Hope for your financial life and beyond

Why I’m Quitting My Job To Be A Stay At Home Dad

May 19, 2014 by 109 Comments

stay at home dadYou read that right. It’s not a misprint or a trick to get attention. As of Friday, May 23rd 2014, I will no longer be formally employed. I’m becoming a stay at home dad.

After 17 years in education serving as a principal, teacher, coach and mentor, I’m quitting my job to be a stay at home dad.

Those are the most exciting words I’ve ever typed on this blog! I’m starting a new journey.

They are also the scariest words I’ve ever typed on this blog because I’m starting a new journey.

I’ve waited a long time to share this news and start talking about what has brought our family here. It hardly seems real even after formally declaring my intentions. Maybe my new life as a stay at home dad will me next week as I start to clear out my classroom. My guess is I won’t feel it’s full impact until sometime next fall, probably on the first day of the new school year.

The decision to be a stay at home dad appears to have come out of nowhere to those in my circle of influence. Obviously the students were surprised last week when I shared the news with them. I hadn’t hinted at this at all, even though I’ve known for some time this was going to be my final year. What appears to those outside to be a surprise, is actually the culmination of a multi-year prayer journey.

That’s right…I don’t make decisions quickly. Especially when it comes to leaving a place to which I’ve committed my entire adult working life.

I can’t unpack all there is to share about this move in one single post. So if you came here looking for a step-by-step tutorial on how to become a stay at home dad or the financial challenges associated with it, that’s coming later.

For now, I’d simply like to focus on “the why.”

Following Through On the Stay at Home Dad Desire

Life is a series of choices. Sometimes those choices collide and cause friction no matter which option is chosen. Regardless of the situation, we can never say we don’t have a choice. There are always options.

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Filed Under: Career, Marriage, Work Tagged With: , , ,

The Real Secret to Developing a Work Ethic in Kids

May 17, 2014 by 6 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #41 – “Therefore, I urge you to imitate me.” I Corinthians 4:16

developing a positive work ethic

Like father, like son

The messages this week at Luke1428 have all centered around the benefits, both financial and emotional, that children can receive from doing work. My wife and I have been teaching our children that labor leads to profit and that if they don’t work they won’t get paid. Those are big messages and the sooner they learn them the better.

Have you ever wondered how a solid work ethic gets ingrained in a child? Is it something they are born with? Does it come through the hearing of verbal instructions given by adults? Or maybe it results as a reaction to punishment received for laziness or disobedience.

Those ideas have merit. However, I don’t believe any of them in and of themselves will ultimately produce a child with a strong work ethic. What will ultimately do it? The answer is simpler than you think:

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Kids and Money, Work Tagged With: , , ,

Why We Don’t Give Our Kids Allowance

May 13, 2014 by 30 Comments

My wife and I are not giving our kids allowance simply for existing. We’ve chosen a different path to reward them with money.

kids allowanceDoesn’t it seem our culture has lost the passion for hard work? I look around and see adults taking risky, unnecessary shortcuts in an attempt to get ahead in their career. I see people playing the lottery to get rich quick instead of choosing to build wealth over time.

Then there are those people in tough financial situations that won’t take certain jobs because they consider the position beneath their standards. Really? Must not be that desperate.

Our mindset has changed to thinking we should be given things simply because we deserve it. Someone else (like the government) will provide for me, right?  So why work?

Sad thing is, these attitudes are being scooped up by our young people. We have a generation of kids who bristle at the idea of doing a 30-minute homework assignment on a Tuesday night. Cuts into their Snapchat time. If they do muster the desire to attempt the work, they only put in half the effort. They shut down if the answer to a problem causes them to think for more than two consecutive minutes.

More and more kids are refusing to push themselves to work. They are opting out of excellence. And when they fail, someone or something else is to blame.

If we are going to succeed in life and with money, we have to clearly embrace a concept found in the Bible – “In all labor there is profit but idle chatter leads only to poverty.” (Proverbs 14:23)

That’s why we are not giving our kids allowance.

Giving Kids Allowance Doesn’t Teach the Value of Work

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Filed Under: Kids and Money, Work Tagged With: , , ,

Moving Back In With Your Parents at 50? It’s Happening A Bunch

April 23, 2014 by 43 Comments

moving back in with your parentsHave you ever thought about moving back in with your parents? This past weekend the LA Times published an article detailing the number of Californians age 50-64 who are doing just that. You heard that right. Middle-age adults (and their kids) living back at their parent’s home, perhaps occupying the same bedrooms they had as teenagers.

