My Personal Finance Blog

Setting family financial goals, that allow each member to participate, can be a powerful force. Personal goal setting alone changes lives and when you have each family member working together it will supercharge your results.

The more family members that are working toward a common goal the faster you will achieve results. What’s more, when the entire family unit is working toward financial goals it can be a bonding experience that everyone will appreciate.

Working toward family financial goals brings families closer together. You will find that your family will begin to operate as one unit in order to reach those goals. Many top business organizations, sports teams, charities and sororities share common financial goals that bring everyone involved closer together. It works for them so let the power of family financial goals work for you.

Family goals should be set for all areas of your life including: health, personal development, spiritual/ religious and life goals. This article will focus on family financial goals; however you can easily adopt the techniques to cover the remaining areas of your life. Once more, each individual person in the family should set their own personal goals and have full support from the family.

By setting common goals and working as a family to achieve financial freedom everyone involved gets a sense of purpose and something positive to work toward. Children, parents and other extended members of the family will all benefit from the support of working toward family goals.

How to set family financial goals.

Setting family financial goals begins with identifying objectives that your family wants to accomplish. Take some time to figure out what motivates everyone. Maybe one family member wants a vacation home at the beach, another person wants to retire next year and another member wants to have enough financial security to take a month off each year on family vacations. Find out what everyone dreams about because this will help you understand each others goals and you’ll become closer because of it.

Once you have an understanding of what each family member wants it time to align your goals. Maybe you want to learn more about making investments, want to increase your 401k savings, would like that new car, or just want to have more money for a rainy day. The bottom line is that everyone in the family has to do their part. When everyone works together with a common goal of achieving financial freedom then everyone’s life improves. The ability to set family financial goals and achieve family goals will improve every aspect of you personally and your family as a whole.

Family Financial Goals That Work.

There are effective goal setting techniques available that will allow your family to maximize the effectiveness of your financial goals. One helpful technique to aid in accomplishing your goals is to set them using the S.M.A.R.T method.

- S ‘ Significant & Specific. The more detailed you are able to make your family goals the closer you are to achieving them. This gives you a clear target to shoot for and when you see what you’re aiming at you have a much better chance at hitting the bull’s-eye.

Be sure to make your family financial goals significant. They must mean something to your family so that they are motivated to reach them. Setting a goal of saving for a gallon of gas probably won’t motivate people but if it was to save gas for a weekend trip now that’s another story. Remember kids, teens and young adults are motivated by lifestyle not money. So be sure to relate money to being able to afford the type of lifestyle your family wants to live.

- M – Motivational & Measurable. Creating measurable goals will allow your family to celebrate when you achieve them. This makes goal setting fun and a true bonding experience.

The family financial goals that you set should be motivational to the entire family. Create motivating goals that move family member to participate.

- A – Attainable. Dream huge and be realistic. You can be anything you set out to be; however growing gills so you can swim underwter probably won’t happen.

- R – Results-oriented, Reasons & Related. One way to maximize the effectiveness of your family financial goals is to phrase your goals in the positive. Using results-oriented words like “I accomplished,” “I received,” or “I have”, will direct your mind to focus on the outcome. Focusing on the outcome is one of the key steps to becoming financially free.

Your family financial goals should include the reasons too ‘ would you like money for college, a nice vacation, etc. It’s the reasons behind the goals that make us want to accomplish them. Money doesn’t matter it’s what money brings us that matters.

Family financial goals must relate to each other so the family works as a single unit. Setting powerful family financial goals starts with making sure everyone’s goals are heading in the same direction and not contradicting each other. For instance, if one family member’s goal is taking a family trip to the beach next weekend and another goal is to work that weekend to save more money ‘ those contradict each other.

- T -Time. Your family financial goals should have a deadline. Decide on a specific time so you push each other to accomplish them by a certain date.

Take an evening and sit down together for dinner with no interruptions. Get everyone’s dreams, goals and aspirations out. Find a way to align your goals to create a dynamic family that accomplishes goals together. Every goal you set out and accomplish together will bring everyone closer.

