The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Can be used for the basis of building wealth:

Here is how it works;
If you have at lease one child that lives with you over half the year, you may be eligible for this credit. It is set up so that the more money you earn, the higher the credit until you reach an income of $8,050 for one child or $11,300 for two or more children. The credit peeks at $2,747 for one child and $4,536 for two or more children. Therefore the credit can increase your income by 34% to 40%.

The credit then levels off then decreases as income increases but don’t stop striving to increase your earned income. Other credits come into play that I will show you latter that will help make up for the reduction in the earned income credit.

In this first example we can see how much a family of four may benefit from the. (EITC)

Income $16,000
Tax 0
Earned income credit 4,280
Total income $20,280

The (EITC) increases family income by $4,280 or about 25%

This lump-sum payment can become the basis for building wealth. Here are a few suggestions:
1. This lump sum can go a long way toward closing costs on a home purchase.

2. The IRS will allow you to receive up to half the credit along with your normal paycheck, when you complete a form W5. In this way the tax system helps you with the house payments.

3. The payment can be contributed toward a Roth IRA that can grow tax free for future needs.

Sometimes we need the funds to take care of everyday needs, but I would still encourage you to save as much as you can. In this way you can still start building wealth.

B. Child Tax Credit

As your income increases The Child Tax Credit provides additional help for working families. Let’s see how this works:

The child tax credit is divided into two parts:

1. The first part provides $1,000 per child under the age of 17 to reduce the federal income tax.

2. The second part is a refundable portion that is designed to provide additional cash for families as the (EITC) decreases.

Let’s take another look at the family of four in the first example and see how the child tax credit may increase the total available cash as income increases:

Income $16,000
Tax 0
EITC 4,280
Additional child tax credit 705
Total income $20,985

There are those out there that limit the amount that they work because they want to maximize the earned income credit. But as you can see in the example above as income increases and EITC decreases the additional child tax credit increases.

If the couple above stopped working when they had earned $11,300 so they could receive the maximum EITC of $4,536 their total income would have been $15,836. By continuing to earn income their total credits increased by $449 and they received a total of $5,149 additional income.
In the next example a family of four can increase their earnings by over 50% and still receive more than $4,000 in refundable credits after federal income tax.

The family earned $25,000 a year. The spouses filed married filing joint with two children under the age of 17 that live with both parents all year. The total income should look like this:

Income from wages $25,000
Earned income credit 2,385
Additional child tax credit 1,850
Total income $29,235

The total credits were reduced by a few hundred dollars but the total family income increased by $8,250.

Now let’s look at an example where the family’s income has doubled again: The married couple makes $50,000 a year, have two children under the age of 17. This family took my advice, purchased a home, sold it and moved up to a larger home, let us take a look at their income. They pay $10,000 a year in interest, $2,000 in real estate tax, $1,000 in state tax and have $5,000 in contributions.

Income from wages $50,000
Less contributions to IRA 5,000
AGI $45,000
Taxable income $13,800
Tax 0
Refundable credit 620

This family of four is now making over three times what they were making even with the earned income credit and they are still receiving a refundable credit. If they took the standard deduction of $10,300 instead of itemizing $18,000 their federal tax would be $474. They would still receive a benefit of a $2,000 tax reduction from this credit.

C. Children’s Exemption
Now let’s take the examples above and see more tax savings from using the child’s exemption:
In the first example the children’s exemption didn’t provide any tax reduction but the earned income credit and child tax credit provided $4,985 to the family’s income amounting to 34% of the family’s total income.

The second example each child provided $405 in tax savings in addition to the EITC and child tax credit, their total contribution to the family income is $5,045 or 17% of total income.
The third example the children provide $461.5 in tax savings each in tax plus the additional benefit of the child tax credit of $1,000 each. This represents a total tax savings of $2,923. In this example the children only contribute about 6.5% of the family income. In the next section we will take a look at another benefit that is provided in the tax code the standard deduction.

D. The Child’s standard deduction

Each child can earn up to the amount of their standard deduction without affecting the credits or having a federal tax liability.

In the last example the parents are self employed. The self employed pay double social security and Medicare tax and this tax is called self employment tax. On page 8 of IRS publication 15 (Circular E) under “Family Employees” it states that “Payments for the services of a child under age 18 who work for his parent in a trade or business are not subject to social security and Medicare taxes if the trade or business is a proprietorship or partnership where each partner is a parents of the child.”

The IRS doesn’t let you charge for food or rent to your minor child but think of the possibilities. You no longer need to set a college fund, date fund, car fund, in some cultures a mission fund. All of these expenses can come from the child’s own funds. In the following two examples let’s see how much you may save on just self employment tax. In this example $8,000 of deductible health insurance premium and HSA contribution has been figured in the calculation.

We will consider two examples the first we will see what tax is without the child working then in the second example we will how much is save by having the child work.

Income from self employment $75,000
Self employment tax 9,466
Federal income tax 3,967
State income tax 1,863
Child tax credit 2,000
Income after tax $61,703

In this example the children where worth $3,416, ($2000 child tax credit, $956 federal tax and $460 state tax) now let’s look at the other example where the children work for their parents and earn the amount of their standard deductions.

Income from Self employment $64,700
Self employment tax 8,011
Tax 2,466
State tax 1,209
Child tax credit 2,000
Sub-total $55,014
Child’s income 10,300
Total $65,323

In the second example the children contributed and additional $3,620, ($1,455 savings from self employment, $1501 federal tax, and $654 state tax). They contributed a total of $7,036 to the family. Another way to look at this is it only cost $3,264 for two employees; likely this is less than the allowances and expenses you would have if they weren’t working.

MCCrowther Tax Service commissioned Marvin Crowther to prepare this article as a service to the public in an effort to reduce the tax burden.

The website for MCCrowther Tax Service is http://www.mccrowtherassoc.com you may reply by email at listings@mccrowtherassoc.com

Copyright 2007
By Crowther Publishing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marvin_Crowther

This erroneous vision was fostered in the 1980s with the crack epidemic centered in Washington Heights, an area located north of New York City and predominantly populated by Dominican immigrants. Thousands of dollars in cash were sent back to the families, who still lived in the Dominican Republic.

Though the days of easy money have passed, the Dominican poor still believe that, if only family member can reach the U.S. and remain for a few years, he or she could bring the entire family remaining in the Dominican Republic out of poverty. Thus, the Dominican Republic is the largest exporter of immigrants to the New York City schools. Dominican immigrants now comprise ten percent of the 1.1 million students in the New York City schools.

These young New York City schools immigrants face particularly difficult problems as they attempt to acclimate into American society. They face the pressures to integrate at school, while facing the pressures to remain the same at home. Parents too face challenges with the New York City schools.

The first problem is culture shock. In the Dominican Republic, children always must defer to their elders and hold their tongues, having no way to express their own feelings or opinions. In contrast, children quickly learn in the New York City schools that American children are vital members of society, like any adult. They realize that adults care what they think. They become more outspoken both at school and at home, finding the social freedoms compelling and liberating.

Parents feel themselves losing control of their children, who are shedding their cultural restrictions. They view New York City schools children as arrogant and flamboyant, with no respect for their elders. Such contrasting expectations between children and parents cause stress at home. Of course, many parents blame the New York City schools for their children adopting these attributes, where they did not wish to send their children anyway.

The Dominican immigrant home environment is not always conducive to learning. For impoverished families in the Dominican Republic, education is not a priority, as it is with the wealthy families there. Though early schooling is free for children, it is seen as a costly endeavor for families just trying to make ends meet. Clothing for school, meals, school supplies, books, and transportation are luxuries for such families. According to the World Bank, 13 percent of children ages 7-14 work outside the home, rather than attend school. According to Unicef, 16 percent of children ages 10-17 are illiterate. Usually, one or both parents have little or no education, due to less long-term educational exposure for children of poorer families. Is it any wonder they may resent the mandatory law for their children to attend the New York City schools?

Though cultural differences present a major obstacle, language is the biggest difficulty for these immigrant children in the New York City schools. According to Robert Mercedes, Principal of Middle School 390 in the Bronx and President of the Association of Dominican-American Supervisors and Administrators, Dominican children arrive at the New York City schools lacking the basic native-language skills of the Dominican Republic. This makes transitioning them into the English language even more difficult.

They feel like outsiders in the New York City schools. They are in a language and cultural isolation. They are generally dumped into bilingual classes at low-income schools, and feel more of a burden to the New York City schools than an equal to the other students. The victim mentality takes over for many of these youth, who separate themselves into close-knit ethnic groups. They are especially vulnerable to street gang recruitment, which pervades the areas around the ghetto-like atmosphere of some of the New York City schools they attend.

