The late Loren Dunton, founder of the non-profit National Center for Financial Education in San Diego, wrote about his lifestyle decisions to buy new cars and spend weekends in Reno, instead of investing a hundred dollars each month in a mutual fund when he was in his late twenties. That fund would have been worth over a million dollars today.

AN EXPENSIVE CAR

Perhaps you think the difference between a full-sized car, fully-equipped, and a compact is only about $10,000. Actually, it is more like a million dollars. Consider this, borrowing $25,000 for a new car over four years will cost about $634 a month, while borrowing just $15,000 will cost only $381 a month.

If one saved the difference of $253 each month for 35 years, earning an 8% average rate of return, it would swell to $580,352. However, that is just the accumulation of the funds. What about the earnings as the funds are withdrawn during retirement?

If one were to get monthly payments of $4,479 from that sum from ages 65 to 90 (and some predictions say there may be over 250,000 people over the age of 100 in America in the 21st century), the total amount collected would be $1.3 million.

This is the magic of compound interest. However, it is not retroactive! One must save now to enjoy the benefits of compound interest in the future.

WAITING TO INVEST

For instance, if the difference in the example above were saved for only 25 years it would grow to just $240,000. Paid out at $1,857 a month, the total would be $557,000. It is amazing that the difference in saving an additional ten years is about a half million dollars. However, the monthly difference in payments of $2,622 monthly shows how today’s lifestyle decisions can be worth a million dollars in retirement years.

When should people begin saving money? Never soon enough. If ten years could mean a difference of $2,622 in retirement income each month, can you imagine what 15 or 20 additional years of savings would mean when you reach age 65?

JUST A LITTLE POSTPONEMENT

For some, no doubt saving now would be easier if there was more current income. People 17 to 23 years old may think: “Me save? Are you kidding? I am just getting my education and besides I want to have a good time. When I get out of college and start my career, I’ll start saving.”

People 24 to 30 may be tempted to think: “You don’t expect me to save now? I have only been working a few years. Right now, it is important to dress well. I’ll save later.”

From 31 to 42, the reasoning may go something like this: “How can I save now? I am married with small children. Perhaps when they are older I can think about saving.”

Those 43 to 55 wish they could save now. However, many just do not, saying they cannot because of children in college and education loans to pay.

From 56 to 65 most recognize the urgency to begin saving now. However, money is tight. It is not easy for people that age to better themselves. It is tough to break years of over-spending habits. “Maybe something will turn up,” many say.

At age 65 and older, it is too late to begin saving money. You cannot save when there is no income. Many older people live with their children and are dependent on Social Security, which is inadequate, since Social Security was only designed to be supplemental.

If the choice between cars can impact retirement income, imagine the possibilities when applied to lifestyle choices such as a home, vacations, dining out, entertainment, wardrobes, furnishings, etc.

Try to develop the art of money accumulation now. Begin by saving every day. Start today!

The mass affluent are people who:
• Save more than they spend.
• Seek to invest for the future.
• Worry about funding their children’s college education, but in most cases won’t impoverish themselves because they can cover costs through savings strategies, loans or personal income. In addition, many are not opposed to their children paying some part of their education costs.
• Worry about how they will replace their paychecks when retirement approaches, but in most cases will need to be encouraged to spend more money in retirement.
• Desire to leave a legacy to their children, not to charity.
• In retirement, seek to spend between $4,000 and $10,000 per month.
• Will have between $500,000 and $1.5 million in investable assets upon retirement.
• Would never consider calling themselves high-net-worth investors or millionaires.

Consider the following research: Russ Allen Prince and Associates just published a book entitled The Middle Class Millionaire, based on surveying middle-class Americans with investable assets between $1 and $10 million.

The mass-affluent community seeks advice on a wide array of planning issues. While they generally have investable dollars, they also want to explore how their money will affect their lives. However, many of the financial relationships they maintain are built on investment strategies, performance comparisons, technical analyses and tactical repositioning. These people feel the planning element of the relationship is missing, yet they struggle to articulate it, since their current advisor calls the existing narrow relationship financial planning.

Too many of these people visit our office with stories of how they felt like small fish in a big pond. They felt an initial sense of security aligning with a big-name firm, but when it came to having their financial planning needs addressed, the relationship would fall short.

The mass affluent seem to be stuck in a world where they want financial planning advice, yet what they buy is primarily investment advice.

