“First Person: Personal Finance and 'The Unexpected' - Yahoo Finance” plus 1 more |
| First Person: Personal Finance and 'The Unexpected' - Yahoo Finance Posted: 15 Dec 2010 09:03 AM PST *Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles. "In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone." -- Bill Gates I love that powerful quote. It imparts the urgent message about never taking anything for granted in the world of business. I also happen to believe the quote, albeit abrasive, suitably conveys how I feel about my personal and small business finances. Even when times are on the upswing and the checkbook is balanced and fat, I could be and have been one-step shy of an empty bank account. Here is where fear can play a critical role in protecting the financial aspect of your life or business. Do not take current stability for granted and prepare ahead for the unexpected. I became an expert on this after my business all but buckled in 2008. I also found out a couple days ago that in two weeks, my husband will undergo knee replacement surgery. This was totally unexpected for both of us. Economy Takes a Nosedive - Do You Have Money to Get By? When the New England economy began to spiral downward in the spring of 2008, I was in for a rude awakening. My outdoor play systems business all but ended. Word of a recession in the making slowly, but surely crept through Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. These are the three states where my husband and I have sole distributorship rights to sell our product. We have had lean years, but not the bone-dry spell we had to push through in 2008 and half of 2009. Day by day, fewer customers came to shop. The phone in my office, generally ringing off the hook, quickly trickled down to a few rings a day. By July 4, 2008, there was no need for me to go to my office more than a few days a week. We had to cut our long-time workers down to a couple days a week. It was a frightening scenario to watch unfold. The bills were still coming due, but there were no new sales or service orders coming in. I thanked the powers that be that my husband is an amazing money manager. Making Ends Meet is No Easy Task My husband is frugal and always alert to the fact that at any time the business could take a hit. Luckily, we had enough money in our business account to keep the company bills paid. We also had just enough to pay our household expenditures until things picked up slightly in March of 2009. It was a very trying time. If not for my husband's never-ending caution about money, I have no doubt we would not have made it through. Be forewarned: As you can see from the state of the country even in 2010, the bottom can drop out at any moment. Pass on foolish extravagances and pad that nest egg now. Like me, you never know when just in case will be knocking at your door. Unexpected Surgery Dilemma After years of sports injuries, a car accident, and subsequent surgeries, my husband blew out his knee two weeks ago for the final time. Basically, he has been laid up for those two weeks. He has no option now. The time has come for him to undergo knee replacement. Normally, while winter puts our business on hold, my husband would continue to do service calls for our company. It doesn't make us rich, but it generates some winter income. There will be no service work for at least a couple months now. That means no income this winter. Funny thing: We were about to do some home improvements on our house just about the time my husband blew out his knee again. We never got to those projects. If we had, that would have been money spent that we cannot make up in any way this winter because of my husband's surgery and the rehab process to follow. In reality, we are paying someone money right now to do the work my husband would normally be doing. We are shelling out money instead of drawing it into the business. I cannot emphasis enough how important it is to be prepared financially for a rough economy or the possibility of a medical emergency. Possessing some healthy fear about personal or business finances will serve you well in the long run. More from this Contributor: Follow Yahoo! Finance on ; become a fan on Facebook. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Mint.com Hits The Books; Offers Personal Finance Curriculum To Students - TechCrunch Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:03 AM PST
Mint has partnered with educational publisher Scholastic to develop materials that parents and teachers can use to teach children the ins and outs of personal finance management. The materials includes lesson plans as well as an interactive game, to teach children money management, budgeting and goals. For example, the program teaches children the concept of compound interest with real-life math problems, and encourages children to set goals and budgets with their own current work opportunities (i.e. babysitting). Mint says the curriculum will be expanded to 30,000 classrooms nationwide early next year. Considering the state of the economy and credit, teaching children financial literacy and sounds personal finance practices at an early edge is an incredibly important initiative. In terms of branding, this is a big win for Mint, which can start building awareness of its tools among students at an early age. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal-Finance - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment