Category: TRIO Financial Literacy

Use it or lose it

I’m sure we have all heard the age-old saying, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” I am not sure that I have always believed that until now.

Now, you have some great tools we have uncovered this school year as they related to financial literacy. I believe if you aren’t practicing some of those tools then you will most likely lose them. Let’s take a recap of the year by highlighting 15 of the tools outlined in the blogs. 

  • Create a personal monthly budget. Your budget is the foundation of your financial health, and it’s easy to get started. Learn how to create a personal budget by looking at the previous TRIO blogs on budgeting.
  • Start an emergency fund. Experts recommend setting aside at least three months’ worth of basic living expenses in case of an unexpected financial burden like a layoff or large medical expense. 
  • Spending money is/should be the perfect way to increase your overall value. Spending money should be a well-thought-out process, and the best way to remedy financial literacy is by budgeting. 
  • The five key components of financial literacy are earning, spending, saving, and investing, borrowing, and protecting. Credit is the ability to borrow money or access goods or services with the understanding that you’ll pay later.
  • Two primary forms of credit — revolving credit and installment credit. Revolving credit usually is your credit card. The second form of credit is installment credit. Installment credit is a loan that you borrow one amount and repay it with interest in accrues in installments each month.
  • Borrow is using something belonging to someone else to return it. “Loan” can be a noun, such as a sum of money that you must pay back with interest, or a verb, the act of lending something to someone.
  • Put a serious plan into play and stick to it. There is nothing that is out of your reach. If you write out a solid plan and work it, then you will have it. Financial health is yours.
  • Know your holiday triggers and combat them
  • If you are to be financially literate, it is safe to say that you must know yourself well, bad habits and all, for they are just as telling as the good ones.
  • Create a Financial Literacy Vision Board. Yes, let’s have a vision boarding party for our money. Statistically, we are 1.4 times more likely to accomplish our goals when we can picture them.
  • Our attitudes, behaviors, and heart posture concerning money are major factors contributing to our relationship with our money. 
  • Look at decluttering, sweeping, dusting, and tossing a few items out in your finances. 
  • Scammers are real, and it is your job to protect yourself.
  • Taxes can seem scary, but the best way to avoid any unnecessary stress regarding taxes is to plan and become informed. 

As summer quickly approached please don’t forget the 15 tools, we gained this year and don’t forget to use them, even during the summer months. Keep at your budget and if you have space in your budget, save more. As always, I believe in you, happy summer, and let’s build! 

April is tax season

Taxes can be a snooze fest topic to discuss but for us it’s not because we desire to grow and be more financially literate.

As you may know this is “Tax Month” and “Tax Day” is quickly approaching, April 15. This is the deadline when you must file your takes on all income earned during the previous calendar year.

If you are a single person, you only are required to file taxes if you make move than $12,200 during the year.  If you made less but had income taxes withheld throughout the year, you will likely qualify for a tax refund and might want to file anyway to get your money back. 

Taxes can seem scary, but the best way to avoid any unnecessary stress regarding taxes is to plan and become informed. 

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), scholarships, fellowships, and grants, including financial aid, are tax free only to a certain extent. To determine what qualifies as tax free, you must understand the difference between qualified and non-qualified education expenses. Here are some examples:

Qualified Education Expenses:

  • Tuition and fees required to enroll at an eligible educational institution.
  • Course related expenses, such as fees, books, supplies, and equipment that are required for the courses. 

Non-qualified Education Expenses:

  • Room and board
  • Health insurance
  • Research
  • Travel

It is important to remember that if any part of your scholarship, fellowship, or grant goes toward non-qualified education expenses, you will have to file a tax return according to the IRS. Your scholarship is viewed as individual income under the federal government if it is not purposely used for a qualified educational expense.

Here are some relevant forms to file your education-related taxes:

1098-T: Tallies expenses paid to the college or university

1098-e: Summarizes student loan interest payments

If you are paying back federal student loans, you may qualify for up to a $2,500 tax deduction based on the student loan interest you have paid. You may use the 1098-e to file for that deduction.

Of course, this does not have everything concerning taxes mentioned. However, as a student this information is golden. Again, I hope this information is beneficial for you. Get those taxes completed if you haven’t and get yo money! Who knows you could add to your savings or pay off credit debt? Let’s Build.

