It’s the time of the year for graduation parties and making plans for college, travel, or maybe jobs for many high school graduates. What financial advice can parents give their kids that are heading out on their own? How to kids go about building their personal wealth?

There are definitely a few things that you should do to get started on the right financial track. Below is a short list of things that will help you on your way.

Set goals – short and long term

Do a budget and stick with it

Personal financial statement – know your net worth

Start saving

Housing

Owning your first home

Learn about credit

Credit Cards

Auto loans

Insurance

There are many things as a parent that we can help our children. Personal finance is one of the most important areas where our children need help. When we go on a trip commonly we look at a road map for assistance. However many times when it comes to finances we there is no road map. As a parent we need to take responsibility to help our children. So how do you go about helping your children with finances. You need to give them a road map. I can help you and your child with that road map.

These are a few things that we will talk about in this blog. We will start tomorrow with one idea. We’ll suggest and offer ideas on the right way to get started building your wealth. Please feel free to comment as we go along.

By: Mark J. Nelson

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By now, you may have come across some services which require a deposit. Is it normal? Yes. Nevertheless, you should ALWAYS (we can’t emphasize the word “always” enough) receive a receipt for your deposit. The purpose of this deposit is to guarantee that you are serious about hiring this specific company to perform a function on a specific date. Typically, if the date is changed or you no longer wish to use this person’s services-your deposit will be lost. If you read the fine print, it usually states such a clause in any contract you may have signed.

It’s important that when planning for wedding finances that you read all of the details in a written contract prior to signing it. A verbal agreement may not coincide with what is actually written on the document. Make sure that everything that has been verbally agreed upon is included in the contract. Otherwise, you may be in for a disappointment. Contracts you may need to consider in marriage and wedding planning are life insurance, and the prenuptial agreement if you decide on using one.

The hardest part of your financial planning for the wedding itself will most likely be the caterer. Keep in mind: it’s very normal to see the caterer’s bill plus tax and gratuity. Gratuity ranges anywhere from 15% – 20%. Unfortunately, you will most likely pay for missing people on a per plate charge, in addition to paying for the plates of other vendors/staff that you may not have included in your planning. It’s important to check the bill for all accuracies prior to paying for catering services.

You may be feeling very generous, as you’re celebrating one of the most special occasions in your life. But it’s important to remember that tipping is an expression of gratuity. It’s for those who go over and beyond your expectations. If you want to do something spectacular, type up a wonderful letter which reflects your happiness with that vendor’s work efforts. This is something that they can use in their portfolio to gain more prospective clients.

Sometimes, there are instances where a specific person can not take a tip of money. For instance, many clergy men do not accept financial gifts. For this person, a gift of a donation to church or a gift certificate to a restaurant will be a wonderful way of saying “thank you.”

Nevertheless, there are specific times when tipping is very important. Generally, anytime there’s a delay on your part, which makes your vendors wait-these people should be tipped. For instance: if your musicians play overtime; they should be tipped. This is a perfect example of someone who goes above and beyond their responsibilities. It’s also a true indication of a professional.

By: Jen Carter

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One of the best and most successful self-made entrepreneurs, Samuel Blankson, pulls no punches when it comes to helping you successfully Conquer Your Debt, Achieve Financial Prowess, Develop Cunning Business Investment Skills, and MOTIVATING YOU to reach your goals and your dreams. The best advice for getting started is to get your hands on all of the Samuel Blankson books!

Samuel Blankson books offer you motivation and a means to get out of debt. Samuel Blankson has written over twenty books to date on topics like: How to Destroy Your Debts, Living the Ultimate Truth, How To Make A Fortune On The Stock Markets, & The Practical Guide to Total Financial Freedom. See the full list of Samuel Blankson Books offered at www.SamuelBlanksonBooks.biz [http://www.SamuelBlanksonBooks.biz]

Samuel Blankson grew up in Ghana, West Africa. He remembers his first memory of reading a book. He was seven years old at the time and was skipping school on this day. Samuel wandered into a library. That was the turning point in Samuel Blankson’s life. In that library, Samuel Blankson discovered books. He started with author, Enid Blyton, read all of her books in no time at all and then moved on to many other authors and writing styles. Mr. Blankson has always been an avid reader of books since that very first trip to the library.

