Spring Planning

Hey there, everyone! It’s spring again, which means we can finally enjoy some warmer weather. But it’s also time when a lot of us parents start thinking about sending our kid to college.

Education has a lot to do with financial fitness. A college graduate will earn over a million dollars more over their lifetime. That’s a lot of money! So if your kid is interested in attending college, we want to help out.
Don’t worry!

Like all types of financial fitness, you can handle it. You just have to start small and take it one step at a time.

• Think about 529 Savings Plans or Coverdell IRAs – If your child is still young, then you’re doing great! You have plenty of time to save. Think about one of these savings options. They come with tax-benefits, too!
  
  
• Don’t forget the scholarships – You might be surprised how many are available. A school counselor can help you learn more.
  
  
• Financial aid can help, too – When your kid is ready, have them complete a Free Application for Federal Student aid. And talk to their college, too!
  

See? Anything is simple once you break it down. And remember – the mint makes it first. It’s up to us to make it last.

Family Saving

When you want to take your workout to the next level, many people get a trainer.  We get an expert to teach us the right way to do things.  Many times, even exercises we’ve been doing for a while could be made more effective by seeing someone demonstrate the “right way” to do it.

Teaching your children to save is no different.  Sometimes you just need to show them an example of saving so they can see how to do it. 

We’ve talked a lot about how the things your child can do to learn about financial fitness. But your habits matter, too! If you’re budgeting for a big trip or a large purchase, talk to them about it. Show them how you build your budget.

Talk about the things you’re giving to save quicker. Show them that you’re preparing lunch at home or passing up on that expensive cup of coffee. When your child sees you put in a little extra work to reach your goal, they’ll understand why you do it. They’ll see that making a financial plan and sticking to it can be rewarding.

Once they’ve seen the example, help them set their own goals.  They can open a first savings account.  Make sure it’s a free on, like Texas Trust’s Clubhouse account.  Let them watch their own savings build up until the day comes for them to make the purchase.  It will be a good exercise in savings that could stay with them for a lifetime.

Remember, the mint makes it first, but it’s up to us to make it last.
-Jainie-

Practice Makes Perfect

Little League is almost a rite of passage these days.  Watching your kids learns to throw, catch and work as a team is one of the most exciting experiences a parent can have.  But think about it! When you teach your child how to play ball, you don’t just send them out onto the field.  You take time to teach them the basics.

Learning about money isn’t all that different. We start with the little stuff, like a savings account or build a budget (Of course, you can find tips for that, too!). Then we take those lessons and put them to work.

So here’s something to practice this week. A few weeks ago, we talked about using chores to teach your kid about the value of a dollar. Now let’s take this one step further. For the next month, build a list of age appropriate chores for your child. Then give each one a dollar value. Making a bed could be worth 50 cents. Taking out the trash might be $1.

Now they can start working and see the value of their savings go up.

Why should we practice this? It’s simple. Someday your child will go out to get their first job. It’s a bit like playing their first little league game. If they aren’t prepared, it can be easy to fall into bad financial habits. They might build up debt or spend their paycheck too quickly. But if they’ve already practiced sound techniques for financial fitness, they’ll be prepared to succeed.

The mint makes it first, it’s up to us to make it last.
-Jainie-

Maintaining Financial Fitness

Getting fit can be fun, but if you’ve ever been injured, you know how much of a struggle exercise can be. You can’t even think about going for a jog if you’ve pulled a muscle or twisted your ankle!

Financial fitness is a lot like that. We all want to be financially fit, but sometimes we need to be financially healthy, first. That can mean taking a look at our debt and seeing if we can bring it into balance.

So here are a few simple steps to start taking control of any extra debt:

Step #1 – Build The Emergency Piggy Bank
Before you start paying down your debt, make sure you can avoid new debt, first! Set aside a little bit of money to make sure you can deal with an unexpected emergency.

Step #2 – It’s All About Interest!
A higher interest rate on a credit card or loan means you’re being charged more money. So always pick your highest interest card to pay off, first. Make your minimum payments on all the cards, then put anything extra to the one with the highest rate.

Step #3 – And repeat!
Once the first card is down, take all of that money (including the minimum payment your now saving!) and put it to the next card on the list. 

The Mint Makes It First, It’s Up To You To Make It Last
-Jainie