Smart Strategies for 'Spoiling' Your Kids and Grandkids

If you enjoy financially helping out your children and grandchildren, you're not alone. Giving to them is fun and often provides immense satisfaction. The question is how to help without breaking the bank - and keeping everything in check. Here are some strategies and tips that can help.

    Give only what you can afford. Your own financial security should be your first priority. Since there is no way to know with any certainty how long you will live or how the market will perform, make sure you give within your budget to avoid compromising your own financial health. Doing so will help ensure your generosity today doesn't create a financial hardship for you - or your family members - down the road.
    Give the gift of time instead of money. Even if you want to give money to your children and grandchildren, it may not be appropriate to do so. Many young couples and/or parents take pride in their financial independence. The experience of letting those we love live within their own means is an important life lesson. If your children prefer to make their own way in the world, consider giving the gift of your time instead of your money. Whether it's spending the day at the beach, taking in a movie or volunteering, you'll enjoy the time making memories together.
    Discuss your intentions. If you would like to help support your grandchildren or save for their future goals, such as college, talk with your children to let them know your plans. This can help your kids do a better job with their own financial planning. For example, if they know how much you are saving toward a grandchild's education, they may be able to save more of their dollars for retirement. Be sure to talk with your financial planner or tax advisor before setting up education accounts to identify the opportunities that are best suited to your goals and financial situation.
    Give season passes. Instead of giving money or material goods, treat your children and grandchildren to experiences. Depending on their interests, give them an annual pass to their local zoo, science museum or water or theme park. If you can afford it, think about season tickets to the theater, orchestra or a local sports team.
    Plan a vacation. Treat your family to a multi-generational family vacation. To help keep spending in check, create a budget and let everyone know what you do and don't plan to cover - from travel expenses to food, lodging and excursions - so that everyone knows upfront what to expect. Also, be thoughtful of those who have to take time off of school or work by scheduling travel over national holidays or school breaks.
    Give equally. To help prevent family battles and avoid damaging relationships, give equally to your children and grandchildren to the best of your ability. If you need to give more to one person to help him or her through a rough patch, consider adjusting your will if you want to even things out.
    Clarify whether you're making a loan or giving a gift. If you are loaning money, be specific about the terms and a repayment plan. Also, make sure you have a written document that both parties sign and date. This will help safeguard your financial situation if things go bad by providing you with legal recourse. If you are giving a gift, be upfront about it. Let the recipient knows it's a gift to alleviate any uncertainty about whether or not they need to pay you back.

For help determining how much you can give and/or ways to leave the legacy you desire, consult your financial professional. He or she can evaluate your financial situation and create a strategy to help you meet your goals.

A Grandmother's Dilemma: What Happens When "No" Is Not an Option?

Imagine being married at 14, having 17 children, widowed at 48 years of age with five children still at home to raise. Most women would have a major problem with this scenario. Yet, if that is not enough, you then assume sole responsibility for four little grandchildren -- all under the age of six.

That is the story of my paternal grandmother, Mrs. Lubertha Strickland Monk, because that is exactly what happened to her. Being saddled with this enormous responsibility, my grandmother was facing an uphill battle. Yet, she was determined to survive, which made her my hero. Although she did not have much, what she had was an abundance of love, which she was willing to give to four little grandchildren, who not only needed her love but a "home." For my grandmother, "no" was not an option.

What motivated this little African-American and half Cherokee woman to stretch her faith, push past her circumstances, and inspire others to greatness? Despite being blind, and having no more than a fourth grade education, my grandmother was a remarkable woman. She was an advocate for education and encouraged each of us to pursue our dreams. I ascertain that there were four things that motivated my grandmother to triumph over her circumstances.

First, my grandmother's priorities were in order. Given her dilemma, she could have easily harbored resentment, bitterness,and anger. Yet, she refused. Instead, she was a devout Christian. Having lived with my grandmother, it was evident that her faith was preeminent in her life. She believed that God would provide and sustain her and the family. Her favorite bible verse was "I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or its seed begging bread."

Second, my grandmother was a woman of integrity. She was well-respected in the community. Her word was truly her bond. Her life reflected her devotion to honesty. She often taught us to treat others as we would want them to treat us. Imagine what would happen in our society, if people practice this simple technique today.

Third, my grandmother believed in hard work. Before, she went blind, she maintained a little farm which enabled her to provide for her family. As children, we were not exempt from working. In addition to working on the farm, we also worked a variety of jobs. Grandmother was determined to ensure that her offspring had a strong work ethic.

Fourth, my grandmother had an amazing capacity to love people. She would give to help others when she barely had enough for herself. Because of her faith, she would often put others first. My grandmother was definitely a people-person which made her a constant source of inspiration.