On one side, the New York City schools are a haven of new opportunities for the Dominican children and their parents. Yet, these same opportunities can be the downfall of the immigrant family values and the children, as well. It is a dual-edged sword, afflicted with stressful difficulties and insurmountable obstacles for many.

This information on New York City schools is brought to you by http://www.schoolsk-12.com

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Patricia has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more on New York City schools visit New York CIty Schools

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patricia_Hawke

1. Frugality. Being frugal is a key to financial prosperity. Teaching your children how to use coupons instills in them the need to be careful with money. Money saved is money earned.

2. Learning colors. The Sunday paper is very colorful and this is where the best coupons are. Your little children will get a better grasp of their colors if they are sitting with you while you thumb through the paper. Name the different colors as you go along.

3. Managing time. Many people use day planners but learning to use them can be cumbersome. If you are clipping coupons you should have an organizer. I have used the little baseball card dividers to keep my different coupons in. Show your children how this works. This will help them learn time management skills.

4. Mathematics. Your children’s math skills will really be enhanced while they learn to use coupons. Teach them to subtract the amount of the coupon from the price of products. Also they can quickly discover what deals are really deals by comparing different offers.

5. Learning to use a calendar. Couponing requires a calendar so consider getting one for each of your children. You can usually find them for free at your bank or credit union. Show your kids how to find the dates on the coupons and then in the calendar. This way your children can help you sort out coupons that are expiring.

6. Let your kids share in the savings. You can really get your kids motivated to help you by letting them share in the savings. You can then let them use their extra money for savings and things they want and need. Coupons can be found in many places and your kids will literally be creating this income for themselves.

7. Variety. Without coupons your meals can become very ordinary. Clipping coupons will expand your menu because you will be trying new products on a regular basis. Children thrive on variety as their minds can never get enough input. Take a chance and buy a few things each month you do not normally buy when you find a coupon for it. Your kids will love this.

Teaching your children with coupons will be a benefit to them and to yourself. Clipping coupons is a labor intensive process. If your kids are helping you then the job will be more enjoyable. Help the smaller ones learn their colors and teach the older ones how to make sure the coupons are really a good deal. Enjoy.

Get a complimentary e book about parenting by visiting Zacharias Allred’s site about teaching children [http://www.teaching-children.org]. You can also click on teaching children about money [http://www.teaching-children.org/teachingchildrenaboutmoney.html] to see other free articles.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zacharias_Allred

Some families are willing to sacrifice a lot to homeschool their children simply because they feel that their children need more than the public educational system is offering. In particular, parents want their children to experience more than just a harried existence of rushing to everywhere and getting the minimum out of life. Three particular areas have many parents quitting jobs or changing job schedules to be able to educate their children themselves so that they can provide religious instruction, more advanced training than they can get in public school and finally that family bonding that is slipping away from the traditional family.

Religious Instruction

Public education is required to teach a non-religious curriculum because of the vast differences in the backgrounds of students and teachers. Parents who wish to sidestep the influences of the public education system can find help in homeschooling. It is easy to find a home school curriculum that will promote whatever religious beliefs the parent wants to teach their child. Many Christian based curriculum choices are available that provide the vast resources that children need while reinforcing the Christian values and teaching of the Bible.

As more and more families are choosing to homeschool, Jewish and Muslim (and even more than can be mentioned in this article) curricula are being developed by families and made available for sale once they have been tested. Different religious groups can also develop their own curriculum based on one of currently available, but tailored to their specific belief structure. The basic structure is similar in all of the religious curricula, but the tenets of the particular faith is interwoven into the reading, writing and history.

Advanced Training

The measure of a homeschool curriculum is whether it satisfies the criteria of the government agencies that are responsible for education. Seeing as how the majority of public schools are churning out children who are passably able to read and can barely spell, it is possible to beat the public school system by just spending more time with children, reading with them and going over their homework with them. The operative words are “with them” because quality time with children means more interaction and places more importance on doing a good job with schoolwork.

For parents who want their children to be college ready, a more advanced curriculum is required. Luckily, many advanced programs are available for home school families. Since parents who decide to homeschool come from varied backgrounds, many homeschooling materials are created by these parents to satisfy a need that was lacking in the homeschool community. As more families homeschool their children, more advanced curricula are becoming available for college prep.

Engineers, lawyers, doctors, chemists and CEOs have all contributed to the vast array of home educator materials available for parents to use for their children. These people make it possible for a child to choose whatever career path they can envision without having to attend public school. The only limitation is how much a parent can afford to invest in their own child’s education.

Family Bonding

Because of the closeness of parents with their children in a homeschool environment, a special bond occurs with kids and parents that makes the experience even more beneficial. Instead of having a complete stranger instilling their (who knows what kind) values on children, parents can form a stronger relationship and develop a more eager desire to learn in their children simply by continuing to encourage them.

Closeness with children is something that the family unit lacks, and simply showing an interest in a child’s education is more important than the actual training materials on their own, since children respond to parental involvement very positively by wanting to excel. Obviously, stress and mental problems can get in the way of a positive learning environment, so before embarking on a homeschool curriculum, it is vital for parents to understand how much time they must devote to their children’s education and whether they are mentally able to undertake such a task.

Some methods of homeschooling have a more “hands off” approach to teaching, by basically giving children a list of books to read and workbooks to use, but no real structure or interaction. This style is typically better for parents who are not able to deal with a structured schooling environment. Parental involvement is still crucial, but only in the encouragement of the child to continue reading and working at their own pace.

Summary

Religion in schools is a target from a lot of directions. Students are leaving school ready for a $10 per hour job. Too many families are fractured or simply damaged. It is crucial that parents become involved in their own children’s education; even if it means after school religious instruction, help with homework and family activities. Homeschooling is one way to take away complete control of the preparation of children from the government (which has difficulty doing any large task effectively) and placing in back in the hands of the parent.

After seeing the results of having his 3 daughters in public school and in home school, Micheal Savoie found that home educators need more resources at their disposal to make homeschooling simpler for the parent and student. By making a website where home educators could exchange ideas and resources, the Home Educators Resource Exchange was born. Find out more at http://heregroups.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Micheal_Savoie

It is quite common to see children actively involved in the family business. Even young children can perform valuable services. Many business owners, however, miss out on the major tax savings generated by actually hiring their children and paying them a fair wage for their services.

The expense is tax-deductible to you, and the income is tax-free to them. [Reg Sec 1.162-7(a) ] The tax-free limit for dependent children was $5,350 per child per year for 2007, and it tends to be increased somewhat each year. The amount is equal to the Standard Deduction.

[Rev. Proc. 95-53 and IRC Section § 63(h)(2) ]

In order to qualify, the wages must be reasonable in amount, based on services actually rendered and documented as paid. Children as young as seven years old have been found to qualify as employees of the parents’ business. [Reference Eller v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. 934 (1981) ]

And if they are family members under 18 working for a sole proprietorship, they are exempt from payroll taxes [IRC Section § 3121(b)(3)(A) and § 3306(c)(5) ] and the business is not required to withhold or to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. [Tax Court Ruling 48 TC 439, 450 (196) in the case of Denman v. IRS Commissioner]

For incorporated business owners, your corporation will have to pay payroll tax and you do need to withhold social security/medicare from the children’s wages, but the benefits are still well worth it.

In order to qualify, the wage rate has to be “reasonable and customary” within your region of the country and within your industry for the type of work being performed. These wages must be paid and the appropriate payroll tax returns and W-2 forms filed with the IRS and Social Security Administration. Before hiring your children, check with your tax pro to be sure your documentation and reporting will follow the rules. [Revenue Ruling 73-393]

The kids (as employees) should document what they did to earn the money, [Revenue Ruling 73-393] so have them fill out a simple “work log” with headings like:
o Date they worked
o Type of work performed
o Amount of time spent working
o Hourly rate you paid them

** Pay Attention Here **
We’re about to show you how to pay for…
o The car your high-schooler wants
o Designer-label clothes the kids demand
o Movie and Concert tickets
o A High School graduation trip
o College tuition, books and supplies
o Your daughter’s expensive wedding
o And lots of other personal out-of-pocket expenses

ALL in PRE-TAX Dollars!

Here’s how you can do this…

The tax-deductible $5,350/year Uncle Sam lets you pay your children as employees, is equivalent to about $100.00 per week! But, you say, “Who gives their kids a $100.00 per week allowance?” YOU might now! And here’s why…

Let’s say you come up with the tax-free limit of about $100.00 per week worth of business related “chores” for them to do. After they turn in their “work log”, you then pay them by check. So, you’ll have to open a separate checking account for them to deposit and cash payroll checks. Of course, you will deposit every week’s $100.00 paycheck into that account. Make sure it’s an interest-bearing account. (You will see why in a minute.)

The bank will require it to be a “joint account” with you, since they are minors. Although it is technically a “joint” account, only you will be authorized to make withdrawals or to write checks on that account, since the child is a minor.

Reader Alert! Here is Where It Gets REALLY Interesting…

The law requires you to pay them the wage they earned, in order for you to be able to deduct the amount as a business expense.

These funds can now be used in a variety of ways so long as they are for the benefit of your child. The only other specific restriction is that this money cannot be used for your child’s lodging or meals. [Rev. Rule 73-393]

So, you simply tell your child, “I will withdraw $10 (for example) out of each week’s pay for you to spend any way you wish, however, the other $90.00 will stay in the (interest-bearing) account to be used by you to pay for your________.”

Fill in the blank with words like car, graduation trip, wedding, or whatever you like.

Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, anticipate that you would be able to pay for school supplies and tennis shoes, or pay for cars, trips, and weddings out of pre-tax dollars? It’s true! It’s real! And it’s 100% legal!

There’s another practical benefit to this strategy that is at least as important as the tax benefits. Your child/children will begin learning the value of a dollar. Imagine being at the mall to buy a new pair of shoes. The child has to decide whether he or she wants the $150 designer-label brand or the $45 generic brand – knowing that whatever they have left in their checking/savings account will be theirs someday, to pay for their car, trip, college, wedding, etc.

Isn’t that a great tax-savings strategy and a great learning opportunity for your children?

Next – Hire Your SPOUSE, So You Can Write Off Medical “Out-of-Pocket” Expenses for YOURSELF!

This applies to sole proprietor entities only. When your spouse is an employee of your home-business, he/she is eligible for “benefits” from his/her employer (that’s you), and those benefits are deductible as business expenses. [IRC Section § 162(a)]

So you establish this benefit as company policy: Any and all employees and their family members (again, that includes YOU) will be reimbursed (by the home-business) for all medical-related expenses not covered under any other insurance plan he/she may have under another employer.

“Any and all employees” means your spouse and your children, “and all members of their family” includes YOU.

A Word of Caution: Only establish this company policy if your business will be hiring only your own family members. If you establish this policy and then hire non-family members, you will be required to offer this benefit to them as well, and that could defeat the purpose.

So What Just Happened?
You just set into place a strategy for legally tax-deducting all annual insurance plan deductibles, co-pays for doctor visits, prescription drugs, and non-covered expenses like braces, glasses, contact lenses, dental work, and possibly even cosmetic surgery. [Reg Sec 71-588; Plr. 9409006]

No minimum thresholds apply; every single dollar is tax-deductible by the business as an employee benefit cost.

It is important that this “policy” be established in writing, as a legal document and that the benefit is reasonable in relation to the level of services provided by the employee to your business. In Appendix C to this system you will find a sample fill-in-the-blanks “Self-Insured Medical Reimbursement Plan”, which you may feel free to adopt or adapt, if you wish. [Reg Sec 1.105-5(a)]

A Word About the Level of Your Spouse’s Wages

A sole practitioner (Schedule C taxpayer) is not required to pay Unemployment Taxes on the employment of a spouse; however the business is required to pay Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on adult family-member employees.

Since those taxes are calculated based on a percentage of the employee’s wages, the lower the wage level, the lower the payroll taxes will be. Even if you employ your spouse at “minimum wage”, you qualify to use this medical expense reimbursement tax strategy, so long as this benefit is reasonable in relation to the level of services provided by your spouse. [IRC Section § 3306(c)(5); IRS Publication 15, and IRS Circular E all apply]

URL: http://www.recordsinorder.com/
Scott C Turner, CPA Mission, Path and Today’s Focus

Life Mission: His mission has always been to find a better, more affordable method for the average to above-average smaller business owner to successfully access a higher level of tax strategy service that formerly could only have been obtained by the wealthier and more-informed business owner.

The Path: He was aggressively recruited upon graduation in 1978 by each of the “Big-8″ accounting firms. He accepted an offer from Main LaFrentz, the ninth largest CPA firm worldwide at the time, an affiliate of KPMG, the largest international accounting firm, where he immediately specialized in small business taxation – a specialty in which he has remained focused to this day.

Scott Turner is the former Director of Tax Consultation Services for the nation’s second largest employee benefits provider, serving more than 10 million taxpayers. This service provided an in-depth view of individual and business questions faced by today’s smaller business owners.

Today’s Focus: Use the latest technological advances to relieve business owners in reporting their financial and tax data, to establish their best legal tax position, to implement the most updated and appropriate tax strategies, and to provide for them the information they need for management decisions.

He currently manages his firm in the SF Bay Area having represented thousands of small business clients; while staying focused on his specialty for over 25 years – Strategizing for Small Business to achieve their best overall tax results. Though the majority of the clientele he has served consists of average to above-average smaller business owners, other notables include several highly successful health professionals, multi-millionaire real estate investors, authors, and highly-regarded Silicon Valley business consultants.

With eagerness he looks forward to assisting in the success of his next small business client.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_C_Turner

The “panicking” of parents upon learning about their child’s situation can be attributed to some common misconceptions in dealing with special needs children. These misconceptions lead to the thought that there is no bright future for special needs children. Unless these myths are fully understood and corrected, parents will never know that special needs children will still reach their full potentials. Here are the top 3 common special child misconceptions and the truth about them:

* Parenting and teaching a special child will take away all your happiness and replace it with difficulties.
* This may be true to some persons who don’t love the child at all – but does this type of person exist? How can parents not love their own child no matter what his needs are? Parenting and teaching a special child is not a reason to be unhappy. It is all in the attitude! Rearing a child with special needs doesn’t take away your happiness. You may be unhappy but it’s your choice. You can choose to be happy and satisfied caring and teaching your special child. Rather than letting yourself be imprisoned by the situation, be in control. Plan exciting activities that will help you enjoy at the same time leave an effective learning experience to your child. Special needs children will never reach their full potential.
* This is another myth. Just like any other children, special needs children can reach their full potential. They can learn to speak, read, and interact with other people. They have the ability to live a happy, satisfied and complete life. But they won’t be able to achieve these on their own. They need guidance and proper teaching for them to be the best person that they could be. You should not be the judge of your child’s potential. Let him explore and learn. There are several education materials that cater to teaching special needs children reach their full potential. Nobody understands the difficulties of parenting and teaching special needs children.
No two persons are the same. The individual difference theory is true but it doesn’t apply to situations. You may be facing the challenge of parenting or teaching differently abled children but you are not alone. Many other parents or teachers have been through the same situation. The only thing that differs is the way people handle special situations like this. There are even foundations and organizations that cater to helping parents and teachers cope up with the challenge of teaching and parenting children with special needs.

Parenting and teaching special needs children is an easy task if you know how to handle the situation. Don’t panic! Know what is true and what is not. Don’t judge a situation based on pure misconceptions. As long as you know what to do, parenting and teaching children with special needs will be a satisfying and fulfilling experience.

POPS Resources provides books, games and teaching materials for special needs and differently abled children. These teaching resources aim to help special needs children reach their full potential. For more information on how to foster the unique potential of your child, please visit POPS Special Needs Resources

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Monica_Corral-lorica

1) Be a Role Model – The way parents spend money and the way children view money has a significant correlation. Consider discussing the family’s financial goals and plans with the children. How much you share is to your discretion, but include the younger generation in at least a portion of the monthly management. How parents deal with money issues, from the monthly bills to planning family vacations can be important in teaching the children money management and the value of money.

2) Encourage Savings and Investments – To encourage children to save money is one of the simplest ways to encourage a responsible attitude about money. This could include designating a portion of a child’s allowance to a saving account, or making gifts of cash directly to an account in their name. Parents can discuss the account statements with the children and introduce the concept ” paying yourself first”.

3) Develop a Sense of Financial Empowerment – It is important that parents develop responsible spending habits by well thought-out choices. In order to guide and direct rather than dictate the savings and spending. Take children on window-shopping trips to compare prices and products and adopt the mind set that every trip to a store is an exercise leading to a potential purchase. For example, consider limiting impulse buying by implementing a rule that prices and products are compared at a minimum of three locations.

4) Give Unto Others – Involve children in the financial decisions regarding philanthropy. By helping children contribute time or money to a charitable cause, it can teach them that money is important in ways others than personal consumption.

Reference: Matthew P. Bartolomei, Financial Advisor http://www.fa.smithbarney.com/mattbartolomei/index.htm

NOTE: you can freely redistribute this resource, electronically or in print, provided you leave the authors contact information below intact.

