The Young Family Stage

The Young Family Stage is typically a period where life changes forever with the birth of a child. No one can adequately prepare for this drastic change, but somehow in the midst of this momentous event, consideration must be given to this new financial responsibility. For the first time in life, responsibility for someone else takes center stage, impacting priorities and how time is spent. The Young Family Stage is a period of decisions, such as, "Should someone quit work to stay home with the baby?" and "Where and when should the kid(s) start school?". This period in life is usually the first time someone considers their child's education or when owning a home becomes a primary goal. It is also a time when the family cars may need to be upgraded to support a growing family. Not to mention, the college loans that may still need to be paid off. It is a great time of change; sons and daughters become fathers and mothers and for the first time in life you must consider how to get a handle on home finances.

The key features and functions of Simple Home Finances Toolkits to use in this stage are:

• Use the Budget toolkit to:
  • Establish a realistic budget.
  • Manage your home finances on a month-by-month basis.
• Use Loan Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Track your student loans in terms of what you owe, what it costs and how long it will take to pay off.
  • Track your car loans in terms of what you owe, what it costs and how long it will take to pay off.
  • Model prepaying to determine how to pay off your loans.
• Use Loan Planning from the Loan toolkit to:
  • See how big of a mortgage you can afford.
  • See how much you can afford to spend on a new car.
• Use Mortgage Management from the Loan toolkit to:
  • Get a reasonable projection of how much equity you have in your home currently or how much you may have in the future.
  • Track how much you owe and what it is costing.
  • Model pre paying to see the impact it can have on the length and cost of your mortgage.
• Use Investment Modeling from the Retirement toolkit to:
  • Model how much you have to save per month to support you children's college education.
• Use Retirement Planning from the Retirement toolkit to:
  • See how much you need to save to support your retirement.
  • Understand that the sooner you start to save the easier it is to meet your retirement goals.
• Use the Summary Report to:
  • See a snapshot of your finances including key information about your income and budget, loans and retirement situation.
  • See where changes can be made in your finances.

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