The big details of the study are this:

“For seven years through 2012, the number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents’ homes swelled 67.6% to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. That jump is almost exclusively the result of financial hardship caused by the recession rather than for other reasons, such as the need to care for aging parents…”

It’s not all that uncommon for adult children to live with aging parents. My aunt has been doing that for years with my now 100 yr. old grandfather, and it’s been a beautiful situation for the family. This arrangement most often happens because of a health issue or the desire for the elderly parent not to end up in a nursing home. So, parent and child come together again in a single home and the child serves as caregiver in their parent’s later years.

According to the study, these middle-age kids are moving back in with their parents because of hard economic times. They lost their jobs as the economy collapsed and are now finding it difficult convincing employers to hire them. They have exhausted their savings and simply have nowhere else to turn.

Questions on Moving Back in With Your Parents

I have all sorts of thoughts and questions after reading this news:

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Filed Under: Current Events, Relationships, Retirement Tagged With: , , ,

7 Unfortunate Reasons People Spew Hatred at Dave Ramsey

April 7, 2014 by 92 Comments

Dave RamseyIt could be argued that Dave Ramsey has become the most influential financial voice of this generation. His radio program draws nearly 8 million listeners every week, placing him third in the talk radio genre behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity respectively. Clearly he has developed an enormous following and has helped millions of people develop restraint, follow a plan and get their financial lives back.

Count me among those people.

Despite his influence and popularity, I continually read of people skewering Dave Ramsey for the message of hope that he brings. I’ve tried for the life of me to figure out why someone who has been so helpful would be the target of such outrage. In some cases, I’m sure it’s simply people taking a contrarian opinion to draw some attention to themselves. However, I think the main issue is much bigger than that and it’s something everyone says when it comes to the area of personal finance.

The Reasons People Hate Dave Ramsey

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Filed Under: Leadership, Managing Money Tagged With: , , ,

How We Are Coping With the Family Rat Race

April 2, 2014 by 4 Comments

Father and baby handFour times in my life I’ve been able to experience the truth of this Bible verse:

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” (Psalm 127:3)

Each time I was moved to the point of tears as that new life came into the world. To think I helped create a completely unique person was very humbling. More than that, it was overwhelming, knowing that a large part of who they would become depended upon my parenting skills.

Psalm 127:4 goes on to say that children are, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior…” The thought about parenting here is clear…the warrior is me, the parent. Just like a warrior breaks the stillness of the air and sends his arrow toward the mark, so parents are to raise children so they fly straight and true to hit the target.

But what target do we want them to hit? And why? How will we get them there? Will I know if I’m succeeding?

Those type of questions often leave parents confused and prompt us to make some poor decisions.

I’m talking more about this today as I guest post for Cat Alford at Budget Blonde. I’m very excited for Cat who has just become a new mommy to twins. Visit her site now and read my article entitled:

“The Evolution of Parenting: Are We Pressing Our Kids Too Far?”

Image at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Next Post: Pain and Suffering Is No Excuse to Quit Moving Forward

Prior Post: Spring Break – Glorious Rite of Passage or Undisciplined Waste of Money

Filed Under: Kids and Money Tagged With: , , ,

“HELP WANTED!” This Company Really Understands the Hiring Process

March 29, 2014 by 10 Comments
Help Wanted

Is your business hiring the right kind of people?

The hiring of new employees can be one of the most frustrating and stressful facets of running your own business. Every hire is an unknown and a potential risk as one can learn only so much about an applicant through the interview process. Companies routinely foul up the hiring of employees by failing to cast vision, by conducting shoddy interviews, and neglecting to check references or do background checks.

This lack of due diligence leaves them with employees who are mismatched to the company’s goals and objectives. Once these individuals are hired, the company will be forced to manage the poor behavior and deal with the inefficient production that comes from an employee who is not 100% sold out on the job.

I ran across this Help Wanted ad the other day on Facebook. It’s from C and C Fence Company located in McDonough, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. It’s clear they know who they are, what the job entails and what type of employee would be a fit. Based on it’s content, I can’t help but think their hiring process runs smoother than many other companies.

Check out their ad below, with special attention to Parts 2 and 3.

