Financially Literacy Doesn’t
Need To Make You Fried!

Posted on April 30, 2016 by GW

2016_0430-WhyFinLit

As Financial Literacy Month comes to a close, we hope you have enjoyed all our posts.

If you read through them, you already know the answer to this question:

Why should you be Financially Literate?

A study by the financial services company TIAA-CREF show that people with high financial literacy skills have double the wealth of those who do not. Also, those with low financial literacy skills pay a lot more for things.

So which would you rather be? The person who has more $$$ in their pocket, or the one who does not!

http://business.time.com/2012/04/09/op-ed-improving-financial-literacy-is-essential-to-our-nations-economic-health/

Financial Literacy doesn’t need to make you fried! It just takes a little effort to really understand what you need to know!

Want to keep up with your financial literacy skills? Visit our website, where we post financial literacy tips regularly. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

You’re A Millionaire!

Posted on April 29, 2016 by GW

Did you know that YOU are a MILLIONAIRE!

No really, you are. And so is most everyone you know?

How you ask? Well this Talkin’ Money video explains it!

Through your lifetime, you will most likely earn a million dollars, and probably much more! Here’s a chart showing the Median Lifetime Earnings by College Majors. Just look at the return of a high school degree, versus an Associate’s College Degree and All Majors – it’s pretty amazing!

LifetimeEarningsROI

How are you gonna manage your money? It takes responsibility, and, being financially literate!

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! There’s just a few days left, but you can always revisit our website to review all the financial literacy tips we’ve posted – and more!

What’s The REAL Cost
Of Owning A Car?

Posted on April 28, 2016 by GW

OK, you need to get around. A car is in order right? Well ask yourself – What is the real cost of owning an automobile?

This Talkin’ Money video tells the story of one millennial who realized after the fact how much a car costs.

This is an example of the look and feel all the videos in our financial literacy series.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

What’s the R-O-I On
Your Higher Education?

Posted on April 27, 2016 by GW

OK – Listen up! We need to know the R-O-I of that higher education your pursuing?

ROI you ask? That’s RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

Whether it be college, trade or vocational schools you INVEST your time as well as money to get an education. The end result is a career you hopefully will love with yearly earnings being the RETURN.

It’s important to ask yourself – what is the payoff for all your blood, sweat and tears…and cost. It’s time to do the math.

QUESTION 1 – What is the cost of your higher education.

QUESTION 2 – What is the average starting salary of a job in your area of study?

The blog fivethirtyeight.com has a great chart of understanding what the average median earning is for your degree and future job.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economic-guide-to-picking-a-college-major/

QUESTION 3 – Now look the first two questions – how many years will you have to work to equal the cost of higher education. In other words, how many years of working will it take you to break even in paying back that cost of education.

That’s your ROI.

Life is about pursuing interests that you love, but it’s equally important to consider the path you take and whether the return will be worth it.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

LifetimeEarningsROI

The Scoop On
Dollar Cost Averaging

Posted on April 25, 2016 by GW

2016_0425-CostAveraging
Dollar cost averaging is an investment technique where you regularly buy a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment, on a regular schedule, regardless of its price.

Dollar cost averaging can be employed in purchasing just about any investment, though it is commonly used in purchasing stocks and mutual funds. It is also called Constant Dollar Plan.

We all know that the stock market goes up, and the stock market goes down. when to ‘jump in’ can be a difficult guess. A lot of people loose sleep over crazy market gyrations. This is why dollar cost averaging makes sense.

Let’s say you make regular monthly payments into your retirement plan. Or, make monthly payments to yourself, in the form of savings. If you are investing in mutual funds for example, purchasing that fund at a monthly interval, is cost averaging. Regardless of what the stock market is doing, you will buy more shares if the market is low and less shares if the market is high. Over time, you are buying an average, and this helps smooth out the fluctuations of the market.

For example, if you make a $100 per month investment in a mutual fund. In January, the share price was $25, so you were able to buy 4 shares. In February, the share price was $33, so you were able to buy 3 shares. Then in March, the share price was $20, allowing you to buy 5 shares. Over the three months, you purchased a total of 12 shares for an average price of $25 each.

There is an old adage, that you can never time the stock market – in other words, the hope that you buy when market is low and sell when the market is high. Dollar cost averaging is a great strategy that helps your investment grow without having to worry about market timing.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

Student Loan Debt = Game of Loans

Posted on April 24, 2016 by GW

Student loan debt is a big issue for Millennials. It is the most common way of funding your college and graduate school education – but doing so has become a ‘Game of Loans’.

But before you start to think that getting a student loan is like an alliance with the House of Lannister, understanding what you are getting into is an important first step.

In the U.S., the total outstanding student loan debt is around $1.2 trillion dollars with the average student debt for a grad being around $33.000 (2014 figures).

