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For matters pertaining to equity the authority that I go to is Marian Snow – best-selling author of "Stop Sitting on Your Assets". She talks about how to let your equity work for you, how to become your own bank, and secure your financial future. I got a lot of new ideas, and now view my money and financial management in a different way.

Preview the book here — there’s a lot of vital information you can’t find anywhere else. I suggest too that you make a small investment on the book. It changed my total outlook on investments, mortgage, equity and personal finance.

http://www.stopsittingonyourassets.com/MarianSnow/preview/contents.html

You can contact Marian through her personal blog here:

http://mariansnow.typepad.com/assets

So i’m 17 and going to turn 18 september this year. I’ve been wanting to invest money but i’m not old enough -_- I’m interested in stocks, property renting, and CD’s. I would also like to learn about investing for retirement so i can retire around my early 50’s.I was told saving accounts were best than roth IRA’s, but personally i dont know much on how retirement accounts work. Any good books? I took a micoreconomics class at my community college but i learnt nothing about personal finance.
I apologize for any incorrectly written words or wrong use a grammar. I tend to think faster than i write.
But learnt is a word. Past participle of learn. Means to acquire knowledge of.

Security Analysis by Professor Benjamin Graham ..

Stock Market Profits by Richard Schabacker…

I am considering purchasing Quicken but I’d like to know more about how it keeps track of my money… does it have a check registry or a way to ‘balance my books’? I guess what I mean is, can I use Quicken as my checkbook instead of pencil and paper like I use now? Can someone fill me in? The website wasn’t very helpful. Thanks.

Quicken and the whole genre of personal finance software does the most basic of functions: help you keep track of your finances.

One of the first things I did when I got Quicken for the first time was trash my paper checkbook register and keep all of my transactions on Quicken. Then, when the end of the month arrived and I got my statement, I used the Reconcile feature to balance the books. No more pencil and paper reconciling anymore for me.

It can do a whole lot more than that, with downloading transactions directly from financial institutions, forecasting income and investment performance, and so forth. But the basics, definitely no problem.

I realize that as an adult you can’t learn things as well as when you’re a kid or whatever so my question is what things should you learn before your brain is unable to do so as an adult? Don’t give me stupid answers either.

Also I don’t really mean information like scientific facts or anything like that, I mean things like playing an instrument.

A foreign language for sure!
Like you mentioned a musical instrument is a good idea too.
One thing I have overwhelmingly heard from friends that they wish they’d learned while they were younger was the basics on personal finance and a general knowledge of accounting/taxes/government. I know it sounds boring as all get out, but its true. If you learn the basics early on you’ll be more likely to smartly handle your money in the future.

but my parents have been managing mine for the last few years that I’ve been working full time. My mother is a manipulating money hungry control freak and won’t even let me have my own bank account.

I just want to get a survey here to understand how hard it is to manage one’s finance so my heart can prepare for what to come. This is really scary for me.

Managing your own finances isn’t hard as long as you are cautious and don’t do something really really stupid. First I would find the best bank in your area and when you go and talk to them about an account then tell them your situation. If you explain that this is your first time doing this yourself, then they may be able to give you advice, pamplets, etc. Utilize online banking if they offer it and check it often as well as keeping track of where every dollar goes in either a personal steno pad or your checkbook. I personally keep an Excel spreadsheet with my finances. The something stupid I mentioned is don’t get taken by creditors. If you have to get a credit card then get ONE. And only use it during emergencies, etc. As one who is recovering from debt, you do not want to be in it. If you have a credit card, set it up on automatic payments so you know you will always be current. If you get a store card (Macy’s, Victorias Secret, etc.) just know that their APRs can be 20-29% a year depending on the card. That is crappy, if you must have one (coupons, etc.) then pay off the balances as soon or as quickly as possible. Also try to plan out your finances. You probably know roundabout how much you make per pay period so then you can figure out what needs paid when and how much you may need to save, etc. This is pretty much making a budget. Try to have targets for your different types of spending: 200/mo. for food, 200/mo. for gas, 100/mo for credit cards, 100/mo for savings, get the idea? Then once you know that, you can curtail different categories if the money is needed for something else.

It probably was confusing but I hope I helped a little bit. Also the only emotional part of it I could see would be starting out, getting everything settled, and then of course if you run into hard times. Other than that it isn’t bad.

I did silk-screening in high school and I really enjoyed it. I want to start doing it again. Nothing major, just a few shirts to start and maybe I can expand and do more. Where can I get supplies in Pittsburgh and what should I get? any other tips would be appreciated!

1 start looking for silk screening equipment for sale
2 start looking for wholesale shirts
3 start making lots of art
4 look for a distributor (somebody you sell the shirts to.. who will sell to the public, unless you want to do that)

5 buy #1 and #2

this link will help you save money so you have cash when you are ready to buy the stuff you will need

http://www.gomestic.com/Personal-Finance/Get-Rich-Even-When-You-Are-Poor.125028

Wanting to know what to expect, I studied for days for the midterm and then it was basically nothing but there’s alot more information to cover now.

