I especially recommend reading #10 - Teach them about impulse buying and #2 - Teach them to save money for goals.

My favorite advice is to carefully budget the money you earn on breaks. This is a big one. I see too many friends and family who works so hard during the summer to make enough money to last another semester or year, but then they fail to plan ahead. Perhaps it’s the false sense of security that comes with seeing big numbers in your bank account, but too many students feel that the money earned during the break will last them an entire year. So if I were to add my 2 cents to the discussion, I would recommend sitting down BEFORE the break and calculate how much you’ll need for the next year - so you know how much you need to work. Then at the end of the break sit down again and budget out how much you’re going to spend. This will not only keep you from eating ramen every day, but will teach you sound personal finance habits for the rest of your life!

Wise Bread has a fun little article about both kinds of money laundering: the “classic” scheme involving Italian restaurants and dry cleaning establishments, and the “modern” brand of money laundering which usually involves some sort of business in the Cayman Islands.

Note: I do not condone illegal money laundering in any way, and I should warn you that there are very severe punishments that come along with even being a part of such a scheme. But if you’re just curious as to what it means to launder money, then check out the Wise Bread article.

Wouldn’t it be nice if our children grew into adulthood in a world without credit cards? Look at all the problems that would be solved in a cash-and-carry society — no gut-wrenching debt overloads, no junk mail from credit card issuers, and perhaps most important, fewer opportunities for cyber thieves to steal our identities.

It’s an interesting idea - could you live without credit cards? Do you wish society didn’t have credit cards?

He received a ton of responses to the piece from people criticizing his head-in-the-sand approach to credit. But some of the responses, listed below, provide some valuable insight into the way people think about credit. In fact, the following statements prove to me that most people believe credit cards are a good thing, when used wisely.

“Easy credit is ubiquitous in our society. If it isn’t bank plastic, there are pay-day loans, no-interest mortgages and floods of home-equity loans. ”

On credit cards and children:

“I gave them credit cards about the same time they got driver’s licenses. Of course, these were cards on my accounts with their names on them. And when the bill arrived every month, I knew exactly what they had spent and on what.

By laying down the rules this way, I required they pay off their balance every month. If they didn’t have the money, I took the cards back and deducted it from their allowance until the debt was paid. Being denied allowance was a shock, and they quickly learned the basic lesson — credit cards are not free money; it has to be paid back.

My kids — one recently graduated from college, and the other a senior — have their own credit cards today but use them strictly as convenience cards. There is no huge debt being amassed. They already learned the lesson firsthand but under conditions where things would not get out of control.”

“I am a Depression child. I was taught to only buy what I could pay for. You certainly won’t get in financial trouble. I have tried to live up to this, but I have had cash refused. I have never thought I would experience this. This is scary.”

Earlier this month, student loan provider Nellie Mae surveyed graduate-school students about credit-card usage. Among other things, the report found that 93 percent of these highly educated students try to pay at least the minimum monthly requirement, but only 20 percent acknowledged paying off their credit card bills in full each month. That’s maddening, and signals an ongoing need for credit education in classrooms and on the home front.

But I whole-heartedly agree with Kevin’s basic thoughts on putting credit cards into the hands of college students: Don’t even think about it until your child can handle cash responsibly and has a firm understanding of the benefits and dangers of using credit cards. It also doesn’t hurt to help them set up something like an automatic withdrawal from their checking account to pay off the balance each month.

I love the convenience and purchasing power that credit cards offer people. But without the proper education, credit cards can turn into your worst nightmare.

Wait! You mean student loans firms are NOT conflict free? Not all of them.

In recent months, a number of lenders have allegedly been offering incentives to university financial-aid officials in exchange for getting on the “preferred lender lists” that schools hand out to prospective student borrowers. Financial-aid officials at some of the best-known schools in the country have lost their jobs for taking stock or other payments from student-loan firms. And some of the biggest student-loan firms have reached settlements with the Attorney General’s office, totaling about $14 million.

So since lender’s can no longer trust a school’s financial aid office, many parents and students have been turning to online sources such as MyRichUncle that appeal directly to the lender. It’s an interesting concept that bypasses college lending centers entirely and puts the power back in the hands of the lenders.

So what’s the moral of this story? When asking a school’s financial aid office for recommendations, be sure to ask if the school receives any sort of kickback or incentives. If so, you might also want to use the power of Google to find direct lenders, such as MyRichUncle, who will offer “conflict free” loans (sometimes with an even lower rate).

College graduates with an accounting degree but not yet a CPA designation might make between $35,000 and $45,000 a year, or up to $50,000 in large cities like New York. After a couple of years they can command a substantial pay hike if they move to large company as an internal staff auditor or to a smaller company as controller. At that point, their salary can jump to anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000.