Samuel Blankson decided to begin writing books after he was asked for some financial advice by a colleague. Samuel wrote a long email reply, advising him on debt management. Then, someone else asked for financial advice, so Samuel looked over his very in depth email and discovered that this could be the birth of a very good book. That was when “How to destroy your debts” was written. That was Samuel Blankson’s first book. Once he started, Samuel Blankson did not stop writing, as he now has over 20 books out in print.

Samuel Blankson had a major influence in his life, that person was his father who also wrote books. Samuel Blankson also attributes influence to the many books that he has read in his lifetime. He has ready thousands of books. Samuel Blankson also receives influence from his wife who has stood by his side for many years, believing in Samuel and his books and writings.

Samuel Blankson wants you to walk away from reading his books feeling inspired, motivated, and with your mind.

Samuel Blankson tends to always keep his advice simple in his books. Like in “How To Destroy Your Debt”, the best way to minimize your debts, Samuel concurs simply, is to avoid using credit for luxury purchases and one’s day-to-day groceries. First stop using the credit cards, secondly replace them with debit cards, these cards use money you already have in your bank account. Third is to spend less than you earn, and fourth is to acquire Samuel Blankson’s books to learn how to change around your debts to maximize on interest rates of your various debts.

By: Thomas Morton

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Bad Financial Advice – Finance a Car

I had just gotten done signing up for my first block of classes for my first semester in college. Finally – a little freedom! It’s time to grow up and move on with life. I’m all ready for life to begin except for one small thing…I need a car!

Not knowing much about cars, not to mention attempting to BUY one, I went to the source of all good advice, my father. In speaking with him about my need to have some sort of mode of transportation to and from classes and work, he told me I would need to have a car. “Naturally,” I thought to myself. So now what?

Over the course of the next week or so, he and I drove onto nearly two dozen different car lots, trying to find something that I found suitable. All I had was my life savings, and that was only $5,000, so I wanted to be fairly conservative as I shopped.

My first thought was, “Buy something for two or three thousand. That should be good for now.” As I saw car after car that didn’t fit my budget, I found myself speaking to my father about financing a car.

Keep in mind that I was just beginning college. I was currently making $400 per week and getting ready to pay tuition for my first semester – nearly $2,000. How was I ever going to afford anything?

“Son, you’ll always have a car payment; why don’t you just finance what you like with a big down payment?”

Genius! Of course…I hadn’t even considered that. Then I can afford what I want!

Finally- I found what I wanted! The sticker said 17k, but we worked the salesman down a couple of thousand. I ended up putting 4k down, leaving me with a meager thousand dollars in my bank. Financing that car at an 8% interest rate (having no credit to my name and nobody who wanted to co-sign), I ended up putting together a financing plan that would later cost me THOUSANDS because of an unfavorable interest rate and a bad financial decision.

5 years later…

Now I know that the “help” I was given by my father was nothing short of bad financial advice. I don’t blame him because that’s how he does things. Even today, at 55 years old, he has car payments. I decided NOW that I didn’t want to be like that.

Here’s the point: when I bought my first car, I didn’t quite understand how interest hurts. Thousands of dollars later in interest paid, I have a better idea. I vow to never pay interest again! A freshman in college with a little over $5,000 to his name should have NEVER made that type of an investment. A car is a depreciating asset. Yes, we all need some form of transportation, but we don’t need to be doing it in style when we can’t afford it. That money could have been used for the tuition I was going to need to pay, or as I began to understand a bit more about finances, it could have been used for my first Roth IRA contribution. Either way, the thousands of dollars could have been used better; instead, my pride got the best of me, and I made a poor financial decision.

Learn from me – buy something that you can afford. You’ll be glad you did.

“You’ll always have a car payment…” Some see things that way; let’s be more wise than that and pay CASH for our depreciating assets; or, in other words, never finance a TOY! Dave Ramsey teaches that principle very clearly. Budget for your toys and pay cash for them. Have some patience.

By: Trevor Shipp

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In the UK, we are nothing if not spoiled for choice when it comes to ways to invest our funds. This is a fine thing of course, except for the fact that the sheer range of possibilities can make it difficult to choose, especially if the wrong choice is unnecessarily risking our funds. That is why, for investment advice UK, the sensible course is to consult an independent financial adviser before making any commitment to invest.

