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Avoiding Sex With Strangers and Other Poor Money Decisions

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Thursdays are when we hear from the Other Guy (OG). Sit back and enjoy:

I recently stumbled across two interesting sites on longevity. Both www.livingto100.com and gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortality accomplish the same task – they pose a litany of questions about your health, wealth, mental and spiritual well-being and use your inputs to predict how long you’ll live.

For the record, I’m planning on living until 135.

The questions these sites ask fall into two different categories: things you shouldn’t do to your body and things you should.

My unscientific analysis surmises that it’s generally a bad idea to:

a) smoke
b) drink
c) avoid seat belts
d) have random sex with strangers (I know you think I’m kidding – but seriously, according to these two sites, it’s not a good idea. I can’t seem to imagine why…)

All this “research” started me thinking about financial longevity – what are the 4 stupidest things you can do with money that will kill your chances of a healthy financial life, no matter how well you try and recover in other areas? Can we draw some parallels? If we’re smart enough to show you the Top 7 Financial Hacks to Avoid, we can surely pull together the four worst ways to train wreck your financial life.

 

Here’s my list:

 

1) Borrow money from your 401(k) or other retirement plan. Why? This is financially like smoking 3 packs a day. Stop doing this. “But, O.G., I’m paying myself back with interest!!” Right. You’re paying yourself back these pre-tax dollars with after-tax money. Don’t get me started on the arithmatic of how much you’ll pay.

2) Rack up credit cards and roll the balances into your mortgage. Obviously this isn’t as common as it used to be, but it’s still happening. Paying 2.99% for a J Crew sweater for the next 30 years is freaking dumb. This is like having six Jack and Cokes a day. Your liver isn’t going to quit tomorrow, but it’s not there to crank through your whiskey addiction at 6 ounces a night either.

3) Not paying attention to your lifestyle costs relative to portfolio value. This has come up in my practice a number of times recently. I don’t care how much money you have – you simply cannot withdrawal $100,000 per year from a $1,000,000 portfolio forever, even if David Copperfield is your buddy. It’s simple mathematics. It won’t last forever. Be conservative. Wear a seatbelt – and go slow.

4) Scattering money with no clear and coherent plan or direction. You guessed it – this is like putting your…well you get the idea. You’re not in college anymore. It’s time to settle down and put all your stuff in one place.

That’s my fantastic four, or fabulous four, or fashionable four, or…well you get the idea. What are yours? I’m curious: what’s the top financial mistake you’ve seen that will submarine an entire financial plan?

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So You Want to Manage Your Own Money?

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A friend texted me this morning.

“We should talk soon. Julie is coming around to the idea of us managing our own money.”

It seems easy, right? My initial reaction to my friend was, “That’s awesome!” because it is. There are few things more satisfying than achieving your financial dreams and knowing that you climbed the money management mountain yourself.

No “money-god” came down and did it for you.

You didn’t need the Powerball numbers.

You actually plotted a financial course and landed safely at your destination.

For my friend, and for you if you’re about to embark on this journey, there’s good news and bad news: the good news is that it isn’t difficult to manage your own money.

The bad news is that to effectively manage your own money you’ll need to be ready to face some fairly difficult tasks.

 

Two Types of People

 

When I was a professional advisor, I’d meet some smart people who wanted to jump into their own money management and wanted an expert with an opinion to look over their shoulder, hold them accountable, and make sure they didn’t miss any “I” dotting or “T” crossing.

…and then there were other, often equally-smart people who wanted to hand it over to me and have someone else take care of it for them.

Believe it or not, most advisors I knew preferred the latter type of client and loathed the first one. Someone questioning their motives? Someone asking “why are we doing it this way?” all the time? That’s preposterous!

But if you’re going to ever learn how to manage your own money, you’ll need to be the first type, not the latter.

The steps aren’t difficult:

 

The Steps to Managing Your Own Money

 

My kids are reading myths in school. In the story of Hercules, he faces a series of challenges to achieve is goal.

I look remarkably like the guy on top, but I’m a little paler and not quite as naked. And I have less hair.

You’ll have a series of gauntlets in your way too, if you want to manage your own money.

1) Write out your goals. I’m not talking about writing:

Retirement

College

New Boat

Fall Deeper in Love

Real goal writing has a specific time, dollar amount and vision attached.

