Discover some rules of thumb for teaching children to manage their money.
Archives for January 2014
Tip o’ the Morning to Ya – Good Day to Make a Tombstone Wish
January 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Rich Habits Word of the Day
Yearning – Aspiration, dream. Tom’s aspiration to share the Rich Habits with the world in order to end poverty was his Tombstone Dream.
Rich Habits Fact of the Day
Robert Edwin Peary – First person to reach the North Pole in 1909.
Roald Amundsen – First person to reach the South Pole in 1911.
Rich Habit Lesson of the Day
With the New Year here it is a good time to dream and define your Tombstone Wish. Use the Five Year Letter I taught about yesterday to help you do this. What is your Tombstone Wish? Your Tombstone Wish should be that singular dream that comes true for you in the next five years. This Tombstone Wish will allow you to live the life of your dreams. It will take you to an entirely new level. It is your major accomplishment in life that you could put on your tombstone. It defines your life. It will completely change your financial condition in life and bring you wealth and success. Once you have defined your Tombstone Wish, the next step is to establish those small goals that will help you realize your Tombstone Wish. Break your Tombstone Wish down into annual goals and then break your annual goals down into monthly goals and then break your monthly goals down into daily goals. The daily goals will be the actions you need to take on a daily basis in order for your Tombstone Wish to come true. Think of the daily goals as the baby action steps required to accomplish your months goals and then your annual goals. It’s a new year. It’s a good time to create the new you!
Tip o’ the Morning to Ya – Re-Write Your Life’s Script Today
January 2, 2014 by 1 Comment
Rich Habits Word of the Day
Transmutation – To change. Tom’s transmutation, since adopting the five-year letter strategy, was nothing short of miraculous.
Rich Habits Fact of the Day
Bill Gates: Gates didn’t seem like a shoe-in for success after dropping out of Harvard and starting a failed first business with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea didn’t work, Gates’ later work did, creating the global empire that is Microsoft.
Rich Habit Lesson of the Day
What do you want your life to look like in 5 years, 10 years or 20 years? One strategy that I learned during this Rich Habits journey I’ve been on the past 9 years is the use of the five-year letter. I learned it from my publicist, Lauri Flaquer (http://www.successwithsaltar.com) who is part of the outstanding Canfield Train the Trainer Program (https://jackcanfield.com/train-trainer-2014-now-accepting-applications-2/). It’s a letter you write to yourself but the date of the letter is five years from today. In the letter, you describe what your life is like five years from now. Specificity is key. Describe in your letter where you live, what kind of house you live in, what car you drive, what you do for a living, how much money you make etc. You describe what you’ve done the past five years; the goals you’ve accomplished and the dreams that have come true. It is essentially, a blueprint for your future life. It’s a fun exercise and you will find yourself getting excited and feel your thought process change to one that is upbeat, positive and optimistic. I incorporated this letter into my Daily Mind Routine and I read my five-year letter every morning on my commute to work. It help’s shift your thinking for the day from negative to positive; from bad to good; from sad to happy. With the new year here try it out. You will be surprised by the results. Before I created my five-year letter my book, Rich Habits, was languishing at 35,000+ on Amazon. With the help of this five-year letter my book shot up to #1 on Amazon and it’s been in the top 100 of finance books on and off since July 2013. If you want to change your life it begins by changing your thinking.
Preparing for Your Child’s First Year of College
January 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Now that your oldest child is graduating high school, it’s time to shift gears and plan for their first year of college. What main things should you be preparing for?
Checking Account
Many colleges have an affiliation with a specific Credit Union or Bank. The campus ATMs may be restricted to the Credit Union or Bank or may charge a fee if money is withdrawn from another bank account. Reach out to Student Services or some similar group at the school to get more information on campus banking.
Credit Cards
Set limits on credit card spend if you are concerned that your child may abuse the credit card. These limits also help you child learn how to manage their spending.
Barnes and Noble
Some schools have Barnes and Noble running their bookstores. If the parents have American Express credit card reward dollars, these can be cashed in for Barnes and Noble gift cards, which can then be used to purchase course books at the book store. You may even be able to use the gift card to purchase supplies. Call the school to find out.
Summer Jobs
Parents should make sure their soon to be college students make as much money as possible over the summer so they can have money for the college year. There are many extracurricular activities in college and most cost money. Fraternities and Sororities can be very expensive. As much as $3,000 for the year.
FAFSA
You can complete the FAFSA for you and your child as early as January of the new year. You have until June to complete your FAFSA for the upcoming school year. The Financial Aid Department at the college will use the information on the FAFSA to assist them in determining how much financial aid our child is eligible for.
