It's never too late to change your family tree

Our church just completed our first Wednesday night Bible study with six lessons from Dave Ramsey's book set Life Lessons with Junior. It was a lot of fun. The children learned about work, spending, giving, saving, integrity and debt. The kids and even their parents had a great time. I want to encourage every parent to take time to teach your kids about money. It is never too early or late to teach them. Take a look at these staggering statistics:

• 19% of Americans between the ages of 18-24 declared bankruptcy in 2001.- USA Today, 2001. The fastest growing group of bankruptcy filers are those people who are 25 years of age or younger.- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, 2002. Over 80% of undergraduates have at least one credit card and nearly 50% of college graduates carry four or more credit cards. According to the Department of Education, the average balance carried by these students is more than $3,000.- Senator Chris Dodd, CT. 68.1% of high school seniors surveyed failed a basic financial survey, up from 52.1% in 2001, and only 10% scored a "C" or better.-Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Annual Summary, 2002. Nearly half of college-age adults (49%) said they believe they are more likely to become millionaires by starring in a reality TV series than by learning how to budget and save wisely (36%).-Visa USA, 2003. Persons entering college are offered an average of 8 credit cards in their FIRST WEEK of school.- Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Annual Summary, 2002. 83% of adults are unaware of the resources available to help them teach children practical money skills.- Visa USA, 2003.

Dave says that your job as a parent is not just to keep your child happy - AMEN! It is tough love sometimes isn't it and saying the dreaded "NO" word to our children is done out of love. You're raising a future grown-up who needs to be able to deal with grown-up matters. If you teach little Timmy how to handle money responsibly, then grown-up Timmy will be better equipped for a richer life.

Pay just the minimum on your credit cards and build up savings - NOT!!!

I know some of you have heard this, because some of you have asked me about it. Of course, you know me, I will always refer back to what Dave Ramsey says, but don’t just take it from me or Dave, see what the paid experts say on MSN Money. Putting yourself further into debt by borrowing fro your credit cards for your savings is a “STUPID” idea as Dave would recommend. Why? Even the Bible says “the rich rule over the poor and the borrower is SLAVE to the lender”. The reason why America is in such a mess today is because once the consumers started hurting financially the credit card companies tightened the hand cuffs on our lives and now we are screaming to be released from these chains. Why would you give the credit card companies back the key? It's time we break out of the bondage and handle our money the way God intended and then we can have true Financial Peace.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/CreditCardSmarts/why-suze-orman-is-wrong-again.aspx

The key to winning with your money in these trying economic times is to change your behavior and get on a budget. Handling money is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. Following the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps as prescribed in Financial Peace University has been proven to win family after family, including my own. The Seven Baby Steps are attached herein.

Use the Baby Steps to get your finances in order and on track. Then pass them on to someone you know and help change their life!

$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund

Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

3 to 6 months of expenses in savings

Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

College funding for children

Pay off home early

Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate