Though April is no longer officially recognized as National Financial Literacy Month in the U.S., many states and organizations still treat it as such. (Here in Oregon, for instance, it’s statewide financial literacy month.) Because I think financial literacy is important, Get Rich Slowly will spend most of the month reviewing the basics.
If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover during Financial Literacy Month, speak up. Are there concepts that just haven’t clicked for you? Are there terms you don’t understand? Are there topics you’d like to see repeated? This month is about getting back to basics, so please let us know what you’d like to see covered. (And those of you who are groaning right now, just be patient. We’ll try to cover some more advanced subjects in May.)
To kick things off, here’s a little something I received in my inbox:
Charles Schwab Foundation will be funding scholarship awards for top performers on the 2011 National Financial Capability Challenge, a 40-question voluntary online test that measures the financial savvy of high-school-age students across the U.S. The test-taking window for the Challenge, which was created and is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, begins March 7 and continues through April 8. Teachers can sign up their students at the Department of the Treasury’s website. Students enrolled in any subject from any U.S. high school, home school or after-school program can participate.
According to the Charles Schwab MoneyWise site (which I think is their financial literacy site), twenty high-school students will each win $1,000 scholarships for scoring well on this challenge. But there are only a few days left, so if you know somebody who could profit from this test, get her (and her teacher) on it!
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I’d like to learn more about Roth IRA because I’m thinking to open one. I started reading this blog not too long ago, so I don’t know if you ever devoted a blog entry to this topic, but I think it’s a good one. I’m finishing up grad school next year and don’t have a lot of money saved yet, but I believe this might be a good place for me to invest.
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Hey JD,
April is also National Poetry Month, so you could give lessons in Neoclassical verse. Or open up a contest.
As for the subjects, I would suggest the following:
-Investing 101
-How to Buy Into your a Mutual Fund (could also be “your first Mutual Fund”)
-The Art of the Possible (Homage to Max Weber’s “Politics As a Vocation”) – How to negotiate your wild dreams with a limited reality (it’s not by financing them at 24%). [this might be a bit repetitive, but hey, say it in heroic couplets and it's a whole new game]
- April in April – during this month, April has a weekly column
-The Reading List – basic texts in personal finance, economics, etc
-News of the Not-So-Weird – review of the best outlets for finance and business news (personally I like PBS’s nightly business report, one can get ready to sleep while it’s on).
-Negotiation 101 – let’s face it, a lot of people fail at personal finance just because they don’t know how to negotiate *anything*. Actually, this deficit would be thoroughly incapacitating, not just limited to finances. But some people are ashamed to negotiate when it comes to money. (Haggle, ya kalb!)
-Brew Your Own Beer (and save!) – ok, this is 1/2 a joke article, 1/2 serious, but some other DIY article–
alrite goodnight
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I have a 529 for my child, but I was reading this today and was intrigued by the option(s) of savings bonds. Unfortunately, I didn’t really understand much of this page:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/planning/plan_education.htm
but I would love to learn more about this method of funding education.
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hi,
I’ve been reading your blog now for a good 10-12 months and the advice you give here really is fantastic.
Anyway, to the point. I’ll be graduating from university at the end of the year. I was hoping you could give some tips on how to start sorting myself out financially. I’m actually studying in Australia so slightly more general ideas (less US orientated)would be great!
It would also be great if you could cover the basics of investing. I’m alright with saving my money but i’m more interested in finding out how to make my money grow. Some basics covering what are bonds, mutual funds, ect & the risk & benefits of each as well as some tips.
Cheers! =)
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In my Engineering Economics college class (years and years ago) we covered different methods to compare alternatives using quantitative methods (for example, invest X dollars now that will result in a certain savings over time vs not investing that money, but having increased costs over the same time period). This took into account time cost of money. I found myself wanting to apply those principals to evaluate different alternatives for myself in the past but haven’t gone back to those old textbooks to review it.
