Single Dads

I have a three year old.  It used to be that thinking about what to do to put her in a better position financially than I was - one of the goals of a lot of single dads and single moms out there - would keep me up at night.  Not anymore.  Here are a couple of things that I did:

1.  Joined uPromise.

From their website:

We believe that every child should have the chance to go to college. Upromise was established to give families an easy way to save - every day - and encourage them to start early by investing their own money for college on a regular basis. Our Rewards service offers money for college from America’s leading companies such as Citi®, ExxonMobil, McDonald’s and hundreds of others. And our relationships with top investment companies, including The Vanguard Group® and Columbia Management Group, make it easy to get started and adopt a long-term savings strategy with great tax advantages.

You mean to tell me that I can start saving money for my child’s future education simply by registering a few cards and shopping in certain locations?  I can register grocery cards?  And I can link a 529 plan to my child’s account?  I can even link public school donations to my child’s account?  Have you projected how much four years of college will cost in say, fifteen years?

 Sign me up.

2.  Got life insurance.

Everyone tends to think that if they are employed, their company’s life insurance policy is adequate to cover their children.  Please.  Go get at least a term life insurance policy to match your debt, and if you’re feeling really clever, tie yourself to a policy that has cash value for your kids, where you don’t have to necessarily die to give them a little extra money.

You’ll sleep better.

3.  Create a budget and set aside savings.

You have children now.  Do you really need that midlife crisis car, or the super-expensive jeans, or the enormous McManison in the suburbs?  Not likely.

Save a little money for your kid’s future.  The online services for some banks make it really easy to tell how much you’re actually spending on items - I know, I used one of those banks to help me do my taxes this year in a snap.  So you don’t have to log every single purchase that you make every day to come up with a reasonable budget with reasonable expectations.  Make it happen.  Then save.

These are but a few ideas.  There are a lot of other good ideas out there for the forwarding thinking parent on the go.  Feel free to leave yours in the comments.

Now, how about that! An article about the first year of single parenting that I can get behind!

If you’re newly single, you probably have a lot of questions, and you may be unsure of where to begin. These practical suggestions will help get you started and keep you on the right path.

A shockingly useful post in About.com. Much appreciated!

Anyone who has EVER been in a single parent situation certainly must know that the first year is possibly the worst. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. The key thing is learning how to cope, and once you do, you’ll be better off, and so will your children. That’s one of the purposes of this site - to educate and spread information. There isn’t a heck of a lot of information on the Internet, sadly, but there is some. So go take a look at the article, then come back here. I’ll keep posting.

Any person who is a parent is well aware of both parental joys and frustrations.  One frustration for MANY parents is money.  Let’s face it, kids are expensive.  Most parents don’t spend a lot of time ruminating on that fact; it just is.  These worries go doubly for single parents, and especially for single non-custodial dads who financially support their children.  Everyone loves their children, everyone dislikes child support.  And everyone knows that people that pay child support get killed on taxes - the supportee gets child support cash and all of the numerous child tax credits, and the supporter gets… well, nothing, really, except taxed to death.

 Glen Sacks has posted, though, an interesting story by Tracie McMillian about how New York officials are addressing this issue by offering lower-income child support obligors who are current with their child support payments an earned income tax credit.

New state programs aim to support dads doing the right thing. A new tax break will be available come April for lower-income parents responsible for child support, making it the first of its kind in the country. State officials are
launching an earned income tax credit (EITC) for noncustodial parents who are current with their child support payments, offering up to $1,600 a year in a refundable credit.

“What we’re trying to do is work on the success of welfare reform, where we saw single moms move off the rolls. But we have not seen the same movement among young men,” said Michael Hayes, spokesperson for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), which will administer the program.

The payment is intended to help low-income, noncustodial parents – at least 90 percent of whom are fathers – maintain steady employment and keep up on child support, as well as maintain active roles in their children’s’ lives. The new credit will be available to parents who are not their children’s primary
caretakers and earn as much as $32,000. That’s a considerably higher income
limit than the traditional EITC, which cuts off eligibility for single adults
earning up to $11,750 – and offers only about $500 a year. Officials expect
about 74,000 people to qualify statewide, including 22,000 in New York City, and estimate the first year will cost $18 million.

One has to think that this is a step in the right direction for state and local governments.  By creating an incentive for fathers to properly support their children, they help children, who have the financial support that they need for necessities, mothers, who they can keep from using valuable state or local resources that both parents should be providing for their children anyway, and fathers, who most of the time bear the financial brunt of child-rearing.  Win, win, win.  It’s an idea that you have to like.

The remarkably dependable Consumerist comes to bat for you and reminds you about tax deductions that you should NOT miss.

1. State sales taxes.
2. $250 educators’ expenses.
3. College tuition.
4. Student loan interest paid by mom and dad.
5. Out-of-pocket charitable contributions.
6. Moving expense to take first job.
7. Military reservists travel expenses.
8. Child-care credit.
9. Estate tax on income in respect of a decedent
10. State tax you paid last spring.
11. Refinancing points.
12. Reinvested dividends
13. Jury pay paid to employer.

Kiplinger’s published this first.

This seems like a fine time to post this as well; here’s the information on the Telephone Excise Tax Refund that a shocking amount of American taxpayers will be able to get this year.  Please don’t just let this slide, follow up.  Additional information on this refund is all over the Internet.

Our good friends at Lifehacker have come out big for your personal finances again.

The Simple Dollar weblog ran a series during January called 31 days to fix your finances, tackling finances one step at a time so that by the end of one month, your money ducks should be sitting in a nice, streamlined row.

Oh, Gina.  How we love you.

Check out The Simple Dollar for the details.  They managed to squeeze together a mess of posts into one cohesive unit.  Now pay off that Christmas spending.

You should always remember - in many cases, your realtor is not necessarily your friend.

Productivity blogger Jay at Dumb Little Man has compiled a list of questions that he recently used to interview four different real estate agents.

Not all real estate agents work the same way, so it’s best to get your expectations right out on the table from the beginning.

Found in Dumb Little Man.  Hat tip:  Lifehacker.  Of course.

Anyone that’s ever dealt with real estate buying or selling real estate should be completely aware that it truly IS about the money.  The original link deals more with selling, but the same idea goes for buying.  Due diligence.  Live it.  Learn it.