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What retirement means has changed with each generation. Our parents and grandparents pretty much see it as an end point; they’ve put in their working time and now can enjoy traveling and relaxing. Those of us in Generation X & Y generally see retirement as a time to shift gears and try new things – either with a new career or giving back to our communities by volunteering and the like. I for one do not expect to be able to stop working all together, especially with the shape Social Security is in.

There are many resources out there to help us wrap our minds around what retire will mean to each of us as individuals. A blog I follow (Generation X Finance) has a great list of 20 books to help put retirement options in perspective. These books do not look just at the financial and investing sides of retirement, but rather help readers see different lifestyle choices and how to refocus life-goals for their golden years.

Smart Money Connections will be addressing these issues on Wednesday, Oct. 29th broadcast at 6:30 and also during the 7:00 webcast. Tune in and participate to get your questions answered!

KSMQ & SELCO value your opinion of this program. Please take a few minutes to fill out a short survey and we’ll mail you a 1 GB flash drive for your time!

This month we launched the new PBS KIDS GO Broadband Player. This online video experience features more than 250 video clips and full episodes from more than a dozen PBS Kids programs, including more than 45 in Spanish.

“KSMQ’s online video presence rivals larger stations. KSMQ offers viewers more than a dozen locally produced programs, each of which is viewable online. The PBS KIDS GO Video Player is a logical continuation of the station’s goals,” said KSMQ’s Website Manager.

Kids can rate their favorite video clips, send clips to their friends, explore the site by show, and dive into themed channels (including Robots, Friends, and our personal favorite, “Gross!”). The video player also includes full-screen streaming (the “Big” button) and closed captioning.

Check out our new PBS KIDS GO Video Player today, or send someone you know the link… ksmq.org/kidsgo.

Teaching kids about saving and managing their money needs to start early, but what are some good ways to do this? While Wednesday’s program & webcast deals with this exact topic, there are also many books and websites available that give parents tips for raising money-smart kids. Here are a few of them:

Books

• The Young Investor: Projects and Activities for Making Your Money Grow by Katherine R Bateman – This book introduces children and teens to a variety of money related activities that cover balancing a check book, compound interest, the stock market, and where to go for more information. It’s written for young people to teach them a bit about finances.
• Raising Money Smart Kids: What They Need to Know About Money – and How to Tell Them by Janet Bodnar – Chapters in the book cover everything from allowance, savings, and teenaged employment. The neatest part for me is the Q&A at the end of each chapter in which the author answers common questions asked by kids. A great resource for parents!
• The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of” byDavid & Tom Gardner with Selena Maranjian – This book looks more at investing in stocks than saving. It provides guidance for teenagers who are interested in trying out the stock market, and it offers advice in choosing stocks for a portfolio and also in how to manage the portfolio once it’s created. This is written for teens to read and learn from.

Websites

• The Mint from Northwest Mutual Foundation – This website offers games, activities, quizzes and more for students and also offers information for teachers and parents. Topics covered include earning, saving, spending, owing and much more! A very interactive and dynamic site.
• Feed the Pig for Tween – This site is a fun and interactive game that lets kids whack-a-pig to see exactly how easily money can be saved & spent. This site also offers a teacher’s kit for bringing this game and financial education into the classroom.

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to resources for teaching children about money management and personal finance. Please share other materials you have used and found helpful!

KSMQ & SELCO value your opinion of this program. Please take a few minutes to fill out a short survey and we’ll mail you a 1 GB flash drive for your time!

In prepping for this blog post, I ran across a wonderful article on the University of Wisconsin Extension website that did a great job of addressing saving moneyyou’re your child’s college education. “Money Matters: Time to do your homework on many options for college saving” by Michael Gutter talks not only of 529 savings plans, but also talks about prepaid tuition. Prepaid tuition allows you to pay for college credits at today’s rates for classes in the future. This could be a better option that investing in financial markets since tuition has gone up more than 10% in the last decade which outpaces the rates of returns of most investments. This kind of plan is not available at all colleges and universities, but it may be a good thing to ask about when you start thinking about college savings for your kids.

Tune into this week’s Smart Money Connections program on Wednesday evening at 6:30 to find out more ways you can save for your children’s college education.

KSMQ & SELCO value your opinion of this program. Please take a few minutes to fill out a short survey and we’ll mail you a 1 GB flash drive for your time!