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Tell Your Family You Love Them -- Write Your Will

USA Today recently had a front page story – Two exes, a spouse, kids, stepkids – Now try drafting a will. In today’s society there are more and more blended families, which makes having a will even more important. But your family dynamics really don’t matter  having a will should be a priority. According to attorney Les Kotzer “Everybody need to plan because we’re all going to die. It’s not if, but when.”

Approximately 70% of Americans don’t have a will. A will is a fairly simple document to create so why do so many people avoid it? Just a few reasons might include: I don’t have anything to leave to my heirs; I’ve got plenty of time to write my will; bad things don’t happen to good people; I can’t afford it, etc.

Is Your Teen Experiencing School Fatigue?

There was a time when fatigue and burnout were problems reserved for high-powered executives, doctors, and other professionals who worked more than they slept. Today, however, the race to get the best grades and participation in the right extracurricular activities bring burnout problems into teenage classrooms. Today's kids are all trying to outdo one another. Parents who want the best future for their children are unintentionally pushing them harder than ever before, which had led to rising numbers of teenagers experiencing the symptoms of school fatigue.

Should Adults Have an Allowance?

Many families teach children about money management and responsibility by offering them an allowance but what about adults, should they have one too?

An allowance (for those of privilege reading) is not an imaginary thing but rather a pre-set small sum of money a child receives regularly to spend on new toys, clothes, books or whatever. It could be a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly payment depending on how the parents set it up. Think of it as a trust fund, without the fund or all those extra zeros.

Allowances teach children to save and plan for purchases and form the foundation of a valuable life skill, one that many adults really need.

Average America vs the One Percent

If the Occupy movement does nothing else, it has at least introduced a new set of terms into the American vocabulary to talk about the distribution of wealth in America. Until recently, most average people had no idea how wealth was distributed in the country; most people had a vague idea of a wealthy minority, but they rarely grasped the full extent of income disparity between classes. Now, most people are aware of the notion of the 1 percent, although they still may not know exactly what it means or how that unequal distribution of wealth applies to the rest of the country.

8 Obstacles to Becoming a Physical Therapist

A career in physical therapy is not for the faint of heart. It takes a certain kind of person, one with patience and optimism, who is flexible and willing to try new things. The excellent salary and opportunity to help those in need make this career choice rewarding, but if you are thinking of making this your profession, you should know the challenges faced by physical therapists day in and day out in order to decide if it is the right profession for you.

Do We Take Debt Seriously Enough?

Debt is hardly a new part of the human experience. From the time that man first developed money, people have wanted to buy things they can't afford. Although most Americans don't run much risk of being sent to a debtor's prison like a character in a Charles Dickens novel, debt can still have far-reaching and life-ruining implications.

In the simplest terms, debt happens when a person borrows money to pay for something. When he pays it back he will owe interest, causing the total cost of his purchase to increase, sometimes exponentially, the longer he maintains the debt. The problem is that, for many consumers, the consequences of debt never seem important until it's too late.

6 Factors That Determine Your Car Insurance Premium

Insurance companies use a variety of factors to determine how much you will pay for car insurance. Some of the most common factors include your age, sex, marital status, ZIP code, credit history, driving record, and three-year history of at-fault accidents. In the end, the insurance companies are looking for things that help them decide how safe you are behind the wheel and how likely you are to need to file a claim in the next year. Drivers with safer demographics are offered less expensive insurance rates.

Foreclosure - Get Over It

In any society there are good times and bad times but when things get rough most people simply focus on all the bad things, instead of how to solve the problem.

Today’s economic problems are much different than decades ago since it involves the primary core of our foundation as a nation – real estate - and the only people who will come out ahead are those who come to terms with our new reality.

When companies are forced to build iPods in China or imported car sales overtake domestic sales the net effect is typically a better product at a cheaper cost, however when America’s real estate market collapses this directly affects almost everyone since the average person’s ultimate dream has always been to own a home. As long as you have a place to call your own then you can manage everything else right?

When will somebody put a pin in this bubble?

Not the housing market (that already happened) but the dream of having to hold on to your home right now. Real estate has always been considered the best investment but the last few years have proven even the best investments can fail, and fail they surely did.

Almost every person who put 20% or less down in a home before 2008 has completely lost all of their home equity and quite possibly has a mortgage where not a single dime is going towards principal. You know what this is called in the real word – Rent.

5 Ways to Kickstart Your Business Idea

The amount of wealth created online has never been greater and the upcoming Facebook IPO is the latest billion dollar example of how starting something in your dorm room can end up bigger than your wildest dreams. Even in a depressed economic state the world is still ripe with opportunities for those people willing to put in the time.

Whether its Zuckerberg’s next moment that inspires you or Mandy Hale’s blog titled TheSingleWoman.net (who decided to go online last year and has accumulated over 500,000 followers since) the stories are endless. All they are missing is you.

Stop Thinking in Cents

One of my favorite quotes has always been “Stop thinking in cents - Anybody can make a buck” and when it comes to saving money so many people think about today but forget about tomorrow. Living paycheck to paycheck is a harsh reality for some but it’s also a lifestyle choice for millions of people.

Living Paycheck to Paycheck a Lifestyle Choice?

We live in a society where expensive instant gratification is everywhere. Whether it’s the $5 Venti Mocha at Starbucks (Venti is Italian for 20, the number of ounces in a Venti, if you must know), an instant not-free upgrade to the newest cellphone you really don’t need, a VIP upgrade which will reward you with a croissant in the morning or any number of other things. Life has become more about how much companies can sell you versus how much you really need.