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Stocks and Bonds for Kids
Parents want the best for their kids. You want to teach them how to be successful and a large part of their success involves financial literacy. You know by now that I am a huge fan of talking about money. Talk to your partner. Talk to your kids. Talk to your parents. This article I wrote for Richmond Family Magazine is a primer on stocks and bonds. It's useful for parents and kids. Let me know what you think. What money topics do you want me to tackle in a kid-friendly way? How did the conversation go at your house?
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How to Talk About Money with your Kids
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How Will The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act Affect Families?
Wondering how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) will affect your taxes next year? The tax law will affect families in a myriad of ways. While there were a variety of changes made that affect everyone, this post will focus on the ones that are most impactful to families with kids. Keep in mind that many of these provisions are set to expire in 2025, but this will at least give you something think about as you move through 2018. Tax Rates Were Reduced Tax rates were reduced for all brackets except for the lowest bracket, which remains at 10% of taxable income. There was some shifting…
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Using Your VA529 Plan to Pay for Private K-12 Education
Are you paying for private school for a kid in grades K-12? It's a little painful, isn't it? Well, now there's a way to reduce the sting (a little bit). With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 parents can use their VA 529 plan to pay for K-12 private school tuition. Each state is different but the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan has adopted their policies to allow Virginia residents to take advantage of this new strategy. Virginia residents can use the VA 529 plan to get a little extra tax deduction on your VA state income taxes (plus some tax-free growth for the super…
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Should You Save For Retirement Or College?
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How to Talk About Money with your Kids
Many people would rather talk about sex, death or politics instead of money. We all know how often we talk about those topics, so how many conversations are we having around money with our kids? In the words of Jay-Z "zip zero, stingy with dinero." OK, that may be a slight exaggeration but the power of societal taboos around money are strong. I wrote this article for Richmond Family Magazine to help parents navigate these potentially tricky and sometimes awkward conversations.
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Maximize Your Virginia 529 Plan
How can I maximize my tax-savings using a Virginia 529 account? What happens if my kid gets a scholarship? These are the kinds of questions I frequently hear from parents as they start saving for college. The Virginia 529 College Savings plan is pretty straightforward (especially after you read my post about the VA 529 plan that breaks it all down for you here!). However, there are a couple nuances that parents and other family members should be aware of to maximize their 529 account. Let's review four things about the Virginia 529 Plan that you will definitely want to know! VA 529: What Changed Under The 2017 Tax Law?…
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Should You Save For Retirement Or College?
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Which Virginia 529 Plan Is Best?
You’re ready to start saving for college. You go to sign up for a Virginia 529 College Savings Plan, but are immediately faced with a decision about which plan is the right one for you. Or maybe you have been pitched some expensive-looking mutual funds or a life insurance policy from a broker but you just aren’t sure that’s the right path for you. No worries. Today we’re going to dive into the three Virginia 529 College Savings Plans so you can make an informed decision about what’s best for you and your family. In no particular order, let’s get started. Virginia 529 Option #1: Invest529 The Invest529 is the…
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Should You Save For Retirement Or College?
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Should Your Kid Earn an Allowance?
Parents want to know, should my kid earn an allowance by completing chores? A lot of us were raised that way but it may not be the best choice. Check out this quick video for my thoughts on giving an allowance and tying it to chores plus teaching your kids about money. I think giving an allowance is a great way to teach kids about money. Yet parents don't always use this tool as well as they could. Want to learn more about giving your kids an allowance? Read Is It Time To Give Your Kid An Allowance? for more tips on how to teach your kid to manage money.Not quite…
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Can An Allowance Teach My Kid To Save?
When parents start giving allowance we all dream of that moment when our kid says “Mom, will you put this in my college savings account? I want to prepare for the future” …no, just me? OK, well financial planners aside, I think it’s safe to say that we at least want our kids to not spend all of their money at one time on beef jerky. How can parents teach their kids to save? As you know from my previous post, I’m a big fan of giving an allowance. Allowance can be a powerful, hands-on tool for kids to practice making saving and spending decisions without making expensive credit mistakes.…
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How to Talk About Money with your Kids
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Giving Your Kid An Allowance (is it time?)
Should I give my kid an allowance? When? How much? Parenting seems like a never ending decision tree that starts during pregnancy and ends...never. Most parents I talk to have the same basic goals for their kids. Many parents want to raise kids who are “good with money.” One tool parents can use to teach kids how to handle money is allowance. Today we are going to talk about giving an allowance (or not), earning it, spending it and saving it. There is a lot more emotion tied up in how we handle money than first meets the eye. Parents can begin by identifying what values they want to pass…
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Maximize Your Salary: How to handle the question every job seeker hates!
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How To Talk About Student Loan Debt With Your Teen
Feeling overwhelmed about the high cost of college? You’re not alone. A 2016 study Citizens Financial Group survey said that 57% of millennials wished they hadn’t borrowed so much money to attend college. This statistic leaves parents in a difficult position. Selecting a college tends to be a highly individualized and stressful situation for the student (and their family). We want to support our children’s choices, but we also want to make sure our children’s choices are as informed as possible. Talking to our kids about their choice of college can become even more confounding when you consider this tidbit from a 2014 study by Citizens Financial Group: 46% of…
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Should You Save For Retirement Or College?