Today there are many causes of stress, and before you are going to be able to eliminate stress and anxiety from your life, you are going to figure out and understand the causes in your own life. When you are familiar with this cause, you can take some action and eliminate them to lower the stress you are dealing with. Although not every cause of your stress can be eliminated, often there are changes you can make in your life to help lower the stress you are dealing with. Here is a closer look at some of the leading causes of stress that you may be experiencing in your own life.

Cause 1 – Financial Difficulties

There are many studies supporting the idea that one of the main causes of stress happens to be financial difficulties. Finances often lead to more stress, especially those who are having a difficult time financially. Some people deal with more stress when they are making the major purchase of something like a vehicle or a new home. Increasing debt or losing their income can also cause you more stressed. If you want to eliminate stress, work on controlling your finances to the best of your ability.

Cause 2 – Work Problems

Another of the big causes of stress can be a work problem. Jobs seem to cause a whole lot of stress, even for those who usually are happy with their jobs. There can be stress as we meet huge demands, work on climbing the ladder, dealing with inter office relationships, and even worrying about whether employment will last can also cause more stress. There are times when others bring this stress to you, but in other cases we can bring on this work related stress ourselves. Finding ways to eliminate stress at work is important.

Cause 3 – Family Members

Although you may love your family, one of the causes of stress in your life can often be family. While each member can be wonderful, they can also cause a reason of stress in your life. There can be arguments; changes in family dynamics, and a whole lot more than that. Sickness or injury of a family member can also cause a lot of stress to you. Eliminate stress within your family where you can and find ways to cope with the other stress that you are not able to change.

Cause 4 – Your Personal Relationships

Personal relationships are often the causes of stress as well. Whether it is a dating relationship a friendship in your life, marriage, an engagement, or even a divorce, these personal relationships can cause stress to occur.

Of course, there are many other causes of stress in your life. Losing a loved one, your health problems, personal concerns in your life, and more. The good news is that once you learn more about what is causing you stressed, it is easier for you to find ways that you can eliminate stress from your life.

Those who own a mobile home often ask if there’s a type of insurance that is something between home and car insurance and is suitable for covering their property. The answer is positive, as there is a special type of insurance products designed to cover mobile homes, and they are relatively inexpensive, with premiums of about $250 per year. And if you really want to make sure that your mobile home will be paid for if it gets damaged, it’s not a big price to pay for certainty and some peace of mind.

This type of insurance coverage makes part of general liability insurance coverage. Claims filed under this type of insurance usually deal with medical costs, lost income, trauma and sometimes property damage. Typical mobile home policies have the same aspects of coverage as ordinary home protection, including the actual replacement and repair costs of the house, injuries sustained by other people (besides you and your family members) on your property, living expenses if you have to dwell in another location due to repair, and the items contained in your home. The main difference here is that the same coverage applies while your house is on the move, too. And as with any other type of insurance, the rates vary significantly from one company to another.

Home insurance whether it’s a mobile home or a typical house is first and foremost used to protect your property from such hazards as fire, storm, and theft, acts of vandalism, natural calamities, explosions and technological calamities. The items contained within your home will also be covered, including furniture, equipment and valuables such as jewelry (to an extent).

And just like with ordinary houses home insurance quotes for mobile homes can vary significantly from one provider to another. The Insurance Information Institute strongly suggests having at least three quotes from different providers before buying a policy. However, the more quotes you have the higher are the chances that you will find a suitable policy for a low price. This is especially useful if you are new to the whole insurance market and don’t know where to start.

Still, mobile home coverage has certain peculiarities that set it apart from the usual home insurance you would purchase for your house. The main feature is that you can benefit from free continental travel coverage, which protects your mobile home financially regardless of where your home is located in the country at the moment.

However, the hidden catch with mobile home coverage is that in most cases it is based on actual cash value of your home, which puts a strong emphasis on depreciation that lowers the replacement cost of your mobile home with each year passing. Still, the policy will cover all the equipment and special features that were initially installed in your mobile home. Read your policy careful before signing it in order to learn which particular items and situations are covered and which are not.

Most mobile home owners neglect the importance of insurance for their homes, believing that it’s not mandatory and taking account the rare use of it. But even if you do not use it quite often and it stays near your house most of the time it doesn’t mean that nothing can happen to your property, and losing something costly due to own negligence is not the smartest thing to do.