Reprinted with permission from Oversold and Underserved: A Financial Planner’s Guidebok for Effectively Serving the Mass Affluent, by Marc Freedman. 2008. Denver: FPA Press

As of this writing, Medicare and Medicaid are available to seniors but it is not cheap and the costs to individuals continue to rise.

A recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that a 65 year old man, who retires this year, will need $68,000 to $173,000 in current savings to have a 50-50 chance of covering health premiums and out of pocket costs in retirement. If he wants a 90% chance, then, the amount of savings needed jumps to $134,000 to $378,000. The variance depends on whether a former employer subsidizes health costs in retirement.

The cost outlook is worse for women because they tend to live longer and need more health care. A 65 year old- woman who retires this year will need between $98,000 to $242,000 in savings for a 50-50 chance and $164,000 to $450,000 in savings for a 90% chance.

The study found that health care costs in retirement rose 9% for men and 16% for women over the past year.

These estimates do not include savings needed for long term care or for basic living. As I have stressed with my clients, you need to begin planning now. Remember these two items (health and long term care) are in addition to normal living expense.

Start today or you know the outcome… discipline or regret.

$ People Are Saving Less

• The Commerce Department reports that Americans are saving at the lowest rate since the Great Depression.
• Personal savings stood at a national level of negative $6.2 million in January.
• About 40% of Americans say they are saving nothing for retirement. One reason: Over the past year, inflation rose 4.3% while salaries rose only 3.4%.
• One in four Americans told the Employee Benefit Research Institute that they have no saving at all.

$ Retirement Is Coming Later and Later

• The percentage of Americans 55 or older working full-time increased from 54.2% in 1993 to 64.4% in 2005.
• Nearly one in four people between 65 and 74 was still in the labor force in 2006, compared with just one in five in 2000.
• A recent study indicates that 17% of workers have suffered a reduction of retirement benefits offered by their employers in the last two years. Of these, only one-third say they are saving more for their retirement as a result.

$ Student Debt Is Piling Up

• Tuition cost have climbed 60% since 2000, and the average graduating senior now owes more than $20,000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics-twice as much as graduates owed a decade ago.
• Nearly a quarter of recent grads owe in excess of $25,000.
• While student debt rose 8% from 2005 to 2006, starting salaries rose only 4%.

These are the statistics. Break away from the crowd and do NOT be one of the statistics. Call us if you want to stand out from the crowd.

Take a minute and analyze these people. If they had made a plan 5 years ago and took massive action, they would now be able to change their careers. If you or someone you know is in this box, then ask, “If I do not do any changing today, where will I be in 5 or 10 years: the same place?”

Here is an outline of a few general things you can do to work on changing careers.

Time Until Career Change:

• Someday:
  1. Aggressively pay off “bad” debt and build good credit.
  2. Live beneath your means. Buy less house and less car than standard rules of thumb.
  3. Direct more savings to a taxable escape fund (vs. qualified plans) than standard rules of thumb.
  4. Set up an automatic savings program to build an escape fund.
  5. Research or work with a career counselor to define a post-transition target destination.
• 5+ years out:
  1. Refine your target destination, including changes in compensation, expenses and lifestyle; retraining or start-up funds needed; length of transition period; impact on family goals.
  2. Identify preliminary target date and transition strategy.
  3. Calculate escape fund needed to cover monthly living expenses during transition period and other transition-related costs.
  4. Monitor escape fund annually: rebalance or beef up as needed.
  5. Plan to pay off large purchases (car, home improvement) by transition time.
  6. Begin living the lifestyle future will support.
• 2 to 3 years out:
  1. Pinpoint target transition date, factoring in vesting schedules, expected bonuses, vacation/personal days due, adequacy of escape fund, debt, family milestones (e.g., kids done with college).
  2. Redouble efforts to beef up escape fund and eliminate bad debt.
  3. Research options for health insurance.
  4. Revisit cash flow, other projections to ensure transition strategy still works.
• Final year:
  1. Take final advantage if employee benefits: flexible spending account, employee stock, bonuses, etc.
  2. Get approved for home equity line of credit.
  3. Consider purchasing disability insurance, if eligible.
  4. Nail down health insurance strategy.
  5. Plan timing of income (earned and unearned) and expenses to take advantage of lower tax bracket.

There are great books on this subject. May I suggest, “Do What You Love and Money Will Follow” by Marsha Sinetar.

