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I’m in a high school personal finance class. The book says 10%, but that seems like too little. How much would you set aside for retirement?

10% is probably sufficient if you start before you are 25 years old and make a relatively modest salary. The later you start, the higher percentage you need. And the higher your salary, the higher percentage you need, because Social Security will not make up as big of a fraction of what you need once you retire. Of course, this is sort of a minimal retirement — if you want to retire earlier or more expensively (like if you plan to travel or take up an expensive hobby) then you would need to save more.

Personally, I encourage anyone your age, as soon as you get that first job, to save like crazy. Here’s why. First, every $1 you save when you are 25 years old should grow to something like $16 by the time you are 65. But every $1 you save when you are 35 grows to just around $8 by the time you are 65. And by the time you’re 45, each dollar grows to just around $4 when you are 65. The dollars you save when you are young have lots of time to grow nicely and really work for you.

Second, it is much easier to start out young with very frugal habits, save a lot of money, and then relax as you get older. It is much harder to go the other way!

And third, you never know what will happen. If you should lose your job, have a major emergency expense, or something else, you may not be able to contribute to your retirement for a while. So it is nice to be a little ahead there, in case you need a cushion.

So, save like crazy when you are young!

Do you have a system of getting all your bills paid on time at the right time of month? We pay our bills through the computer, and it seems like we have so many bills and everymonth we either forget to pay one or pay another twice by accident! What is YOUR system? Thanks for any advice!!

This can be REALLY frustrating!

The way that I totally ELIMINATED this frustration was to save up enough money to cover one month’s worth of bills.

Because I had enough to cover all of the month’s bills, I could just pay all of my bills ALL AT THE SAME TIME only once a month.

As I get paid through the month, the money just goes directly into savings to "refill" the account for the next month’s bills.

One GREAT time to save this amount of money is to use the tax refund (if you get a substantial refund) to put into your savings account and be able to move to a "once-a-month" bill paying system.

Another way to gain complete control of this is to put together a budget for each paycheck. Spend every dollar of the paycheck on the budget BEFORE you are paid.

Spending my money on paper BEFORE I was paid changed my financial future forever!

I have a FREE budget form that allows you to do this on my personal finance blog: http://www.josephsangl.com Click on "Tools" at the top of the page and click on the "Monthly Budget Form – By Week" link.

Good luck!

I am interested in pursuing a career in criminal justice. However, I do not want to be a cop or work in the correctional department. I would like to know what office related careers are there and a salary range for them.

ex. security account manager

I really want to be a lawyer, but I don’t think law school is possible when it comes to finances. Any tips on making it possible.

Do you have to go to an Ivy League law school to have good career options.

Judge or magistrate

A bachelor’s degree and work experience usually constitute the minimum requirements for a judgeship or magistrate position. A number of lawyers become judges, and most judges have first been lawyers. In fact, Federal and State judges usually are required to be lawyers. About 40 States allow non lawyers to hold limited-jurisdiction judgeships, but opportunities are better for those with law experience.

Arbitrator, mediator, and conciliators

Training and education requirements for arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators differ from those for judges. Mediators who practice in State-funded or court-funded mediation programs usually must meet specific training or experience standards, which vary by State and court. In most States, individuals who offer private mediation services do not need a license, certification, or specific coursework; however, many private mediators and most of those affiliated with mediation organizations and programs have completed mediation training and agreed to comply with certain ethical standards. For example, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) requires mediators listed on its mediation panel to complete an AAA training course, receive recommendations from the trainers, and complete an apprenticeship.

Training for arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators is available through independent mediation programs, national and local mediation membership organizations, and postsecondary schools. In 2004, 16 colleges or universities in the United States offered master’s degrees in dispute resolution or conflict management, and 2 offered doctoral degrees. Many more schools offer conflict-management specializations within other degree programs. Degrees in public policy, law, and related fields also provide good background for prospective arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators.

Legal training and mediation skills are useful to those in many other occupations, including counselors; lawyers; paralegals and legal assistants; title examiners, abstractors, and searchers; law clerks; and private detectives and investigators.

Paralegal or legal assistant

There are several ways to become a paralegal. The most common is through a community college paralegal program that leads to an associate’s degree. The other common method of entry, mainly for those who already have a college degree, is through a program that leads to a certification in paralegal studies. A small number of schools also offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in paralegal studies. Some employers train paralegals on the job, hiring college graduates with no legal experience or promoting experienced legal secretaries. Other entrants have experience in a technical field that is useful to law firms, such as a background in tax preparation for tax and estate practice or in criminal justice, nursing, or health administration for personal injury practice.

Among the other occupations that call for a specialized understanding of the law and the legal system, but do not require the extensive training of a lawyer, are law clerks; title examiners, abstractors, and searchers; claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators; and occupational health and safety specialists and technicians.

Court Reporter

The amount of training required to become a court reporter varies with the type of reporting chosen. It usually takes less than a year to become a voice writer, while electronic reporters and transcribers learn their skills on the job. In contrast, the average length of time it takes to become a stenotypist is 33 months. Training is offered by about 160 postsecondary vocational and technical schools and colleges. The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has approved about 70 programs, all of which offer courses in stenotype computer-aided transcription and real-time reporting. NCRA-approved programs require students to capture a minimum of 225 words per minute, a requirement for Federal Government employment as well.

Some States require court reporters to be notary publics. Others require the Certified Court Reporter (CCR) designation, for which a reporter must pass a State test administered by a board of examiners. The NCRA confers the entry-level designation Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) upon those who pass a four-part examination and participate in mandatory continuing education programs. Although voluntary, the designation is recognized as a mark of distinction in the field. A reporter may obtain additional certifications that demonstrate higher levels of competency, such as Registered Merit Reporter (RMR) or Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR). The RDR is the highest level of certification available to court reporters. To earn it, a court reporter must either have 5 consecutive years of experience as an RMR or be an RMR and hold a 4-year bachelor’s degree.

