The Million Dollar Question.......Part 2

Last week I challenged you to ask yourself some hard questions around why people spend beyond their means & how you learn about money. The responses were fantastic. I've picked out some and summarised below:

Do you have a household budget? - 77% of respondents have a household budget

Do you have a business budget? - 55% of respondents have a business budget.

Why do you think people spend beyond their means? - Responses ranged from Impatience, Careless, Ignorant, wants outweigh needs, we are breeding a want it now society, lack of self control, credit is easy

Where/Who did you learn about money from? - Most of you learnt about money from your parents with an interesting response - from Big Mistakes

How do you teach your kids about money? - Incentives to save pocket money, Set examples, and some of you aren't teaching them at all

What are your top tips about money? - Set a saving budget not a spending budget, Monitor, Start Young, Get someone to help you stick to your budget, Build up your treasure chest for emergencies

It's interesting to see your responses and the number of you that already have a household budget. I wonder how different the responses would be if a random group of people were picked off the streets and asked the same questions?

Financial Education whether we like it or not starts at a very young age, and needs to continue all throughout life. I've talked about knowledge and action before and what that can mean in your business, well the same applies in your personal life, whether you are a business owner or not. Knowledge of what's coming in, what's going out and what you are saving is vital.

Why?

It allows you to make informed decisions.......How much you need to be putting away for your retirement - after all your Superannuation will be your main source of income in retirement, How much Insurance do you need to ensure your family is covered if something was to happen to you, Whether you can afford Private Education for your kids, When you can retire, Can we really afford that overseas holiday, What will buying that new car do to our cashflow?

Can you answer the above questions? If not are you comfortable not being able to answer those questions?

Imagine if your kids saved enough during their childhood to pay for their University fees upfront......Do you think an extra $150 per week (the HELP repayments they would need to make once they start working) would help reduce their mortgage at a faster rate or allow them to take those lovely overseas holidays?

Did you know starting with just $500 when your child is born and putting away $10 per week until they are 18 gives you $21,712. Now that's a nice little kickstart in life.

What are you doing today to increase your families Financial Education?