumbent (and Board Chairman) Francis M. Cavaco — was going, but admitted he hadn't a clue.

Mad City Money a hands-on lesson in personal finance - Newark Advocate

Posted: 09 Apr 2010 04:37 AM PDT

NEWARK -- Real-life experiences might have helped Newark High School students do better in this year's financial education exercise called Mad City Money.

Students in Thursday's class at the high school library were randomly assigned an occupation, salary, possibly a spouse and children, student loan payment, medical insurance and credit-card debt.

They had to buy essentials such as a house, car, utilities, furniture, clothing and food, extras such as entertainment and mall expenditures, plus deal with emergencies and try to save money.

It was the second year seniors in Sue Grindrod's government and economics class went through the exercise, with volunteer assistance from Fiberglas Federal Credit Union and Harvest Federal Credit Union employees.

"This year's class was tighter (with money)," Grindrod said. "They're hanging onto money more. They didn't want to part with it. There was a lot more concern about spending money."

One possible reason for the reaction is some seniors already have felt economic hardships in real life during the recent recession.

"Some kids said they have moved in with relatives, or mom or dad lost a job," Grindrod said.

Tausha Queen-Cunningham completed the exercise with $55 in savings, $25 for retirement and paid $600 of her credit-card bill.

"I've worked since I was 15, so I'm familiar with a lot of this stuff," Queen-Cunningham said. "But, you've just got to double-check everything. You can make mistakes.

"I think it's a good idea for seniors because some people don't realize what it takes when you're out in the real world."

Lindsay Lovor, who was given the occupation of a librarian and a husband working as a dispatcher, said money was getting thin after she bought a big house and two cars.

"My husband needs to get a better job," Lovor said. "The spouse thing is getting expensive."

One student said she wanted to go to the mall but had to get a car and house first.

Patty Frost, a loan officer at Harvest Federal Credit Union, assisted students with purchases of food.

"Maybe it's your spouse's birthday and you want to take him out for fine dining," Frost recommended to student Sydney Bendure.

"No, he can eat at McDonald's," Bendure answered.

Jamie Garrabrant, chief operating officer at Fiberglas Federal Credit Union, handed out unexpected good news or bad news to students, often upsetting their budgets. His role was called the Fickle Finger of Fate.

One student thought he had completed the exercise with money left over, but Garrabrant swooped in with the bad news. The student lost $500 in salary because he was sick for three days after using all his sick time.

Other surprises Garrabrant delivered were doctor bills, unpaid credit-card bills, a flat tire and a speeding ticket. Others discovered they received a bonus at work, a cash giveaway at the grocery store and won a trip to Hawaii.

"Those things happen in your life you're not expecting," Garrabrant said. "Hey, you never know when those things come up."

Kent Mallett can be reached at (740) 328-8545 or kmallett@newarkadvocate.com.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Teaching kids financial skills now sets them up for a ... - Vancouver Sun

Posted: 09 Apr 2010 10:27 AM PDT

Most of us heard it from our parents: "money doesn't grow on trees," but was that where our financial education at home ended?

All too often, that's the case, according to Stacy DeBroff, a parenting author from Boston who recently wrote A Parent's Guide to Raising Fiscally Responsible Children (Simon & Schuster, $12).

Despite their good intentions, parents are setting their kids up for a life of financial failure by sheltering their children from hard financial realities.

"We have felt enormous pressure to have our kids succeed and to do the best that they can academically, in sports and their outside pursuits. And as a result we have shielded them from discussions about family budgets, about larger issues when it comes to spending, credit and debt, mortgages," she says.

In previous generations, children were expected to earn their spending money through part-time jobs. But in recent years, the bubble-wrap trend in parenting culture has pushed parents to give their children a leg up in an uber-competitive world by absorbing all of their children's costs, DeBroff says.

She figures all of these changes have led young people to believe they're entitled to all the latest gadgets and fashions.

"There's this immediate gratification: 'I really, really want this great pair of jeans,' not 'I can't afford this pair of jeans,'" she explains.

This disconnect from the need to budget sets teens up for a shock when they leave home. Suddenly, they face the harsh reality of paying bills for rent, food and often tuition at a post-secondary school. At the same time, their introduction to the joys of magic money — credit cards that only require you to pay off a minimal amount of your debt — can turn minor cash flow problems into long-term debt that sometimes leads to personal bankruptcy.

"They often find themselves digging themselves out of a personal finance hole in their 20s," DeBroff says.

Parents may think that their children are learning personal finance skills at school, but Darren Weeks, a personal finance guru from Edmonton, didn't mince words when asked if schools are doing enough to educate teens.

"Not even close," said the founder of the Fast Track To Cash Flow.

"The schools are often seen as a catch-all for education, but parents are the primary educators of their kids when it comes to personal finance," says Janet Sutherland, a spokeswoman for the Calgary Catholic School District. "It's up to parents to reinforce what the kids learn at the schools."