But do you need a 4 year degree from an ivy-league school to command that kind of cash? Or can you earn a degree in finance or accounting online or through a correspondence program?

EarnMyDegree.com might be able to answer a few questions about online degrees that may entice you to make that career move you’ve been thinking about. The site lists a large number of popular and obscure online degree programs with accounting and finance-related degrees. You can earn an associate’s degree (typically sufficient for a simply bookkeeping job) or you can earn a Bachelor’s degree which can open the door to many accounting positions.

However, many people shy away from online or distance learning, and they have good reason to. The “industry” has been plagued by cheap “diploma mills” which are willing to give anyone a diploma with little or no work… as long as your willing to pay for it.

But if you go into an online learning program such as the University of Phoenix, Kaplan University Online, or the DeVry Institute, with a little knowledge you can find a quality education that fits your lifestyle (and budget). Here are a few tips to consider while doing your research:

Choose an Accredited School: Be sure to check out the US Department of Education’s list of accredited schools to find legitimate programs that other schools and employers will recognize.

Check With Your Future Employers: If you want to work for a “big 4″ accounting firm, then give them a call and ask about being hired with an online degree. Some may prefer a certain program, or ask that you also complete supplemental coursework. Your local CPA firm might not. So be sure to ask your future employer.

Consider Schools You Know and Trust: This doesn’t mean you should attend the school with the most commercials on TV. Ask around. Find some friends who have pursued online education and ask them about their experiences.

Recognize the Warning Signs: Don’t waste your money on an institution that functions as a diploma mill by issuing degrees for money with little or no work required, claims to be accredited when it isn’t, charges either sky-high or very low fees, or fails to provide a physical address.

Reflect on Your Schedule: Most online courses are just as rigorous and time-consuming as traditional on-campus courses, which typically require three to four hours of class time each week in addition to homework.

Know Thyself: Are you disciplined and dedicated enough to pull this off? Because of the many distractions you’re likely to encounter at home and through work, you’ll have to force yourself to study and complete assignments on time.

How’s Your Writing? The nature of online communication means your reading comprehension and your ability to develop your thoughts in writing will be key. Many colleges offer refresher writing courses if you think you need to improve.

Take a Test Drive: The lack of face-to-face contact and conversation with your professor and fellow students just might make you batty. Before committing to a degree track, try taking just one online class first.

Sure, an online degree isn’t for everyone… but it may be exactly what you were looking for. So do your homework and be sure to check out sites like EarnMyDegree.com which provide you with a list of degree possibilities.

The preceding review, written in my unbiased opinion, was a paid review of EarnMyDegree.com.

However Congress, hoping to raise an estimated $1.4 billion in the next decade, has boosted the age of those subject to the kiddie tax by one year — from under age 18 to under age 19.

But the real problem is that full-time college students under age 24 are also caught. So, if you thought your 22-year-old college student had outgrown this tax, guess what: He or she could be subject to these provisions again.

As Steve Rosen explains, under the new rules — and Congress didn’t tinker with these limits — children can make up to $850 in investment income without having to pay any taxes. Income between $850 and $1,700 is taxed at the child’s lower rate. But if the child is the principal owner of these investments, any income above $1,700 is taxed not at a child’s rate, but at parents’ tax rates. This expanded provision doesn’t apply to children whose income from work is more than half the amount of their financial support.

“This seems to discourage saving,” said Sophie Beckmann, personal finance strategist for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

This regulation also makes no sense when you consider that a lot of the investment income in the hands of children has probably been bankrolled for college education.

Luckily, the tax provision doesn’t go into effect for a while, but it stills seems like a ridiculous idea when considering the increasing cost of education - for parents and students alike.

If you’re in the same boat (for your sake I hope you’re not) you’ll be happy to know that FinAid.org has a great Parent’s Guide to Financial Aid with step-by-step instruction on how you should proceed with plans for paying for college. There are tons of links, tools, and guides for everything from a College Cost Projector to information on Education Tax Credits. And they’ve even got a guide for parents of newborns and younger children. It’s never too early to start saving, right?

Within the Federal Reserve System’s Publication Catalog is a list of 12 comic books that teach youth and kids about inflation, the history of banks, and the importance of saving. Some of the comics present the information in a straight-forward fashion but there are also a number of story-based comics such as:

• Once Upon A Dime - A fable about the island kingdom of Mazuma and the growth of its economy from barter to a sophisticated modern system, with its own central bank, to iIlustrate basic concepts of barter, money, banking, and inflation.
• Wishes and Rainbows - Explores the economic problem of scarce resources and society’s reactions to such problems via a children’s story.
• Too Much, Too Little - Provides a history of the U.S. monetary system and events leading to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.

I’ve ordered a bunch of the comics (they’re FREE) to see how age appropriate they are and I’ll be sure to report back! In the meantime if any of you decide to order a few (after all, they’re FREE), let me know what you think!