|
|
|
Attaining A Debt Free Lifestyle
Many people have been taught that you cannot get ahead without debt. We are also inundated with advertising telling us we can have anything we want. All we need to do is put it on our credit card.
We have become an impatient society, we want...
Bad Credit Debt Consolidation - What Are Your Options To Reduce Your Debt With Poor Credit?
To reduce your debt with a poor credit history, you have several
options. While none will solve your credit problems overnight,
they can help you get on better financial ground. A debt
consolidation loan can help you reduce your monthly...
Debt advice in Birmingham
Jane was a fun loving girl from Birmingham, you could say she lived for today. She wanted all the latest fashions and gadgets and certianly was not afraid to use her credit card to pay for them.
She had a weird philosophy on life. For some reason...
Debt Management
Debt management. To be sure, the phrase has been in use for some time now and the Federal Trade Commission reports that there is a fast growing area of complaint involving the so-called Credit Management or Debt Management industry. But what is...
Learn The 15 Sure-Fire Debt Elimination Tips You Must Know!
Debt Elimination tips shows how Millions of Americans are living on the edge of financial disaster surviving only on the hope of next week's paycheck. The average American is dying under a load of debt, with little or nothing building in the bank...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teaching Students To Keep Out Of Credit Card Debt - The Parents' Role
Parents have the full responsibility for their children and their education. It is up to parents to teach their children what's right and what's wrong, how to conduct themselves as good citizens, how to cross the road safely and generally protect themselves from harm. In fact, up until the time that child is an adult, the parents have responsibilities in every part of that child's life, right up until the time they are a college student.
The influence of the parents, however, goes way beyond college student days. Whether they like it or not, or even admit it, everyone is influenced not only by the way their parents have treated them, but also by the behavioural patterns of the parents. That influence can be good, bad or neutral, but it is there, and it affects many aspects of daily lives. One of the main features of daily life is finance: money, debt, borrowing, lending, spending, and credit cards all fall within that sphere.
It follows that parents can have an influence on their children's attitude to credit cards and credit card debt. As a good teacher, mentor and financial adviser, the parent can help to create a positive financial attitude in their children that will help them through their college student days, and eliminate or prevent credit card debt from their future lives.
What Can A Parent Do To Help Their Student Children Prevent Debt?
Parents are not the only influence on their children. They and their children face a barrage of marketing for credit cards that has reached brainwashing proportions. Easy credit pervades society like a highly contagious virus; it is difficult enough for the parents not to succumb to the debt that follows easy credit, let alone their student children. And if the parents succumb, what chance do the children have?
Well, all is not entirely lost. All parents know, or should know, that trying to force feed attitudes and habits on their maturing children is likely to backfire. Many children are rebellious, and will often be inclined to go against the parents wishes or advice. That would apply as much to teaching how to manage their finances as anything else.
However, if you accept that you cannot just force something on your children, you can bring them up in an environment that may, through their own observation, make the children think twice about running up credit card debts as a student, and later still in their lives. Here are just a few ideas:
1. Get the children into the saving habit from a young age, but do it in a way that let's them see the benefits. Start a savings account for them even as a one year old, and as they get a bit older, just explain to them what it is and why. No harsh lectures, just a simple explanation that you are helping them to save money for something they will appreciate
later. But not too much into the future; saying they will not be able to touch it until they are 25 will not help.
The savings theme can be on two levels. Part of the savings could be long term, but part also for something the child will be able to buy within a year. That way, the child has the anticipation of a benefit within a reasonable time; the balance of the savings can go on to accumulate. Ensure you have a savings account that will pay interest on all money in the account, so that when the first and subsequent interest payments are posted to the account, you can show the child that they have this "bonus" in their account. Explain it is the bank paying them money for leaving their savings in the account.
It is important for the child to feel that it is their money that is being saved, so explain it is part of their pocket money being put away. Also encourage them, but not force them, to sometimes put birthday or other gift money in the account too. Over the years, this will, hopefully, become a habit that is a useful contra to the debt culture. They will get used to the bank paying them, so when it comes to considering credit cards later, they may be more likely to question the large interest charges the bank makes for using the credit cards.
2. Encourage children to earn a bit of extra pocket money by doing little jobs around the house or in the garden. Say this will help them save for whatever it is they want to save for. Car washing, mowing the lawn when old enough, vacuuming; whatever needs to be done, ask if they would like to do the jobs for the extra money. Then, when paid, encourage them, but do not force them, to save at least part of the earnings. Again, this could become a habit that will stand them in good stead later on, and they will tend to consider the working route to extra money rather than expensive borrowing.
