While it’s a fact that the average parent wants to be a good financial role model for their child, many parents today don’t know where to start as they face financial difficulties of their own.

According to a survey by investment management firm T. Rowe Price, over two thirds of parents said that, when it comes to setting a good financial example for their children, they are “very or extremely concerned” about doing it. Even worse, nearly 25% of parents surveyed admitted that they are “not good with money” and don’t believe that they should be the ones to teach their kids about how to handle it.… Read the rest

It’s well-known that talking about religion or politics among friends and family members can make for awkward conversation. For businesses, it can not only be awkward but also financially deadly.

Not long ago the CEO of fast food chain Chick-fil-A made his opinions known about the fact that he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. The backlash that his comments sparked, from the media, gay and lesbian couples across the country and even Boston’s mayor, was massive.

On the other hand, when former Arkansas governor (and FOX commentator) Mike Huckabee organized a “Chick-fil-A appreciation Day”, the restaurant saw record shattering sales.… Read the rest

We’ve talked about your credit score quite a bit here on our blog. The reason is that they are 3 numbers that can profoundly affect you financially. Whether it’s the interest you pay on your mortgage, your ability to get a car loan or being able to get a credit card with an excellent APR, your credit score,  and making sure that it’s a “good” one, is vital.

The reason it’s so vital is that your credit score takes into consideration practically everything about you credit wise. It looks at your credit cards, your car loan, your mortgage, your payment history, how much of your available credit that you are using and a number of other factors.… Read the rest

There are quite a few things that can help a person’s credit score as well as hurt it but not everything is either “positive” or “negative” when it comes to your credit score. Indeed, there are quite a few things that simply don’t matter at all when it comes to credit, something that should be a relief for plenty of people.

With that in mind we put together a blog article that goes over some of these things so that you can, at least for the holidays, put your mind at ease about whether or not you are negatively affecting your credit score.… Read the rest

As we move towards the end of the year it’s definitely time to start thinking about your year-end financial planning. Things like taxes, open enrollment options at work and reassessing your overall financial plan should be done before January and that’s only about six weeks away. Indeed, some of the plans that you need to make are sophisticated enough that starting them in September or October is probably a better idea, but it’s already a little bit too late for that.

Of course the main focus that most people will have is their year-end tax issues but there are other, more complex topics to be addressed like IRA distributions and 401(k) plans.… Read the rest