In addition to receiving information about how to contact their regulator with questions regarding the financial service providers they’re using, the group received information about how to safeguard their investments in volatile markets, how to avoid investment fraud, the role of their state regulator, and how bringing investor education into their classrooms promotes critical thinking skills in addition to creating educated investors.

Attendees realized that their students, their co-workers, and fellow community groups could benefit from IEIYC presentations in their community.

At presentations end, two attendees had expressed interesting in bringing this program to their school for their students and their co-workers. Fully funded with a generous grant from the Investor Protection Trust, they appreciated an opportunity to bring non-commercial investor education to their schools and towns. 

If you would like to bring this free, non-commercial presentation to your WA State venue, please contact Alicia at ach at aliciahaus.com.

The impact the recession had on my business impeded my ability to meet my retirement savings goals.  While I’ve long kept emergency savings on hand, I didn’t want to tap those reserves, my current security, in exchange for my future financial well-being.  Determined to get through all the changes and find a way to save for the future I hunkered down and began experimenting with cutting back. 

There was only one problem:  I was already as cut back as one can get.  The nature of my work requires a smartphone and I’d previously negotiated an uber good rate.  I get my produce at the farmer’s market when it’s open, and when it’s not I buy what’s on sale.  My friends and I potluck more than we go out (which ends up being more fun, btw).  Following my mother’s lesson, I keep the lights off unless I’m in the room.  I was doing a good job on the frugality front.

Already daunted I got the ultimate blow on my scale. Yep, while most people lose weight when they get divorced,  Alicia the contrarian had managed to  pack 10 on.  Lovely.   Enough was enough.  I could get divorced, move and weather financial changes, but there was no way on earth I was doing this FAT!

I only watched TV from the treadmill.  I got a dog, and he and I started walking 3 to 6 miles a day.   After a lifetime of eating pretty darn healthfully, I actually started counting calories  and figured out how many I should eat in a day.  I struck a  balance that allowed me to drop 3 sizes and feel good not only about myself, but about all the other stuff. 

 I now had a ton of clothes I no longer needed.  I also realized that in my previous life I’d been suffering from excessive weight not only on my waistline, but in my closet as well.  I was in possession of 27 pairs of jeans.  Twenty. Seven.   How did I unwittingly manage to collect  at least 5 pairs of jeans, per year, over the last half decade?  This totally goes against my belief about excessive consumerism at the expense of financial goals.  But obviously, it didn’t.  I was guilty of mindless denim consumption,  and I was self-imposing a sentence of downsizing my closet.

Everything I hadn’t worn in 12 months was designated  for Goodwill or the local consignment shop.  I schlepped  8 bags of clothes out of my house and amazingly, 6 weeks later I picked up a check for over $300!  While that money wasn’t entirely going to make up for my retirement savings shortfall, it had me looking through the rest of my house and realizing that I have the same problem with books that I did with clothing. 

While selling my clothes and my books won’t fully stock my retirement account, guess what?  I no longer need a three bedroom house to hold all the stuff I thought I couldn’t live without.  I will be downsizing shortly and that will create the resources I need to meet my savings goals.

Certainly this isn’t always the answer, but sometimes finding the money is simply about shifting your perspective.  And one year later, I find myself wholly grateful for the shift.

One of the FAQs that always comes from teens is when they should get their first credit card.  I explained that with the changes in the Credit Card Act, teens wouldn’t necessarily be able to obtain their own credit card when they turned 18 without meeting certain requirements.  The age of credit card consent now appears to be 21.

Instead of reacting with frustration, as I’d imagined, the audience burst into… applause? 

Indeed, they did.  It appears that the teen audience I spoke to thinks credit cards are just one thing too many for students grappling with so much freedom at one time.  As one student said, ‘I think it’s good to ease into the whole adult thing.  Credit cards just add too much pressure’. 

Whether they’re too much pressure, or teens are at a loss as to how to use these all-important financial building blocks, the good news is that credit unions are providing students with unbiased advice about how to wisely use credit cards.  Whether they utilize it at age 18 or age 21, these teens now have the skills to make safe, sound credit choices.

“I receive funding from social programs that pay my tuition and support my kids.  My aid checks are based on what I have in my accounts.  How do I save for the future when it might reduce my aid”?

Christina has a great point.  While ideally we have to look at our dollars in terms of how they can support us today, tomorrow, and in the event of an emergency, there are times when saving is difficult for reasons other than the size of our paychecks.

If you’re applying for a student loan or weathering hard times with the support of some sort of aid program, know the rules.  Research the program before you apply.  Find out what could limit your ability to be accepted.  Inquire about the maximum dollar amount that you can save and invest prior to impacting your eligibility for the program, and see if retirement account balances, such as an IRA or Roth IRA, are exempt from qualifying resources.

Living without an emergency savings account is like skydiving without a parachute:  It rarely ends well.  Simultaneously, these aid programs help us earn the bigger paycheck that will eliminate our need for aid.  Seek a balance where you can get the support you need while squirreling away just a bit for that inevitable rainy day.

Over the course of two days, all students received an amazing array of investor education resources from the Investor Protection Trust.  The WA State Dept. of Financial Institutions also contributed their booklets and brochures designed to support efforts to save and invest safely and wisely.

60 teens spent this school week learning how to become the next generation of successful business professionals.  Divided into teams and led by educators and business professionals in tandem, students competed with one another over the course of the week while running a business simulation to become the most profitable business. 

In addition to learning how to run a lucrative business, these teens learned about the stewardship responsibilities associated with being a successful professional.  Learning how to treat value co-workers, to respect the environment, and how to plan for emergencies beyond our control – all of these are skills needed in today’s workplace.