Weeks and DeBroff agree that parents are ultimately responsible — young people are much more likely to learn personal finance lessons when they are taught at home, they say.

"Oftentimes what you do with money is deeply tied into values," DeBroff explains.

So what can parents do to set their children up for a lifetime of good financial decision-making? Start teaching financial lessons as early as possible, say DeBroff and Weeks.

DeBroff recommends easing a child into the world of personal finance at age five with an allowance, which can be connected to chores done, so the child learns how much work is valued.

This introduces a child to budgeting, usually in the form of setting up a savings account and spending less on immediate wants (candy) in exchange for greater long-term happiness (a new bike). They also learn that bad behaviour or shoddy work (backtalk and clothes on their bedroom floor) can result in the loss of income.

Weeks has his own children — Ava, 4, and Connor, 6 — split every dollar they earn from chores into three categories: one-third for long-term savings, one-third for spending and one-third for charity. He also recommends parents encourage their children to play games that revolve around money. These include the classic Monopoly, along with The Money Savvy Pig piggy bank, which has four chambers: Save, Spend, Donate and Invest (msgen.com, $16.99) and The Allowance Game (Lakeshore Learning, $21.99).

It's around age 13, however, that finance education needs to ramp up, DeBroff says. How do teens manage money from their part-time job, for example, or those cheques they get every Christmas from Uncle Bob? At this age, it's important to impart a clear sense of what a child's spending habits require them to give up in terms of hours worked and future opportunities lost.

More complex personal finance ideas, such as building a credit rating and investing, can also be better understood by teens. Options such as parent-supervised debit and credit cards, and secured or prepaid credit cards, can ease teens into the perilous world of plastic by helping them track and manage their spending. Some even allow parents to set daily, weekly and monthly limits.

Even if your child makes some financial mistakes, such as losing all their savings in high-risk investment schemes, it's better they learn their hard lessons before they leave home.

"Just like investing, an earlier start leads to a higher finish," Weeks says.

Sure, money doesn't grow on trees. But it pays to start early if you want to grow a money tree with deep roots.

Making your kid money-wise

Here are a few ideas from parenting author Stacy DeBroff to help parents raise children that are financially responsible:

- Use the news: Use newspaper headlines to jump-start dinner table conversations about how a lot of people are out of work now and what world leaders are doing to help people find new jobs. These conversations can grow more sophisticated when discussing the economy with tweens and teens.

- Tie allowance to chores: This teaches the value of a dollar. Make clear what you expect from your child to earn allowance, what items you expect allowance to cover (movies, treats, online games), and what your child can do to earn extra allowance (special help needed around the house or garden).

- Set a savings goal: No matter the amount, nothing speaks to kids more than their very own savings account.

- Start young: Let kids know early on that a trip to the store doesn't always mean a treat for them. Explain that you go to the store together each week to buy food for the family, and you can't afford to buy a new toy each time you shop.

- Separate necessities from luxuries: Help kids understand the difference between needs (think: food, water and shelter) and wants (think: new fashions and electronics).

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Francois and Associates Implement New Certification for ... - PRLog (free press release)

Posted: 09 Apr 2010 12:29 PM PDT

PR Log (Press Release) – Apr 09, 2010 – In order to provide industry leading value to its clients, Francois and Associates has announced that they are implementing a new certification policy for all management staff.  Going forward, all company management will be required to obtain training as Certified Personal Finance Counselors. Founder Joel Francois is already certified as a Personal Finance Counselor and hopes to improve the credit card debt consolidation services offered by his company with this new training requirement.  

"This is a great way to add more value to the company," said Joel Francois, founder of Francois and Associates (http://www.fnafinancial.com). "I have already been certified by the Center for Financial Certifications as a 'Certified Personal Finance Counselor' and I thought it would be great if all of our financial counselors had the opportunity to be certified as well." Mr. Francois hopes this certification policy will set his company apart from the others in his industry that do not require this type of training for their employees.

This course takes financial counselors through a step-by-step process of training to improve their ability to assist clients with establishing budgets, evaluating debt and creating financial plans of action to consolidate credit card debt.  The four part course covers everything from communication and counseling techniques to the fundamentals of financial management and consumer protection legislation.

"This course really covers all the areas that are needed to create a great credit card debt consolidation counselor," Mr. Francois added. "After finished this program, the CFPC© will have all the tools they need to help their personal career as well as help their clients that have problems managing their money. It really is a win-win situation for everyone."

This program is also available in Spanish and people who would like to be re-certified have the opportunity to participate as well. Francois and Associates (http://www.fnafinancial.com) plans on building more trust and a larger client base through this program.

"Having a trained and certified individual to work with clients lets them know that they can trust their financial counselor," Francois said. "And once all of our management is certified, our client base will hopefully grow as a result of the trust people have in us."

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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