In summary, faith, integrity, hard work, and love enabled my grandmother to turn what some would perceive as a major "mess" into a positive, enduring, and powerful "message." She did not allow her disability (blindness) to destroy her inner character. Since her blindness was a result of sugar diabetes, she spent time educating her family and others about the unfortunate side effects of being diabetic.

Door Alarms - Learn How Door Alarms Will Protect Your Home From Unwanted Intruders

Door Alarms are small devices that, when properly placed, will tell you when someone tries to enter your house.

The thought of having your home broken into is pretty scary, even if it has never happened to you. However, with a little effort and application you can easily make your home safer and more secure. The number one places to protect should be the front and side entrances, sheds and fences. Generally, you should ensure that you protect your doors and what better way to do it than by installing Door Alarms.

Doors can present the greatest weakness to your home`s safety, even when they seem to be strong and secure. This is because even with the best lock systems, burglars may still find a way to get through them.

That is why it is important to have a Door Alarm in place to complement the other safety measures. And if you have any qualms on whether they are effective, then rest assured that these devices protect.

Door Alarms do an excellent job of alerting you, your neighbors or your security company when an intruder try`s to break into your home. Note that most door alarms are very loud and irritating and it would be very hard for people who are around to ignore them. This spells doom for many housebreakers since they would not like to be caught.

It is, therefore, for a good reason, that installation of Door Alarms has long been the most convenient and sure-fire alternative when it comes to giving your home uncompromised security.

These alarms come in a number of choices ranging from those with only the basic functionalities to the more advanced ones that can even save lives.

There are two types of these alarm systems - the wireless and the wired alarm systems. The wireless door systems are more popular with people since they are flexible and can be placed almost anywhere. The wired alarms, on the other hand, are believed to be more reliable but they are a bit expensive. Other than that, the two systems have more or less the same functionalities.

I really do appreciate the work that door alarms do to protect homes and business. These devices have a relentlessly loud noise; it's hard to imagine that any burglar would stick around after the alarm starts sounding.

Don't be the victim of a home burglary. Wireless Door Alarms will keep your doors protected at all times by letting you know when someone enters your home.

Air Pollution: How to Use Activated Carbon Air Filters to Protect Your Family

Air pollution is a problem in almost every city, some more than others. Smog (a term created by combining the words 'smoke and fog') frequently contains many harmful chemical waste products from various industrial and commercial automobile exhaust and ozone--and this complex blend of air pollution often mixes with the air that goes into our air conditioners and comes right into our homes.

These pollutants may only cause throat and nose irritation and either cause or make asthma symptoms worse in the short term, the EPA is saying that in the medium to long term, many of the chemicals contained in smog have carcinogenic effects, leading to lung, throat and other types of cancer. Add ozone, another harmful compound and a big component in smog, and you've got a real health hazard. Smog and related air pollution also easily floats in the air for miles, so even those of us in suburban areas aren't really safe, either.

And if you think your air conditioner filter removes any of these pollutants, unfortunately you're mistaken. Air conditioner filters, at best, only remove larger particles and even the filters that are black on one side with a little carbon only remove a very small percentage of chemical or gas pollutants-which means that well over 95% of all that smog, gas, ozone and other outdoor pollutants are still coming into your home for you, your family, babies and loved ones to breathe.

What is really alarming is that there are many people recommending that on high smog days to stay indoors. While this may reduce exposure a little, unless you're using a carbon air filtration system to remove the pollution that is coming in through your air conditioner 24/7, you're still getting close to the same exposure-and now you're adding whatever other pollutants that are in your home's air to the mix, as well.

This is a very important point for the elderly or those with respiratory issues: if you're going to stay indoors to avoid an increase in outdoor air-caused allergy, asthma or respiratory symptoms, make sure that the air inside is as clean as posibble, and certainly cleaner than outdoors. This is one reason why we recommend activated carbon or charcoal filters for use in homes and offices so much, because if you do that, your home or office will be the one place where the air is actually clean and you'll actually get a break from the pollutants. Stongly activated carbon is the only thing (and zeolite to some degree) that will remove chemical pollutants from the air. And fortunately, activated carbon is also very good at removing ozone from the air, too, which alone causes a great deal of repiratory distress for some people.

What carbon air filtration system or air purifiers are best? There are quite a few on the market now, with various levels of effectiveness. We're going to try to make a point here about this: if the pollutants and chemicals in smog and outdoor pollution are mostly coming from industrial sources, doesn't it make sense that you would need a carbon filter that is industrial strength to be able to remove those pollutants? Of course it does. This is why we most often recommend Aller Air air purifiers and filters-because their Vocarb carbon is the same that is used in commercial and industrial factories and it's designed to remove that level of chemical pollution. Most other air purifier manufacturers do not have carbon or charcoal that is this strongly activated so they will not clean the air as well, plain and simple.