The tried and tested, most conventional means of investing in the UK is through the purchase of stock or shares in an individual company. If the company’s assets are valuable and it has the potential for generating profit, more people will want to own such shares and, so, their traded price goes up. By the same token, however, when the company’s fortunes take a downturn, more will be selling their shares and the traded price goes down. This is what makes investment in stocks and shares a relatively high risk business.

For investors who are more risk-averse, an equally conventional method of investment has been the purchase of a company or government-issued bond. A bond is effectively an investor’s way of lending the company, or the government, money. The rate of interest paid on the loan is agreed at the outset, and the borrower guarantees to repay the amount of the bond after a fixed period of time. It can be readily appreciated, therefore, that this represents a considerably lower risk than the purchase of stocks and share. Indeed, in the case of a government bond, the government is considered to be such a reliable borrower – in terms of its commitment to repay the bond – that these are called “gilt-edged stock”.

Shares and bonds in the UK are both forms of direct investment. As the financial services industry has developed, however, other methods of investment have been devised to allow individual investors to spread the risk that they would otherwise encounter by investing directly in stocks and shares, yet still enjoy generally higher returns than they might realise by holding corporate bonds or gilt-edged stock.

Thus, there have been established ways for a number of investors to pool their investments in a wide-ranging collection that mixes shares, bonds, gilts, property and other dedicated vehicles such as “hedge funds” or “guaranteed funds”. The mix ensures that the risks are spread between the different sources and types of investment. The principal variations on such a pooling of investments are in the differences between unit trusts, in which the investor buys a number of units in the portfolio of investments; investment trusts, which are effectively rather like investment companies, in which the investor buys shares in the company itself; and Open-ended Investment Companies (OEICs), whose units of investment are traded at the same price to both buyers and sellers and whose structure includes various sub-funds comprising different blends of investments, so that individual investors can easily switch from one sub-fund to another.

What all of this means for anyone seeking investment advice, UK, is that the picture is so richly varied that only the independent financial adviser can offer the best guide to the routes available and to the best advice for the individual investor.

By: Steve A Wright

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Financial advice geared toward single women is more important than ever before. Roughly one-quarter of all households are currently headed by a single woman, with family sizes ranging from no kids to more than it might seem financially feasible for one woman to raise on her own. Further complicating the situation is the fact that the majority of these female-led households have a smaller income and smaller savings than households of similar size led by men or couples.

Although no one likes to think that there is such a clear difference between income levels based on sex, most single women do have a more difficult time making ends meet; they make roughly half of the national average for other households of their size. Whether they are experiencing discrimination in the workplace, struggling to raise a family, or dealing with the aftereffects of divorce, it can be difficult to gain a solid financial foothold in today’s economy and society.

Fortunately, there are financial advisors who specialize in assisting women who support themselves financially. In addition to taking a unique approach that makes it easier to save without substantially cutting back living expenses, they can provide more realistic solutions for the long-term, as well – ones that take into account the struggles of getting by on one salary when faced with rising healthcare and childcare costs.

What Can Single Women Do to Save?

The most important thing single women can do for themselves financially is to simply do something. It may not seem like much, but even sitting down and creating a list of goals for the future can be a vital first step.

Step One: Figure out your current financial situation. How much money do you have coming in every month? How much money is going out? Where are there potential areas to start saving – even if it’s as little as a few dollars per month at first?

Step Two: Find a way to save. In order to get started on most savings and investment plans, you typically need to have a small amount in hand (at least several hundred dollars). A financial advisor will be able to help you discover where to cut back to make those savings so that you can start investing earlier.

Step Three: Invest. Single women without kids tend to be bigger risk takers than single women with families – at least when it comes to investing. That’s because they don’t necessarily have the day-to-day pressures of taking care of children. But the good news is that there is no one answer for single female investors. Whether you want to take advantage of a high-risk hedge fund or you’d rather rely on low-risk bonds, there are financial solutions that will help you get the results you need – many of which you may not have considered before. In fact, some single women are surprised find that purchasing a home or making another large “dream” purchase can not only create a better standard of living, but can also be a sound financial investment.

Finding the Right Financial Advisor

Choosing a financial advisor to help you make smart decisions for the future is much like choosing someone to date; not only do you need a relationship you’re comfortable with, but you need to feel confident that your advisor is doing everything he or she can to create the best possible outcome for your entire family.

