That's my mantra for this year...for 2012...Positive Destruction. The use of a positive force, with good intentions and righteous motivations, to destroy any and all negativity within myself and around me.
Biting off more than I can chew? Maybe. But I've never been one to back down just because something was difficult. If it's difficult then it's probably worth it, and definitely more valuable if only to me.
I am working on stopping smoking, getting up at 5 a.m. daily to hit the gym by 5:30 and work out for at least an hour, working Mon-Fri 9-6, raising my children and trying desperately to spend quality time with them, spending time with my hubby and trying desperately to spend time with him, planning to begin my studies for my series 7 license, making time for church and my spiritual recharge, working at least 6 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, improving my diet and the diet of my family, working on making time to put together some volunteer projects to better the community, all at the same time. And that doesn't even include cooking, cleaning, laundry...the basics. Sounds like a lot, right?
I've found that so many things in our lives intermingle...each one thing affects the other....so for me I have to try to do all these things at the same time. Working out gives me the energy I need for spending quality time with my kids and my honey....gives me the motivation and tools to quit smoking....gives me the mental focus to study, to learn about improving our diets, to volunteer in my community, etc. Spending time with my family recharges me, giving me the motivation to work out and have that energy for them...motivation to be as spiritually strong as I am mentally and physically.....makes me want to do more with and for my family, which in turn motivates me to study and improve in my profession to better provide for my family and set a good example for them. Spending time with my hubby makes me want to be a better person all around...a strong intelligent loving woman, the type that he can be proud of having by his side...the type he wants to build and maintain a family with...the type of woman whose mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual strength he can admire....the type of woman who motivates him to do better and be better for his own sake, for our family's sake...the type of woman who he will enjoy working side by side with, as a wife, mother, volunteer, workout partner, whatever.
Since all these things intermingle I cannot put one off to allow time for the others to come to fruition. I must do them all at once, and although the fruits of my labor may blossom at different times, my efforts will continue nonetheless. Using positive energy all these things will be accomplished....a positive movement is progress, and progress shall not be stopped. Granted, I will probably be slow and steady, as I have chosen to battle a bunch of my own demons all at once. BUT, the positive forces being used will eventually win, as long as no matter how many times I stumble I continue to pick myself up and start anew.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's using the Ultimate Positive Force. Let the Destruction of Negativity begin!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Better than Before- Financial preparation for the next generation today (529 plans)
At some point in time I think every generation (hopefully) reaches the point where they stop blaming their parents for what they didn't do for them and starts taking action to make the next generation's future a little bit better, a little bit easier, a little bit smoother. As a parent that is one of my goals...to make my children's futures a little bit easier than my life has been. Not to devalue the experiences I've had, as they have helped make me and strengthen me, but to hopefully be able to prepare my children and future generations for what is to come. Life is the great unknown to our children and future generations, and as such it is our responsibility as the - dare I say- "older generation" (ICK!!) to smooth the path, teach, and prepare the way for the next ones coming.
Needless to say this knowledge comes with age and experience...as a thirtysomething year old mom with an 18 year old daughter who I gave birth to at the ripe ol' age of 19 *insert sarcasm* I have only recently realized the disservice I have done to my oldest child by not having this information earlier in her life. I did not do a great job preparing her for the future, as I was growing up myself. As she and I both got older and life brought lessons with it, I began to realize this disservice and attempt to make it right. Heh. Nearly impossible, as I was not only quickly running out of her childhood years in which to correct things but I was also duking it out with a rebellious and angry pre-teen then teenager. So, it was tough. This year I had the pleasure of helping my oldest enroll in college, and the agony of having to tell her that I couldn't financially help her pay the bill. $720 a month for a newly independent young woman who wants to attend a fine private school...and who didn't have a job. It hurt so bad to let her know that no Mommy couldn't afford that, and no Mommy's credit isn't good enough to get you a loan, and yes Mommy is still paying off her own student loans from the Bachelor's degree she hasn't received yet. UGH! Something no parent wants to face. Something I don't want to face with my two younger children either.
