family Archives - Page 2 of 6

4 Ways to Plan Towards Your Family’s Future

January 17, 2019 by admin

Your family is something in some cases you can choose and in others, people that are given to you. Nevertheless, if you have one, you probably want to give them the best of your time and resources while you can. One of the ways to do this is to plan towards their future. Everyone has a different vision for their family, and this means that how they plan and what’s on their agenda may be different from yours. Even though this may be the case, there are still some common themes that every family shares when it comes to prepping for the future. Here are four in particular that you can use when planning your family’s future.

Save Towards College

If you don’t already have kids over the age of 18, then you may be thinking about what they’re going to do when it’s time to spread their wings and go off to college. If you want to help them pay some or all of their tuition, then you should begin saving towards it now. To save for their college tuition, see if your state has a 529 plan to help you save. How it works is that you save after-tax dollars to the account and they are invested as well as allowed to grow tax-free.

You may also want to try ROTH IRAs, but the downside is that you don’t get a tax deduction for your contributions. A major difference between the two is that the 529 plan has to be used for higher education or you’ll be given a 10% penalty while the ROTH IRA can be used for anything.

Think About Health

When planning your family’s future, health is a major thing to think about. This is because the healthier your family is, the fewer worries you have and the less it will cost you in healthcare bills. Think about how you can grow a healthy family by examining what you’re eating and how active you are. To raise a healthy family, try sticking to fresh foods where possible. Go on adventures that require physical activity to encourage fitness and help you maintain healthy weights.

In addition to this, mental health is important too so make sure you’re talking about every and anything. Make your home somewhere everyone feels safe to be open, honest and themselves.

Plan for Post-retirement

People don’t like to think about what’s going to happen to them in their older years out of a fear of old age amongst other reasons. However, thinking about how you’re going to live in your older years and planning for contingencies like failing health is important.

You may want to think about investing in long-term care insurance so that you get the care and attention you need later on in life if you think it’s a good option for you. You can see a range of long-term care insurance providers on Insurance Geek and compare to see which is most affordable.

Save Enough

Money is important when raising a family, especially if you want more flexibility and better quality of life. Set up a family budget and get everyone involved so they understand what you’re spending on and why. It’s also a way to make sure your loved ones learn essential money-management skills that will carry them through life.

Planning your family’s future is important, especially in your post-retirement years. You want to know that your kids have the best opportunities and you can retire without having to worry about how you’ll cope on a daily basis.

How to Help a Loved One with a Mental Illness

October 18, 2018 by admin

It can be difficult to watch a loved one struggle with a mental illness. However, with your help and support, they might be able to overcome the issues that are plaguing their everyday lives. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to help a loved one living with a mental health condition because they might not be willing to seek help or even admit they have a problem. If you want to protect your parent, child, relative or friend, find out how to help a loved one with a mental illness today to truly make a difference.

Research the Illness

It might be beneficial to learn as much as possible about the person’s mental illness, so you can identify the best ways to support your loved one. For example, it is common for some people living with depression or PTSD to turn to drugs as a coping mechanism. As a result, you could look for signs of misuse or addiction and potentially enter a loved one into a drug detox center.

Of course, if a friend or relative is in psychiatric distress, you might have no other choice but to enter him or her into hospital involuntarily. While it can be a tough decision to make, it could potentially save your loved one’s life and help them to overcome their mental health condition. By seeking help from professionals who are trained to deal with such conditions, you can hopefully help your loved one move forward into recovery.

Talk to Your Loved One

It is crucial to sit down with a loved one to talk about their mental health. Even if they do not believe they are living with a condition, you should sit down and listen to them. Don’t attempt to change their mind, and simply focus on building their trust. By doing so, they will be more likely to open up about how they are feeling, so you will understand exactly what is going on in their mind.

Additionally, it is important your loved one feels both loved and supported during this difficult period in their life. Rather than making assumptions about how you can help, ask him or her if there is anything you can do to make their life easier. For example, they might appreciate your support when attending medical appointments or could need you to pick up their children from school.

Seek Counseling for Yourself

While helping a loved one overcome a mental illness will most likely be a top priority, this doesn’t mean you should disregard your own mental health. If you want to truly be there for your friend or family member every step of the way, you must start caring for yourself.