By: Wesley Watkis

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Many governments, social institutes and religious organization around the world are now recognizing the value and nobility of single parenting.

Being a single parent is an act of courage. It’s only by choice and thoughtful decision that one gets ready to deal with single parenting. It is to be noted that almost every single parent, was given a choice or option to either get on with the life or become a single parent. And even after that, they decided to take on the parenting role against all odds.

Societies acknowledge the greater guts and conscience of single parents and honor their decision to not to kill the child during pregnancy through abortion.

Even the Catholic Church and Rome, which usually advises its believers to avoid or prevent the occasions of sins that could lead to single parenthood, provides unconditional moral and spiritual support once a person becomes a single parent.

Law and Regulations around Financial Help

Financial help or aid is given by the government to any single parent who obviously and direly needs financial support. The law recognizes the very hard and very imposing responsibility single parents assume and take, that is why financial help is extended to single parents.

In that way, the hardships and pressures experienced by single parents are purposely and somehow reduced and alleviated, if not totally eliminated. The morale of the single parent in continually raising the child is also boosted.

Seeking Financial Help

Single parents have to follow a procedure for applying for financial aid. The procedure is usually simple and straightforward, and starts with filling up an application form. The application form is usually freely available at the local or nearest City Hall.

The application form should be honestly and clearly filled out because that information gets verified and will essentially form the basis for approving the financial aid application. There shouldn’t be any padding or unnecessary tarnishing of information. Remember, honesty will pay in this case because you will be evaluated against being truthful and trustworthy also.

Be advised that while financial help and aid for single parents are available and open to every single parent in the land, qualifications and eligibilities do exist and are set to protect the funds from abusive and money greedy people. Not all single parents are qualified for that, but believe it or not, the provisions are really bright and necessary.

It must be noted that financial help and money aids are reserved only for needy people and not meant for those single parents whose salaries and compensation is very huge and more than enough to comfortably support their children. Providing financial assistance to self-dependant parents would be too unfair to those who are deprived of basic and comfortable living.

Eligibility for Financial Help

The first and basic requirement to qualify for any financial help or assistance provided by the government to single parents, is that the single parent above all must be divorced. The status of single parent can not be proved otherwise.

There are some other instances when one can become eligible to receive financial assistance. When the other significant parent, mom or dad, is already dead, or is seriously injured, disabled or handicapped, the remaining parent can claim for financial help.

In most other cases, the eligibility requirements for single parents basically require the financial help applicant to prove that the financial help or support is really and badly needed by the single parent and the child.

A single parent is very much qualified for financial help if his or her partner is imprisoned regardless of the case that made him or her partially incapable to provide finances and full financial support to the child.

Even in cases when the child is apparently born out of wedlock, that is if the child has been born while the parents were not legally tied or married, the single parent can become eligible for aid.

By: Jenny Magnier

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If you and your spouse have a good relationship, despite getting divorce, things are going to be so much easier for you both on the financial end. However, you should still have your own lawyer and you should know about what joint assets you have. In divorce financial planning, you should realize that both parties have rights to all assets unless otherwise spelled out in a contract signed before marriage. Even then, that contract may be null and void depending on the reason the marriage is breaking up. If these things are simple, you can come out as clean as possible.

Those that work with divorce financial planning will tell you that those that fight tooth and nail always end up losing out. What can make things is hard is when one party decides to try to hide things or remove money from joint accounts or retirement accounts. These are all important with divorce financial planning. Those things, if drastic steps are taken to hide them, can come back to bite you. You can also find that fighting indefinitely over these things is going to ruin credit and eat up said money. Keep that in mind.

If you own a home together, divorce financial planning is going to be much harder. This is even tougher when the housing market is down and out. If you have to sell the home, it could take years to do it. When the mortgage is due and one or both of the people involved have to pay rent or a new mortgage somewhere else, money is going to be tight. This can happen with cars and even vacation properties that must be sold. These are often stalling points in divorce financial planning. Try to keep an open mind. By trying to hurt your spouse, you are going to hurt yourself as well.

Talk with someone at your bank about divorce financial planning. If you have good credit when you first decide divorce is imminent, there may be things that you can do to ensure that you do not fall deeply into the hole as you go through the separation of assets. There may not be much you can do in this regard to divorce financial planning, but it never hurts to talk with someone about what is going to happen and what your options might be.

