• When it comes to an emergency fund, pick one that’s appropriate, but you don’t have to exaggerate the amount. If your liabilities are greater or if your income is unpredictable, a larger one may be necessary. Consider current protection such as insurance when building your emergency fund.
• Saving for a child’s education can be tricky as there’s many different options and opinions vary on responsibility. Some parents leave the burden to the children. However, the cost of college is becoming increasingly more expensive, and often cant be funded solely by money earned during summer jobs. If a parent chooses to be willing and able to assist with college savings, there are many tax credits and tax deduction benefits. Consider a benevolent family member who could help. Another option, prepaid tution plans, may have restrict the choice of schools. There’s also education savings accounts and bacculaureate bonds. However, David Chilton suggests a different investment practice for college savings. He advises to use a well-selected equity mutual fund. This benefits in the usual ways of mutual funds, by having dollar-cost averaging, long-term ownership, and forced savings.
• Disability insurance is frequently disregarded, yet usually one of the most critical insurance needs. A staggering fact is that one of four individuals will be disabled for at least a one year period in their lifetime. When someone passes away, they need life insurance because they are no longer an asset to their dependants and the cash flow stops. The sad truth is that a disabled person becomes a liability, causing negative cash flow, which could be financially devastating. If you think you’re covered through an employer or an existing plan, double check the policy and make sure that it provides enough support to take care of your family. If you don’t have it, get it now.
• The last topic covered is staying informed. Money laws change frequently and new benefits and investment vehicles are constantly created. By making a plan using the practices suggested in the book, the plan should be successful in creating a wealthy and satisfying financial future, however events may occur prompting re-evaluation of a chosen strategy. Chilton’s suggested readings include Forbes, Kiplinger’s, Fortune, SmartMoney, and the Wall Street Journal. I advise to watch some TV shows, like Suze Orman and Jim Kramer‘s Mad Money. Listen to some NPR and Talk Radio that cover money advice. I also suggest subscribing to related RSS feeds and reading relevant blogs such as this one to stay current for a wealth of information.

The real question : What’s next?! I love programming, and I love games. I would love to program games. I programmed battleship with a friend for a Pascal class in 1993. There’s been a few “game development” schools that have appeared, and one close to home, GuildHall at SMU. SMU is already notoriously expensive for a 4 year degree, and I’m almost terrified (where’s Suze to inspire me with a little courage here) to find out what it costs.

My mother’s paid for the majority of my Associates, including books, and wants to continue to pay for my school. I’m not for certain that she’s fiscally fit to pay for GuildHall. While I’ve considered student loans, she advises me not to because they’re almost as bad as the IRS. GuildHall might not be feasible because of scheduling (if they have 6 hour school days, I’d have a conflict with my full time job). I have UT Arlington as my back up game plan (yes, pun intended).

I also question the value of a game programming certification vs. a degree. Aside from the fact that it is instructed at SMU Campus and has a huge industry connection (ID, EA, several others), would all that time and money be “wasted” with no sheep skin to carry home? I have friends who have been very successful using various technical certifications to further their career and increase their income. The battle-ship co-programmer recently got a raise of 35,000 (almost 50%) when Citigroup offered him a position and his previous employer, Worldcom, was unable to match. He has ALL Cisco certifications and MCSE, yet no degree. Others never have difficulty finding work with their Cisco and Linux certifications.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?