I think a discussion on how to evaluate different financial alternatives would be a very helpful tool to have. It could be applied to everything from fixing your existing car vs buying a new one to selling your house vs renting it out if you need to move. Thanks, looking forward the the month of articles.
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I second the Reading List as suggested by El Nerdo – any basic reading material you can recommend?
Also, what I need more than anything else is some motivation to stay on track….
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I would love to hear more about the basics of insurance–what kinds everyone should have, and what to look for when buying a policy. I was looking over the benefits information for my new (first) job and am totally lost–I have no idea whether I should get all these different kinds of insurance (do I need accidental death and dismemberment insurance if I already have medical and life?). I looked up an old but very detailed post about disability insurance that was incredibly helpful. It would be great to have that kind of information about all different kinds of insurance.
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I second the insurance. I’m looking into different car insurance for us, and find myself wondering what limits do I need, is the medical payments coverage necessary, etc. I’ve also looked into umbrella insurance, identity theft insurance… Also, I’d be interested in learning more about savings bonds, and how we might use them (college?). A reading list would be great as well!
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Hi JD!
How about Mid-Cap, Large-Cap, Small-Cap, etc? It’s hard to figure out what to invest in since I don’t really get how these work.
As always, thanks for all the great articles!
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Yeah, +++ for insurance.
Re: living below your means, various texts in personal finance mention the need to learn to do a lot of things yourself (e.g. home repairs, etc.). [this is an elaboration on the DIY idea from last night]. I rent a place from an elderly couple who owns a bunch of properties in my town– they do most of the repairs and maintenance themselves, they’re amazing! (and I’m sure loaded too). Of course for big jobs they hire good pros– they are thrifty but not cheap.
While everyone has different needs and abilities (e.g., JD hates laundry; so do I), what is a good set of all-around DIY skills to help a person save money? I can think of a few off the top of my head: cooking– save money on groceries and eating out. basic plumbing– goes without saying. car maintenance — same thing. oh yes, home brewing too–hA! (not really). but home business for fun and profit (and tax deductions): yes–even a little side business goes a long way– which makes me think– bookkeeping basics is an al-around money-saving skill; nothing better to get you acquainted with your money than keeping good track of it, even if you have a CPA at your command. Etc.
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I’m interested in learning more about financial advice tailored specifically for single people. Lots of the info out there assumes all single people are in their 20′s, just starting out, paying off student loans, & are not married “yet.”
Advice for folks 30+ often assumes dual salaries, kids, college savings. An article outlining guidelines & advice for single adults in their 30′s, 40′s, & 50′s would be very helpful. Thanks JD!
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I second lilybird99 – being single in my early 40′s, there isn’t much out there, so any extra help there would be great.
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I would love to hear about budgets for retirement. In trying to determine how much money I will need I thought I should do a detailed monthly budget. I thought I had all the categories figured out, but it has occurred to me that I should think about a line item for dental insurance or the cost of dental stuff, and the cost of monthly medicines, plus if I retire before medicare that I would need health insurance premiums, totally forgot about that since I am so used to that stuff being handled in my paycheck.
I bet there are lots of others things I haven’t thought of yet. Thank.
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Hi there, I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now and I’ve already learned so much.
I’m only 24 years old, just finished schooling, so of course, I have a massive student debt.
I keep reading and reading about finances and I just feel like I’m stuck in a rut that I can’t get out of, even after researching.
I’m not working in my career field yet (it’s a very long process to get a job in my field in Canada), so I’m not making nearly as much money as I’d like. I can afford to pay my bills and other necessities but I’m only putting $150/mth down on a $15,000 student debt.
I would love a complete beginners how-to guide of not only how to create a budget, but also preparing for the future, RRSP’s, how to save for a downpayment on a house, emergency funds, how much you should have in savings, etc. So many websites just use financial jargon which makes it more difficult to understand. I get the basic concepts, but how can I APPLY it to my life is my biggest concern.
I want to be able to afford a house, I want to marry my boyfriend and I want to be debt free within the soonest upcoming years I can but as of right now it seems like an impossible feat.
Please help!
Thank you!
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