Students also had the chance to learn about creating and building their own most profitable life.  Through a generous grant from the Investor Protection Trust and the Support of the Dept. Of Financial Institutions, teens heard the Investor Education in Your Community presentation and learned about the magic of compounding interest and the ease with which tomorrow’s nest egg is created by a commitment to saving just a little bit each and every day.

When the audience was asked who would be starting on the path of saving and investing for the future, over 75% of the hands in the room went up. 

When investor education reaches the ears and eyes of teens, everybody wins.

Cindy  knows full well the difference credit unions are making in the classroom.  Every year she invites the credit union sponsored Credit University program into her classroom at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle.  Students in class learn how to avoid identity theft, use credit wisely, and save for the future the smart way:  In partnership with a credit union.

Yesterday, Kegley’s students learned how a lost cell phone without password protection can make their social and financial identities easily accessible to identity thieves.  They also learned the importance of shredding their junk mail, and being smarter about what they post on their profiles. 

In addition to avoiding identity theft, students learned how being a victim of this crime can impact their credit.  Understanding the importance of earning and maintaining a good credit score was also emphasized, and at the end of the day, students knew that when it comes to earning interest on their personal savings, it’s rare to find anyone willing to pay them more interest on their savings than a local credit union.

Schools interested in bringing Credit University to their classrooms can reach us at ach (at) aliciahaus (dot) com.

Turns out they were the high school students.  These two, along with fellow DECA students, brought Mayor Lewis, the business community, and several government and not for profits together for an evening that asked participants to rethink money.

Mayor Lewis opened the event by discussing the importance of anticipating the financial pitfalls all of us eventually face, and the rewards of preparing for them.  He asked all of us to embrace the opportunity to prepare for our financial futures, and challenged today’s teens to be the difference that our economy needs when it comes to personal financial choices.

After Mayor Lewis spoke, the group broke into two sections.  One that stayed with me and experienced the Investor Education in Your Community presentation, and another that engaged in business role playing exercises with volunteers from the business, government, and not for profit sectors.  After 45 minutes, each group swapped places.

By night’s end, over 30 teens had learned about the power of compounding interest and how they can easily and inexpensively save for their financial futures by starting as teens.  Additionally, DECA students learned to rethink wealth from another perspective:  Dollars equal opportunities.  The more dollars we have, the more options we have in life.  The larger our savings account balance, the more ways we can impact our communities, either through taking time off from work and donating that time, or giving dollars to causes we care about.

Auburn High School DECA  students should be proud of their well-organized, informative, and fun event.

One of the challenges new investors face is choosing the right account for their needs, or whether or not they should convert to a ROTH IRA. Today I logged into Vanguard’s live webcast to help clear up some confusion around ROTH IRAs, conversions from a traditional IRA to a ROTH IRA, and who can contribute to a ROTH IRA.

Regardless of where your investment accounts are located, now is a great time to consider what type of IRA is best for your retirement planning, and if you can benefit from a ROTH conversion.   Learn more about ROTH and Traditional IRAs here.

Wow.  That seemed a little harsh.  The last thing I expect at the grocery story is judgement from my cashier.  I mean, I wasn’t buying anything that out of the ordinary.  A pastrami sandwich.  A lint roller.  Oh yeah, I also had 24 cans of coconut milk, 17 scour pads, and 22 packages of  mai fun, a thin rice noodle common in Chinese cuisine. 

Okay, maybe it was a bit weird.  But only in quantity.  I mean really, am I going to need 17 scour pads over the next week?  I really hope not.  But I couldn’t pass them up.   Normally priced at $1.89, they were marked down to $.99.  Knowing I always have a scouring pad around my kitchen sink, I figured I couldn’t go wrong stocking up and saving $16.83 on a household item I traditionally buy at full price.

And this is how I’m getting through the recesssion.  I’m a self-employed contract worker who has seen a 40% cut in her income over the last two years, and boy has it hurt.   Just like everyone else, I’ve had to make cutbacks.  Sure, I’m clipping coupons, and shopping two for one sales.  But I’ve also taken it one step further.  Last year I started a price book.

For those not in the know, a price book is a list of all the items you regularly keep in their home, and how much they normally cost where you shop.  I keep track of prices at two stores in my neighborhood.  Everytime my items are on sale, I note the sales price in my price book.  After a couple of months, I generally knew where I could get my grocercies for the lowest prices when they were on sale.  It’s completely changed the way I shop.

Instead of heading to the store when I need something (and being tempted by other things in the store), I have a specific system.  I go grocery shopping once a week with my price book.  I go up and down every single aisle.  When I see that one of my regular items is on sale for the lowest noted price in my price book, I buy it. Even if I have it at home.  And I buy as much of it as I can, thus 22 packages of rice noodles in my cart when I still have seven packages at home.

Am I turning into my mother?  Perhaps.  But I’ve been tracking my spending for a number of years and I find that my price book not only insures I always have what I need on my shelves and in my pantry, it’s literally saving me hundreds of dollars every month. 

Is it a little odd to buy two cases of coconut milk at a time?  Perhaps.  But being a freak for frugality is allowing me to maintain aspects of my lifestyle that I thought the recession was going to eliminate. 

If you want to try your hand at keeping a price book, check out this easy to use template for price books from Organized Home.

73 students in Ms. Fabritius and Ms. Elam’s classes at Capital High school benefited from the Investor Protection Trust sponsored and Dept. of Financial Insitutions Consumer University presentation. Learning all about saving and investing and how to acheive short and long term financial goals, students were blown away by how easy it is to accumulate long term rewards if they begin to consistently save and invest for the future while they’re young.

The number of students that expressed a desire to begin saving for the future now far outnumbered those who didn’t.  Teachers like Ms. Fabritius and Ms. Elam are inspiring students to make a change by bringing this important, non-commercial information in to the classroom.