3. When they start doing more advanced maths, say at 9 or 10 years old, help them do a little budget plan for their savings. That will be a simple but quite mature approach for them.
4. The most difficult of all is to set a good example, but do not make a big fuss about it. Mention casually once in a while, for example when there's a commercial on television for a credit card, that the charges are so high, but it is probably best not to give serious lectures and warnings about credit cards and debt. Try not to use credit cards yourself, especially lavishly and in front of the children.
There is not guarantee that any of the above will make one iota of difference, but at least, as with many aspects of parenting, you have given it your best shot.
About the Author
Roy Thomsitt is owner and part author of the http://www.eliminate-credit-card-debt-now.com website
|
|
|
|
|
| Advertisements Promising Debt Relief May Be Offering Bankruptcy |
| Cautions consumers about ads in newspaper, magazine and telephone directories that offer quick fixes for debt problems. |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| Welcome to Debt Relief International |
| Welcome to the web site of Debt Relief International. |
| www.dri.org.uk |
|
| Debt relief steps, your free guide to debt help. |
| Articles on debt relief, and credit management and repair. |
| www.debtsteps.com |
|
| Factsheet - Debt Relief Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ... |
| The HIPC Initiative is a comprehensive approach to debt reduction for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and ... |
| www.imf.org |
|
| Special report: debt relief | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited |
| February 6: A year ago the Guardian set out to track the west's promises of action for Africa on aid, trade, health and debt relief. As G8 finance ministers ... |
| www.guardian.co.uk |
|
| Debt Relief Options - Findlaw for the Public - |
| Welcome to Debt Relief Options. This section contains information about the ... To begin, select one of the Debt Relief Options topics from the list below ... |
| bankruptcy.findlaw.com |
|
| William Brewer |
| The Brewer Law Firm. William E. Brewer, Jr., Attorney at Law Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist. 619 N. Person Street Raleigh, NC 27604 ... |
| www.debtrelief.com |
|
| Debt Relief - InCharge Debt Solutions |
| There are many ways to get out of debt, for good, and it may be easier than you think. The first step is knowing your options, the second step is taking ... |
| www.incharge.org |
|
| Economic Policy and Debt |
| May 2006, IMF And World Bank Support Cameroon’s Completion Point Under The Enhanced HIPC Initiative And The IMF Immediately Grants 100 Percent Debt Relief ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
|
| Economic Policy and Debt - The Enhanced HIPC Initiative |
| The Initiative’s debt-burden thresholds were adjusted downward, which enabled a broader group of countries to qualify for larger volumes of debt relief. ... |
| www.worldbank.org |
|
| Debt relief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Debt Analyzer, Debt Reduction Software, Home Page |
| Debt Elimination at its best! Potential savings of hundreds or thousands of dollars! Build debt reduction, timed elimination or consolidation schedules. |
| www.debtanalyzer.com |
|
| Superior Debt Relief |
| We help you get rid of credit card debt much faster than you may believe possible with credit card debt settlement and negotiation tactics, providing debt ... |
| www.superiordebtrelief.com |
|
| Debt Relief - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum |
| Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006) ... Fearing that the IMF could tie debt relief to economic benchmarks, ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
|
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy |
| Debt Relief - Global Policy Forum - Social and Economic Policy. The Debt Relief Page Has Been Moved to: ... |
| www.globalpolicy.org |
|
| BBC NEWS | Business | Q&A: African debt relief |
| BBC News looks at the progress of international debt reduction efforts, and the sticking points which continue to hamper the process. |
| news.bbc.co.uk |
|
| Debt Relief Australia - Start Reducing Debt Today! |
| Debt Relief offers Australians in debt assistance with finding the most appropriate debt relief solution. |
| www.debtrelief.com.au |
|
| Debt Consolidation Australia, Debt Relief & Bankruptcy Information |
| Specialising in debt agreements, mortgage refinancing and bankruptcy. Company profile, calculators, solutions, media releases, testimonials and existing ... |
| www.foxsymes.com.au |
|
| Oxfam - Debt and Aid - Debt Relief for Nicaragua: breaking out of ... |
| Oxfam policy paper on relationship between international debt servicing and poverty. Linked to table of contents and also zipped for download. |
| www.oxfam.org.uk |
|
| What debt relief means for Africa | csmonitor.com |
| This weekend's $40 billion debt cancellation deal could spark major improvements in the lives of the world's poorest people. |
| www.csmonitor.com |
|
|