I want to be able to live on $65,000 per year (in today’s dollars) by age 65 without having to work every day. With this money I’d like to: (here you write your bucket list, which should include visiting every NASCAR track in the country).

That’s a goal you can shoot for and be excited about (except for visiting the track at Pocono, which I thought was pretty overrated).

2) Next, you write out all the hurdles in your way.

– I have $25,000 in credit card debt (separate by interest rate, term, amount)

– I have to put two children through college

– I know nothing about money management

3) Then, you find one of the nearly bazillion financial calculators online (you can use our powerful little PlanWise calculator here on the site!) and figure out how much you need to save to reach your goal.

– I need to save $250 per month to reach my dream if I achieve an 8% return.

Armed with your money management return information, now you figure out how to come up with $250 per month.

– Tweak your budget

– Pay down debt

– Take on more work

4) Before investing, though, you have a big problem. You have to insure yourself against some of the huge “what if’s” out there for you and your family:

What if you die?

What if you are disabled?

What if you have a car accident?

You’ll need to create a will and evaluate insurances.

5) Finally, you begin the heavy task of research to find investments that have historically achieved 8%.

 

No Step is Difficult, You Just Shouldn’t Miss One

 

As you can see, when you take on the hard task and decide to manage your own money, getting it right will be difficult. Each area demands time and energy:

– Planning, milestones and tracking

– Budget, income advancement and debt reduction

– Insurance need projection and comparison analysis

– Estate planning

– Investment allocation, picking and monitoring

These are five basic money management steps, but each packs a punch!

 

I Don’t Mean To Imply You Can’t Do It

 

As soon as I finish this piece I’m calling my buddy and talking him through these points. Before he takes on the task, he should know how long the financial security road really is. Going in with your eyes wide open is half the battle if you plan to win the “manage your own money” game.

He can do it, and so can you!

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Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to class you go….3 Smart Money Tips for Back to School

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…and we go from watching Snow White to living that famous song.

Just like a little member of the Seven Dwarfs, my oldest son will be marching off in only a couple weeks. For him it’s the first time. For me, because I work with families who go through this every year, it’s old hat. Well, not exactly old hat (it’s always different when it’s your own child heading off…where does the time go?).




Let’s talk about the financial aspects of preparing a youngster for school. As a matter of fact, my wife just emailed me this long note about the various types of backpacks. Ugh.

As a parent of a young child headed to school for the first time, I’m concerned about going overboard on all the expenses – there’s a difference between necessity and would be nice if… so let’s break down Back to School costs into a few categories.

1) Expenses associated with classwork – Markers, paper towels, pens and pencils. These are necessary and thankfully, pretty inexpensive. For my son’s schools, they’ve prepared for us a list of the five to ten things he needs to bring. The key is to not overspend or overbuy. If the teacher says “an 8 pack of crayons” you don’t need to, nor does the teacher want you to, buy the wiz-bang 64 pack with the automatic crayon sharpener. Save the money. Look for tax holidays to buy.

Many states participate in these by making back to school costs tax free. Check this Bankrate post: Sales Tax Holiday to see if your state has a tax holiday.

2) Costs to clothe your child. I recently saw an ad for Walmart regarding their back to school clothing prices and how affordable they are. I remember when I was a kid-I would never be caught dead in non-name branded clothes, and I successfully broke my parents budget every year complaining until I got what I wanted! Don’t fall for this trick! Children, especially younger ones, need quantity, not quality. Spend money on good shoes, but don’t go crazy buying up too-cute name-brand clothing. Consider Costco, Walmart, Sam’s club etc, or thrift stores, discounters or hand-me-downs. Ignore Banana Republic, Neiman Marcus, or Saks. Of the big box discount retailers, I like Costco – it has superior customer service and a terrific return policy.

Even if you don’t subscribe to the newspaper, you may save a ton of back to school money looking for coupons in the Sunday paper advertisements over the next couple of weeks. Consider the cost of the paper a good investment!

3) Finally, there are the “at school costs” like lunches, after school costs, and field trips. These things you need to start budgeting for today. Our school has a hot lunch program that we can pre-pay for substantial discount. The problem is that the food is less than nutritious, so we’ll be skipping that. But for the last 5 years, our son has been getting lunches at his daycare and we have to provide those now. The other “unknown” is the cost of the occasional field trip or afte school activity. Prepare for them now and you won’t be surprised when they show up later!