Austin Air's HealthMate Plus and Blueair units with their SmokeStop Gas & Odor filter are fairly good second choices, but they have far less carbon than Aller Air units which means the filters won't last as long. Aller Air has both whole house units and portable air purifiers with this powerful Vocarb carbon, as well as medical grade HEPA filters for removing the tiniest of particles. Like any carbon filter, though, they must be replaced regularly because the carbon becomes saturated with pollutants and when it can't absorb any more, the polluted air just blows right through, which actually circulates polluted air even more.

So if you want to avoide the dangers of air pollution and ozone, and want to really protect your family, do yourself a favor and use a high quality carbon air filtration system in your home, and replace the filters on schedule or sooner. You and your loved ones will be glad you did.

Make Food Gifts Special by Adding a Family Story

At this time of year, newspapers, magazines, and television tout food gifts. I wondered what I could give to my distant relatives. Because I wasn't up to date on their children's ages or interests, I couldn't give them clothes or toys, so I decided to give three families food gifts.

What kind of food would it be? I used to make olive bread and bake it in a bundt pan to resemble a wreath. And it really looked like a wreath after I tied a bow on the bread. But I don't have time to bake this year, and my gifts had to come from the grocery store. I decided to buy pancake mixes and flavored syrups. To make the gifts more personal, I added my mother's pancake recipe.

In my mind I can still see my mother making pancakes in our cramped kitchen. When I was growing up pancake mixes didn't exist and my mother made them from scratch. Her recipe came from The Victory Cook Book, Wartime Edition, "with victory substitutes and economical substitutes for delicious wartime meals." It was the 1943 edition and I have the book.

I decided to add my mother's pancake recipe to the food gifts and some World War II history. This is what I wrote.

One section of the cookbook tells home cooks how to render fat, which we collected in tin cans. I delivered the cans to the local butcher and he paid me for each one. The fat was used to make explosives. Everyone on our block saved fat and had a Victory Garden. The gardens helped feed us and united us in the war effort.

This information was followed by the pancake recipe. I've made the pancakes and they are good. Baking powder and beaten egg whites help the cakes rise. Fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries are a nice touch. If you are short on gift ideas you may wish to give pancake mixes as I have.

You may give cupcake mixes, cake mixes, muffin and bread mixes. If Aunt Lucy baked bread for her family every week, type the story and include it with the food. You may also share a funny family story, such as an Uncle waking up at three in the morning to tell everyone the soup was done and asking them to come and eat it. This is a true story from my family and we still laugh about it.

You may not have a story and, if this is the case, include a kitchen tool with the mixes: a pancake turner, rubber scraper, baking pan, cake tester, cooling rack, or anything else that shows you thought about the gift. Another option is to include both old and new, a new baking mix, and an historic recipe from the past. Food and family go together and that's why food is a welcome gift.

3 Reasons for Creating A Plan Regardless of One's Station in Life

This August is National Will Month. It precedes September's National Preparedness Month and somehow, National "What Will Be Your Legacy" Month manages to fit snugly between the two. In truth, there is never a better time than "now" to be prepared and create an estate plan to protect one's family and assets. Yet, while responsible people agree with the importance of having a plan, it's something that people still like to delay. Their reasoning is that "they'll do it when they get older" or "when they accumulate 'real' assets."

Having the protection of an estate plan is akin to installing a roof on one's house. A new roof adds value to a property because it protects a dwelling and its contents. It's not 'sexy', it can be expensive, but it's very necessary.

Here are 3 reasons to have an estate plan regardless of your station in life:

1. Control. If you own something of value and you want the item(s) to be left to someone you care about, a Will is needed to ensure your wishes are honored. An heirloom, money, or even certain conduct can be addressed by an estate plan. Having a Will gives you the control to select who gets the assets that you own at the time of death.

2. Money. When you or your family starts to accumulating more assets, you are building an "estate" that ultimately needs to be distributed. Even modest estates have to be probated without a Will, and Probate can be expensive.

3. Protection. Estate plans are about more than just protecting the welfare of "small children". Having a plan to address outstanding debts or ensure college funding can be important. Who will have to continue to pay on a remaining mortgage, or who gets the family home? These questions and others, are efficiently addressed by having a plan.

The real impact of having a comprehensive plan is felt after a death. However, even in life, comprehensive estate plans have estate plans contain advance directives, such as a Living Will, that can, and do make a huge difference for our clients and their families.