Save your money. You can learn all this yourself without paying tuition. Simply spend at least an hour every day reading financial articles on the web and downloading MP3 files to listen to on the go. One of my favorite MP3 shows is the Ray Lucia Show. Search around and you will find more to read and listen to than you have time for. If you must take a formal curriculum, use Yahoo! or other reputable search for "CFP" programs, and go to a real school school that offers CFP courses online.

I am the payee on my father’s SSI benefit account. He may be charged with fraud for, unknowingly, failing to inform the office that he, on occasion, will work for tips at a bar. We went to the office, and they have already started an investigation, but he did sign a statement regarding the very small income from the bar. Can I be held legally responsible as an accessory to his fraudulent behaviors? I don’t know when, what, or where he does outside of the house.

No, you won’t be responsible because you didn’t know he was working. And if he didn’t know any better, I don’t see where he would either, but he could have to pay back some of his benefits. Maybe earning a few dollars won’t cause him to loose his benefits. To the other poster, there are some cases where a person needs someone to be in charge of their money because they are not responsible enough to handle their finances. A family member or close friend can receive the check (it will be made out like to Jane Doe for John Doe) and use it for the persons expenses, like rent, food and utilities or ever how they see fit. I am payee for my nephew that we have custody of and he gets a small check every month off his mom cause she is on disability. I have a checking account that I deposit the check in and then I will give him some money for his personal use, the rest is spent on stuff like clothes, school supplies and other necessities.

I had a furniture reupholstering business about nine years ago. I closed it down for health reasons. Since then I have bought a commercial building that does have space for my business if I kick out one of the tenants. Problem is economy is not good, and my personal finances are very tight. Right now I am just making ends meet, while I work at a dead end job that pays only minimum wage.
Here is more information for the last answer.
1. My job is not my only income. My husband has a much better job than me, and I own four rental homes besides the building.
2. The building is not paid off. I generate enough income to pay all the payments, plus a little left over. If I did’nt have the tenant I would still be aqble to pay the bills, but none left over.
3. I would have to buy no equipment. I pretty much still have my old equipment. I still do it on the side. It is very hard to do that. You need a lot of room, and it is a very dirty job.
4. I could probably survive, but it would very tight. I already have jobs that people want me to do. I can’t do them now no room.
I think I need to sell the house I live in, and move into my building. The lose of the two rental units, (an apart ment, and the commercial units), would still be less than my house payment. Thanks for all your answers, it has been very helpful.

I’d like to know how you purchased a commercial building while on a minimum wage job!

There are a few things that don’t add up here, but I’m sure there are some factors you didn’t include in your question.

Is this building paid off, or are you making payments? If you are making payments, does the rental income cover your payment?

What happens to your income stream if you lose the rental income from that tenant?

Do you still have the equipment you used from your old business, or are you going to have to obtain new or used or remanufactured equipment?

From a budgeting stand point, you really didn’t give enough information.

Do you need this tenant’s rent money to survive? if you kick him out, you indirectly have a "free" place of business. That already removes a huge piece of the start up cost.

It’s possible for you to start this business, but in order to answer that question, or at least investigate it thoroughly, I would need a lot more information than you have provided.

I’ve been reading all these articles about people trying to get out of debt because they can never pay off their credit card balance, people living paycheck to paycheck, or those that doesn’t have enough savings for their retirement.

Just wondering how many of you out there are really this much in trouble? If you don’t gamble and use your money wisely, poeple should be able to save. I’m lucky to say I don’t know anyone this much in trouble yet. So, is media just exaggerating?

well i am a loan officer so i deal with the finances of many people who are in trouble and need help. And i can attest through personal experience tha it is absolutely true. 95% of the clients i deal with are in a considerable amount of debt! and they are trying to fix it by refinancing but often times cannot because of the way the market is. and just so you know everything that the media is talking about when it comes to losing homes is true as well. i sadly am not able to help and deal with way too many people who are losing there homes. the main reasons why this is happening is people are not being smart about there money. they are not spending it wisely. they either get more than they can afford not allowing themselves enough money to go beyond getting by so as soon as bad times hit they are in the whole. and some people are just irresponsible. i worked with one person who made 7 thousand a month and only had four thousand in bills but still would be missing payments. and i actually was going to be able to signigicantly decrease his debt and get him on the right track. all he had to do is send me one sheet of paper and the deal was done. yet he didnt i kept calling for two weeks and he would not answer. Three months! later he calls me and tells me hes ready to do it and he really needs the money i was going to give him because his daughter is going to school. so i said ok i was ready three months ago but no problem lets do it now. i reran his credit and it turned out that he was 3 months late on a payment and was going to lose his house! i remember the very last conversation we had before those three months i told him dont forget to make your payment otherwise this loan is dead. and his words were "c’mon man im not stupid ive learned from this mistake before i alredy made my payment". yet that was the payment that put him in foreclosure. Why simply because he procrastinated on things that should have been a priority. sadly this is only one of so many stories i have. people are just irresponsible. i mean seriously you should never take on a large debt if you cannot easily be able to properly afford it. i hate seeing people lose their homes!