Feedback Friday: Why Parents Should NOT Pay for College

Are you a parent who struggles to give your child the best of everything, including a house that's not a home because you're losing sleep at night worrying about how you're going to keep it, vacations charged to credit cards that will take you the next 20 years to pay off, and a college education that you can't afford to pay for? If this is you, then I beg of thee to stop it...NOW.

I just watched CNN's Black in America: Almighty Debt, and I was greatly disturbed by the parents who were facing foreclosure, because they're 26 months behind on their mortgage, yet they're concerning themselves with how they're going to pay for their daughter's college tuition to Yale, Harvard or Princeton, while this young lady incurs $400 monthly cell phone bills. At first I was miffed at the daughter because of her misplaced values. But after some thought, I realized the WHOLE family's values are in the wrong place.

Where is it written that parents MUST pay for their child's higher learning? I told my children early (probably daycare) that they needed to get good grades so they could go to college.; I never led them to believe that Mama would be paying for anything. Now, don't get me wrong, I would have contributed in any way that I could, but as a single mother raising four children, establishing college funds for each of them on my salary was not realistic. Nor is it realistic for a couple sitting on the front steps of foreclosure to think they can pay for an Ivy League education.

The couple on Almighty Debt said that it's important for their daughter to be able to go to the college of her choice. Well, if her college of choice is Yale, Harvard or Princeton, then her grades should reflect such. And if not, then she's already made her choice to enroll at the community college around the corner, where she can get enough through financial aid, including work study, to pay her own tuition.

Feedback Friday Question: Should parents pay for their child(ren)'s college education?

Lisa Maria Carroll is a wealth strategist and along with Kim Crouch, is co-creator of the Millionaire Journey. To learn more about Millionaire Journey, go to http://1yearmillionaires.blogspot.com or join us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/yhdwa78

Are You The Biggest Obstacle To Your Success?

How much do we limit ourselves? I was thinking about this today as I spent time with my sons showing them how to prepare dinner. Normally, preparing Sunday dinner is a ritual in my house because it’s an opportunity to wind down from the hustle and bustle of our busy week, which includes school, work, sports and a host of extracurricular activities. It’s a time to laugh, share, having fun and just bond around Sunday dinner.

Now, on Sundays, I also give them a pop quiz on current events. It is nothing formal but more general conversations about what’s taking shape in our ever expanding global world. But today, I decided to quiz them on how to make macaroni and cheese. It was one of the items we had prepared for dinner.

Almost instantly, my older son began telling my younger son to quit copying off his paper. When asked why he was copying, my younger son said because no one said he couldn’t. After listening to my son, I realized he was technically right. I hadn’t said no copying, no cheating, not etc. According to him, he was following the rules as given to him, and it wasn’t his fault that we assumed that the word quiz implied no copying, sharing or discussing the answers with someone else. He hadn’t taken quiz to assume any of that especially since I hadn’t said it.

As a good friend of mine said when I informed her of this: “Your son is going to be a good businessman. In school, it’s called cheating. In the real world, it’s called don’t reinvent the wheel.”

And while funny, it was also a revelation of how we often place self imposed limitations on ourselves. How often do we imply things or limitations that don’t really exist? What my son reminded me of today is how easily it is too become so socialized that you sometimes forget the obvious or to think outside the box. He also showed me how we impose limitations on ourselves even in situations where they haven’t been imposed on us because we assume every situation is the same. After all, there are closed book quizzes and open book quizzes. My son’s point was why should he make things harder for himself if he doesn’t have too?

After listening to him, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes: “someone else can hold you down temporarily. Only you can hold you down permanently.” Today, I ask how many of you are the biggest obstacle to your success and/or are holding yourself down permanently because you’re imposing limitations on yourself that don't exist?


Kim Crouch is a wealth strategist and along with Lisa Maria Carroll, is co-creator of the Millionaire Journey. To learn more about Millionaire Journey, go to http://1yearmillionaires.blogspot.com or join us on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/yhdwa78.

How To Create Financial Legacies for Your Children

I once heard it said that in Japan, when a child is born, an account is started for that child’s grandchild. This is a stark contrast to what we do in America. Our national savings rate is only 6.4 percent and many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, buying on credit and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Last night as part of the Millionaire Journey show, Lisa Maria Carroll and myself discussed how parents can create and leave financial legacies for their children. As many parents prepare to send their children back to school in the next few weeks, this is a great time to begin to talk to your kids about finances or to begin to prepare them for financial literacy. You don’t have to be a genius to teach your children about finances nor do your children need to be teens in order to understand money. You can begin teaching your kids about money as early as preschool. This includes everything from teaching them the value of different currencies, to taking them to the grocery store with you to compare.

The truth is by the time your child leaves your home at 18, many experts believe they should know the following money skills:

Here are some things you can do to begin to teach your kids about finances:

• Learn how to budget
• Make and deal with spending decisions
• Understand rewards of work
• Delay gratification


1. Start early. You can begin teaching your kids about money as early as preschool. This includes everything from teaching them the value of different currencies to helping them understand people have jobs that pay them money.

2. Budgeting. Include kids in on your budgeting decision. Everything is a teachable moment about budgeting. With school starting back this is a great opportunity to help them create a budget for back to school clothes or extracurricular activities. Include field trips in the cost of your budget as well. It’s also a great opportunity to help them understand their money (or at least yours) will go farther if they take their lunch.