Your work makes up over 33% of each day. Why not have fun at it? I love what I do and bounce out of bed each day without an alarm clock. I cannot wait to get into the office to help people. Is every day perfect? Heck no. It is filled with challenges and obstacles. Many days are like running down the football field with everyone on the field on the opposite team. They are all trying to bring you down. It is exhilarating and that is even before the touchdown is scored.

Let me close with a story that has been altered slightly. Saint Francis of Asissi was weeding and hoeing in his garden. The angel of the Lord came and said that God would call and take him in an hour. A monk was nearby, approached Francis and asked if he heard that he would be dead and gone in an hour. Francis said, “Yes.” The monk asked, “So what are you going to do?” Francis said “I’m going to finish hoeing my garden.”

Do what you love.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Interesting Tidbit:

Overload

As the 78 million individuals defined as “baby boomers” (i.e. persons born from 1946-1964) enter their retirement years, an estimated 10,000 Americans a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next 20 years.
(Source: Social Security)

I have worked with many successful people; people who have achieved the kinds of lives they have dreamed about. I have also worked with many people who are not anywhere near where they want to be in life. Many times those who are not successful resent those who are and believe that somehow success was handed to those who have achieved much.

What I have found however is that actually the reverse is true. Those who have achieved much have worked much HARDER than those who are not successful. You wouldn’t believe the stories of struggle that I hear from those who now appear to on “top of the heap.” Yes, they are successful, but no, it wasn’t handed to them! And I find that most of the unsuccessful people who come to me actually haven’t been tenacious at all. I find that with many of the people I speak to who complain about their lack of success simply haven’t persevered and been tenacious. When I ask them questions I usually get excuses. Yes, there are exceptions on both sides, but I find this to be almost universally true.

If you are one who finds yourself dreaming of a better life, or looking at someone who “has it made,” I would ask you to take a long, deep look inward and at your life to find whether or not you have actually been tenacious in pursuit of your dreams. How long have you gone for it? Many people who achieve much go for YEARS before they achieve what their hearts long for? How hard have you gone for it? Most people who achieve much have given up much. They have sacrificed much. They strive valiantly for what it is that resides deep in their dreams.

They just plain ol’ work hard!

So what are the principles of tenacity? What do you need to know in order to take your turn at the tenacious? Here are some thoughts to start your fire and get you going!

• Sometimes you just have to outlast the others

“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” — William Feather

I have found that many people start on their dreams but most never finish. Then those who stop resent those who make it. The truth is that most people who become successful have simply mastered the art of keeping on keeping on! I myself can remember early on in my career when I would get discouraged and I literally said to myself, “One more week. Just give it one more week.” Quite frankly, this is what got me through a couple of years of my work early on. I hung on as others let go.

It is easy to get disheartened. Ask those who have achieved success if they ever got disheartened and you will find some of the most amazing stories you have ever heard. Give it a try: Go to the most successful person you know and ask them if they ever thought about quitting. Ask them how they kept on going. You will be amazed at what you hear.

• Sometimes you just have to hold on at the end

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” — Franklin Roosevelt

I wonder how many people have quit just as they would have begun their entrance into success? Sure there are many who quit at the first sign of hard work, but what about those who, after the tenth time of trial then give up, just as fate would have seen them go through one last hurdle and then into the promised land? How many people were on their last hurdle and decided not to jump? How many people had just one more mountain pass to go? Or just one more river to cross?

Of course we will never know, but certainly some of the people who quit are doing so on what would have been their last trial, right?

So what does this mean for you? For me it means I do not quit because I would hate to find out later that all I needed was just one last effort and I would have achieved my goal. What if it isn’t my last trial? That’s okay because as long as I keep going, eventually I will get to my last trial, I will overcome it, and I will enter the Winner’s Circle.

• Sometimes the most beautiful results come from dull things under pressure

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.” — Malcolm Forbes

If coal wasn’t an inanimate object it would certainly scream, “Stop! I want out!” But that coal, when facing incredible pressure, is turned into one of earth’s most precious possessions. Ugly, dirty old coal is transformed into beautiful diamonds.

Instead of looking at pressure and trials as the reason to quit, get tenacious and see them as the very thing that will make your life the beautiful thing that you desire it to be. See it as your opportunity to learn, to grow, and to be transformed. See these trials as the very things that will enable you to have the life that dream of!

