Most of us will spend our entire lives trying to make money, save, and survive. Meanwhile, others waltz into the neighborhood with huge inheritances and constant financial gifts from their affluent parents.

Seems unfair. However, “financial experts” have found that the more money adult children receive, the less money they’ll accumulate. Meanwhile, adult children given less money tend to gain the ability to save more.

You still have a shot. The reason for this difference is that it’s easier to spend someone else’s money than the hard-earned money you’ve worked for.

What if you wanted to start your own business? If you take out loans, pinch pennies, and save your money for years, you’re going to work like crazy to make your business’your money’succeed. Would you have the same drive for success if your parents decided to give you free money? I can’t imagine you would; I sure wouldn’t.

It’s hard not to be envious of people given large sums of money from their parents simply because the child popped into the right family. But is that child luckier? That child certainly won’t be reading websites like Aridni or learning to manage her own finances the way you do now. Therefore, your homework is to *attempt* to gain appreciation for your financial situation. LIFT THAT CHIN!

To truly express what I mean, I know of two stepsiblings.
By luck of the draw, the girl’s father dug ditches until he earned millions, which this teenage girl has inherited a portion of. Meanwhile, her stepbrother won’t be receiving anything since the man was but a step-father, not by-blood father.

Is it fair? Sure doesn’t seem that way. The girl is set for life, yet her brother holds a drive that I admire. He doesn’t hate his sister. In fact, he’s building a plan to amass the equivelent amount of money his sister was given. He’s going to be working for years. However, he’ll appreciate the money more. He can look at something that he would want and pass by it because the item isn’t a need. He owns two pairs of shoes, rides his bike instead of driving when he can, and turns down his heat when he’s asleep or away from home. Countless lottery winners end up blowing all of their money. Often times, people inheriting large sums of money lose theirs, too.

Will this girl end up blowing her free money? It’s tough to say. She may seem lucky as we’re getting going… yet I think I admire her brother and his drive toward financial freedom far more. Wouldn’t you say?

Instead of tossing the seemingly hundreds of credit card applications in the trash, you might want to rethink your moves. I thought ripping the applications in half was enough; it wasn’t.

This man performed an experiment, which you can see great step-by-step images. He ripped up one of us his credit card applications to the size of quarters, then tapped it back together and mailed it to the credit card company. Guess what’the credit card company accepted his reaffixed application.

But he didn’t stop at that. On the application, he also changed the mailing address to his dad’s. Still accepted. He only gave his cell phone number’still accepted. The question is what if someone else had done this operation with his or your tossed application. All of a sudden, could someone else could be racking up a credit card under your name and destroying your credit?

Therefore, your homework is as follows: shred those suckers, burn those babies… and go have yourself a cold green beer. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Earlier this week, we talked about the importance of speaking with other people about their money strategies. As weekend homework, we’re *requiring* (yeah right!) you to go out there and talk to people’your parents, friends, mentors…

Learn about things like these:
Goals and goal setting
Setbacks
“Back when I was your age”
“If I only knew then what I know now”

Take note, though. Some people have strategies only for riches, not wealth. Listen and learn from both types of people and distinguish what you think might be important.

Networking posts from this week:
A Simple Recipe for Lifelong Learning where we highlight Ben Franklin’s networking for mutual advancement group ‘Junto.’
Also this week we mentioned there might be people all around you with Free advice!

Through weekend homework, we’ve already determined where we financially stand. Now we need to figure out where we want to go. Time to set some goals.

1. List the things you want in life that require financial resources (ex: plasma TV, baby, vacation to France, car, education, retirement). Be specific’don’t write “a lot of money;” write “$1,000,000.” Write them down.

2. Ask yourself if these goals seem realistic. Will you really be flying to the moon in space tourism? Also determine if the goals are important to your wellbeing.

3. Break your goals into three categories: short-term (less than 5 years), medium-term (5-10 years), and long-term (more than 10 years).

4. Within each category, organize the goals by importance. You’d like a plasma TV and a new baby in the next five years. Which do you rank as more important?

5. Develop a plan. What types of resources do you need to reach your goals? Goals like retirement in 12 years require efforts of financial savings today.

According to a University of Tennessee study, less than 5% of people have defined, clear goals. Without laying them out, goals become challenging to achieve. When you’re reading a book, you place a bookmark on the page you last read. It’s easy to see what you’ve read and where you still have to go. Accomplishing goals works the same way; you’ll find better success in a laid out plan.