H&R BLOCK: DOLLLARS AND SENSE

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Kids learn by watching. They don’t learn to tie their shoes by simply listening to how it’s done, they learn through experience and it often takes many tries. Here are four tips to start them on the right path to financial success.

Father Knows Best: Three Money Lessons Dads Should Share With Their Teens

This Father’s Day, when you’re spending time with your teen, chat about how being financially responsible can benefit their future. To get you started, here are three quick money lessons to share.

Don’t Let Ignorance Stop You from Talking to Your Kids about Money

We can all agree that financial education is important for our children. Before they can drive, we require adolescents to take driver’s education courses, pass a written examination, eye test, and road test. However, they need no training to wield a credit card.

Helping Your Children Fail

You nurture, support, and educate them. You take them to the doctor and the dentist. You buy them clothes, video games, and sports equipment. You drive them to practice, you let them borrow your stuff and you don’t think twice about making sacrifices so you can give them the best experiences possible. When they hurt, you hurt. When they win, you win. So why do you want to help them lose?

How Do You Talk To Your Kids About Money? Step 1: Don’t Talk!

You recognize the need for your adolescent to learn how to manage money and you are committed to tackling the job. So where do you start? If you want to see your teenager’s eyes glaze over, just sit them down and break into one of your lectures. You could give them some unsolicited advice: “You know what you need to do is…” Or if you want to initiate a yawn and a here-we-go-again-mumble, you can warn them about the dire consequences of financial ignorance “If you are not careful…” If you would rather watch them start nodding off you can start with: “When I was your age…”

The Million-Dollar Question

If you woke-up tomorrow and saw you had a million dollars in your bank account, what would you do? When I speak to groups of teenagers about money, I often start with this question. Typically responses involve new cars, building a house, traveling to Europe and giving to charity. Most responses are focused on how that $1 million can be spent to enhance life.

Listening to teens

For most of us, talking about money is tough or seems impolite. Money is a taboo topic in our society. In fact, research shows people are more willing to talk about their sex lives than their financial situations.

Three tips to help parents talk with their kids

1. Tell your teenagers to think before buying.
Advise them to take a few deep breaths and ask: Is this something I really need? How many times will I use this? Can I afford it? Determine if they are trying to fill an emotional need with the purchase. If you think this is the case, talk with them about what’s going on in their life. If they are purchasing to feel better about a bad situation or fill a void, brainstorm with them to identify other ways for dealing with their problems like going for a walk, taking a bike ride, watching a movie or talking to a friend.

Avoid a vacation financial hangover

You know the feeling. Whether it’s regret after an impulsive purchase, the sinking feeling as you open your credit card bill after the holidays, or getting the check after a lavish meal. At one time or another we have all experienced a financial hangover. It’s a feeling of anxiety, remorse or even shame after we have spent more than we should have.

Relax, your tax returns don't bite

Tax season is a stressful time because it forces us to take a close look at a topic most of us would rather avoid thinking about — our money. As we gather our W-2s, 1099s, bank statements, medical receipts and charitable donations, we stare our financial health straight in the face. While often a stressful experience, it can be exponentially more difficult in a year plagued with pay reductions, job loss and declining property values.

Saving for a rainy day

Everyone believes it’s important to save for a rainy day, right? We all know we should save for the future, but we don’t always do it. In my research, I have studied the financial beliefs and behaviors of people from all walks of life, income levels and net-worth levels. My study revealed some striking differences between people’s money beliefs, but one statement explained 75 percent of the difference between those who are wealthy and those who are not: “It is important to save for a rainy day.”

The cell phone

Fourteen-year-old Emily was thrilled. After six months of intense lobbying, she finally got her parents to buy her a cell phone. Emily’s parents gave her the phone with the stipulation that she could use only 500 minutes per month. They warned her not to go over her minutes and showed her how to check her remaining minutes at any time. Emily wholeheartedly agreed to this; after all, 500 minutes seemed like a lot of time. At the end of the first month, Emily’s parents were shocked to discover that her cell phone bill was more than $1,200. They were furious and took away Emily’s cell phone. She would pay her parents back over the next year doing extra chores around the house.

What Not To Say To Your Kids About Money: Avoid Giving them TMFI

Year after year, approximately 3 out of 4 Americans say money is their No. 1 source of stress. Money is one of the most frequent areas of conflict between parents and the No. 1 reason for divorce in the early years of marriage. Parental financial stress has a tendency to trickle down to children.

Financial health for the holidays

’Tis the season to overspend. We know we shouldn’t spend more than we have; however, we engage in some of our most self-destructive financial behaviors during the holiday season.

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