Ask older parents how much money they spent the prior year on these activities for ideas on exactly how much you should be prepared to spend.

Back to school shopping and planning can be a fun and exciting time for both parents and kids. The key is to not go overboard in your excitement!

Photo: School Bus: Cole 24_

Those are my three favorites. What are your favorite back to school tips?

Managing Your 401k or IRA: Does Moving Money Around Every Day Help Your Returns?

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I was invited to speak to a nice group of people at Walsh College in Troy, Michigan last night. One woman asked, “What do you say to someone who messes with their 401k non-stop?”

btw: Thanks, Greg, for the invite! Hopefully I didn’t bore your students silly.

Let’s face it:

90% of us fall into one of two camps:

1) You obsess over your 401k and tinker with it constantly.

or

2) You only remember you have a 401k or IRA plan when the statement arrives.

I’d say that nearly 90% of the 90% number above fall into the latter category. So, when I hear about someone tinkering with their 401k or IRA all the time I think, “Why?” and then I ask “Would it help to tell them to stop?”

 

Why People Do It

 

I don’t have any scientific evidence, only years of experience with people. Here’s the complete list I can imagine:

– Natural worrier.

– Concerned they won’t reach retirement.

– Anxious to get every last penny out of investments.

– Intensely interested in investing.

– Secretly always wanted to be a day trader.

I can’t think of any others (fill in my blanks in the comments below).

 

Would It Help To Tell Them To Stop?

 

I think the answer to this question largely depends on how the individual answers the question “Why People Do It”.

 

Natural Worrier

 

I could tell this person all day that he isn’t helping himself, but the only method that actually has worked for me in the past is DATA. If I explain how funds in a 401k plan work, it’s easy to see how much damage you’re doing to your retirement.

First, a 401k plan is a professionally managed investment. This doesn’t guarantee success, but it does mean there are people who work with money all day managing the funds.

Second, each investment is a collection of stocks that largely move with the market. Do you really think you can beat the market? According to a New York Times article, investors spent over $100 billion dollars in 2008 trying to beat the market, and largely lost due to fees. You would have been better off buying and holding low cost index funds.

Besides fees, your ability to time the market isn’t probably as good as you’d hope. According to one of my favorite Kiplinger articles: Can You Time The Market?, there are certainly some good indicators you can track, but the pitfalls are enormous. Going with your “gut” feeling about the market isn’t going to pave the way for a successful retirement.

 

Concerned They Won’t Reach Retirement

 

This person needs data, but instead of information on investment returns, they need a financial plan. I’ve found that once this person sees in writing that they’re okay (or not okay) they largely settle down.

Not only can you use the Planwise tool imbedded in our site, but many retirement calculators exist on other (less) popular sites, like Yahoo! Finance, CNNMoney, and MSN Money.

 

Intensely Interested In Investing

 

These are some of my favorite people. They want better returns and are willing to go the extra mile to learn more about investments. They’ve dove (dived?) into the 401k because it’s available and easy to understand.

I recommend this person reviews the same data presented above on investment returns (and that his chance of helping his return is going to prove more difficult than just “moving money around”). Then I recommend he take community education classes on investing rather than experiment with hard-won retirement dollars.

 

Secret Day Trader

 

I try to present the data above on how hard it is to add to your investment returns first (but this rarely works for the person who is sure they’ll beat the market in their spare time). Once this tactic has failed, I’ll recommend developing a small Roth IRA to use as a “sandbox” to play day trader in. These people are usually placated if they have a “play” account to go along with their professionally managed “backstop” account. How much do I recommend people place in the day trader account? First, we look at what the goal will cost, then I recommend taking money that isn’t crucial to the goal. You don’t want to miss your goal because you thought today was a great time to buy Facebook and it turned out you were wrong…..

Americans Are Worried About Retirement. Really?

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Yesterday’s USA Today featured a study commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America and Certified Financial Planner Board of Standard, which revealed that more households are struggling financially than 15 years ago.

I’m not shocked by this “revelation.” Talking to one of my favorite bloggers, Len Penzo (from the aptly named Len Penzo dot Com) a couple weeks ago, Len commented that a “big” financial blogger is lucky to find 700-800 unique visitors per day. I know that financial blogs don’t always have the money answers, but on a recent visit to web-traffic website Compete.com, I saw that another favorite, humorist writer The Bloggess receives about 1400 unique visitors a day.