It might be helpful to speak to a qualified therapist to discuss your emotions. You can openly discuss your stresses and concerns in a non-judgemental setting, and they could possibly provide clarity, solutions and objectivity regarding your problems. Talking really can help, so don’t keep your feelings bottled up inside and speak to a therapist to effectively handle your emotions.

Before Kids, I Had Money!

September 24, 2018 by admin

Financial planning for growing your family doesn’t have to be ramen noodles and antenna t.v.–there are plenty of ways to budget and save.

The timeless proverb “if you saved enough money to have kids, you’d never have kids” will always ring true for most Americans.

After all, kids “cost” roughly $250,000 to $745,000 to raise from birth to age 18–and that’s before college, whether you pay for it or help them make the payments. For most couples, this isn’t even a thought before lamaze class and putting together baby furniture. But when that baby comes, you’re going to realize just how much everything costs!

Your eighteen-year plan

Having children provides every lesson there is to be learned about preparation and moderation. Whether you’re budgeting how many diapers you have left before a box store run or cutting back on monthly expenses that are already cut back too much, your future is going to be there when you show up. Have a financial plan involving which parents are going to work or stay home, a monthly savings plan taken out of your paycheck, and selling off or eliminate long term financial commitments and get out of a timeshare contract or lease for the latest model car.

Consider moving–even if it means finding a new career

Yes, everything is cheaper somewhere–but at what cost? Consider several places you could move if you had to, and what kind of support you would have regarding day care, family visits, and personal happiness. Moving somewhere just because you can afford a house there won’t help your marriage or parenting if you’re miserable. But moving to a more affordable location near family could just be the best thing to save your wallet and junior’s college savings plan.

Renegotiate your debt as much as possible

Settling credit card debt and paying down college debt are two of the biggest factors in your credit score. Whether you’re buying that family van or moving into a bigger space for that second child, debt is going to follow you for the rest of your life if you don’t take charge now. You’re not going to win the lottery, and you may be making less in ten years, depending on the economy and the job market. So consolidate and pay off your debts now, whether you think your credit score will be affected or not. As soon as that baby comes, all of your time, energy, and money is going to providing for and protecting that child at all costs–and be sure that it costs!

Whatever your plan is, have a financial vision that is reasonable, fair, and one that always looks to the future. You’ll be thanking yourself in the future–and so will your kids.

7 Secrets To A Healthy Family Life

August 31, 2018 by admin

Source

Being together with our family should be sacred and comfortable especially after experiencing the stress that is associated with the day to day survival of life. However, being a family involves the coming together of two or more individuals for reasons such as companionship, love, understanding, and procreation. If you have a family, yet you are constantly feeling lonely, then it is time to find ways to bond with your family.

Having examined what a family entails, it’s safe to say the foundation for the secrets of a healthy family life will be discussed this piece. Out of the many secrets towards achieving a healthy family life, here are some of them.

Communicate Effectively

The bedrock of every successful relationship, be it with friends or family is firmly founded on understanding the other person’s peculiarity and constantly interacting or communicating about the interesting, good & bad of every situation.

The power of communication, when it comes to bringing people together should never be underestimated, especially in the quest for healthy family life. Good communication tends to result in a family with one voice if deployed, the differences every member shares is captured under an umbrella, and the greater good of the family is given more preference.

A family that communicates regularly is one that breaks every form of loophole or incursion from an outsider or a third party. Hence any kind of malice is prevented in a family; it’s vital to ensure that from the youngest person to the oldest person in the family, there are easy and constant means of interacting about likes, dislike, pains, worry, aspirations, action plans and the requirement to achieve success in all endeavors.

Eat Together As A Family

Even though everyday stress often barely permits eating together in many families, parental care should be taken to ensure that the whole family sits at table at least once a day to enjoy eating a meal together. In addition to satisfying your hunger, eating together daily is also the family gathering place and an important ritual for having a good time together. Joint meals break down the day and give it structure, which is especially important for children and also, dieting should be avoided.

Exercise Together

Computers, tablets, consoles – it is clear, so many things can keep us static each day. However, we must avoid leading a sedentary life. How do you do that? In the first place, you and your family must be active and make exercise and sports as a family an adventure that really suits them. Start working out in small ways together or you can make fun plans such as skiing or going to the pool, playing football or basketball or simply dancing for a while at home.