“Home Sweet Home” should remain sweet even if you are away. Increasing insecurity in today’s world have tends to take the peace away from your mind as you keep worrying about the safety and security of your home when away. Peep holes and deadbolts on your doors do not guarantee safety of your home during your absence. Home surveillance systems are the solution to this problem that allows you to have a more peaceful mind when away from home. Such a system provides effective and affordable avenues of your property protection. These systems can be easily configured to adhere to your needs and requirements as well. They don’t cost much and can be efficiently installed and operated by homeowners.

 

If you are looking for ways to protect your children or car or any other part of your household, you can effectively do so with the help of the advanced home surveillance systems. Today’s home security systems are uniquely designed. You can have them visible or you can choose to have them hidden somewhere. More importantly, both outdoor and indoor cameras can be easily included in one single system.

 

Home surveillance systems can be primarily of two types. The standalone systems monitor the movements in your home and record them for future reference. The networked surveillance systems provide the user an option for remote tracking as well. In this type, the owner can check on the safety of his / her home even from remote locations. Home surveillance systems are also categorized as wired and wireless. Though the latter is a bit dearer than the former, but there are a lot of advantages with the wireless ones.

Cannot be detected easily and hence less prone to external tampering Wider coverage Position can be changed without much discomfort Poses less problems to the family members with the absence of wires running around the house

 

Different kinds of home wireless video surveillance systems can be viewed on internet but caution needs to be taken before finalizing the purchase. One’s own needs are to be analyzed before finalizing the intent to purchase. Various company websites can be surfed to gather reviews and views on the products that are available in the market today. Some of the important factors that need to be researched upon are – reliability of the company and its product, servicing commitments of the organization and the features that the surveillance system is offering. You must select the system which best fits your requirements.

CHIP stands for Children’s Health Insurance Program and was initiated by the Congress in 1997. It is a special program connecting federal and state government with the aim to provide additional health coverage to uninsured children and future mothers who don’t have the financial abilities to purchase a separate individual policy but still don’t qualify for Medicaid.

On February 4, 2009, CHIP was expanded by President Obama’s passing of law on Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA). This expansion raises the number of children within CHIP from 7 million to 11 million and extends its payment through 2013.

Who qualifies for CHIP?

CHIP is something between Medicaid and private insurance plans. Those who have too much income for Medicaid but still can’t afford private plans may use CHIP.

CHIP eligibility rules are different in each state. Still, in the majority of states, children who are younger than 18 years old and whose families earn $44,100 or less a year are eligible for CHIP.

The number of family members strongly influences the income value making it possible to opt for CHIP. For instance, a family of four can earn up to $44,100 while a family of two the upper income limit for being eligible for CHIP is $29,140 a year.

What is the cost of CHIP?

It all depends on the place you live in and how much your family earns, but in most cases you will have to pay a small fee on a monthly basis in order to receive coverage. In some states you may also encounter start-up fees and co-payments for each service received. For instance, it will cost you $35 to start the coverage in Colorado and each doctor visit or service will cost you between $2 and $5.

With CHIP health insurance you get very low fees for the services, but they are quite often related to your family’s income. For example, the monthly fee for CHIP coverage in the state of New York is only $9 and children from families with higher income may apply. In the state of Illinois however, having an income between $44,000 and $66,156 per year will result in a $40 monthly premium paid for each child.

What are the benefits provided by CHIP?

The list benefits you can get through CHIP varies from one state do another. However there’s a minimum set of requirements the program is obliged to provide regardless of the location:

• regular check-ups
• immunizations
• dental services
• hospital care
• emergency room services
• laboratory and x-ray visits

As said earlier, in some states you will be required to pay certain fees for getting the coverage or cover a part of services provided through CHIP. Still, it is a strict requirement that preventive care is absolutely free in all states through CHIP.

CHIP can be a possibility to get cheap health insurance for those who really need it. Children are very important to us and having their health protected is very crucial for parents. Don’t try to save money on health insurance coverage for your children because there are programs like CHIP and Medicaid that can help you if your income doesn’t allow you to get medical coverage from a private insurance company.