So, using my extraordinary math and non-scientific research skills, it appears that about double the number of people enjoy humor during their day than seek out financial management techniques and discussion.

 

Are we really worried?

 

People sometimes think that financial plans are for the rich. “I don’t have money to plan,” you may be telling yourself right now. But how can you get out of debt if you don’t plan your financial future?

The survey shows that when low-income families put together a financial plan, they’re able to stay out of debt and pay credit card bills in their entirety. However, only 31% of people surveyed have put together a financial plan (with or without an advisor’s help).

31%? And the headline reads that we’re “worried about retirement?”

More evidence of financial ennui from the study: more people are living paycheck to paycheck, less are saving toward their college-bound children’s education, less can retire at age 65 and more think they won’t be able to cover basic expenses in retirement.

It sounds like we have big financial headaches and 69% of people aren’t attacking the problem.

Normally, I’m a “glass half-full” kind of guy. However, in this case, I think the headline “Americans Worried About Retirement” should be replaced with “Americans Screwed and Not Doing Much About It.”

I’m glad you’re visiting today to be the few…the proud…the 31%!

Captain America photo: Gage Skidmore

 

Let’s vote: Glass half full? Half empty?

How to Split an IRA or 401(k) in a Divorce

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Divorce is ugly.  Except under the most limited circumstances, no one wins in the divorce game.  Then, you add the complexity of money into the equation and it gets downright hideous.  In that emotional time, it’s easy to understand why so many people divide IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts sub-optimally.

You can’t just “take the money out and give it to my spouse”  That would be a big mistake.  Let me count the ways:

Let’s assume you own a $250,000 401(k) balance.  The judge rules that you’re required to split that 50/50 with your spouse, so you decide it would be easiest to make a phone call and take the money out.  Ouch.  If you do that, you’ll be hit with a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty (yes you, not your spouse, and only if you’re under 59 1/2) and then the amount you removed is added to your taxable income for the year.  Now, for many reading this blog, you’ve just lost 35-45%.

So how do you give $125,000 to someone?  Oh that’s easy – you gift that to them.  But in your haste, you didn’t do this correctly either. To gift it, you either need to reduce your lifetime exemption by filing a form 706 with your income taxes next April, or pay a gift tax of 50%.

Long story short: “taking it out” could be a massive financial mistake.

Instead, consider asking for a QDRO, or Qualified Domestic Relations Order (pronounced quad-row).  A QDRO put together by a competent attorney and signed off on by the judge makes this transfer a ton easier.

First, it directs your retirement plan company to establish another qualified plan in the name of your spouse.  Then, it directs a tax-free transfer to that newly established account.  No taxes, no penalties.  Easy as pie.

Once you’ve begun working on that, you’ll want to make sure the QDRO says that your soon-to-be ex-spouse can’t make any loans or transfers from the account until it’s been split; or you could just pick a date to make the transfer effective on (retroactive) and put a fixed dollar amount based on that date’s plan balance.  This would protect the new beneficiary from being bamboozled by his or her ex.

Finally, don’t forget about pension plans.  A lot of those can be “QDROed” too.  For example, let’s assume your spouse earned a pension at his job of $4,000 during the 30 years he worked.  He was married to you for 20 of those 30 years – making you the owner of 2/3 of his $4,000 per month.  By putting the QDRO in place before he retires, she can have her own pension plan – quite the deal!

At the end of the day, divorce planning with money is just as important as married couple planning.  If you don’t do it, you’ll regret it.  Take the time to review everything – hire a professional and don’t try to cut corners.  The costs are too severe.


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Homeowners Insurance: My Friend’s Best Friend

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Here’s the best way to score a table at a busy restaurant. Walk up to a table of nice people and say, “Let’s talk about insurance!” Within seconds, the table is yours.

Nobody enjoys the topic, but I think we all recognize the need for homeowners insurance.

I was reminded why again last week.

I received a message that good friends of ours who lived around the corner from our house had their home burn down. They’d recently relocated to Colorado.

Those forest fire pictures you’ve been seeing in the news? Those are the flames that destroyed nearly everything our friends owned.

We don’t like to talk about insurance, but events like this are a good reminder that we should revisit the policy periodically to make sure we know what protection we own.

