Financial Tips For Teachers

• Home ownership, Do you see yourself owning your own home of other residential property?
• college for children. If you have children, or plan to , how much of a safety net do you wish to creat against the rising cost of higher education?
• Retirement age. When do you want to retire? If it is difficult to think  that far in advance. ask yourself how much longer you want to teach.
• Retirement income. How much money would you like to have accumulated by the time you retire/ or. more importantly, how much annual income will you want during your retirement years?
• Retirement lifestyle. Where do you want to live during your retirement years? In addition to staying in your own home. you may wish to consider a mobile home. a condominium. a rental apartment. or an adult congregate lining facility (ACLF), such as a lifecare community. retirement community. or nursing home facility, if health problems occurs.
• Debt reduction. If you owe a lot of money to creditors, especially credit card companies, begin to reduce or eliminate this debt. Try paying more than the stated minimum balance each month. Look for lower-rate credit cards, with interest rates at about 10 percent, instead of 18 to 22 percent, but beware of first year only *teaser* rates. Use a debit card for your purchases, which has the convenience of a credit card, but levies on interest charges. Finally, if you need help managing debt, contact consumer credit counseling service.

THIS BOOK IN A NUTSHELL

Financial planing is an ever-changing game, but is these pages we will provide a basic understanding of the rules. In part one, "Planning For The Future " .

BUDGETING A TEN MONTH CHECK FOR THE FULL TWELVE

The section could also be called *How to avoid living on credit cards for two months* Yes, It would be a lot easier on many teachers if their districts spread their salaries over the full 52 weeks. Some districts woll do this for you. For those of you whose districts won't, there are a couple of sane approaches to dealing with this situation.

The most logical way is to spread out the money yourself though automatic paycheck withdrawals, with the money deposited into a teacher credit-union savings account.

Teacher credit unions will usually pay a good market rate of interest on your money. In addition, because the money is automatically deducted from your paycheck, you gain convenience and lose the temptation to spend the money. Some teachers also appreciate knowing that the money they deposit.........Read More