Step1
- The road to financial freedom is to
have great health so that you are in good shape
to learn.
Step
2 - An open mindset to start learning
and practicing what you have learned.
Step
3 - Investing your time in your
financial & health education so that you
are in control of your life to create wealth to
enjoy a better life.
Step
4 - Enjoy the wealth that you have
created because you have been taking care of
your health.
Step Nine: Saving for
College
I know this is where I'm expected to explain the best
saving options for your children's college education,
but I have something far more important to discuss
with you.
I don't want you to think about financing
college if:
You're drowning in credit card debt.
You have hefty car loans.
You have tapped into a home equity loan just to keep
up with your living costs.
You don't have an emergency cash fund to cover eight
months of living expenses.
You don't have life insurance.
Your retirement account isn't built up.
It may sound blasphemous, but you must take care of
yourself before the kids. This is a very important
lesson for them. If you're financially responsible,
your children have a much better chance to grow up
financially responsible. You owe it to them to be a
role model. But you can't hide any of this—your kids
deserve to know what financial choices you are making
and why. The sooner you sit down and tell them, the
better they'll be able to help themselves. If you wait
until your children are high school seniors to spring
it on them that there's not a whole lot of money for
school, they won't have too many options. But if you
involve them by junior high, you can help them see
their own power to help themselves: Good grades can
lead to scholarships, grants or financial aid. Your
kids can get a job now. Most important, they can have
realistic expectations. That's a tremendous lesson for
parents to impart to their children.
If you do have your personal finances in order and can
indeed set aside some money for your kids' education,
there are options such as 529 savings plans and
Coverdell Education savings accounts, which offer tax
breaks for education investments. I recommend heading
over to savingforcollege.com; my friend Joseph Hurley,
CEO and founder of the website, has a ton of
information on all your financing options, and lots of
easy-to-follow advice.
By Suze Orman
2006 (c) creditplushealth.com
Credit Plus Health By Sean Toh All rights reserved.