 

5 Important Homeowners Insurance Provisions

 

1) Replacement value coverage– Most homeowners policies are replacement value coverage, but it’s worth checking. If yours isn’t, you’ll receive the fair market value of each item you claim. That five year old computer? Probably not worth the $1,000 you spent on it anymore….

2) Valuables itemized and insured separately? Although policies will replace your belongings, high value jewelry, artwork and personal items should have a separate endorsement. Insurance industry friends tell me to check with your agent or company because competing insurers have different levels of personal endorsements.

3) Renters? Roommates? Here’s a sticky point. If you’re living in a home but don’t own it, you’ll need renters insurance for your personal items. Many people rent because they have a tight budget, but this is one important area to spend the money (and hopefully never have to use it).

4) Deductible. Remember that recommendation some crazy website made about funding a cash reserve emergency account? Partly, that’s so you can self-insure and tell the insurance company to take a hike! As your deductible grows, the amount you have to pay for insurance declines. That’s the good news. The bad news? You’ll owe a larger amount when you have a claim, so don’t raise your deductible until you’ve funded your emergency fund.

5) Inflation protection. Because thinking about your homeowners insurance is feared worse than a trip to the dentist, inflation protection increases the value of your coverage over time. This way, even if you forget, you’ll have protection that keeps up with rising costs.

While I can’t say that you’ll be the hit of the neighborhood by having a great homeowner’s policy, you will be able to relax a little after disaster strikes. I’m glad my friend’s family is okay. You can always replace a house.

Let’s keep the discussion going in the comments. Now that we’ve covered some important homeowners insurance provisions, how do you score a good deal buying it?

Photos: Fire Fighter: Roby Ferrari; Forest Fire: National Guard

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You’re Half Way Done! How’s Your 2012 Goal Setting Progress?

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Congratulations!

As we roll into July, you’re nearly half way through your 2012 goals.

How are you doing? If you’re a planner by nature, then you already know the answer to that question. Heck, you probably have a bar chart in your bedroom!

…you’re so romantic….

But, if you’re like the 90% of us who don’t actually keep day-to-day tabs on exactly how we’re doing relative to the things we said were important at the beginning of the year – this weekend’s a great time to reset the meter.

You probably started out 2012 with a list (check that: an idea) of what financial goals you’d like to accomplish. Items such as: pay off debt, build a cash reserve, save for a down payment, increase your retirement savings – important goals. But, did you actually capture it in writing? We’ve all heard it before – writing your goals down makes you more likely to hit them.

Let’s complete a little goal setting exercise to achieve the goals we set out to accomplish only six months ago.

 

Goal Setting In Five Easy Steps

 

Step 1: Make four columns on a piece of paper. Label them 1 year, 3 year, 10 year, and Lifetime. Now, for the next three minutes, think about all the things you want personally (toys, cars, houses, etc.) – we call these (“thing” goals) – and list each in the appropriate category. For example, if you want a Ferrari, but you’re thinking in the next 10 years, put “Ferrari” under the 10 year column.

After three minutes are up, spend another three minutes on money goals and another three minutes for spiritual / well-being goals. After nine minutes, you should have a list of all the 1, 3, 10, and Lifetime goals you could think of in the three areas of your life: things, money, and spiritual.

Step 2: Now, take 5 minutes to go through your columns, move things around and clean up your brain dump. Now your list should look a little more legible and it should be somewhat realistic.

Step 3: For our goal setting exercise, let’s take a look at all of your 1 and 3 year goals. Go through them and pick out one “thing” goal, one personal goal, and one money goal for each.

Step 4: You now have a total of 6 goals, three of which you’d like to accomplish in the next year. Never leave a goal setting session without taking action toward that goal. So, what you should do is make a list of the three to four action steps that must happen to make those goals a reality. Of those action steps – pick one that you will do TODAY to move forward.

Step 5: Here’s the final litmus test – you have to ask these questions:

1) Can I afford it? Meaning – can you do what’s necessary to make it happen? Can you actually do it?
2) Will you do it? Goals are nice, being able to accomplish them is nice…but if you won’t do what’s necessary…then what’s the point?

If you’ve gotten this far and you’ve found 3-6 goals that are reasonable you must take at least one little action step now. Don’t leave the goal planning table without taking at least one little step!

Do it now!

Congratulations. You’ve gone through a 30 minute goal planning session that will put you in position to reach your goals!

Great job!

How are your goals coming along? Let’s talk about our goals in the comments? Which ones are you on track for and where is your focus the second half of the year?

