Personal Finance

What business & personal finance advice do you wish had been taught to you when you were at school? Isn't the purpose of education to prepare children for the real world?

I believe that all children should learn basic business & personal finance skills from the age of twelve to sixteen years. Why not teach children how mortgages and pensions work. Everybody needs a place to live and if they have a long life they will need to retire one day.

Schools should teach their students how to manage credit card debts. They should be taught how credit card companies make their money by charging extortionate amounts of interest far higher than a personal loan to people that pay late.

Students should learn how to negotiate and barter. After all they are going to be doing this every day for the rest of their lives. What about learning the difference between mark up and profit margin?

Learning how to handle money would be the best compulsory course at school. If you add a class like "Business & Personal Finance" and make it standard for all children then what subject would you remove or do less off?

I had a period a day of Latin. This has been pretty much useless in my life. Has anybody benefited from learning Latin? I read about the Greek gods, translated old books and I have to admit that after doing it for over 4 years, I only remember a handful of phrases now.

How many of you remember sweating over stuff like Algebra and Trigonometry? Has this been useful to you in life? Surely this does not need to be taught in such detail to every child & only needs to be taught to budding scientists and mathematicians?

I had art classes. Where they really necessary? I was also taught how to knit and dance? What was the point of that? What about religious education? Shouldn't this type of stuff be taught in Sunday school? Should this subject really be taught in school at all?

I am not advocating that we remove these subjects completely. As you can see it would be really easy to teach slightly less of some other subjects to make space for one period a day of Business & Personal Finance for all older children.

Would this benefit the UK economy? I am sure it would. Imagine students leaving school having basic understanding of fixed and variable interest rate mortgages. They would have learnt how to manage their bank account and check their bank statements. Wouldn't it be great if they knew how to calculate gross / nett profit margins and compare one investment with another?

Many people will make the argument that this information should be taught by parents and not by school teachers. The problem is that many parents themselves do not understand basic concepts of personal finance! Some view their own personal finances as a private matter that should not even be discussed in front of the children.

What subjects do you think they should teach more of and which subjects should they teach less of to make room?

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Get your finances straight

Whether you're about to lose your unemployment or already have, you need a plan for how you'll meet expenses. The first step is to take a hard look at your finances and start cutting costs.Making a career map can be beneficial at any stage of the game for many of us. If you're just entering/re-entering the workplace, or perhaps been in the fray for decades, career mapping can prove to be an invaluable tool. Particularly if you are thinking of switching fields.Making a career map can be beneficial at any stage of the game for many of us. If you're just entering/re-entering the workplace, or perhaps been in the fray for decades, career mapping can prove to be an invaluable tool. Particularly if you are thinking of switching fields.

Below are few tips on how to manage your finances

1- Pare down your living expenses to the minimum.

Separate the items that you really need from the ones that are nice to have but not absolutely important or necessary to have it.

2- Make a budget.

Calculate all the amount you can spend per month and designate a portion for each expense.

3- Prioritize your bills.

Pay the secured debt before the unsecured debt (ie.credit cards).

4- Contact your creditors.

Explain that you're unemployed and unable to meet all your financial obligations. Ask them if they can reduce your payments or help you work out a payment plan. Creditors are often willing to work with you: To them, a small payment is better than no payment at all.

If you have money set aside in savings, you may be able to live off that for the short-term. But, for long-term security, you need an income. Here are some tips on finding work fast.

http://blog.jobs-2u.com/

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Retirement planning finance software can be a huge benefit to in helping you to keep track of your income and expenses. Quite simply, the average person does not keep nearly as good as track of their income and expenses they should be, and then they wonder why they are so deep in credit card debt. Quite simply, a lack of knowledge of their overall financial situation is why most people find themselves in deep credit card debt, with virtually no way out.

The reason that most will find themselves in the rat race their whole lives is simply a lack of financial knowledge. This can be quickly overcome with the use of retirement planning finance software. Quite simply, this retirement software will easily and quickly help you to list your income and expenses and help you keep track of them, in order to help you plan for your retirement.

Simply by keeping track of your income and expenses, this will get you into a great habit for the rest of your life, not just your retirement planning. The only way to achieve financial wealth is to make sure you're bringing in more money than you're giving out; without this information, you'll never be able to achieve this, simply because you can't track it.

Of course, the task of writing down your expenses every single time you purchase something can be quite arduous; this is why at the end of every single day, you should list how much money you brought in how much money one out of your pocket. By doing this simple exercise and keeping a personal budget, you will get in a great habit of keeping much better tabs on your expenses, and ultimately will achieve financial freedom as a result.

Of course, retirement planning finance software can also help you to find out how much money a certain investment to your considering will bring in by the time you retire. Of course, without knowing your retirement planning goals, this information will be virtually useless; however, once you realize how much money you'll need when you're retired, this feature in retirement planning software can be tremendously useful for you in your budgeting. Therefore, purchased the right retirement planning finance software, and achieve the retirement goals you set for yourself.

For retirement planning investment info, visit online-retirement-planning.com, and learn about retirement planning calculators and more tips.

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People considering retiring abroad should ensure they have planned their finances suitably for a move to another country, including thinking about any difficulties they may face in the future, a spokesperson for charity Age Concern has said.

Research earlier in the year from Saga revealed that 52 per cent of the over 50s were looking to move to another country permanently in the future, a relocation that could be paid for through home equity loan refinancing. A third of people were considering purchasing a holiday home abroad, according to the same research, with Age Concern saying that a trial stay in the country may be a desirable way of testing the water before checking your home equity loan rate and taking the plunge to move to another country.

"The key to a successful move is to know what to expect," the Age Concern spokesperson said. "It can also be useful to consider moving on a trial basis, maintaining a base in the UK for a period rather than selling up straight away."

For those that do opt to make the move abroad and leave their current home and life in the UK behind, Age Concern stressed the need for those heading to warmer climes - Spain is among the top picks according to the Saga research - to make sure that their financial future is organised, something that can be arranged through home equity loan refinancing.

"Long-term financial planning is essential. Find out about the cost of living and consider whether any of your income will stop if you move abroad," the spokesperson added. She went on to point out the necessities of more general research into any future home: "Anyone thinking of moving abroad should research where they want to move to thoroughly. They should find out the advantages and potential pitfalls of moving there and make sure that the country they are moving to will suit their needs now and in the future."

Despite the need to negotiate a language barrier, Age Concern pointed out that a "lack of finance" can see older people who move abroad in their later years struggling to get the medical help they need, something that could presumably be negated through the use of a low cost loan.

In August it was revealed that the less-than-desirable British summer was encouraging sun seekers to invest in overseas property in order to guarantee themselves a hot few months. According to Barclays, the idea that Britain has just two seasons - "winter and July" - was driving residents to look at overseas property investment as a "gateway to sunnier climes".

Furthermore, the bank said that summer 2007 was officially the wettest summer on record, with the 387.6 mm that fell in early summer topping the statistics tables of data going back 240 years. With this playing on the mind of many UK home owners, who could use a secured loan to fund a holiday abroad or a further property purchase, Barclays suggested that many were looking to escape the dreary UK summer.

Mark Dawson writes for the Loan Arrangers. Where visitors can compare loans online, and apply for the best secured loans rate available to them. To read more articles from Mark go to http://news.loan-arrangers.co.uk

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