fbpx

Why Don’t They Teach Kids About Buying A Home In School?

January 27th, 2017 Posted in Uncategorized
No Comments

Kids learn a lot at school. They learn about history, the Founding Fathers, how to do algebra and why rivers erode their banks. And while that’s all well and good – there’s just one problem. It’s not a practical education. Educators are often so obsessed with teaching their own hobbies and pet interests that they neglect to impart the life skills that will really help children navigate the financial world and succeed in it.

Top on the list of financial topics that should be considered in school is buying a home. Taking out a mortgage is likely the biggest financial decision a young person will make in their lives. Yet the school system right now neglects to teach this in any kind of detail. Instead, children are hyper-trained at an early age in the academics, at the cost of their social, emotional, practical, economical and financial development.

Interest Rate

interest rate sign - kids learning abut mortgages

Flickr

The first thing that kids need to understand about mortgages is the interest rate. This, in essence, is the price you pay for money. The higher the interest rate, the higher the price of money. A mortgage is nothing more than a fancy way of saying a “house loan” – and the interest paid on it is the price of having that money today.

home loan image - kids learning abut mortgages

Flickr

Term

Another idea that kids need to get their heads around is the idea of a term. Mortgages come packaged up with different terms. The longer the term, the more time a person has to pay off their mortgage. Most mortgages come with a 25-year term, but term lengths can vary, depending on an individual’s preferences.

Kids need to understand that, given a fixed interest rate, a longer term will result in a higher total amount of money paid as interest. For example, at an interest rate of 5 percent and a mortgage of $100,000, the total amount of money paid as interest over 10 years is $26,682. If paid over 25 years, however, total interest payments are more than $73,441 – nearly the total value of the loan.

Foreclosure

home foreclosure image - kids learning abut mortgages

Wikimedia Commons

When people fall behind on their mortgage payments, they may face foreclosure. Kids need to understand the consequences of not paying their creditors. Foreclosure means that the person paying the mortgage loses ownership of the house, which is then sold by the creditor to recoup their losses. They also need to understand that it is possible to get foreclosure help to prevent this from happening. Sometimes it is possible to restructure the debt or modify the household budget to make it easier to pay mortgage instalments in the future.

Mortgage Insurance

Mortgage insurance is mandatory when the value of the loan on the home is more than 80 percent of the price of the home. This protection is needed, say, regulators, to protect borrowers and creditors alike. However, in practice, it really means more money in the lender’s pocket. Kids need to understand, therefore, that borrowing money can be very expensive. It’s not just the interest rate that they need to be concerned about – it’s all the other fees that they might have to pay.

, ,
Read More

Financial Errors Which Will Affect Your Kid’s Future!

January 26th, 2017 Posted in kids and money, Money Tips
No Comments

It’s so important that we teach kids about the importance of finance as they are growing up. That way, we can feel assured they will go on to have debt-free lives in the future. And our children tend to follow in our footsteps, so we need to be good role models for them. As well as ensuring we leave enough money for them to have great lives, even when we aren’t around anymore. Therefore, don’t make these financial errors which will affect your kid’s future!

Spending too much of your savings

Before you take money out of your savings account, you need to think carefully about whether it’s the right decision. After all, its money which could be going towards your child’s future. And you don’t want to look back and regret wasting money on meaningless things. After all, it’s so easy to keep taking money out of this account when you need to buy things for your family. But for the sake of your kid’s future, only spend savings if you really need to. Otherwise, rely on your current account and keep your savings safe for the future.

Financial errors - dollar bills image

Pixabay

Taking on a too high mortgage

We often can get swept up in the moment when looking at a great house. And rather than thinking about the costs, we consider how perfect it will be for our family. But you don’t want to end up wishing down the line that you never bought the house as the mortgage repayments are too large. In fact, you might get in a position where you think ‘I need to sell my house fast’. After all, it’s so easy to get into debt if you miss a couple of repayments and then you might end up in the position of getting the house taken off you. And then your child’s future will be in jeopardy. Therefore, always think carefully before taking on a large mortgage. Get financial advice first to ensure you are making a wise decision when buying property.

