I brought home some work with me this weekend. Our System librarians' meeting is the 3rd Thursday of the month and at that meeting I'm going to go over what I discovered at the financial symposium I attended in Harrisburg. I want to offer them some programming on personal finance, but I'm not sure which one. I don't want to be working on learning 5 different programs at one time so my boss suggested I choose maybe 2 or 3 from which for them to choose.

It is very hard to narrow it down. All the programs are good, but which would be the best age group to target? I have a program for every level.

I think the program for teenagers would be the most popular with the librarians because it's a hard group to target and they have all mentioned that they'd like to have something that would draw more teenagers into their libraries. The program I have for teens is good, but would they come?

I attended the personal finance symposium this week. I was really overwhelmed with all the information we were given. I had never realized how much information was out there to be used and was surprised to learn that a lot of it is free!

I came back with a tote full of material that I have yet to spend any significant amount of time to look over. I am hoping to present what I learned at our next meeting and get the librarians excited about offering personal finance classes for their patrons. I have material for ages 5-8, preteens and teenagers and adults.

The material I am most interested in is for teens. I guess that's because I have teenagers and know that they are not taught anything in school about personal finance. I met and talked with one lady that is working at getting accepted to come into the schools and teaching a 6-part course to them. She even gave me an extra copy of the teacher's manual and a student workbook so that I can go over it and implement it here in the libraries.

I am hoping that people begin to realize the importance of financial education in the coming months as finances for a lot of families get tighter and they start looking for ways to cut corners and save anywhere they can. I would like to see our public libraries ready to meet the need.

Here are some websites that are free that I learned about at the symposium. Enjoy!

My Money

Alison

NASAA This site has a game geared toward preteens,Fraud Scene Investigator.

I read the article on the MSN Money site, Will Our Kids Be Dumb and Broke, today and agreed whole-heartedly with it.

We NEED to start teaching our children how to manage money. A lot of them graduate from school having no idea how to do basic personal finance tasks like write a check, balance an account, or figure out how much money they can afford to spend on a house.

You can go to the Jump$tart Coalition's website to see if your state requires any personal finance classes for students. My state has no requirements. I would really like to see that changed.

This is one reason I'm excited about the seminar I'm going to next week. We really need to start offering the public some resources on personal finance and I'd really like our public libraries to be a part of that.

I went to work today never dreaming that I'd spend the day planning a trip to a financial seminar! We got an email on our library listserv that the Office of Financial Education is holding their 2nd annual Common Wealth Symposium. The topics all look very interesting and I have CE money, so off I go!

I signed up for a pre-conference workshop that will cover "Right on the Money" a program that uses children's books to introduce financial concepts to children aged 5-7. It also gives parents tools to reinforce what their children have learned. I would love to get something like this started in our System's library in each community.

Another session will cover fundamentals of insurance, investments, and retirement planning.

There will be a workshop that introduces you to many of the resources available to teach personal finance. I can't wait for this one.

The last session I'll go to is to learn how to design a local financial resource kit for your community. I would love to do this for our libraries.

I think that with the uncertain financial situation the U.S. is in, that many people will suddenly become interested in personal finance as their wallets start to feel the pinch. The library is the perfect place for them to turn to get information and find resources. I want to have that information ready for them.

I watched the film Maxed Out as a resource for my persuasive speech I have to give in a couple of weeks. Wow! I have to say it presents a very powerful message, especially the interview of the 2 mothers of college students who committed suicide because they got into so much credit card debt.

It's really given me something to think about as far as my use of credit cards. Since getting our balances paid off, we no longer carry a balance each month. But I'm rethinking even that strategy now.

We attended the live Money Map simulcast at our church today. It began at 9:30 and ended at 4:30 with an hour break for lunch and 2 breaks of 25 minutes each.

I have to say that by lunch I was extremely frustrated. The speakers they had were good, but when we were going to get to the 'meat' of the material and get practical instructions that would benefit us? I really didn't feel that I needed it for me, but for a friend that attended with me that is in desparate need of a budget. I couldn't help but think that if this were Financial Peace University Dave would already have everyone on a budget and a fully funded baby emergency fund.

Finally, after lunch they got down to specifics. It still wasn't as detailed as I would have liked, but a category plan (budget) was discussed and the link to Crown Money Map that will walk people through setting one up.

I guess that the day was worth the $25 that DH and I paid to attend, but I have to say that I was disappointed. I didn't learn anything new, but DH did. At least now he knows why I have things set up as I do. My friend was satisfied. She said she now knows that she needs to have a spending plan and the basics of how to accomplish that.

For beginners to financial planning, I think this would be good. If you're a veteran at personal finance though, you probably won't be impressed.

I guess I just like Dave Ramsey's approach to finances better. I like the aggressiveness and step-by-step detail he provides. I'll be searching for a Financial Peace University near us.

This Saturday DH and I have the opportunity to attend a simulcast of Money Map Live by Crown Financial Ministries at our church. This is an all-day event that will feature Howard Dayton, Les & Leslie Parrott, Ron Blue, Sharon Epps, Chuck Bentley & James Dobson.

I have been looking forward to this ever since it was announced. I talked DH into going even though he's sure he's going to be bored to death. What could be worse than sitting and listening to people talk about money all day long? LOL!

Now if I could just talk the church into hosting a Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey!

You should set personal financial goals so that you have a "road" to follow to get where you want to go.

Goals need to:

1. Be realistic: You should set your goals based on your own earnings and life situation.

2. Be in precise, measurable terms: Know exactly what you're aiming for and create a plan to achieve it.

3. Have a set time frame: This will help you to see if you're advancing toward your goal.

4. State the action needed to achieve the desired result: Use your goals as the basis for your future financial decisions.

When working through your personal financial plan you should set 3 types of financial goals:

Short-term goals: typically goals that you strive to reach in a year or less (small debt pay-off, vacation trips, etc.)

Intermediate goals: aim for a time period of 2 to 5 years (paying off smaller loans, saving up a down-payment for a newer car, etc.)

Long-term goals: these goals can be achieved in 2 to 5 years (college savings, retirement funding, etc.)

All of these goals should be worked into your financial plan. As you achieve the short-term goals you'll earn a sense of satisfaction and it will give you the drive you need to accomplish your longer term goals.

Personal financial planning is the process of managing your money to reach economic satisfaction. This process gives you control of your finances. By having a financial plan you enhance your quality of life and increase your satisfaction because economic uncertainties about your future needs and resources are minimized.

There are 6 steps to personal financial planning. They are:

#1: Determining where you stand currently with your finances

#2: Developing financial goals

#3: Strategizing different courses of action

#4: Evaluating your alternatives

#5: Creating and putting your financial plan into action

#6: Periodically reviewing the plan to see if it's working for you

Research has shown that people with their own financial plan save more money than those who haven't taken the time to develop a plan.