About the Author: Janie Lacy is a Mental Health Counselor who has a passion to reach out and help people grow and mature through difficult life situations. Janie has invested in the lives of others through public speaking, leadership training, educational instruction and small group ministry. Janie received her Masters of Science degree in Counseling Psychology through Palm Beach Atlantic University and her Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida, specializing in management. Her professional affiliations are with the American Counseling Association, the American Association of Christian Counselors, and the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association. For More Information please call (407) 248-0030 or go to our website at http://www.totallifecounseling.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janie_Lacy

Luckily, there may actually be a way that you can help your children to prepare for the future today; by encouraging them to start saving money while they’re young, you can set up habits that will follow them into adulthood and possibly even help them to build up a nest egg to help them along their way.

Children and Money

Children like money… after all, it’s used to buy the things that they enjoy and it’s so hard for them to get. Even small amounts of money seem huge to a small child. That said, children tend to like instant gratification of their wants and desires, so whatever toy or piece of candy that they might want is very likely to be purchased should they be able to afford it. The key to helping your children to save money is to get them to realize that better things can come along if they save the money that they have for a later day.

Rewards and Encouragement

The easiest way to get your children used to the idea of saving money is to offer up a rewards system when they manage to save some of their allowance or other money. Perhaps you’d offer to give them a little bit of extra money after they save up a certain amount, or tell them that you’ll pay a portion of the cost for something that they want if they can save up the rest of the amount. You should also periodically ask them how much they have saved up, offering them encouragements for a job well done when they start to build a little bit of savings.

Don’t Send Mixed Signals

However you choose to encourage your children to save money, it’s important that you stay consistent with what you tell them. Don’t tell them that they’re saving their money so that they can get the more expensive things that they want later only to punish them when they spend it on something that they’ve been saving for. Make sure that they understand that it’s their money and that they can do whatever they like with it, but if they continue to save it then they’re more likely to be able to reap the rewards of it at a later time.

Savings Accounts

After your children have gotten the hang of saving money, you might want to get them a savings account. Make sure that they go with you so that they can be a part of the process… after all, it’s their first bank account. It can help a child to feel confident about savings knowing that they’re doing a “grown up” thing like opening a bank account. You should also take them with you whenever a deposit is going to be made, so that they can personally give the teller the money and continue the “grown up” feel of banking.

Though it may just be them thinking that they’re more mature than they are, the positive feelings associated with depositing the money will likely carry over to later life and help to reinforce the habit of saving money long after they’ve gone out into the world as an adult.

Paul Parker writes finance and loan articles for the UK Loans Only website at www.ukloansonly.co.uk [http://www.ukloansonly.co.uk/]

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A. Does your environment provide the same language you and your partner speak ? This will mean you will have to invest a lot of effort to expose your child to another language.

B. Or is the dominant language of your environment (language of the country/school/nursery) different from yours ? In that case you will be faced with relatively low effort. Below is a summary of key challenges and recommendations for the high effort scenario.

Monolingual parents in a same-language environment (e.g. English speaking parents in an English speaking country)

You are speaking your native language to your child(ren) and the environment you live in surrounds your children with that same language as well. Your environment does not help you with your goal to bring your children up bi-lingually, all the effort will have to come from you.

Parental Effort Required for Bilingual Children: High Effort

Special Challenges: Enough second language exposure in your children’s life.

Special Advice: Find others in the same boat and tackle the project together.

Parental Effort:

Your children are spending all their time in one language, be it in the environment (school/friends) or at home. In order to give your children the gift of bilingualism you have to “adopt” a new language into your DAILY life. For your children to eventually become fluent in a language, they need to have regular, continuous exposure to it – a 1 hour/week language club alone is not enough (although this would be a start and could be the basis for a later increase in exposure). If you aim for bilingualism, i.e. sophisticated language skills – as opposed to basic skills – your children should be exposed to the language for at least 1 hour a day. As the environment does not help you, all the effort will have to come from you – but it will be worth it ! You need to find enough language opportunities for your children which they can enjoy (personal interactions and media), plan trips to the country, show an interest/respect in the people from the country and maybe learn the language yourself. A good idea is to join or start a support group to surround yourself by others in a similar situation who can encourage you along the way.

Special Challenges:

You need to be very organised and maybe also creative to keep enough exposure to the 2nd language in your life, as all language input will come from third parties. Your children might already have a full calendar of after-school activities and you might have budget restrictions which don’t allow you to add more classes/courses or tutors.

From a motivational perspective your challenge is to make the exposure to the new language fun and enjoyable for your children rather than a chore. This can be done by choosing the right quality with the help of a good support network and by varying the type of language resource you choose.

Special Advice:

1. Get support: Join a support network and find other families in the same situation. Teaming up with others in the same situation makes your job much easier. Not only do you have others to share your experiences and challenges with, you can also bring together enough children to start new clubs/courses. You can swap materials to keep the language input new and interesting without spending more money. Your children might also find it more fun and less daunting to see other children with similar background in the same situation. A support network can get you in touch with equally committed families and save you the job of having to find new language opportunities by phoning around.

2. Build your own resource library. Start collecting ideas and sources for language resources which can help you create extra exposure of your children to the second language, e.g. media (TV, DVD, books, music, and interactive computer games). You can find a selection of resources online at the Multilingual Network.

3. If you can, read to your children in the second language. You can read books in a second language to your child – provided your language skills are good enough. This is a great way to extend vocabulary.

4. Nourish and build your children’s pride in making the effort to learn another language. Mono-lingual peers (and their parents) might not understand your motivation to exposing your child to a foreign language. Their comments might make you/your children unsure of whether it is all worth it. General advice: never take advice from someone on something, unless they have done it successfully themselves ! Surround yourself with people who are positive and supportive rather than holding you back. As your children’s school/peers might not reward/recognise your child’s new skills, you should praise your child lots and highlight to your children regularly how wonderful they are being able to speak in two languages, keeping friendships with children from different countries etc. Don’t take it for granted, talk about it!

Silke Rehman is a co-active life coach specializing in helping powerful women, who dream of making a real difference in this world. She coaches because she loves seeing her clients grow and achieve things they did not think were possible. Silke shares her thoughts and expertise with the world at http://www.developandgrow.com and you can buy her book “Make Your Child Multilingual!” here Raising Bilingual & Multilingual Children

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A popular but unfortunate option is not telling your children about the money. This is denial. If you set a precedent of not talking about financial matters now, your children will have little hope for financial literacy in the future. A less common approach is to turn over the accounts wholesale. This is setting your children up for failure. Instead we need a reasonable plan.

I suggest making it a family affair. It is their money, but they need assistance and probably should keep the checkbooks with you for safekeeping at first (read: until graduation!). Sit down with your children and show them the monthly statements, explaining how you built up the accounts over the years so you could assist them in starting their adult lives.

College can represent a dry run for both parties: parents are learning how to pass on wealth to their children who are learning how to leverage that legacy. College tuition is usually the first step. Have your children write the checks to the college treasurer. The first day of classes will take on new meaning when they think of how much money they are spending to be there. Also, have them set up their own checking accounts. Help them develop a budget for living expenses and write one check from their custodial accounts to their checking accounts. I know, they will probably overspend and come to you for more money. This is a golden opportunity to teach them about living within one’s means. We learn from our mistakes, so let your children make some on their own. Better now than later.

The point is that both parents and children are learning something here. If you can talk to your children about their custodial accounts, you will be able to talk about passing on your legacy later in life. Transferring wealth in the future will be easier if you have imparted your financial values and are confident about your children’s money management skills. Think of it as training wheels for an inheritance later in life: teach your children to do a good job and their training wheels eventually come off. Do a bad job and your legacy may end up in a generation skipping trust!

Lee Munson, CFP®, CFA

Lee Munson is the Chief Investment Officer of Portfolio, LLC. He lives in Albuquerque with his wife Alison. They are expecting their first child this year. He can be reached at lee@portfoliollc.com or through the firm’s website at http://www.portfoliollc.com

Lee E. Munson has a significant and salient background in the financial services industry. Early in his career on Wall Street, Lee worked with both high net worth personal accounts and institutional clients. After four years he returned to his home in New Mexico, where he focused exclusively on wealth management. Lee’s conspicuous success, acumen, and client satisfaction lead inevitably to the formation of Portfolio, LLC a company that reflects his informed expertise and proven method. Mr. Munson is a graduate of the prestigious St. John’s College in Santa Fe and has the uncommon distinction of holding both the Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Analyst designations. He is also Secretary of the New Mexico Estate Planning Council and a board member of the Financial Planning Association of New Mexico.

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