Trials will surely come. Life will get hard. You will want to quit.

Then you will have a choice: Will you give up? Or will you take your turn at tenacious. The choice you make will determine much of the rest of your life.

Comments by Paul Ferraresi:

My advice? Take your turn at tenacious. You will become stronger and you will end up living the life you dream of!

Clocks and watches all over the world have the same number of hours in each day – 24. And that’s what we get each day. I have 24, Bill Gates has 24 and Warren Buffett has 24. And you do, too. It’s up to you to determine how to spend every minute.

You can waste your days sleeping late, watching television, hating your job and wishing you had a better life. Or, you can spend your time creating a better life – a world devoted to improving yourself and the lives of others. So what are you going to do with each day’s 24 hours?

Visualize Your Perfect Day

In reality, you are either living your life the way you envision it – or how someone else does. Only you have the power to live exactly how you want. Think about this – you already have the resources to create the life you desire within your mind. Don’t you think it’s time to take control and begin fulfilling your dreams? Start by repeating daily: “This is my life to live as I choose.”

You’re probably saying, “Of course I want to live my dream life, Paul, but where should I begin?”

The only place to begin is at the beginning. First, realize you have the power within you to get everything you want. No one else can do it for you. Heck, I’d love to give you what you want simply by blinking my eyes, but I can’t. Only you can do it. I can show you the door to living your dreams, but you have to open and walk through it.

Second, have a clear vision of what your perfect life looks like. That means visualizing and writing exactly what you want to do every day.

And third, believe your perfect life will manifest and become your reality. Remember, whether you believe something is possible or not, you’re right. I want you to visualize your perfect day – one in which you feel joyful, inspired, exhilarated, healthy and focused.

Then in a journal or notebook, make a 24-hour timeline with each line representing one hour of this perfect day. For example, the first line should be Midnight – 1:00 AM. Line two should be 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM, etc.

After you create this timeline, visualize ideally what you would be doing during each hour. Perhaps from Midnight – 1:00 AM, you would be sleeping soundly or maybe partying with friends at a nightclub. How will you spend 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM? Will you be at the gym exercising, taking a yoga class, having breakfast with clients who respect you or having coffee with your best friend?

What about 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM? Will you get your kids from school, play golf or get a relaxing massage?

Determine what you’ll do during each hour of your perfect day. Once you determine how you want to spend your day, review the timeline often – morning, noon and night. This will be your future schedule so become familiar with it. Believe this is how you will spend your time – and watch it become your reality.

“Goals are new, forward-moving objectives. They magnetize you toward them.”

This week I want to talk with you about leaving an impact legacy. “What is an impact legacy?” you may ask. It is how you impact people and the world around you. You see, many people glide through life and do not make much of an impact. That is unfortunate. Others though, those driven by a purpose and passion for living, are continually making the world a better place and making an impact wherever they go. That’s what I believe you want to do.

In order to help you reflect on this during this week, I want to ask you a question: What in the world are you doing?

Here is the typical life – typical, though not everybody does it this way. But for the most part, people’s lives generally go something like this:

You’re born

You eat and sleep

You play with toys

You go to school

You play little league

You go to school

You learn to drive

You go to school

You leave high school

You go to more school, but you pay for it now

You get a job

You get married

You buy a house

You have kids

You watch your kids eat, sleep, play and go to school

You work, work, and work

You retire

You die

That’s the basic life, isn’t it? I know there is more to it, but that is about it for most people.

Here is that question again: What in the world are you doing?

I mean, what are you doing besides the typical “enjoying yourself while you are waiting to die” scenario? What kind of impact are you making?

What I believe sets the successful apart is that they don’t just live the average life. They don’t just pass time. They make an impact. They have something compelling in their life that drives them – something that gives them an answer when they are asked that question: What in the world are you doing?

I’m helping children.

I’m creating a business that supports many families.

I lead a church.

I am defending our liberties.

I am raising great children.

I’m teaching others to improve their lives.

I help people have fun.

I create memories for people.

In other words, successful people always come down to this:

I make an impact and help other people by (fill in your purpose here).

What in the world are you doing?

If you want to be successful, you need to be able to answer that by describing how you help others. Because if you aren’t helping others – if you aren’t making an impact – you are just taking up space, eating food and waiting to die.

Here’s the question for you to answer this week and what to do with your answer:

What in the world are you doing?

