SUCCESSHOUND.com » Wealth & Money

How to Help Your Child Save Money

Douglas Manning — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:52:04 +0000

Many people simply buy their child a cheap plastic piggy bank and think that is all it takes to teach a child about money. While this is a great start, this alone isn’t going to teach them the financial skills they will need for the future. The following tips will help you to teach your child to save money.

Teach Them To Count

From the moment they can add with their fingers, children should know the importance of being able to count accurately.

In this regard, you might want to teach them to count with games and/or regular everyday objects. Using this technique you can start them out learning the number system. The earlier they start, the sooner they become familiar with it. Being able to count silently in the mind is an important skill they need to have if your want them to save money later on in life.

The use of games in this regard gives them some satisfaction from counting. It is not just familiarity with numbers that is important for saving money. Teaching them to enjoy the actual process of adding and subtracting is a powerful aid to help your child save money

Teach Them Value

Early in life, they should know the concept of money. Discuss with them how the price at which things are sold represents the value of that item. Elaborate on how things acquire value and how intimately hard work is related to value.

This should inculcate into their minds that saving money is not just a matter of putting coins into a piggy bank. A huge part of the whole process is attaching value to the money that is put aside. Otherwise, they just end up spending it anyway.

Take Them Shopping

After they are familiar with all the concepts about money, value and savings, give them the feel of how these concepts are in real life. Bring them with you when you buy your groceries.

On those occasions, you should teach them how to tell if an item has a good price or not. Teach them how to look at the product descriptions on the packaging. This should give them a notion of why certain products are priced higher than others. Giving them a value-sense is conducive to help your child save money.

The Importance Of Allowances

When the children get older, acquaint them with the concept of salaries and allowances. It will be a good idea to give them weekly allowances and encourage them to save up for whatever they want to buy. You can encourage saving with a novelty money box related to their interests.

This will be an excellent time to teach them about priorities.

Get them started on distinguishing necessity from luxury. The ability to evaluate whether something is necessary or not is important when you want to help your child save money. Lots of grown-ups never developed this capacity and that accounts for the way people throw away money that they could have spent on more useful things

Secure Your Life Financially with the Roth IRA CD Rates

Douglas Manning — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:00:09 +0000

Everyone is looking for ways on how they will secure their future. Who would not right? Well, the number one investment vehicle nowadays that gives financial hopefuls the best is no other than the Roth IRA. With this Roth IRA come the Roth IRA CD rates which are considered very helpful for securing the financial future of your entire family.

These rates certainly provide tax-free potential and they are also tax-deductible which includes terms and conditions for the contributions that are based on the adjusted gross income or AGI. Another good thing about the Roth IRA is that it does not reduce the taxable income.

Instead, the dividends, gains and interest are all tax free. If you are one of the employees who do not have 401k plan, all you have to do is open your very own account in Roth IRA as soon as possible.You must also bear in mind that the rates will also depend upon your chosen investment choice. These choices may include the following: certificate of deposits (CD’s), money market funds, bonds, stocks, mutual funds and many other options.

On the other hand, if you have a traditional IRA account the benefits that the Roth IRA provides is different from it. Upon your withdrawal in the traditional account, you will have to pay penalties and taxes. Aside from that, you can also save money but the problem is that you are not the sole beneficiary because the government also benefits as well.

Now because of the CD rates, an individual can already have the chance to take advantages of the numerous benefits of high Roth IRA interest rates through a certain investment company.

Because of the relationship of these companies to the different credit unions and banks, you will absolutely have more chance to avail of the best CD rates. Now, in order for you to make sure that your investment is on good hands, the credit unions and banks of your choice must be government insured. If you want to make the whole process easier, you can find these investment companies on the internet.

Aside from that, they also post the rates of their certificate deposits on their website.

With the help of the Roth IRA CD rates, pat yourself on the back and rest assured you’ve taken a significant step to long term financial security.

How Visualization Creates Wealth And Success

Douglas Manning — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:00:57 +0000

I’m almost certain you’re familiar with the concept of visualization.

It’s so important to the creation of wealth that Chapter three in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is title “Faith.

Visualization of and belief in attainment of desire.”

When we use the power of visualization we bring ourselves closer to the success we desire.

Let’s take a closer look at how visualization helps to create the reality of wealth and success.

Why Visualization Creates Wealth And Success

Engaging Your Emotions. Think about the last time you had a nightmare.Maybe you were being chased or perhaps someone was after a loved one. You woke with a hammering heart, shallow breathing and I bet if you’d been able to take your blood pressure it would have spiked. Most likely even though you knew the nightmare was just a dream those emotions and physical sensations stuck with you for some time. Perhaps you spent the morning in a bad mood not really sure why but nonetheless you were cranky.

Conversely consider the last time you woke from a really good dream. (Depending on the nature of the dream you may have woken with the same hammering heart and shallow breathing but that’s between you and the person in your dreams:)) Perhaps you woke laughing or with a big smile on your face. Again, you knew the dream was just that, a dream and a figment of your imagination but it still had an effect on your disposition and even your physical response.

Visualization and dreams are tightly linked. They both engage our imagination. And the interesting thing is when we use our imagination our mind and body don’t really know the difference between what we imagine and reality.

Consider trying this experiment to demonstrate just how powerful our imagination is. Sit in a comfortable location with no disturbances and imagine something really awful. Close your eyes and allow your imagination to wander to the dark side for a moment. Don’t go there too long, just long enough to note the physical and emotional reaction you have. Does your body tighten up? Do your muscles clench? DO you get shaky and uncomfortable? DO you get angry or frightened?

Now flip it. Imagine something really wonderful. Your deepest desire has just come true. Now how do you feel? What is your body doing? Stay here longer and note the reactions and responses you have.

This is the power of visualization. When you imagine scenarios, your body and mind react as if they were true. Many people, including Napoleon Hill, believe that when you believe something to be true, you attract it to you – you make it true.

Strengthen belief in goal and self. Now believing something to be true doesn’t necessarily make it happen. I can believe someone is going to knock on my door with a million dollar check but it just hasn’t happened yet. However, what I can do is take action to make it happen. However for many people taking action is difficult due to lack of confidence or a lack of belief in our deepest desire or goal. Visualization, because it taps directly into these emotions, can strengthen our belief in ourselves and our goals.

Additionally, visualization helps paint the scene so you can better plan and prepare for success. When you visualize your success as reality you can also visualize your path to get there. What steps are you taking? What is working for you? How do you feel and what can you do to reach success?

Athletes are taught visualization at an early age. The best athletes can actual visualize their event in real time. For example, a sprinter tasked with visualizing their race will imagine themselves as the start block, hear the starter gun, visualize the race and see themselves crossing the finish time all in the same exact amount of time it takes to run their event. Harnessing this ability to visualize and honing your visualization skills will amplify the benefits of visualization.

“I train myself mentally with visualization. The morning of a tournament, before I put my feet on the floor, I visualize myself making perfect runs with emphasis on technique, all the way through to what my personal best is in practice…. The more you work with this type of visualization, especially when you do it on a day-to-day basis, you’ll actually begin to feel your muscles contracting at the appropriate times.”

-Camille Duvall

Perfecting Your Visualization Skills

Engage your 5 senses. When we’re just beginning to use visualization we begin by simply seeing what is happening in our imagination. However adding your senses will not only enhance the experience, it will amplify the results. Your emotions, confidence and faith in your ability to succeed will become second nature.

Sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing can all be integrated into your visualizations. In the example of the sprinter running their race they will hear the roar of the crowd cheering them on as they run. They will feel the impact as their feet pound the pavement. They will smell the cologne on the person running beside them. They will taste the sports drink they consumed just before hitting the starter block. They will feel the sweat trickle down their temples and the wind whipping it dry as they focus on the finish line.

Practice makes perfect. I know, that’s a tedious cliché and I apologize however practicing visualization isn’t just a fun exercise – who doesn’t like daydreaming about how wonderful and successful they are? It’s also an important exercise. The better you become at visualization the faster you will achieve the success you desire. You’ll be better able to tap into those emotions, thoughts and beliefs which are imperative to success.

Don’t just take my word for it. Go back and repeat that visualization exercise only this time when you’re imaging the bad stuff, the really awful situation, engage your five senses. Don’t imagine anything too awful because it can ruin your day and send you straight to the hospital. Instead imagine something along the lines of being yelled at by a customer or watching your plasma television crash to the ground. What do you hear, smell, taste, and feel?

Flip it again and imagine something truly wonderful. Imagine yourself succeeding at a long standing goal. Imagine you have found the love of your life and you are holding each other tightly. Imagine you have just taken a bite of the most delious desert of your life. Imagine you have just gotten a raise that doubles your current salary. Imagine you have unlocked the door with your keys to your new 5,000 square foot dream home. Imagine you have just deposited a check for $1 million dollars into your bank account. Imagine you are standing atop a high mountain seeing for miles or wading in the shores of a white sand beach with a loved one. What do you hear, taste, feel, and smell?