My mother had my older sister when she was 16. She lived and was raised on a farm in Puerto Rico, and had to drop out of school at a very young age to care for the family and help tend the farm. She came over to New York from Puerto Rico at the ripe old age of twenty, and at twenty one had me. She didn't speak a lick of English; as a matter of fact, she learned English once my sister and I started school by helping us with our homework.
I don't write all these things to belittle my mother by any means...my mother was a strong and brave woman. I bring these things up to help explain her background which explains her lack of planning for us, her children. She was living life day to day, paycheck to paycheck, and in all fairness I don't think college and the cost of it was very mainstream in the hispanic/minority community in the 70's. So, when it was my turn to go to college - mind you I was the middle child - there was no money for it.
(This gave me a soft spot for mi gente especially....my minorities who do not trust banks, who don't know about investing, who are leery about having money anywhere except under the mattress.)
I went anyways, and didn't understand a thing I was doing. Little did I know that I was setting myself up for a future of what seems like unending debt, credit issues, harships, defaults, rehabilitation payments, and the wonderful IRS keeping my hard earned tax refund in the years to come. I also didn't know the difference between a matriculated student and a non-matriculated student, a lesson I learned after a year of college and expenses that could be used towards no degree. But that's another story.
I racked up loan after loan....school supplies, book supplies, class after class, and was awed when I would get a refund check every semester of about a thousand dollars!!! WOO HOO!!! Going to school was paying me!!! Little did I know that I was paying double for that...interest charges were racking up on my loans....and I would have to someday pay it all back. Sigh.
So I promise not to let that happen to my little ones. I promise that I would not let that happen to me again...to have to tell my beloved children that I can't help them reach their goals of higher education. So, although I was not educated on finances by the previous generation, I decided to educate myself and share the information with as many people as I can, not only to improve the information sharing and knowledge of my own generation, but to make as much of an impact on the NEXT generation as is possible for me.
Google has a tremendous amount of information if you search 529 plans. To avoid being as overwhelmed by all this information as I was (and I work in the financial industry) you should start by Googling 529 plans and your state. There are benefits in some states for using the 529 plan in your state. General rule of thumb: if you don't pay income tax in your state there won't be too many tax benefits for you in your state plan. No matter what state you are in, you can open a 529 account for your children in any plan from any state. BUT, word to the wise, do your research. These accounts do not run for free...there are fees and expenses that are taken out from the funds deposited into the account, and all parents want to have minimal fees and maximize the benefits for the child.
The awesomest benefit - in my opinion - to these plans is that you most certainly do not have to be rich to open and fund them. Many plans allow you to deposit $20-25 a month and will automatically invest it into an age appropriate vehicle for your child i.e. the younger the child the more stocks = the higher risk tolerance, just like a retirement account. Keep in mind, the money in these accounts does not have to go only for college; if your child goes to a private school or has any type of educational expenses the funds from this account can help pay for them.
A couple of more informational links:
http://529.com/
http://www.savingforcollege.com/compare_529_plans/
If you already have an investment account with a particular company or vendor, also check out their website for 529 information. By no means take this as financial advice...this is just one mother doing her own research to help her children's future. But, if possible, I'd like to teach my generation to be better educated and informed than the one before, and I'd like to help others make their children's future better as well. A future generation that is not saddled with student loans, does not have as many credit problems, and is able to successfully complete their higher education and get better paying jobs without the limitations of not being able to pay for it is a positive for everyone.
Pass the education/information forward. And let's change the world....we can't change the past, but we can take hold of the present and mold the future.
Needless to say this knowledge comes with age and experience...as a thirtysomething year old mom with an 18 year old daughter who I gave birth to at the ripe ol' age of 19 *insert sarcasm* I have only recently realized the disservice I have done to my oldest child by not having this information earlier in her life. I did not do a great job preparing her for the future, as I was growing up myself. As she and I both got older and life brought lessons with it, I began to realize this disservice and attempt to make it right. Heh. Nearly impossible, as I was not only quickly running out of her childhood years in which to correct things but I was also duking it out with a rebellious and angry pre-teen then teenager. So, it was tough. This year I had the pleasure of helping my oldest enroll in college, and the agony of having to tell her that I couldn't financially help her pay the bill. $720 a month for a newly independent young woman who wants to attend a fine private school...and who didn't have a job. It hurt so bad to let her know that no Mommy couldn't afford that, and no Mommy's credit isn't good enough to get you a loan, and yes Mommy is still paying off her own student loans from the Bachelor's degree she hasn't received yet. UGH! Something no parent wants to face. Something I don't want to face with my two younger children either.
My mother had my older sister when she was 16. She lived and was raised on a farm in Puerto Rico, and had to drop out of school at a very young age to care for the family and help tend the farm. She came over to New York from Puerto Rico at the ripe old age of twenty, and at twenty one had me. She didn't speak a lick of English; as a matter of fact, she learned English once my sister and I started school by helping us with our homework.
I don't write all these things to belittle my mother by any means...my mother was a strong and brave woman. I bring these things up to help explain her background which explains her lack of planning for us, her children. She was living life day to day, paycheck to paycheck, and in all fairness I don't think college and the cost of it was very mainstream in the hispanic/minority community in the 70's. So, when it was my turn to go to college - mind you I was the middle child - there was no money for it.
(This gave me a soft spot for mi gente especially....my minorities who do not trust banks, who don't know about investing, who are leery about having money anywhere except under the mattress.)
I went anyways, and didn't understand a thing I was doing. Little did I know that I was setting myself up for a future of what seems like unending debt, credit issues, harships, defaults, rehabilitation payments, and the wonderful IRS keeping my hard earned tax refund in the years to come. I also didn't know the difference between a matriculated student and a non-matriculated student, a lesson I learned after a year of college and expenses that could be used towards no degree. But that's another story.
I racked up loan after loan....school supplies, book supplies, class after class, and was awed when I would get a refund check every semester of about a thousand dollars!!! WOO HOO!!! Going to school was paying me!!! Little did I know that I was paying double for that...interest charges were racking up on my loans....and I would have to someday pay it all back. Sigh.
So I promise not to let that happen to my little ones. I promise that I would not let that happen to me again...to have to tell my beloved children that I can't help them reach their goals of higher education. So, although I was not educated on finances by the previous generation, I decided to educate myself and share the information with as many people as I can, not only to improve the information sharing and knowledge of my own generation, but to make as much of an impact on the NEXT generation as is possible for me.
Google has a tremendous amount of information if you search 529 plans. To avoid being as overwhelmed by all this information as I was (and I work in the financial industry) you should start by Googling 529 plans and your state. There are benefits in some states for using the 529 plan in your state. General rule of thumb: if you don't pay income tax in your state there won't be too many tax benefits for you in your state plan. No matter what state you are in, you can open a 529 account for your children in any plan from any state. BUT, word to the wise, do your research. These accounts do not run for free...there are fees and expenses that are taken out from the funds deposited into the account, and all parents want to have minimal fees and maximize the benefits for the child.
The awesomest benefit - in my opinion - to these plans is that you most certainly do not have to be rich to open and fund them. Many plans allow you to deposit $20-25 a month and will automatically invest it into an age appropriate vehicle for your child i.e. the younger the child the more stocks = the higher risk tolerance, just like a retirement account. Keep in mind, the money in these accounts does not have to go only for college; if your child goes to a private school or has any type of educational expenses the funds from this account can help pay for them.
A couple of more informational links:
http://529.com/
http://www.savingforcollege.com/compare_529_plans/
If you already have an investment account with a particular company or vendor, also check out their website for 529 information. By no means take this as financial advice...this is just one mother doing her own research to help her children's future. But, if possible, I'd like to teach my generation to be better educated and informed than the one before, and I'd like to help others make their children's future better as well. A future generation that is not saddled with student loans, does not have as many credit problems, and is able to successfully complete their higher education and get better paying jobs without the limitations of not being able to pay for it is a positive for everyone.
Pass the education/information forward. And let's change the world....we can't change the past, but we can take hold of the present and mold the future.
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