3. Teach them to shop. Most parents spend their time teaching their children how to save money. But ask yourself, have you taught yourself to shop? If you have the time, take your children to different stores such as Neimans, Macy’s and even a second hand store to give them an understanding of how to stretch their dollars while getting a good quality product.

4. Everyday moments. Recognize that everyday brings opportunities to teach your kids about finances. Whether it’s taking them along to with you to the bank, the grocery store so they can learn comparison shopping to tipping at restaurants or explaining why you chose one gas station over the other (if price related even if they sit opposite each other. Also consider playing board games with them such as Monopoly that starts them thinking about finance and property ownership.

To Hear the entire show, click HERE

Here are two good books I recommend parents read on raising financially savvy children.

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2.

Leaving a Financial Legacy

What are your saving and investing habits teaching your children about money?

In Japan when a child is born, an account is started for that child's grandchild. In America when a child is born, we buy a few bibs, some Pampers and throw a party: all things that are disposable and, unlike a financial legacy, are momentary and fleeting.

Our children are returning to the classroom this month, and this is the perfect time to teach them financial literacy no matter how young or old they are. In order to create a financial legacy of wealth, not debt, we must teach our children how to make, save and spend money. We must encourage them to be entrepreneurs and business owners, because we want our financial legacy to be that of faith and values that determine how they handle finances for themselves and future generations.

What do you want your financial legacy to be?

Join us this Sunday, August 8th, on our Blog Talk Radio show (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/1yearmillionaires/2010/08/08/leaving-a-financial-legacy), as we give you strategic steps on creating a financial legacy for your children.

Find the Luggage: Time To Send Fear Packing Again!

Every now and then, we all suffer from FEAR! According to Wikipedia, Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. As we get older, our fear increases because we believe we have more to lose. The truth is far too many of us allow fear to control our lives.

Whatever the cause of your fears, I thought this would be a great time to share with you again the recording of the telerally that Lisa Maria Carroll and I hosted earlier this year in which we discussed the 5 ways to Send Fear Packing.

Just remember in listening to this recording that FEAR is False Evidence Appeared Real, and your goal is to not let some perceived state prevent you from accomplishing real things.


Click HERE to listen to the audio tape.

Kim Crouch is a wealth strategist and along with Lisa Maria Carroll, co-creator of the Millionaire Journey.

If You Really Want Wealth, Read! Read! And Read Again!

I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me or Lisa but we’ve been busy pushing toward day 365 of the Millionaire Journey! I once read a quote that said if you want to be rich, READ! And this is exactly what I’ve been doing these last few months. Reading every thing I could get my hands on. I know that my wealth has expanded ten fold because I've taken the time to make sure I acquire additional knowledge about investing, wealth creation and a multitude of other things.

There are some great books out that will help you increase your mindset around wealth accumulation, power of associations and just simply motivate you. They vary from the inexpensive to the expensive but I thought I would share them with you.

1. . Ok this is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. This is a nuts and bolts books from the 6 key profiles of the rich, to how to enter society, this book is a must read! I loved it.

2. This book is the definitive work concerning Warren Buffet and his investment philosophy. I liked this book because it explained in plain English basic principles of sound business practice.

3. . This is a great book by two mega millionaires Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump and I found it a great read. This book is less about the nuts and bolts of being rich and more about the philosophy behind attaining wealth. Great read from two of the best who know their stuff. Also available on Audio.

4.

5. . I heard about this book for a while and finally decided to read it. Found it a really practical book about the four pillars of personal finance— banking, saving, budgeting, and investing—and the wealth-building ideas of personal entrepreneurship. Geared for the younger crowd, the lessons are simple, easy and work.

6. I found this to be one of the best books on interpersonal skills, networking and development of relationships that I’ve seen in a long time.

7. . Really good book from Randall Pinkett, the first African-American to ever receive a Rhodes scholarship from Rutgers University. This brother brings the knowledge in this book.

Kim Crouch is a wealth strategist and along with Lisa Maria Carroll, co-creator of the Millionaire Journey.

Today is the Start of a Journey

On Sunday, our country celebrated its Independence Day. Today, I’m asking everyone who reads this post, what are you going to do to obtain your independence? Your independence could be financially related, it could be the courage to leave a job or garnering the will to up your game. Whatever it is, you have to decide to have ownership over and of your life.

The truth is greatness exist in all of us. It’s just some of us chose to tap it and others don’t. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and wondering why some people do and others don’t and while I don’t know the answer to this question definitely I do believe you just have to decide what it is you’re going to be and how you’re going to do it. Once you do, the universe will get out of your way. I’ve seen this time and time again whether it was making the decision to be the first in my family to go to college, the decision to go to law school, the decision to write a book, to start a publishing company or even now, the road to the Millionaire Journey.

As I see it, many of us never really decide. Our thoughts are fraught with doubts, so called notion of “reality” and fear of failure. We never get to the decision point because there is too much other noise in our head clouding what are just simple concepts:

Just Do IT.
Just Go For It.
Don’t Look Back.
Take Action
Never Have A Plan B. It Gets In The Way of Plan A
Believe.

It doesn’t mean the road we travel will be easy. In fact, success and triumph are never easy. But as we all know the journey of a thousand miles beings with a single step. If you simply focus on placing one step in front of the other instead of thinking about the thousand steps it will take you to get there, one day you will look up and realize that you’ve arrived at your destination. I’m encouraging each of you, if you haven't already, to take a single step today and never look back.

Your Journey begins today!

See you on the success side.