Don’t judge your visualization skills. As you practice visualization you will begin to improve however as it quite often happens you’ll finish the visualization, open your eyes, and realize you forgot to include what the air smelled like or what you heard. No worries! Like anything it takes practice and fortunately the more you practice the better you get AND you’re not competing against anyone. This skill benefits you and you alone.

“Mentally imagine you are buying the business or applying for the job that will earn your fortune. Review each step you’d take, the obstacles you might meet, the difficulties you would meet. Continue imagining each step until you mentally reach your wealth goal.”

-Tyler G. Hicks

Visualization Is A Powerful Concept.

Use it, embrace it, and reach your deepest desires, whatever they may be. It paves the road for you both emotionally, physically, mentally and perhaps most important – strategically. Use your senses, hone your skills, and watch your visions become your reality.

Jeremy Gislason is an entrepreneur, online business owner and marketer. He is also a philanthropist with over 12 years of offline and online business experience. He owns the website http://www.mindmaptoriches.com where he helps to create sustainable income online through law of attraction.

Stock Market Investment Basics

Douglas Manning — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:13:23 +0000

Let us assume that you have setting some aside and intend investing it into stocks. You certainly have made a start towards your goal. As you are looking to invest in your future without touching the regular income that is coming in, you are on the right track.

However you still have to understand some stock market basics. We are not talking about nuclear science out here. Just a few facts you need to understand.

First of all understand that the stocks you were looking to make the investment into were just the ride you were looking for to achieve your long term financial dreams.

These dreams could include a comfortable retirement, meeting educational expenses for your children, meeting old age expenses or just to add to the savings you already have.

This is a tried and tested formula by people who are looking to achieve the above.

Whatever may be the reason for your decision to put money in the market, you should first understand stock market investment basics.

When you invest in stocks, you have a number of options available to you.

You are investing in a company and buying a part of it. In return you will be allotted a share of the profits in the form of dividends. You will also be entitled to attend meetings of the company and be able to partake in the decision making process. However, it is unlikely that you would want to take part in all of these matters.

Your decision to invest would solely be based on the returns you expect. Most people invest because they want their money to grow, and so do you. So, how are you going to go about it?

The market basics teach that when it comes to investing, you can do it in three ways. You may want to make a start on your own, go through a stock broker or just place your money in a mutual fund.

The best way to start is perhaps to make a foray on your own.

This way you will learn about investing basics faster. Moreover, you are the best judge about where your money needs to be placed. Using a broker will definitely help you. But brokers have a habit of asking you to move stocks from one company to another.

One cannot deny them their share of the spoils as they make huge commissions doing so. Mutual funds, on the other hand are a safe bet but rarely give you the kind of returns that stocks can.

Therefore, be your own boss and start alone.

There are certain risks you have to take when investing in stocks. The adage here is that the higher the risk, the better the returns. This in no way means that you have to put all your money in just one company.

Rather it would be advisable to diversify your portfolio, thereby also diversifying your risk. Having all your investment in a blue chip stock may not be the best bet after all. You should invest the money in perhaps more such companies.

Therefore, even if one company does not do well, you have cover for yourself in other stocks.

Why You Should Rent to Own Your Home

Douglas Manning — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:13:37 +0000

If you are weighting the decision between continuing to rent and getting a rent to own home you will want to read this article. We are going to be taking a look at some of the key benefits of renting to own. After reading this article, you should have a better understanding as to why renting to own can make sense.

Close Fast!

If you need to move quickly, getting a rent to own home is a great solution. There is generally no lengthy application process like when you get an apartment. And, of course, it is much faster and considerably less hassle than when you buy a home and go through the mortgage process. In fact, sometimes you are able to move in as little as 24 hours!

Bad Credit is Ok!

Sellers that offer rent to own houses are less concerned with where you have been and more concerned with where you are going. People who look for rent to own homes generally speaking would like to become a home owner but do not presently qualify for a mortgage. Sellers understand this. As such, your bad credit will not stand in the way of you getting your dream home.

Stop Throwing Money Away on Rent!

When you rent, you are literally throwing money away. Your payment goes to pay your landlords mortgage payment each month. They build up equity and you walk away with nothing!

When you rent to own, you start building up equity from day one. A part of each payment accrues in an account and is credited towards your purchase price. This means that when it comes time to get your own mortgage, you may not have to come up with much of a down payment. (You should always be prepared to make a down payment though – just in case!)