My Personal Finance Blog

There are four areas of life that need to be taken care of to ensure your family’s fitness in the coming New Year (and many more that follow). They are physical, emotional, financial and spiritual fitness.

Here are some ways you can resolve to bring more fitness and prosperity to your family in 2011.

1. Physical Fitness

The usual tips that people offer you are that you need to eat healthier, get more exercise, give up smoking, etc. But unless a person has a compelling reason to do these things – unless you know your “Why” – its unlikely that you’ll ever get down to doing them.

One of the ways that works best for me to get to my “why” is to learn more about the benefits of exercise and diet. When you know how much they can improve your life, you not only give yourself a compelling “why”, but you’ll wonder why you didn’t start earlier.

Other ways to motivate yourself are to look at your kids and imagine what you would need to do for yourself so you can be around for them for a long time to come. Unless you take care of your own physical well-being, you can neither be a good role model to them nor an inspiration to yourself.

2. Emotional Fitness

Emotional fitness involves getting rid of subconscious beliefs and blocks that are limiting you and your family from being the best you can be. It requires an effort to uncover and reprogram old mental and emotional programming that no longer serves you and is holding you back from your best life.

Stress management, meditation, therapy and other methods are the popular ways to get emotionally fit. However, today there are also many new techniques such as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that are so easy to do that even kids can benefit from them.

Take the time to learn EFT and practice it regularly with your kids. If you’re inclined towards yoga, meditation and other Eastern energy practices, incorporate them into your family’s routine. For kids there are a number of stress-relief techniques, such as guided meditation, that can make it easier to deal with emotional stress and growing pains.

3. Financial Fitness

In these days of economic turmoil, getting a financial education should be one of the primary tasks you should set for you and your family. Stop listening to what the media and the Government are feeding you about the financial situation and learn to manage your own family finances.

As a family you need to learn how and where to invest your money for the best returns in the next 10 to 20 years. Learn entrepreneurial skills and teach them to your kids. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s books, such as Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, and Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money, so that your family is well-prepared for future economic upheaval.

The days of depending on the Government to take care of you and your family are gone. In the New Year and those to follow, families will have to ensure their own security. Make the effort to overcome any outdated beliefs to wealth that you may have and teach your kids to prosper in the new world.

4. Spiritual Fitness

Whether you’re an atheist, agnostic or a religious person, believing that there are higher powers at work than just our own, is a prerequisite to spiritual fitness. For those who prefer a non-denominational approach to spirituality, the Law of Attraction, as taught by Abraham-Hicks, is a good place to start.

Whatever your beliefs, learning to channel the good within for the benefit of your family and the world at large, will make you happier, no matter which way you look at it.

We hope these tips will help you bring balance into these four areas of your life so that, this New Year and all the rest will be exceptionally wonderful for you and your family.

1st July 2010 starts a new financial year in Australia. With the new year, a new reduced rates of income tax is has been implemented by the Government. The following savings are a sample of what can be expected, the major beneficiaries are the middle income earners as you can see from the amounts below.

$600 per week the savings are $2.00

$900 per week the savings are $8.00

$1,200 per week the savings are $7.00

For the low income earners the low income tax offset has increase to $1,350 from $1,200, this means that the taxpayer can have extra earnings of $1,000 with out effecting their tax payable.

The new tax brackets are set out below for the 2011 financial year.

Taxable income Tax on this income

$1 – $6,000 Nil
$6,001 – $37,000 15c for each $1 over $6,000
$37,001 – $80,000 $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000
$80,001 – $180,000 $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000
$180,001 and over $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

The above rates do not include the Medicare levy of 1.5%, which is subject to income thresholds. Nor does it include any income tax offsets, these apply to the taxpayers individual circumstances.

There is a common misconception that as you move into a higher tax bracket, all of your earnings are taxed at the higher tax rate, thankfully this is not the case, only the income above the tax bracket is taxed at that rate.

Using the chart above if your income was $85,000, only $5k would be taxed at 37% not the full $85k.

It’s that time of year again when college parents across the country are forced to grapple with the complicated process of completing the FAFSA application in order to determine how much federal financial aid they may be eligible for. This aid takes the form of grants (Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, SMART Grants and TEACH Grants) or loans (Perkins Loans and Subsidized Stafford Loans) and is determined by the following formula:

Cost of Attendance
minus Resources (employer educational assistance funding, VA educational benefits, scholarships, non-family funding)
minus Expected Family Contributions
= Financial Need.

The Expected Family Contribution amount is determined as follows:

1. Parents’ Contribution From Income which = Parents’ Adjusted Gross Income plus Exempt Income plus 401(K) Plan Contributions plus IRA Distributions plus Workers’ Compensation Benefits plus Military Allowances plus untaxed Social Security Benefits plus Child Support plus Veterans Disability, plus Veterans Pension Benefits received minus Income Protection Allowance minus Federal Income Taxes minus Social Security Taxes minus State Allowance minus Employer Expense Allowance. Multiply this amount by 22%-47%.