Part 1: The Job Details

This is where they express the urgency of the need, list the specific position and share the major particulars about the job:

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Filed Under: Career, Leadership, Work Tagged With: , , ,

3 Steps We Took to Develop Financial Success in Our Marriage

March 5, 2014 by 14 Comments

financial success in marriageMy wife and I have had success in marriage despite the fact we exhibit many different personality traits. I am more reserved, take my time with decisions and love to spend money. She on the other hand, is an outgoing, get things done driver, who coincidentally loves to save.

Despite our different personality types, we seldom disagree on financial related things. We learned early on that disagreements over financial issues were detrimental to our personal marriage, not to mention one of the leading causes of divorce in America. So we established some guidelines and parameters for our finances that helped us develop oneness in our marriage.

Steps to Develop Financial Success in Marriage

Our financial decisions have not always been the best. In fact, many of our money guidelines have evolved and been enhanced over the years. Within the last five years especially, we’ve realized more and more what it means to be on the same page with one another. It’s in this most recent period of our lives that I’ve noticed success in marriage growing. In regards to our finances, it all boils down to three big issues.

Listening to each other

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Filed Under: Managing Money, Marriage Tagged With: , , ,

How to Save Money and Cut Taxes by Hiring Your Kids

February 13, 2014 by 15 Comments

The following post is by Kim Fourman. Please note that this article is intended to discuss general tax topics. Consult your own tax advisor regarding your specific circumstances.

hiring your kids

Boy at a weaving station – circa 1908

One of the most overlooked ways for small business owners to save on taxes is by hiring your kids in the business.  Here’s how it works:

Consider What Work Can be Done

The first thing to consider when hiring your kids is the work that your child can do. Their work must be age appropriate and must be legitimate work for your business.

For example, having your child do household chores would not count as working for your business, but picking up trash and cleaning up the yard at your rental property would. The IRS has accepted employment by a child as young as seven. You do not run afoul of any federal child labor laws when you employ your own children, but make sure to check with your state department of labor.

You Must Do the Paperwork

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Filed Under: Kids and Money, Taxes Tagged With: , , ,

The South Ain’t Gettin’ Personal Finance

February 3, 2014 by 41 Comments

6009194059_94d611cfc8_zI happened to enjoy some extra reading time last week because Snowmaggeddon 2014 kept most of Atlanta captive to their homes. I ran across this article from Time Business and Money that talked about the plight of Americans and their money. In it, they cite the Assets and Opportunity Scorecard report from the Center for Enterprise Development. This report found 44% of Americans were living under “persistent economic insecurity that makes it difficult to look beyond immediate needs and plan for a more secure future.”

According to the article, this segment of the population has less than $5,887 in savings for a family of four. With credit scores also shot from the latest recession and housing crisis, they feel their only alternative to manage through emergencies is to resort to high interest credit cards or payday loans. As those of us deeply focused on personal finance know, these types of programs only serve to bring further damage to the individual’s financial state.

Being an investigative personal finance blogger, I decided to look up the full CFED report and find where my home state of Georgia ranked. A couple of clicks and…uh-oh…that doesn’t look good. However, the results showed an even more alarming trend as it relates to the entire U.S. South. Here are the ranks for states 42-51 on the list (District of Columbia included):

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Filed Under: Kids and Money, Managing Money Tagged With: , ,

Providing For Your Own Is Always Right

January 24, 2014 by 20 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #25 – “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” – I Timothy 5:8

Let it go

Let it go

I was saddened the other day when I went to visit the site of a personal finance blogger I had begun to read and saw that as of December 31st he had discontinued writing. I wouldn’t say we were close blogging friends or anything but he had commented here and I had commented at his site. Plus we were social on Twitter, so I guess that counts for some connection, right?

He left a really nice closing letter explaining why he was going on an indefinite blogging hiatus. That’s a really nice touch. Nothing says “I don’t care” to your readers like suddenly disappearing into thin air without leaving so much as a whisper as to why.

His reason for stopping – personal issues.

Blogging has become an integral part of my life. I have loved connecting with people online, sharing my story and hearing theirs. Outside of my family and faith, nothing is giving me as much pleasure right now as building this site and being social with people online.

But if I came across some personal issues or my family needed more of me for some reason, I would gladly give it up.

Well…reluctantly…sadly…but gladly.

So I say “Kudos” to my colleague for being responsible and recognizing what held more value.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Hidden Nuggets Series, Relationships Tagged With: , , , ,