By: Peter Bassett

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In this article I would like to focus on “commissioned based financial advice” and illustrate the negative effects of commissions on your wealth as well as look at alternative means of paying for advice. The Australian financial planning industry was labelled “structurally corrupt” back in 2002 by the head of the Australian Consumers Association and it appears that not much has changed in 2008.

Who owns your financial planner?

Nowadays over 70% of financial planning groups are owned by big financial institutions like fund managers, banks and insurance companies. As a result these planners are the “defacto salesforce” for their employers’ investment products and the independence of their advice is suspect.

This fact was made abundantly clear in ASIC’s 2006 Shadow Shopping Survey on Superannuation Advice. The survey assessed 306 examples of advice given to real customers. Unsurprisingly the results were damning of financial advisers, the survey finding that:

Unreasonable advice was three to six times more common where the adviser had an actual conflict of interest over remuneration (e.g. commissions) or recommending associated products. Where consumers were advised to switch funds, a third of this advice lacked credible reasons and risked leaving the consumer worse off. 16% of advice was not reasonable given the clients needs (as required by law) and a further 3% was probably not reasonable.
Avoid commission driven financial advice

The vast majority of financial advisers in Australia typically receive the 4% – 5% entry fee charged by most managed funds and superannuation funds that they recommend. On top of this entry fee, advisers often charge a percentage based “adviser service fee” as high as 1% – 2% of the account balance annually.

Investors should ask themselves whether the percentage based financial adviser service fees they are paying are justified by the ongoing level of service provided by their financial adviser. I have long been a vocal advocate of ‘ professional dollar based fee for service financial advice’ whereby clients are able to separate their advice from product sales and eliminate product bias.

Pay a professional dollar based fee for service for financial advice

Paying unnecessary percentage based adviser service fees can seriously reduce your portfolio value and your retirement nest egg. Over time the effect of these unnecessary fees is compounded and these fees can make a huge difference in your final result.

You don’t pay your accountant or lawyer an ongoing percentage of the value of your assets for their advice. The same should apply to financial planning advice. Fee for service financial advice is also the only way to ensure unbiased, non-commission driven advice. Potential conflicts of interest arise when a financial adviser is paid by or employed the fund he or she is recommending which can undermine the value and quality of the advice provided. By separating products from advice and paying your financial adviser an hourly or dollar based fee for service, there will be no incentive for your adviser to recommend any investment for any reason other than its investment merit and its suitability for you.

To ensure independent financial advice and to be confident that your financial adviser is working in “your best interest” you need to be the one paying his or her fees and not the providers of products he may recommend. Pay a separate professional fee for advice and execute your own transactions.

Unfortunately these true “fee for service” advisers are difficult to find as they are truly a minority. Why don’t you make it your New Years’ resolution to find out what fees you are paying to your adviser and take the necessary steps to pay a professional dollar based fee for your investment advice. You will be glad you did and richer as a result.

By: Michael Lannon

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It may be a touchy subject, but it’s a known fact that women usually outlive their husbands, often left with debts and bills that they have no idea how to handle. That’s why establishing some positive financial practices can really help you in the long run. Here’s some top three easy to remember and easy to implement free financial advice for mommies to keep in mind.

1) Do without – We’re the biggest suckers for wanting the latest trend, newest decorations for our home, etc. So much so that we’ll hike up credit card charges just to have them, and finding ourselves chin deep in debt we can’t pay off, and interest that just keeps growing.

2) Budgeting – Sit down and examine exactly how much the family take home income is each month. From that total, deduct all monthly expenses. Whatever is left over, take out in cash and idivide into envelopes according to cash expenses such as groceries, clothes, hair salon, going out to eat, etc. That way, you’re aware of all of your expenses, and you know exactly how much money you have, and how much money you can expect to have left over to spend without over withdrawals from your bank.

3) Have no shame – Don;t like it? Return it. Stopped working? Return it. Just have plain ole buyer’s remorse? Return it. It’s you money, get what you want out of it. Imagine all the random little things you could have returned over the years – how much money you’d have.

But these are just three of the many free financial advice and tips available to moms. For more information, you can probably have a free sit down with one of your bank’s bankers.

By: Marta Sauret

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