2. Plus Parents’ Contributions From Assets which = Total Parents’ Assets minus Annuities minus Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance minus Retirement Accounts minus Financial Aid minus Personal Assets (cars, computers, various equipment) minus Family Residence minus Family Farm minus Family Business (100 of fewer employees). Multiply this amount by 2.64%-5.64%.

3. Plus Student’s Contribution From Income which = Student’s Adjusted Gross Income plus Exempt Income plus 401(K) Plan Contributions plus untaxed Social Security Benefits minus Income Protection Allowance minus Federal Income Taxes minus Social Security Taxes minus State Allowance minus Employer Expense Allowance. Multiply this amount by 50%.

4. Plus Student’s Contributions From Assets which = Total Student’s Assets minus Annuities, minus Cash Surrender Value of Life Insurance minus Retirement Accounts minus Financial Aid minus Personal Assets.

Adding items 1-4 results in the Expected Family Contribution, which is the amount that the parents’ and college student are expected to contribute to the cost of college. Of course, the devil is in the details, but this gives you an idea as to how to determine what, if any, you can expect to receive in financial aid. Whether that financial aid is in the form of grants or loans depends on your income level. As a general rule, individuals may qualify for grants and subsidized student loans when their income level is below $50,000.

You always try to excel yourself and this week it will be the dominating force of your life. You love to mingle pleasure in your work and this really helps you to be recognized. A lot of things will happen in your life this week, from academic pursuit to travel. This week will be a busy week for you and a lot of things will surround you such as financial matters, family issues, and issues related with your career. You should start planning for your future. Overall, this week will be spent in balancing your professional life with your personal life. If you want to know more about Capricorn weekly horoscope for 2011, read on…

For Family life: You will have a busy week ahead. Some family issues will come to you urgently and you have to sort them out within this week. If there is any elderly and young member in your family, it is better to sit and talk with them during the first half of the week. Your family members are very supportive to you and they offer you peace and comfort, when you return home after a long and tiring day. August 8 is a very good day, when you will enjoy with your near and dear ones. Some invitations may also come to your way this week.

For Romance: Your love life is very interesting this week. If you are paired, you will enjoy a blissful romantic life with your partner. You may have to sit and talk with your loved one, if there is any issue, which needs to be solved out. Your partner is always beside you and he or she will support you, whenever you will need them. If you are single, this week may not be a very good week for your romantic life. Even though, you may meet with a couple of potential singles this week, but they will not meet your criteria.

For Friendship: Your friends will help you, if you really need it. Your friends are always around you and you will find them always beside you. August 3 to August 5 is an ideal time, when you can go for shared hobby trips with your close friends. You may also plan for a pleasure trip this week with your close friends, but you always have to remember that nothing comes without a price tag.

For Career and finance: A good news might be waiting for you this week. This week may prove a highly profitable week for you. Always prepare making decisions for critical situations. Pay attention to your actions in the work place, because it will be responsible for your promotion or hike.

Some interesting facts about Capricorn weekly horoscope:

Most dominating traits: Steady, organized, and practical
Leading keyword: I use
Most compatible sign: Aries and Leo
Lucky numbers: 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 17, 19, 22
Lucky colors: Brown, Green, Grey, and Black
Lucky day of the week: Saturday
Lucky stone: Dark Sapphire and Garnet

Not too long ago I read a story about the “Extreme Home Makeover” houses. It seems several of them fell into foreclosure over the years. It makes me wonder if bailouts – big government or the average person – are ever the right way to go.

It would be easy for me to start talking about the right way for the show to find people and the right way for the houses to be built. But I have to get my own house in order before I start judging other people and their home situations. It is that whole beam and speck issue for me.

When the economy tanked, many of my freelance writing jobs followed it down the drain. We began to do what most Americans do – live off credit. We have been down that road before and recognized the symptoms early enough to begin the process of pushing things back on track. Right now the finances are so tight that you can hear them squeaking! Something has to give if we are going to survive to 2011.

5 Steps for Getting the Finances in Order

1. Pay cash. The easiest way to force your family to stay out of debt is to buy with cash. That means that if you do not have the money then you do not make the purchase. It is always the first thing that we do if we feel things getting out of control.

2. Make the cut. This means that we temporarily turn off all those services that are not essential to living – cable, extra phone lines, and bug treatment for the house. As individual items they may not be worth much, but when you add them all up they can make a huge dent in the budget.

3. Start selling off those items that you do not need. The extra car can give you cash to survive a few months PLUS you can cut out that insurance for that car from your household budget.

4. Get creative. Plan out menus that take advantage of everything in your freezer and pantry. You may find that you can skip a few trips to the grocery. Also plan out all your errands so that you can cut back on the gas you use up.

5. Be honest – with yourself, with your spouse and, YES, with the kids. The family needs to face finances as a family and working together will make the experience easier to manage.

Times have been tough on many people because of the economy and because of the way society as a whole consumes. Getting finances in order in my own home is the best thing that I can do to help the economy. After that, I will put together my plan for “Extreme Home Makeovers.”