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Teaching Kids About Money
The vast majority of parents say they are good financial role models for their children ... but they may be kidding themselves.
A new survey conducted in the US suggests that parents fail to pass along even basic financial skills to their teens, and that they are sloppy themselves in the way they manage money. And remember: Teens see everything! “There’s a real disconnect between what parents think is important for kids to learn and what they are actually teaching them,“ says the study.
More parents teach their kids how to shop rather than how to save, according to Reuters.
Here are some ways to be good role models for your kids and also to teach them the basics of money:
-Give them some. An allowance is crucial to a child’s ability to learn to manage money. So is the leeway to make mistakes. Encourage them to spend some of their money on fun things, to save some for their own longer-term goals and donate some. When they spend it all on candy the first day, and don’t have enough to go to the movies with their friends at the weekend, don’t bail them out.
-Match savings. Offer to match the amount your kids set aside for the long term.
-Make them work for it. Teens should have jobs. Kids who work have more pride in themselves and much more interest in learning to manage their money correctly. They’re better savers, too.
-Model good behavior. If your own credit cards are maxed out, that’s what your kids will think is normal. If you’re fixing the situation through belt tightening and extra monthly payments, do talk about that at the table. You don’t have to let your kids see your paycheck or know the intimate details of the family’s finances, but they should see you saving and investing, and talking about money in a way that is calm, healthy, and not fraught with emotion.
-Talk about family choices. Instead of just saying “yes“ or “no“ at the supermarket or toy store, say things like “if we buy this today, we won’t have enough money for pizza night on Friday.“ Have a dinner conversation about how the family’s “fun budget“ might cover a flat screen TV or a week at the beach, but not both.
-Make a game out of learning to invest. Kids and teens like competitions, sports, games and the like. A family investing club -- even if it’s with pretend funds and shares--can sow a lifelong interest in investing, and that will pay off for the rest of a child’s life.
-Do a few formal lessons. They don’t even have to be fun. Sit down at the table and show your older child or teen how to balance a checkbook, how to write a budget and the mechanics of paying bills on time.
-Increase their responsibilities as they get older. Give a teen his own clothing budget. Make a driver buy her own gas. Get a credit card for high school seniors or college students as soon as they are old enough to qualify, but make sure the credit limit is low--like $500 or less. Even if you’re supporting them at school, make them pay the bills.
-Don’t worry about it all sinking in at once. Some kids are just more money oriented than others, just like adults. The better the financial behavior they see, and the more formal and informal lessons you’ve been able to deliver, the more financially stable they’ll be in the long run. Even if they have to eat a few late fees and overdraft charges to get there.
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Brits Fear Race Violence
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People try to get on the London tube.
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Almost two out of three Britons fear race tensions could spill over into violence and half the population want immigrants to be encouraged to leave, a poll showed.
In a country where the last serious race riots erupted seven years ago between white and Asian youths, the head of Britain’s equality watchdog called the poll findings “alarming.“
“What worries me is if that friction starts to catch fire--if people genuinely believe it’s going to catch fire--then we’re in trouble,“ said Equality and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips, Reuters reported.
Of the 1,000 people sounded out by Mori pollsters for the BBC, 60 percent said Britain had too many immigrants.
A quarter of those polled said their area did not feel like Britain anymore because of immigration. Just 20 percent admitted to being racially prejudiced.
Immigration is a sensitive political issue in Britain where hundreds of thousands of people have come to work in recent years, many from eastern European countries joining the European Union.
The main political parties agree immigration has boosted Britain’s economy but critics argue that migration has undercut British-born workers and strained public services.
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Astronaut Returns
South Korea’s first astronaut returned to Earth on Saturday, touching down with two International Space Station crew members slightly off target in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, space officials said.
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Rare Liver Disease in Afghanistan
As many as 10 people have died in western Afghanistan from a rare liver disease believed to be caused by contaminated wheat, officials said.
At least 161 people were also hospitalized with Gulran disease although estimates were as high as 200 affected in Herat province, on the Iranian border, said Peter Graaff, resident representative of the UN World Health Organization.
A toxic weed called charmak, which grows in the area, contains alkalines that affect the liver causing Gulran disease, which is named after the affected district in Herat. Graaff said the disease is not new but rare, and has killed as many as 10 people in recent weeks, AP reported.
Abdul Hakim Tamana, the director of the Herat public health department, said 112 Gulran cases have been recorded in the province’s clinics, and six people died.
“It has spread all over Gulran district, including several villages,“ Tamana said.
It was unclear exactly how the people became ill. The WHO is sending an epidemiologist from Geneva to Afghanistan next week to investigate.
Graaff said charmak may have contaminated wheat grown in the region, flour or other foods.
Czech Crown Jewels Will Go on Show
The Czech crown jewels, more than 700-year-old works of art, will go on show at Prague castle for the first time in five years from Saturday, the president’s office said.
The centre piece of the collection, the 2,358-gramme gold crown, decorated with 96 precious stones including rubies and sapphires, was first worn by Holy Roman emperor and king of Bohemia, Charles IV of Luxembourg, for his Prague coronation in 1347, AFP reported.
Tradition has it that the crown jewels, also including the sceptre, imperial orb and other objects of an incalculable value, only go on show to mark exceptional occasions.
“That was the tradition established by Charles IV and renewed after the creation of the independent Czechoslovakia in 1918,“ the director of Prague Castle tourist office, Frantisek Kadlec, said.
The castle is also the seat of the presidency.
Czechs and foreign visitors had the chance to view the jewels only nine times during the last century.
Hollywood Productions to Become Green
Hollywood’s major television and film studios unveiled a guidebook with rules they plan to follow to try to reduce their carbon footprint and workplace waste.
In late 2006, university research in Los Angeles charged that the film industry was a major source of the sprawling megalopolis’ notorious pollution, topped only by oil refineries, AFP reported.
So this “Best Practices Guide for Green Production“ announced by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is aimed at improving the industry’s record and reputation.
“A new norm is emerging in which eco-friendly practices are best business practices, and ... behind the scenes, every major studio is getting in on the act,“ said MPAA chief Dan Glickman.
The guide offers ideas for environmentally responsible approaches to issues as diverse as filming on sets, transport, post-production work and even hair and makeup.
“Hollywood’s film studios have come a long way since they started recycling in the 1970s,“ said Gary Petersen, environmental member of the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
How to Talk to a Person With Alzheimer’s
As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, communicating becomes more of a challenge.
According to HealthDay News, the US National Institute on Aging offers these suggestions for talking to someone with Alzheimer’s:
Speak in a calm, soothing tone of voice. Use simple, short words and sentences--but avoid baby talk, or speaking like you would to a child.
Avoid talking about the person in front of him or her. Turn off the TV, radio or any other possible distractions when trying to communicate. Get the person’s full attention before speaking, and refer to the person by name.
If the person is trying to communicate but is having trouble finding words, gently try to suggest words the person may be looking for. Be patient and give the person plenty of time to think and respond.
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