The Top 5 Things to Teach Kids About Money

May 27, 2013

Happy Memorial Day! If you have young kids, this unofficial start of summer is a great opportunity to start thinking about how you can use some of their time away from school for another form of education: how to make smart financial decisions that can benefit them for the rest of their lives. After all,  the first money lessons your child gets will likely come from you and can have a major impact on their ability to avoid major financial problems later in life. In particular, these five basic concepts should be incorporated into your child’s education about responsible money management: Continue reading “The Top 5 Things to Teach Kids About Money”

The Mistake That Turned My Refund Into a Tax Bill

February 20, 2013

This past weekend I decided to prepare my 2012 tax return.  I typically like to do this early in the year so that I get my tax refund sooner rather than later, but something very strange happened to me this year: I ended up owing the IRS money!  This is unusual for me.  I’m usually getting money back, but call it a case of bad luck or just Murphy’s Law, after writing last week’s blog post on how to estimate the right number of allowances to claim on your W-4 so that you end up close to breaking even with the IRS, I ended up NOT breaking even with the IRS.  WHAT WENT WRONG? Continue reading “The Mistake That Turned My Refund Into a Tax Bill”

A New Year, A New Attitude About Electronic Games

December 26, 2012

This Christmas has been a little rough on the Ward family.  On the one hand, you love to give your children everything they want for Christmas, but on the other hand, you know that giving your child everything they want is a surefire way to spoil them.  My wife even commented on how she has not had quite the same level of joy this year shopping for the kids as she has in previous years, and when you look around our house and see all the forgotten toys and gifts from Christmas past, who can blame her?  You want to give your kids what they want, but you also want the gifts to be appreciated and to be edifying in some way. Continue reading “A New Year, A New Attitude About Electronic Games”

How Buying a Video Game System Could Save Me Money

September 28, 2012

My kids always laugh at me when talking about video games.  Apparently, I’m the only dad that they know who does not own a video game system.  All of their friends have dads who play video games with their kids and when they are talking about “leveling up” or some new “zone” or “world,” I have absolutely no idea what they mean.  I’m a big fan of doing things with them that don’t involve video game consoles.   In fact, I haven’t played video games since Atari was “the” game system.  But, unbeknownst to my kids, that may be changing in the near future.  Continue reading “How Buying a Video Game System Could Save Me Money”

Not All Sports Are Created Equal

September 26, 2012

From about the time my kids could walk, they have been involved in sports. Sports is a great way to give your kids exercise while teaching them valuable life lessons, but as Susan and I have found out over the years, when it comes to the cost of playing sports, not all sports are created equal. Here is a list of the sports our kids have played, along with the associated costs: Continue reading “Not All Sports Are Created Equal”

Get Them In Before They Age Them Out

September 12, 2012

Last week we took our daughter, Rachel, to the dentist for her bi-annual cleaning. Originally, she was scheduled to go in last April, but Rachel had a conflict with a soccer game so her mom decided to cancel it. Rachel’s name was added to the cancellation list, and for the last five months, the dentist’s office has been calling whenever there has been a cancellation to try and get her in. Normally, we would try to get Rachel in as soon as possible, but each time they called to schedule the appointment they would give us a time during school hours, and Susan and I saw no reason to remove her from class just to have her teeth cleaned. Continue reading “Get Them In Before They Age Them Out”

Help Your Child Establish Credit Early

September 10, 2012

My son is frustrated and I think probably a bit mad at me (but he didn’t come out and say that). He just graduated from college and found out he has a credit score of 587.  That is a terrible score but then again, as I told him, he is a terrible credit risk. Why should he have a good score?  He just graduated, moved to a new city and got his first paycheck.  What bank would take a chance on him? Continue reading “Help Your Child Establish Credit Early”

Financial Lessons From a Six Year Old

August 15, 2012

Today’s blog post is the last in a series of posts sharing the results of interviews I’ve conducted with my four children on the topic of money.  As you may recall, my oldest, Rachel (14), is a saver, and looks at money as something to be used for necessities.  David (12) is my value hunter, and prefers to buy things that have a lasting quality.  Ethan (9) is more of a spender, willing to use any money he has to buy things he wants right now.  Bringing up the rear is Jacob. Continue reading “Financial Lessons From a Six Year Old”

A 9 Year Old’s Perspective on Money

August 08, 2012

So far I’ve learned a lot about my two oldest children in the last couple of weeks.  I’ve learned that Rachel is a spendthrift and sees money as a means to necessities.  David, on the other hand, is a value hunter and wants to know that whatever he spends his money on is going to last. Continue reading “A 9 Year Old’s Perspective on Money”

A Twelve Year Old’s Perspective on Money

August 01, 2012

Last week, I wrote about how we as parents can learn about our own financial behaviors by observing our children.  To demonstrate this, I asked my daughter Rachel a series of questions to help me gauge where she is and what she has learned about finances, presumably from her mother and I. Continue reading “A Twelve Year Old’s Perspective on Money”

What Our Children Can Teach Us About Ourselves

July 25, 2012

As the father of four, I’m often asked about how to teach children about money.  I’m sure there are a lot of books and blogs about the subject, but for me, I look at children as just people – only smaller and with less life experience.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that each child, like each of us, is unique, and therefore the way we teach them about money should be just as unique as they are.  Continue reading “What Our Children Can Teach Us About Ourselves”

Raising Your Kids to be Financially Healthy

May 02, 2012

“Can we get a pack of Pokémon cards?” asks Ethan. “Yeah, can we?” adds Jacob. “Sorry, honey, not today” says mom. “Oh, that’s okay mom, I can get them” Rachel replies. “But do we really need them?” chimes David. Continue reading “Raising Your Kids to be Financially Healthy”

Estate Planning: Governor Brown Has Enough To Do

October 10, 2011

Around the water cooler at the office yesterday, I was congratulating one of my co-workers on her child’s second birthday.  It seems like yesterday when she was pregnant, went into labor a few weeks early at work and we were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off so she almost needed to drive herself to the hospital!  It was something out of a “Three Stooges” comedy.  She made it to the hospital and everything turned out just fine. Continue reading “Estate Planning: Governor Brown Has Enough To Do”