Financial Errors - house and calculator image

Image from Pixabay

Not getting life insurance

A lot of people don’t get life insurance. They think they won’t need it as they are young, and the payments are too large. But if something happened to you, and you have no life insurance cover, your children might end up with little money for their future. After all, most life insurance plans will pay out a significant sum to you family if something unexpected happened to you. And that money will help your kids to continue having a good life. Therefore, you need to ensure you are covered for the sake of your child’s future. And for the sake of your kids, make sure you get a will too. After all, this will ensure your wealth and estate end up in the right hands after your passing. And as we said before, without one, your inheritance might not match your personal preference. Therefore, get this sorted at a solicitors as soon as possible.

And make sure you set up an account for your kid sooner rather than later. You can put money in there which they can use when they are old enough to put towards things like college and their first home!

Financial Errors - graduation image

Image Credit

 

, , ,
Read More

Teaching Children to Use Technology in Potential Future Businesses

January 25th, 2017 Posted in kids and money, teaching children about money, teaching kids about money
No Comments

King Arthur had the sword of Excalibur; Harry Potter had the sword of Gryffindor; and Bilbo Baggins had Sting. All three of these fictional characters needed their fictional weapons in order to become the heroes of their respective stories; and both you and your children can become the hero of your own stories by using the weapon at your disposal: modern day technology. If you’ve found yourself, of late, having a bit of a financial nightmare with your business, then fear no more because you can turn it into a dream; and if you want to teach your children about how to never get into such a situation: here are just a few technology services and tips that you can wield in order to save your business’s story from finishing before it’s even had the chance to reach it’s full potential, and maybe even pass on to your children to make them want to start their own.

Teaching Children to Use Technology - tablet image

Image source

First of all, merchant services are pivota. A type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments in multiple ways (typically debit or credit cards). With the pace of change in the UK payment market, for example, showing that over the past five years the debit card has proved itself as not only being the generally preferred method of payment in regards to frequency, but also the one that holds the most value in terms of total amount, it is paramount that if you haven’t done already, you utilise such a service. Not only will it save you from making those dreaded trips to the bank for bags of change, but it may save and even bring you custom. For example, a prospective customer may automatically think that you have technology driven payment facilities, such as a credit card reader, and subsequently not think to bring any notes or spare shrapnel with them. If they were to do so and then turn up at your till to find that they in fact couldn’t pay for their chosen products in one foul swoop of their debit card they may become annoyed, leave and never return to your business: losing you both a potential customer in the future and also their custom now.

Secondly, using electronic receipts or invoices is both easy to do and environmentally friendly. Most importantly for you, however: they help your business save money. By having electronic receipts instead of physical, paper ones you can completely cut out the use of any printing facilities, meaning either you can buy more paper for other things, or get rid of it altogether. Also, quite sneakily but not illegally, you obtain instant access to a prospective customer’s email address of which you can contact in the future if ever you offer a product that they may be interested in. Here are five apps that help you with the managing of the receipts.

So whether it’s you that needs the help with your dream, or you wanting to make sure that your children’s business dreams can come true, make sure to remember that technology is our friend!

Read More

Investing Time and Money: What Kind of Investor Are You?

January 23rd, 2017 Posted in learning about money
No Comments

Before you dive in and start investing your money, you need to think about what kind of investor you want to be. There are so many different types of investor, and there are lots of tactics, techniques and approaches to investing as well. By knowing about these things before you started, you can develop an approach that works best for you from the start. One of the four types of investor you will find below could be you, so read on now.

The Calm and Patient Investor
Some people are naturally calm, and they like to invest in a patient and measured kind of way. This can work very well for some people, but others simply aren’t cut out for it. It’s the kind of investment strategy that you automatically slot into, or you automatically don’t. You can’t really control how calm and measure you are when investing your cash or selling stocks. If you remain calm and stay on top of your investments at all times, you can often ride out the bad times and find the good times. However, it can backfire. No strategy or approach to investing is foolproof.

money palm - investor image

Image Source

The Silent Investor

Some people like to invest, but they don’t necessarily like the work and energy that goes into it. This is especially the case for people who are investing in startups and small businesses. That’s why many people become angel investors. They look for new business opportunities and invest their money if they like the sound of a business or an idea. But they don’t necessarily get their hands dirty when it comes to the running of the company. Instead, they let the managers and other owners get on with running the business and creating a return on their investment. There are also lots of crowdfunding opportunities for angel investors out there.

The Risk-Averse Investor

Being a risk-averse investor might sound like a contradiction because investing is all about taking risks, right? Well, yes that is true. But there are still lots of investors out there who invest their money in a way that is very careful and cautious. They assess everyone opportunity very carefully. And they never let go of their money unless they are sure of what they’re doing. They might also be more likely to pull out of an investment or sell their shares at the first sign of trouble. This can sometimes lead to missing out on chances to make money. Or it can limit losses, so it works both ways.

investment image - investor

Image Source

The Mix and Match Investor

If you’re a restless kind of person that likes to try lots of new things, you might be a mix and match investor. These are the people who invest in lots of different ways. For example, they might trade on the stock markets and also build up a portfolio of investment properties at the same time. That’s just one example. There are so many different types of investing out there, and you can combine or juggle them in any way you choose to.

monopoly image - investor

Photo Source

, ,
Read More

Getting The Best Buck For Your Banger: Getting Your Car Worthy Of The Highest Price Tag

January 23rd, 2017 Posted in Money Tips
No Comments

best buck for your banger - car dashboard image

(Image Source)

Selling your car can be a long process. It’s hard to get a car to market and off again nice and quickly, while still getting a decent price for it. Of course, this is only made harder when people expect as much as possible from you. But, why not exceed their expectations? This way, people won’t mind paying more for the car. And, it will be a more appealing option to those with the funds. To help you out, this post will go through some ways to ensure that you sell your car for the highest price possible.

Making sure that a car is in good shape is instrumental in getting a good price. Having a full service history for the car is essential. And, you should always try and have the car serviced soon before you sell it. Make sure that the car has no advisories after the car services have taken place. You should also make sure that the car has a valid MOT for as long as possible. This will help to make sure that the car is running correctly, and will make the buyer feel more confident.

A lot of cars come with numerous accessories. Chief among these are floor mats. These are easy items to replace, and they are cheap. So, making sure that you have them isn’t a big problem. You should make sure that the car comes as close to new as possible. Even if this means replacing parts, it’s still worth it. People will want to get the full package. Missing components will make the car look tatty. So, it’s important to make sure that the car look factory fresh. Upgrades like speakers and stereos aren’t a problem. In fact, they may even make the car look nicer.

Another basic thing to remember when selling your car is that people don’t want to buy a dirty car. There’s nearly nothing worse than cleaning someone else’s mess; especially when you have to pay for the privilege. Cleaning your car on the outside is the start. Making sure that it looks shiny and fresh will make it appear to be worth much more. Things that are clean are more attractive. Then, you should also think about the inside. Vacuum and dust the inside of the car. Try to remove stains from the carpet and upholstery. And, make sure that there isn’t anything gross around. When people see the car, their first impressions will matter. People won’t pay top bucks for a car that’s dirty.

Dents and scratches make a car look really bad. But, the cost to repair them could be as little as half the amount you will gain on the car’s sale value. Like a dirty car, people don’t want to buy a car that’s damaged. It will make people feel less comfortable that the car is sound. So, it’s important to make sure that you get the issues fixed as best you can. It’s best to get professional help when it comes to fixing these issues.

When selling your car, getting as much money as possible for your is important. It’s a large item, and it will almost certainly have potential to yield a higher return. It’s amazing what can be done with a couple of evening’s work when you’re doing something that will earn you some money.

Read More
Older Entries
Newer Entries