This post was written by guest blogger Teri Cettina. The so-called lazy days of summer aren’t quite that laid-back for working parents of young children. Summer means no school for the kids for three full months—and instead, a complex patchwork of childcare or different summer camps. All this extra care can get expensive if you’re [...]
It’s important to teach your children how to budget wisely while they are still young, but how can you teach them to save money if they don’t have any? Allowance is one way that you can provide your children with money of their own to manage while you help them to learn by doing. Setting [...]
As a small business owner, hiring your children to work for your business may save you money when filing taxes. It might sound too good to be true, but if you handle the situation properly and file the right paperwork, you may be able to write off nearly half of their wages on your business’s taxes. [...]
Thinking about co-buying your home? Before buying a home with another family member, consider problems that can occur. Q: My husband, sister, and I are buying a home. My sister would like to pay one-third of the cost of the house and we’d finance the rest of the purchase. My husband and I would pay [...]
When wondering how to plan for the future financially, always remember to spend less than you earn and pay down your debt. Q: My wife and I have been married more than 30 years, but we don’t have any kids. In our adult lifetimes we have owned 11 homes in the United States and United [...]
Many well-meaning parents simply add their teen drivers to their existing insurance policy. The parents then focus more on driving lessons for their teens than on insurance alternatives. But given young drivers’ learning curve, families may want to find a mileage-based policy that offers savings, solid coverage, and the ability to improve their children’s road skills, [...]
If you haven’t been to a thrift store or garage sale lately, now’s a great time to explore one. Why? Many families de-clutter after Christmas, so they donate or consign items to local second-hand shops in the spring. As the weather improves, garage sales also start popping up like spring crocuses. If you’re a little [...]
When you decide to share your life with someone, there’s a lot to get used to. However, there are few things that upset your life more than the disagreements that can come along with money management. Whether you decide to combine finances or keep things separate, it’s smart to come up with a shared household [...]
Your best friend faces an unexpected car repair and just needs some “floater money” until her next paycheck arrives. Your nephew is still building his credit and needs someone to co-sign his application for a new phone. Would you help either of them out? Both are seemingly innocent requests, but they can lead to big [...]
Is there another recession ahead? We're dealing with weak growth, but there are some positive signs the economy is turning around. Not according to Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects and a senior research fellow with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. To the contrary, he believes positive signs [...]