The NCRA also offers the designations Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR), Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC), and Certified CART Provider (CCP). These designations promote and recognize competence in instantaneously converting the spoken word into the written word.

I’m looking at the community college schedule and the only thing under Economics is Econ 101, which doesn’t help me. I can’t afford high tuition for a course like this or I wouldn’t be looking! How do I learn the daily stuff that most people take for granted, like how to budget and save?
San Bernardino county, but that’s close enough to Los Angeles that it would help.
E-mail me.

Your ID does not allow email>

In Santa Clarita, there is Total Money School. I have attended their courses and they are pretty good. Cost is small, depending on the course you attend. Maybe $50-$100 per course and they can be half-day to two days on the weekend.

http://www.totalmoneyschool.com/

If you have some other questions that you would like a quick answer on you can email me at ethanj@moneyandfreedom.org

You can also read a very thorough article on personal finance at http://www.moneyandfreedom.org/definitivefinancialfreedom.html

Be blessed,

By way of economic growth?
I sometimes fear quite frightened at all the misrepresentation is laid out to the public on this debate. Too many people think it works like personal finance. I know this is done because that is what they expect the lay person to relate to.
However, can we all at least be on the same page here?

Not so fast grasshopper, growth will help for sure, but if we have a huge trade imbalance then we continue to grow debt. Also at some point, interest will be bigger then our ability to grow, and then we are in big trouble.

I need this to to do my personal finance as well as manage my checkbook over my phone. COuld you guys help with any suggestions?

Try Quicken Online

http://quicken.intuit.com/online-banking-finances.jsp

The application and your data are online. There is also phone / PDA access.

I know the basics like what it actually is however I always hear these commercials and radio advertisements saying you can get a half a million dollar policy for $20 a month and things like that. How does the company actually make any money? Even if yo were paying $1000 a month there’s no way you could get to a half a million with interest rates and the stock market.

It is a numbers game. Most of those ads are for term life policies, which only pay a benefit while you pay the premium. And there is a term, usually like 10 years, after which the premiums on term policies usually skyrocket. But basically, they have millions of people pay $20/mo, but to get that rate you need to be young and in good health, no diabetes, non-smoker, etc. so very few of these people die and collect. After the term, many, if not most, drop out when the premium increases. Thus the company has collected $20/mo for 10 years, or $2,400 and never paid out a dime. Believe me, they have people called actuaries who calculate the rates they need to charge, it is all about group statistics. For a description of other life insurance types check
http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/insurance/2006/05/08/whole-life-vs-term-life.aspx

It seems like every dollar I make, I have an urge to spend. Most things I buy are things I really don’t need. I just find myself browsing amazon or iTunes and watch my checking account drain. I don’t have a real job, I just mow my neighbor’s yard once a week, but that really doesn’t pay much. But I’m focusing on school this year, so I don’t have time for a job. Any tips on some money management, and how to not spend so much would be appreciated.

Just think about how the economy is sinking 🙂

I’ve worked really hard on straightening out my finances over the last two years. I just wanted to see how my approach compares to others. The personal finance sites make it seem like everyone is maxing everything out:

My wife and I contribute about 28,000 into our 401K’s each year and we max out our IRA’s (8,000) each year.

We might have trouble on the IRA in 2007 because of income limits. It that happens, I’m planning on just opening a mutual fund account on the side.

So far, we have @ 45K. We’re both 27.

Besides that, we have a mortgage and car payments. Everything else is paid and I plan on starting a separate mutual fund for the kids college (I don’t like all the rules associated with the college savings plans).

The only reason that I say that I am better off than you is because I’M ALREADY RETIRED. Just kidding, you are doing it extremely right. Now that I say that, let me give you some thoughts:
1) Buy, read and study the books by James P O’Shaughnessy, What Works on Wall Street, John J Bowen, Creating Equity and Benjamin Grapham, The Intelligent Investor.
2) Buy, read and study Jane Byrant Quinn’s book Making the Most of Your Money. It is a little dated but the information in it is like great foundational information to start your understanding on personal finance.
3) Find a "Financial Peace University" class in your community. You are following this program to a great extent, but this will confirm and add to your knowledge. www.daveramsey.com to find a location.

Then follow what you learn and at age 45 you can come join me in retirement. Oh by the way, retirement is really being more like a tire, it is being retreaded because now you can do exactly what you were born to do. Whether that be volunteer work, owning and managing assets, travel, enjoying life, enjoying family, going on a mission trip, or all of the above.

will our personal debt be dissolved or just moved along with the new currency and world gov etc.?

It has already happened, which is why the recovery is taking so long. This is a "balance sheet" recession.
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3065
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/08/first-draft-of-september-8-principles-of-economics-lecture-financial-markets-and-depression-economics.html

So we’ve seen what happens:

A. People abandon their homes because they can’t afford the mortgages.

B. People renege on their other debts: credit cards, etc.

etc. Those who have jobs pay off the debt they can,
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/07/08/consumer-borrowing-dropped-again-in-may/
but most of the decline in outstanding personal debt has been defaults:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/default.htm
http://www.housingwire.com/2011/01/19/household-debt-decreased-in-2010-due-in-part-to-default
and it has been this was since the recession began:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/23/idUS160626+23-Jul-2008+BW20080723

Of course, this has hurt the small banks (those that didn’t get federal rescue money) a great deal:
How The Bailouts Hurt Small Banks and Benefited Big Finance.

And the result is nasty (and self defeating) for all
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/damnification/