It is stressful and you wonder how you will recover and prepare for the next big things on the calendar; like tuition, summer plans, and and everything else that is just around the bend.  Well that is what New Years resolutions are for.

Make the commitment to cut back on spending and put your money away in a safe place every paycheck.   The expenses will slow down after the new year, and there should be no reason why you can’t build back up your savings in a few short months.

You just have to be safe and smart.  Take it day by day, and try to resist those little splurges while you are out running errands.

You probably don’t need those new shoes, and your can kids definitely wait for that $50 video game.  Christmas was the time for those things, but after the holidays pass you need to buckle down and look towards the future.

Budget your money wisely and try to put as much as you can into the bank every month.  If you can, put a large chunk into an interest bearing savings account so you are making money while doing nothing.

If you plan and take control, you can build your savings back up and get back to happy place where you are not completely stressed out about money.

Though there is always talk about scholarships being everywhere, the truth is, they are pretty hard to come by unless you are extremely athletic, a genius, or are blessed with having a minority bloodline.  If your kid is an average, Caucasian, without any super-talents, they may have trouble finding a scholarship.

Oftentimes, kids who want to go to college simply cannot afford it, and it breaks many parents’ hearts to see their kid not get an education.  If you want to avoid experiencing the devastation of not seeing your child go to college and continue their education so they can be a doctor-start a college fund, and start it early.

The smartest choice is to start the fund when you find out you are pregnant.  Though doctor bills may seem expensive at this time, it is probably the most money you will have in a long time, so start saving while you have money to save.

Once the child is born, the expenses of clothes, diapers, food, and everything else will only add up and leave you with less and less cash to spare.  Start a college fund early and commit to putting a certain amount in it every month.

This will gain interest and hopefully be enough to pay for the undergraduate.  If you have some leftovers when your kid is all grown up and graduated, take that money (which is still gaining compounding interest) a buy a car or go on vacation.

After all those years of raising a supporting your child, you deserve a treat!

A Roth IRA is where you pay taxes as you go along and you don’t have to pay taxes when you access the money upon retirement.  If you think taxes are higher now then they will be in the future than get a Traditional IRA, but if you taxes are only going to get higher then a Roth IRA is the better option.

When you invest in an IRA, there are many different investment vehicles that you can choose from.  You can put your money into CD’s or money market accounts, or you can gamble a little by putting them into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or indexed funds.

CD’s and money markets are no risk investment plans, but with little risk comes little rewards.   Stocks, bonds, and funds give you the opportunity to make big returns; but you can also lose a lot as well.

For a semi-conservative plan, future retirees should put about half of their retirement money into CD’s and money markets, while investing the other have in index and mutual funds.

For the funds, however, make sure that you choose a diversified portfolio to give you more opportunities in the market.  A diversified portfolio also acts as a safety net so that you don’t lose all of your money if the market dips.

In a diversified portfolio when one company dips, another may surge.  This ensures a certain amount of returns, even when you suffer a loss.

College is just the right age to start saving for the future and making smart investments that will last you a long time.  Most college students have part-time jobs, but for some reason that paycheck goes in one hand and out the other.

Saving money that money now by putting it into investment funds, CDs, or buying stocks and bonds is the best thing to do.  Sure shopping and having fun with friends is great and undoubtedly important, but not as important as your financial future.

People who start saving in their early twenties before they start having kids are more likely to be financially secure after the babies do come.  Everyone imagines their future life and having money, but the truth is that money will only be there if you put it there.

Students can easily get credit cards and start building their credit now.  Be smart with the card and only make purchases you can afford, and then pay off the balance.

Live on a budget and stick to it.  Starting these habits now will only help you when all of the bills start rolling in when your parents aren’t helping anymore.

Building good credit can help you get a good job after college, buy a house and get loans to start your own business.  All of this for being responsible at a young age and using your credit card wisely.

Make smart investment decisions, build your credit, do your research and make sure that your money lasts.  These are the steps to take to secure your financial future, starting now when you’re young.

I have never seen any other product drop in price by 50% and not get purchased more often. Why is it that when the value of these investment products decreases, demand for them falls with it? It simply does not make any sense! When shoes are 50% we buy them. When clothes are 50% off we buy them. Whenever any retailer or department store announces 50% off, people flock by the thousands to come buy those products at a great price. So why are stocks any different?

Right now you can buy into investments for only a fraction of what it would have cost you just 5 years ago. Here is a good financial tip- always do what the rich are doing. They got rich for a reason. They stay rich for a reason. What is Warren Buffet doing? He is buying into the market in the millions of dollars. So why the hesitation from the average consumer? The answer is risk.

For some reason when the market is volatile, people see investments as being risky. Well, yes, in the short run if you have a stock for only one year, you will see its value fluctuate quite a bit. But investments are meant to be long term. Buying stock is meant to be a long term investment. History shows that even during the Great Depression, the market will bounce back. Yeah, you may buy stock now that tumbles down tomorrow. Don’t worry. Stick with it. After 20 years you will be pretty glad you did it.

Maybe the folks on Wall Street should just come out and say “Hey people! There is a huge sale on stock right now! Prices are at all time lows! Come buy some stock while there is still some left!” Hey, replace the word “stock” with movies, clothes or anything else and it would work. So go buy now. The best time to buy is when it is cheap. The best time to sell is when it is expensive. Not vice versa.

The new bail out bill had one bright spot: a new FDIC deposit insurance of $250,000. What this means is very simple. If you have money in a bank in a savings account and that bank goes belly up, you have up to $250,000 insured by the FDIC. So even if the bank goes bankrupt, you will still get up to $250,000 of the money you had in the bank.

Now 95% of Americans make $250,000 or less each year, so it’s pretty safe to assume that most of us don’t have more than $250,000 in the bank or other investments. So here’s what you do: put your money in a savings account right now! The best money is safe money, and nothing is safer for most of us than a bank savings account right now. Even if all $200,000 we have in the bank is lost by the bank going bankrupt, we don’t lose anything, we will get back that $200,000 because it is FDIC insured. How’s that for certainty in uncertain times?

So sell your stocks, sell your investments, get all your money into one place- a safe place. That place is a bank savings account. Once the market has bottomed out and stops falling and begins to grow again, then take money out of your savings and start to buy investments and stocks again. But just as you hide in the basement during a tornado and come out again when the storm has passed, so must everyone safeguard their money in a savings account and wait out this financial storm. It will clear up- it always does. Even the Great Depression had an end. Be patient and the economy will get back on track. Once it does, buy up the investments that will be very cheap at that point and watch your money grow with the economy!