Come off of graduation day with $33,000 in debt that begins to require monthly payments shortly thereafter can definitely take the wind out of your sails – and prevent you from being able to purchase other things you might want, like a car or home.

Perhaps the biggest question you need to ask yourself is what is the return on my investment for the education you are financing. Will the degree you earned, ‘pay off’ in giving you enough income over your working life to afford paying off the loan it required -and- prove you with enough remaining $$$ to actually live the life you want.

As a general rule – try to avoid student loans as much as possible. Look for other monies, some of which is available for little cost to you in scholarships.

It’s sometimes daunting to understand all the facets of the ‘Game of Loans’ – but taking steps to understand the rules of the game will prevent you from ending up with the dragons.

Dealing With Excessive Debt

Posted on April 23, 2016 by GW

2016_0423-ExcessiveDebt If you have excessive debt, you should take a deep breath and realize you do have options.

Millennials in general have the lowest credit score and most problems managing their debt, compared to prior generations. But the good news is you have the lowest number of credit cards and lowest debt total compared to other generations.

However, the bad news is that you use credit cards a lot, and make a lot of late payments. Late payments mean lower credit scores.

Additionally, millennials tend to use costly alternative financial services, such as auto title loans, payday loans, pawnshops, rent-to-own loans and tax-refund advances.

Here are some steps you can do to help you get control of excessive debt:
1 – For credit cards, get a lower credit card interest rate as soon as you can – Call up your credit card company and ask for a lower rate.

2 – If you can’t make the minimum payments on time, call your credit card company and work out a payment plan.

3 – Allocate a larger portion of your income to reduce debt. This will be painful, but over time it will work.

4 – Limit your spending. If you don;t have a budget plan in place, now is the time. Limit your spending to only the essentials, and make paying off your debt the number one priority.

5 – Motivate yourself. Reach out to friends or relatives who have been through similar problems. This is a process, and it helps to have support during those low times.

Need more help? Then why not reach out to the NFCC (National Foundation for Credit Counseling – the nations largest and longest-serving non-profit financial counseling organization.

http://www.nfcc.org/

So don’t fret the debt – take some steps to help yourself and sleep easier.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

Apply Good Consumer Skills To Purchases

Posted on April 22, 2016 by GW

2016_0422-ConsumerSkills You really should apply good consumer skills to your purchase decisions. How so you say?

Well think about it, do you really want to go through life spending more than you have to for things you buy? Or what about paying higher fees for things people get for a lot less, or even for free?

It really just takes an analytical, systematic approach to decision making. In fact, you can apply this to lots of things in life.

Here’s a step-by-step approach that really helps:

1 – Consider the item, thing or service you want.
2 – Look at several options for each – Let’s say three different ones.
3 – Consider to alternatives and consequences of each option.
4 – Make your decision…go ahead, pick one!
5 – Analyze the results of your choice. Did it turn out the way you wanted? What could your of done differently for a better result?

Congratulations! Now that’s applying good consumer skills. It applies to buying a car, renting a house, purchasing a smart phone, even buying an ice cream cone! In the end, if you think carefully about each purchase, you could save yourself big bucks!

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.

Let’s Play Budget Mania!

Posted on April 21, 2016 by GW

2016_0421-BudgetMania Talkin’ Money presents the ever-popular financial literacy game but is really not a game at all! It’s time for Budget-Mania! Where millennials learn about keeping a budget for their spending and saving. After all, if you don’t have a plan then good-bye budget and hello chaos!

Click here and download this PDF form to be on your way to your first budget!

As you can see by this form it’s really quite simple, but like everything else in life, you got to stick with it in order to succeed. It’s a game of pluses and minuses. Income, such as your take home pay from your job, is a plus. Your parents give you money for your birthday, plus. As for the minus, that’s all of your expenses from car repairs to your monthly rent, from paying your health insurance to shopping for groceries.

Add up all of your expenses and subtract it from your income and you are well on your way to winning at Budget-Mania! That’s because you have a plan and that information will help keep you out of spiraling debt.
As my old friend Ben Franklin always said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

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The Costs & Benefits of Different Kinds Of Credit

Posted on April 20, 2016 by GW

2016_0420-Credit-Frank All right all you spenders, there’s a subject near and dear to me and that’s on the subject of credit. Now you may be thinking to yourself that poor old Frank Money has no life. That may be true but I’m not poor and I’m not in debt, but thinking about the different kinds of debt can really knock me off my feet.

There are costs and benefits for carrying different types of debt. Some credit accounts are viewed more favorably by lenders than others but all require the ability to repay your debts in a timely manner. For example, there’s non-revolving credit like taking out a mortgage that’s paid in installments. Revolving credit deals with credit cards and fluctuate how much you pay each month.

Believe it or not carrying debt and paying it off monthly can raise your credit scores because it clearly shows how you manage your finances. Just remember the higher your credit score the better you can negotiate lower credit rates.