 

Photos: Woman writing: Risager; Life in 10 Yrs: lulumon athletica

5 Summer Activities to Create Money Savvy Kids: High School

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Ah, we made it! It’s most rewarding yet the most challenging to work with high school students on money management.

While these activities are the most fun for parents, high school students are more difficult to engage than younger children.

If you don’t have high school age children yet, you may not know this, but your brains will disappear for about four or five years.

Looking for tips for younger children? Try:

5 Educational Summer Activities For Kids – Early Elementary

or

5 Summer Activities to Create Money Savvy Kids: Upper Elementary to Middle School

 

5 Great High School Activities

 

1) Family book club. Right now, my 17 year old kids and I are reading I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. If you haven’t read this book yet, by all means, start now. It contains powerful advice wrapped in easy-to-understand language.

Every day the kids read a chapter. Then, at dinner, we discuss that day’s reading. Sometimes these conversations devolve (“why does a stock go up or down?” “what’s a good Roth IRA investment?”), but I love it. Who doesn’t want to have relaxed conversations about money with a curious 17 year old?

Why I like it: I get to ensure my kids get to college with some clue about money before they arrive. Because I made sure the book was fun and easy to read, and because I don’t preach, we’re able to have great talks about money.

2) Engage kids in the Family Meeting. If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll know that I love the idea of a family meeting. Budgets within a family are more about good communication than about counting pennies. If everyone is on the same page spending each day will be more careful, and life is made up of these little crisp 24 hour periods.

Some people have a violent reaction to this advice. “Show my kid my bills and my savings? That’s none of their business.” You are correct, but lets challenge your assumptions: why is it taboo to talk about your financial situation with others, especially those as close as your teenager.

Boundaries must be drawn. You’ll have to explain what happens when the whole street learns about your finances. But in the bigger picture, if they help you pay the bills, evaluate savings and plan large purchases, you’ll hand them a lifetime of knowledge that they’ll appreciate down the road.

Why I like it: When we began talking frankly with our children about bills and savings, they began to see how tight every month is for the average family. Next year we were planning on going to France for their graduation. The reality of two children in college at once has set in and we’re downgrading the vacation plan to a rental house on Lake Michigan for seven days. No groans from the kids because they understand the math behind the decision.

 

3) Find a job. I’m not talking about grabbing the local Dairy Queen gig (if I had that summer job I’d weigh about 750 pounds!). I’m talkin’ about helping junior through the process of fighting for a summer internship at a resume-building position. If they’re interested in engineering, try to find opportunities with a large local company. If law or medicine, apply at  the hospital, a law firm, or the local doctor’s office.

There’s a ton that junior learns while creating a resume, dressing appropriately and speaking well. The training involved in competing for these positions is a good primer in adult life skills.

Why I like it: By working in a professional environment, high school kids get a first hand look at how business works. Studies have shown that people who work in “real jobs” before college are more likely to do well in the classroom because they know how their learning might apply in the real world.

4) Scholarship hunt. Finding money for college is a full time job. The internet is brimming with opportunities for money, but you have to know who to ask and what scholarships to pursue. Most high schoolers only scratch the surface when it comes to searching for scholarships.

Instead of one-offing each opportunity, we found quickly that many of the scholarship opportunities were similar. My kids could write a couple of basic essays and then modify them to fit each particular offer. Most needed references from teachers and community members. We didn’t just learn about scholarship, we learned about creating systems to efficiently attack more quickly.

Why I like it: By formulating essays and asking for letters of reference, kids learn about the importance of written and verbal communication. They also realize that “going it alone” isn’t usually a good idea. It makes sense to find some powerful friends to help you….AND my kids were surprised that most powerful people want to help.

5) Board games. I’m back with more board games to teach the family about money. This time the games are downright fun for adults. Games such as Acquire can teach simple mergers and acquisitions. Power Grid is a modern-day version of monopoly involving power companies. And, in this year when the politics of the nation are up for grabs, 1960: The Making of a President is a good primer on the campaign process while also serving as a fun way to learn some history.

Why I like it: Board games are a great way to spend time with your kids. Instead of arguing or fighting about curfews and money, you’ll enjoying each other’s company over a communal activity.

How do you teach high school kids about money? Let’s have some more ideas in the comments below!

 

Photo Credit: Reading: NannySnowflake; Internship: ChesCrowell