Over the past week I have met with two people who have once again reminded how important it is to have life insurance.

In situation one, a person's spouse passed away at a very young age.  It was a total shock.  However, this couple had a financial plan that they had worked on together.  They also had life insurance.  As a result, the surviving spouse and the two children are taken care of.  They can focus on grieving instead of having to worry about working to pay bills.

In situation two, a person's father passed away at a very young age.  It was a total shock.  There was no life insurance.  As a result, the family struggled financially.  It created a tremendous strain on the family.

Folks, it simply does not have to be this way!!!  Term life insurance is SO CHEAP!  You can go HERE to get a quote.  You don't have to enter your name and address as it requests for you to be able to see quotes for you.  For a 30 year old, $500,000 of 20-year level term insurance coverage is less than $300/year!  If you have a family that relies on you to provide income or care for the family, you simply can not afford NOT to get this insurance!

Do it TODAY!!! 

One thing that really pumps me up is seeing parents teaching their children how to manage money well.

I remember as a child that I knew the value of money.  I was the youngest of six children.  My dad was self-employed and my mother kept the six boys in line.  We knew the value of money.  How did we know the value of money?

We rarely went out to eat.  Why?  We could eat at home sooooo much cheaper.

We planted a HUGE garden.  We picked, cleaned, snapped, and canned over 100 quarts of green beans in a single day multiple times.  We planted an ACRE of sweet corn.  We boiled that corn, cut the kernels off, but them into freezer bags, and froze hundreds of bags of corn.  We picked grapes until it filled 5-gallon pails and made grape juice out of it.  We grew asparagus.  We grew tomatoes – yellow and red.  Butternut squash, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, … the list goes on and on.  Why did we plant a huge garden?  It was much cheaper than buying it at the grocery store PLUS my parents had six laborers available!

We went on vacation, but we went to places that were cheap and accommodated large families (country areas).  We loved every single vacation.

My dad attempted the weekend farmer thing.  We had a cruddy old Gleaner combine that broke nearly every time we took it out.  We saw how tough it was to get ahead if we did not plan on break downs!

My dad gave me a book when I was around twelve years old called The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton.  It was a fictional story written around the concept of compound interest.  WOW!  It got my attention and the instant I began earning an income, I started investing money – in large part due to reading that one story!

Children need to learn about money.  I learned about how to manage money from my parents.  I DID NOT learn how to manage money from the school I attended.  For most children, the number one way they will learn how to manage money is from their parents.  Are you setting the example?  Are you teaching them the "How-To" part?

If you are looking for a great place to start teaching your children about money, it would be during Christmas break.  Get a copy of The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton and read it together with your children.  Sound nerdy?  Maybe, but I guarantee you that your child will not forget it!