If you know, then you are good to go – live it and make an impact!

If you don’t know, then maybe you need to reflect on what you are doing, what your life is about, and how you can explode the mundane bubble you may be living in!

The world needs impact makers – so live to be one!

Over the years I have met and observed thousands of people and each and every last one of them say they want some improvement in certain areas of their lives. In fact, most of them flat out confessed that they hated certain situations they were in. But after further evaluations, I discovered that they weren’t willing to do anything about it. It seemed to be good enough for them to just sit there and wallow in their pain, anguish and misery.

Several years ago, I was chatting with a friend after conducting a training session. We were talking about the number of people who say they want to make changes but don’t seem to ever do anything about it. I told him it reminded me of a story I heard over 10 years ago. Here’s how the story goes… One day a man was walking down the street on his way to work. As he walked down the street, there were dogs on just about every front porch and they all would bark as the man walk passed them. However, there was one dog that he remembered, because this dog was just sitting there and he was whimpering and whining and moaning, you know the little whimpering sounds dogs make when they are wounded or in some sort of pain. Well, this particular dog was just sitting there on the front porch making those sounds. The man was curious as to why this dog wasn’t barking like the other dogs and why he was whimpering. He couldn’t figure it out, so he just kept walking to work. The next day he was in the same situation where he was walking down the street and saw the dogs barking once again and this same dog that was moaning and groaning the other day was doing the same thing today and he just couldn’t figure it out. Well, he walked passed for an entire week and everyday the dog would be there moaning and groaning. So, finally the guy got fed up, he said, “let me find out what’s going on.” So he went and knocked on the door and a guy came out and said, “Yes, how may I help you?” He said, “Sir, is this your dog?” “Yes, that’s my dog.” “Well, what’s wrong with him?” The owner of the dog said, “What do you mean?” “Well, he’s been sitting here moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining for an entire week. The rest of the dogs are barking, your dog should be barking too, why is he moaning and groaning?” The owner said, “Well, he’s actually sitting on a nail.” And the guy said, ‘What! Your dog is sitting on a nail. Why doesn’t he get off?” “Well, it just doesn’t hurt him enough.” -.

Wow! You know most people are like that dog sitting on a nail. I mean, sure, they would like to get off the nail, but what if they got off the nail and they died or something? They never seem to stop to consider that maybe they would be healed, maybe they would be free, maybe they would be able to move about and discover some new and exciting options for their lives. But, NOOO. Instead, they just sit there on that nail because they’re not sure what’s going to happen if they get off. I mean, there are no guarantees of safety so to speak. Even though, it’s not the best feeling in the world, sitting on a nail, I mean, it’s not comfortable sitting on a nail, it kind of hurts, but at least they know what to expect. They know that they, say, have $900 per week coming in so they can pay their bills and put food on the table and they can put some clothes on their back and a roof over their heads.

You know, that’s enough for most people. They may even get upset with you if you question their so called security, I mean, if you hand them a book or tape program or tell them about a seminar that can give them some effective strategies for getting off nails, they may resent you for it. Well, you’re different. You are willing to learn some effective nail removing strategies that could set you free because you and I both know that there is no such thing as security. Well, maybe I should take that back. I do know of a place where security exists on this planet. It’s called the graveyard. And you know what, most people tip toe through life so that they can arrive at the graveyard safely. Of course this will not be you… Right? That’s right… Simply because, instead of Moaning & Groaning, Whimpering & Whining about not getting the results you desire, you are a developing a plan to get off the nail and create the conditions you want.

Paul Ferraresi special note: I am always amazed how most people complain that they are so busy that they can not work extra to bring in more income. Yet these same people spend 3 hours per night watching TV (making actors wealthy) or, drinking at the local club (in which they rent the drink for only an hour)

Do you know if you worked only 8 hours extra a week, say part time, at only $10.00/hour. That is $4000/year or $40000 in 10 years. I realize that is 10 years in the future, but, you will live in the future, not the past. You will probably also save half of that $40,000 by not wasting it at the local club. Hmmm that is $60K in your pocket. There are plenty of opportunities out there where the income is 5-10 times greater!

Discipline or regret?

If you want to know how to teach their kids to be responsible with money, here’s something to take home and share with them. The secret is teaching kids to be financially responsible and to be able to realize their own personal dreams is understanding choice: the concept of setting and publishing short and long-term goals, and having the discipline to save early and often. Hence, I offer these tips to help parents talk to their teens about good money management.

Tips for Parents

Start by teaching the four money choices: save, spend, donate, and invest. Spend and invest already intrigue and engage many ‘tweens and teens. But it is the understanding and use of saving and donating as well as spending and investing that will help them to succeed financially and become good stewards of the money in their lives.

To raise saving and donating to the same level of importance for young people as the more popular choices of spending and investing, they need to see that the payback from these activities is just as important and just as much fun as the payback they get when they make a purchase or play a stock market game in school. To make saving “rock” as a money choice in their life, introduce an incentive plan. Match saving dollars to help them meet a short-term goal faster. Then show them the power of compounding, which is discussed below. Be sure to give them the brief multiple choice test we have included and you are sure to rock their world.

To make donating a provocative money choice for ‘tweens and teens, offer to work side-by-side with them on a donating goal. Ask them to present the charity of their choice to the family over dinner so that members of the family can kick in time, talent, or money. Your involvement lets them know that you think what they have set out to do is worthy of your time or money. The simple involvement is a huge boost to their self-esteem and development of their own identity. They know your time is precious and will be intrigued by the offer that they and their activity will be the center of your attention.

Help your child set goals for each money choice. Take out eight pieces of paper. Write “save” on one sheet, “spend” on the next, “donate” on the third, and “invest” on the fourth. Create another set the same way. Now, keep one set and hand the other set to your child. Take the “save” sheet and draw a short-term money goal (things we want or need one year from today)

Notice I said draw the goal. You will both enjoy and inspire each other with your drawings. Also, drawing adds a bit of levity and humor to somewhat intimidating and dry moment.

Once you have drawn the goals, talk about them. Do the same for “spend” and “donate”. For “invest,” set a long-term goal (something you want or need ten or more years from now). Again draw! Compare goal-setting drawings and discuss. An important key to financial literacy is to consciously link your money to your goals in life. Actually sharing or publishing the goals to each other will help your child own the goals and give the goals a much better chance of being realized.

Now help your child publish his or her goals. Both of you should take the four goal sheets you have created and post them somewhere where both of you are sure to see them every day—by the computer, on the refrigerator—anywhere they are available to the two of you and, just as importantly, for others to see. We like to tell ‘tweens and teens to publish their goals talking to just about anyone who will listen. If your child lives on the Internet, suggest that he or she publish the goals on their blog. (For the Internet challenged, a blog is basically a journal that is available on the Web. The activity of updating a blog is called “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”) This kind of verbal articulation of your child’s goals will bring the goals to life. Others who hear them talk about their goals may even affirm those goals by helping them out with the realization of the goal. In a recent workshop that conducted, one 16-year-old set a short-term goal of getting a new paint job on his car. After the workshop he told all of his friends about his short-term goal. A friend provided a lead to someone who did that kind of work and he reported that he got a better deal because he was referred.

Get your child to save now. You can connect your ‘tween or teen with the power of saving by showing them the power of compounding. Young people are, well, young. This will be a huge yawn for kids if you do not break it down into financial terms they feel are within their control. Ask your child to record what they spend on things they want every day for a week. They can even estimate at the end of each day before they go to bed what that dollar amount is. Typically these expenses are in the “I want” category, such as snack food or a fancy coffee drink, not the “I need” category. At the end of the week sit down and see if they have spent at least $4 a day on “I wants.” Chances are they have spent that, and then some. Then, ask them to quickly answer this multiple choice test without using a calculator:

At age 18, you decide not to buy soda or snacks at the school cafeteria anymore. You save $4.00 a day. You put $4 a day in a savings account at two percent annual interest and leave it alone. At age 67, your savings is:

1. (a) $1,159
2. (b) $25,355
3. (c) $71,540
4. (d) $319,159

Answer: (d), or $319,159. Note that $71,540 is from the daily deposits and the remaining $247,619 is interest!

Once you tell them the answer, or they realize it themselves, their eyes will widen with renewed respect for the power and importance of saving. This is a big number for adolescents. You might need to monitor this daily deposit until the “habit” kicks in. It is worth the hand-holding involved if your child becomes an instinctual accumulator.

I encourage you to show your children the secrets of success. The adolescents we have worked with are in awe of people who are ready to unlock the secrets of money management for them. They listen.

Lastly, purchase the book The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. Read it and explain the principles with your kids.