Reference

https://www.irs.gov/site-index-search?search=taxes&field_pup_historical_1=1&field_pup_historical=1&f%5B0%5D=focus_area%3A15686

Identity theft

Hello everyone, this week we will be discussing identity theft. There has never been another time in history where identity theft has been more prevalent.

You may be wondering how I am aware? I was a victim of identity theft before I could even begin my life as an adult. When I was a kid our house caught fire from electrical issues. My parents had our important documents in a safe. While we were sleeping later that night, someone stole the safe out of the car and all our identities as well.

If you’re like me, my first thought was “Well that was dumb. What did you think would happen?” Looking at the situation, I understand it was a traumatic day and even the best of us lack judgement sometimes. However, at 18 years old I couldn’t even open a checking account before attending college. There were several other issues that came up, but I was able to recover.

Since is digital and let’s be honest, we have all purchased items online at least once. Therefore, your financial information is vulnerable to fraud.

Let’s look at this even closer to home. If you are reading this I can assume you are a college student, correct? Attending college is one of the biggest investments you will make in your lifetime. Although scholarships and grants are available, you still may use a loan to pay tuition.

If/When you apply for a loan please be cautious. Loan applications require sensitive personal information, like your address, social security number, birth date, passwords, etc. With that in mind, you need to be on your guard when applying to prevent identity theft. As a student, having your identity stolen may have long-term repercussions. For instance, it may hinder you from getting a job after graduation or prevent you from signing a lease on an apartment. Essentially, your fresh start after college could be less like a dream and more like a nightmare.

College campuses and towns aren’t exempt from identity theft. As a student, you need to be just as careful in the college library as you need to be in a crowded coffee shop. Student identity theft happens all the time when you use unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, have a thief looking over your shoulder, or leave personal documents out in your dorm room or in a public space.

Ways to avoid being scammed:

  1. Don’t click random links on the web
  2. Never click the links or open attachments from people you don’t know
  3. Avoid using public Wi-Fi, use a Virtual Private Network if you can
  4. Password protect your devices
  5. Never give out personal information over the phone
  6. Check your credit regularly
  7. Protect your personal documents
  8. Limit your exposure by not carrying all your credit cards or identifying information

I hope this was helpful. Please remember – scammers are real and it is your job to protect yourself. Let’s Build.

Have money don’t let it, have you!

Oliver Wendell Holmes once stated, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us!” Often, I would read that quote and only see it from a positive perspective of moving forward from bad things and not focusing too much on the future because we have now. Although a great interpretation, I have grown so my perspective is different from when I first came across this quote. I know you are thinking, what does this have to do with Financial Literacy? Perhaps our financial literacy has to do with “what lies within us.” Our attitudes, behaviors, and heart posture concerning money are major factors contributing to our relationship with our money.

We all have negative emotions toward money. When we clear out the negative thoughts, we can remove the blockages that are preventing money from flowing to us. In a class during college, I recall reading that shame, anger, and fear are the most common emotions that surround money. Money has even been the reason that induvial have taken their own life. On the flip side when we have money it can cause us to have positive emotions and even be different people. A large amount of money can cause a status of arrogance to set in as well. Once again revealing “what lies within us.”

Where does the deeply seeded emotion about money come from? I submit that possibly our thoughts on money stem from childhood. How our parents handle money provides the foundation for how we may handle money. This is the reason generational poverty and general wealth exist. Poor people impart bad money habits and beliefs to their children. As well wealthy individuals often impart their strategies and philosophies on how to handle money to their children. I am not saying that it is your parent’s fault that you have negative or positive emotions toward money. I am saying that your foundational understanding of money must change if you have poor financial habits.

Emotional money hack exercise

I want to present to you a way to change your emotions about money. I encourage you to split a sheet of paper in half the long way. On one side I want you to write out each of your negative thoughts/emotions toward money and where each of them stems from. On the opposite side of the paper, I want to write directly next to the negative emotion a remedy for that negative thought/emotion. Then I want you to speak the positive thought out loud by starting each sentence by stating “I believe that money…” In combatting those negative thoughts toward money, you are dismantling your negative beliefs by hearing the positive affirmations about your money.

Why is this financial literacy blog here talking about emotions towards money? Here in TRIO, we believe in you and your ability to transform your life. We believe that you are valuable and deserve the life you have dreamed about. You can have money and be financially literate, just make sure it does not have you. Let’s Build!