“How to Open and Help Manage Your Child’s First Bank Account” plus 1 more

How to Open and Help Manage Your Child’s First Bank Account

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 04:30 AM PDT

You could always train your child to be a more financially responsible individual even at his early age. According to most experts, it would be best if a child would develop the skills and determination in saving money earlier in life. You could be of help by opening and managing your child's first bank account.

Before you finally go to the bank to open a savings account for your child, it would be best if you would educate him about money first. You could instill the financial discipline by introducing the concept of budgeting. Start by teaching him to spend his allowance responsibly.

You may ask your child to save a portion of his allowance each day. Warn him that if the money would be spent out completely, you may not give him additional allowance if he would need or want to buy anything. Tell him to save for whatever non-necessity item that he may like to buy, like a new toy or gadget.

Opening a Bank Account

Take your child to a bank. Together, make inquiries about specific savings deposit products that you could open for him. You could be surprised at how attractive banks' offers are to entice juvenile accounts. In general, lenders consider juvenile savings accounts as nothing more than PR expenditures. They may view it as a strategy to create and lure their next-generation loyal customers.

Let the bank's associate or personnel talk to your child about the accounts offered. Allow your child to make the decision over which product to take. This way, he would certainly feel more involved in this process. The bank account should be set in your child's own name. Mail should be directly addressed to him. Your child would surely be ecstatic to receive his own bank statements.

You may also opt to set the structure of your child's own bank account. There are products that facilitate splitting the account into two. One could be for the future savings while the other could be for short-term spending goals. Have your child constantly and regularly monitor his bank money.

Educating about Bank Savings

Educating your child about saving does not end there. You may start teaching him the value of saving and organising expenses. Tell him to allocate a specific portion of his daily allowance as savings. For instance, 30% of daily allowance could be a good start for savings.

Set a specific day of each week for visiting the bank to make deposits. This way, you could also monitor how well he is doing. Give small rewards if he makes savings bigger than his weekly target. Give warnings if the weekly savings fall below target, but try not to be punitive as well.

It may take some time before your child gets used to the process. Eventually, he would learn how to make deposits on his own. Every now and then, check the progress of your child in terms of saving. You could be surprised how he could eventually become more financially aware and responsible.

Andrew Black has contributed to many personal finance blogs on various topics. He believes it is crucial to teach kids how to manage money now, to ensure they will make the right financial decision later on. When he is not writing, Andrew helps people with low doc loans.

Do You Really Need a Huge Nest Egg for a Successful Retirement?

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 04:00 AM PDT

One of the biggest issues surrounding retirement is the fact that inflation means that it is becoming more difficult to amass enough money to live on once you retire. It used to be that many people would do their best to save up $1 million for retirement. Now, though, experts and others are saying that $2 million is far more likely to be the “magic” number.

But do you really need a huge nest egg for a successful retirement? Perhaps not.

How Much Do You Really Need?

One of the first questions to ask yourself is how much you will really need during retirement. If you amass $1 million, and follow the 4% rule of withdrawal from your retirement account, that is $40,000 a year, or right around $3,333 a month. Think about your expenses and what you need. If you live modestly, and if you have paid off all of your debt by the time you retire, will you really need that much?

If you think that you can get by on less, a huge nest egg won’t be necessary. And, really, if you can pay off your home, and live completely debt free, and reduce your bills, you should be able to get by on much less.

Cultivating Monthly Income

Of course, you might decide that you need to live on more. Depending on your goals for retirement, and what you want to do with your money, a nest egg of $1 million, and following the 4% withdrawal rule, isn’t enough. And besides, what if you’re afraid that you won’t be able to build up so much before you retire. Does this mean that your retirement is doomed?

Not necessarily. You can actually cultivate income options for your retirement. Instead of worrying about building up a huge pile of cash, you can cultivate revenue streams that can continue providing you with the monthly income you require during retirement:

Part time job: Some people truly enjoy working, and like having a job. It’s possible to have an enjoyable working retirement doing what you love, whether it’s teaching a few classes as an adjunct, leading local tours, or writing professionally.
Investment income: There are also ways to make money without actively earning it. Consider passive income sources. Create an income portfolio. Instead of building up a huge nest egg, you can build up your income holdings to the point where you have a steady revenue stream from your investments.
Online income: It takes a long time to monetize a web site. However, if you work at it, you can build up traffic to the point where you make a solid, monthly income. Other sources of online income can include courses you develop, as well as ebooks.
Creativity: If you are creative, you can make money online. Even you aren’t a best selling author, you can sell your own electronic books on the Kindle, and on your own web site. Technology also makes it possible for you to record and sell your own music. Many people also take photos that can be used on stock sites, and earn royalties when others use their work. [Also see: 4 Creative Business Ideas]

Sure, you can still work on your nest egg. But you can supplement by focusing on building income, rather than trying to amass a large amount of money. Instead, think about what you will need each month, and work on cultivating divers revenue streams.

Life Insurance Blog

Monday, October 17, 2011