On the other hand, collective sports where you make friends and relate to people of your age are also a great idea for them to move without feeling obligated. In addition, this will help prevent obesity Childhood in your children, one of the main concerns of many parents who seek support from medical professionals to combat it. With good medical insurance such as the medicare supplement plan g, you can ensure your family health is well backed up.

Go On Family Retreats

Sometimes referred to as picnic, family retreats are a pivotal aspect of enjoying a healthy life as a family, as this type of relaxed moment usually occurs in a serene environment, free from the everyday hustling and bustling of the larger society or where the family resides. Hence, a family timeout is a good way to re-energize the family ties, depending on the financial strength of a family.

Taking a break for a family retreat at least twice a year helps to ensure the improvement of every aspect of the family; sometimes, the retreat could be for the couple alone, and at other times, it should include the children. It usually depends on the discretion of the family head.

Play Games Together

As every team does, it’s imperative for every family to ensure bonding, as this helps them to foster a relationship of understanding across the board and increase the chances of living in peace. Bonding can be in the form of playing outdoor and indoor games together, whether board games or sports, cooking together or planting trees in the garden.

While bonding doesn’t just happen in every family, it’s important to emphasize that it takes concerted efforts to achieve this feat, due to the difference in personality traits, behavioral shape and physiological makeup of each member of the family. It’s normal for families to experience trials; however, bonding stands out as one of the secrets to overcome such period and avoid unhealthy rivalry within a family.

Show Unconditional Love

An open display of love and affection is non-negotiable in the quest to achieve a family that’s united and unconditional. Love generally carries different meanings, as the love that is shown to siblings, children and parents and other members of the extended family are platonic, while the love displayed towards your better half is erotic or romantically inclined.

It’s important to state that a family where love is non-existent will be chaotic, unbalanced and might possibly not stand the test of time. Therefore, it’s important for every member of the family to ensure that a continuous and equal display of affection is shared amongst all.

Simple ways to show love include saying thank you, hugging someone that is upset and uplifting others with kind words.

Support Each Other

The foundation of a family is founded mostly on supporting each other; nobody can exist in isolation in a family. It’s almost impossible to cohabit as family and not support the cause of other members of the family. Support is a confidence booster from a father to his children or husband to his wife and vice-versa.

Again, showing support could include helping kids with their homework, helping mum prepare a meal, helping out with the laundry and other household chores.

Marrison Family Law – Advice On Helping Your Kids Through Divorce

July 29, 2018 by admin

A divorce can be a tough situation to go through for all parties involved, especially for children. As a parent it is your job to protect your children as best as you can throughout this process and offer them the support that they need to come through it. Many children are scarred for life as the result of a divorce and this can affect both their future behavior and their future relationships. It is impossible to completely shield your children from a divorce, their parents breaking up will naturally affect them, but you can try your best to help them through this process. We spoke with the team at Marrison Family Law who are very experienced in this field, to get their tips on helping your kids through the process.

Talking

Kids will always be able to sense that something is up so it is vital that you are speaking with them regularly about the process. If you keep things under wraps then your children will jump to conclusions, usually worse than the actual truth. Naturally you don’t need to tell your children all of the gory details of a divorce, but they should understand what is happening and why, as well as being updated about the process.

No Insults

Whatever your feelings are about your ex-partner it is vital that you do not talk about this in front of your children. You must remember that your ex is still the father or mother of your children, and it should be up to the kids in the future – once they know the full truth – to make a decision on how they feel. Furthermore, speaking badly about someone will make the children believe that it is ok, and they may start doing the same themselves.

Cordial

Whilst the divorce proceedings are going through, you must stay cordial with your ex partner with regards to the children and allowing them to see the kids. The court will rule as to who gets custody and arrangements about looking after the children, but until then you mustn’t use the kids as pawns, they still need to see their parents. Seeing their parents regularly will also help the kids keep some kind of normality.

Treats

Because of the guilt that many parents feel when going through a divorce, they like to try and treat their kids to days out and presents, which they wouldn’t normally have done. As nice a gesture as this is, it is not a smart way to go about things. Firstly you need to try and keep as much normality in your children’s lives as possible, and secondly the kids can use this as an opportunity to play one parent off the other. You do not need to buy your children, you need to love them and encourage them to be open and honest with you. Both parents must be singing from the same hymn sheet in this regard.