| Family Money Management

Family Money Management


If you have a family, managing your money is that much more important because there are other people depending on you. If you go into debt, you cause problems to more than just yourself. Now is the time to start thinking about family money management and planning your family’s future.

Assess your Circumstances before Planning your Goals

While planning to retire at 45 is great, if you have no retirement fund, low income, a family, and are already 35, it’s just not likely possible. Before you start planning and setting goals, you need to look at where you are. Think about your family and who you need to support. Think about your age, income, and anything else that affect how much you can save.

What are your Families’ Individual Needs?

Do you have kids that will be going to college? Do you have any kids with special needs? Do you or your spouse stay at home with the kids?

All of these things can affect what types of goals you make. If you have kids that you want to help through college, you might have to work a little longer to make sure you still have enough for retirement.

Be a Little Selfish

It’s a great opportunity to be able to help your kids through college, but some people just can’t do it. You need to put your future before your kids. As selfish as that sounds, it’s true. You are much closer to retirement than your kids. If you don’t have enough retirement saved to live comfortably, you’re not going to like retirement.

I’m not saying that you should completely forget about your kids’ education so that you can live rich and lavishly. What I mean is, you should first plan your retirement and always put money aside for that first. Then, anything left over, you can set aside for your kids.

If your kids have to pay for their own college education, it’s not the worst thing in the world. Even with the rising cost of education, they can manage. They can work hard in high school and take college classes much cheaper. I was able to cut a year off of college because of AP classes and college level classes in high school for a total of 26 credits that cost less than $800, and that was only a few years ago.

Also, they can apply for scholarships. There are a lot of scholarships available on Fastweb and they can talk to their guidance counselor for local scholarships. Finally, there is no reason why your kids need to go to $35,000 a year colleges. Many colleges are just selling prestige and you can get the same degree at a state college. State colleges are becoming more popular because they offer a great education for a much smaller price. Also, think about community colleges and staying home and commuting. Even with the rising price of gas, you’ll probably save money. If you live 5 minutes from a great college, consider yourself blessed!

Teach Your Kids about Money

If you really want to help your kids out financially, you will teach them successful financial planning and money management. Teenagers with bad spending habits grow up to be young adults that make big spending mistakes that may put them in heavy debt. Teach them how credit works and the importance of staying away from it as much as possible.

Follow Your Plans

Money plans are worthless if you don’t follow them. Make plans and goals and stick with them. Once you reach them, you will be glad you did. It’s just like weight loss. If you’re on a diet and you constantly cheat, you will never reach your ideal weight and have the body you’ve always wanted, but if you follow your diet day in and day out, you will be so much happier that you reached your goal. The cheats you make give you no happiness compared to what you will feel when you complete your goals.

You’ve taken the first step towards repairing your family’s finances through family money management and towards financial freedom, now take action!

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