Feed items

As you gaze at your newborn or newly adopted son or daughter, one of these thoughts may run through your head:

• “Will I be able to afford to put you through school?”
• “Am I required to put you through school?“
• “Right now it’s all I can do to pay for Pampers and child care. I’ll worry about college later.”

Time has a way of sneaking up on us. Seemingly overnight, that gurgling infant morphs into a 12th-grader looking at college or vocational education.

This article is by staff writer Lisa Aberle.

Have you ever wanted — really wanted — to change your financial situation but, when you tried, you felt like you were slogging through wet cement or trying to turn a huge ship around? You got exhausted and stopped, right?

Change is like that.

You can change — and you can also make it easier for yourself. But first, are you clear about why you want to change?

Clarify your reasons

I assume you have already spent some quiet time contemplating why you want to improve your financial situation.

Why do I say that?

Because if improving your financial situation were easy, you would have done it already. But you haven’t, and I am guessing you haven’t because your current lifestyle and habits are making it tougher than it should be. (Even though it’s still not easy to change any way you slice it.)

This article is by staff writer William Cowie.

Few things are as much a part of growing up in America as getting a summer job. And here’s why most agree a summer job is a good thing to have as part of your coming of age:

1. You get a good introduction to the rest of your life, which more likely than not will involve a job — working for someone else. You learn about being on time, maintaining quality standards, and the many nuances of employment that can never really be taught in school.

2. It’s usually an eye-opener to the reality adults live with, i.e., the need to get along with coworkers who aren’t family and yet have control over your life in ways that often are uncomfortable. You also learn that every job usually has rules you have to follow, even though they may appear to be irrational or unduly strict.

This is a guest post from former GRS staff writer Donna Freedman.

A whole lotta folks are way too comfortable with credit card debt, according to the “Generations Apart” study from Allianz Life. Nearly half of the Generation Xers and Baby Boomers surveyed consider plastic to be “a financial survival tool.”

Guys, guys, guys: The credit card is not a superhero. Sure, one swipe saves the day, but it’s only that day. What will you do on the day the bill arrives? Or on all the days you carry a balance?

Oh, wait. That doesn’t bother some people, either:

• 43 percent of those surveyed think that “lots of smart, hardworking people who are careful with spending [emphasis added] also have a lot of credit card debt.”
• 20 percent of Gen Xers and 14 percent of Boomers think going into debt for day-to-day purchases is “just a fact of life.”

According to Allianz Life spokeswoman Katie Libbe: