Teaching Dollars & Sense to Daughters

    CHARLOTTE, NC, February 28, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Chris Hobart, owner and CEO of Hobart Financial Group, announces today his financial #MakeItHappen tips in honor of this year's March 8th International Women's Day and its "Make It Happen" theme. Research shows that only seven percent of women are "very confident" in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle. To empower young women so they may have the confidence to take charge of their financial future, Chris developed four key tips.

"Fiscal responsibility is an invaluable lesson I've taught my own two daughters, and it's one I'd like to share with other young women so they may become strong, fiscally responsible women," said Hobart.

Women are lagging when it comes to financial/retirement planning. A report from Aon Hewitt showed that women save less for retirement and are more likely to default on loans taken out of their retirement savings than their male counterparts. These savings and investing habits, coupled with longer life expectancies, play a critical role in why women are less likely than men to be able to meet their financial needs in retirement. The majority (59 percent) of women who estimate their financial need guess what their retirement savings needs would be rather than using a calculator or adviser.

"The earlier parents start teaching kids the fundamentals, the more likely they will become financially responsible adults," states Hobart. "They grasp the concept of money from a very early age: work to earn money and then use money to buy what you want. However, the idea of saving and getting a return on investments is much harder for kids to understand."

#MakeitHappen Financial Tips for Daughters
1. Save, Share, Spend: Parents should teach kids the save, share, spend concept by first giving them a piggy bank, a vital tool to introduce them to finances and money. Let kids earn an allowance by doing tasks around the home. From those earnings, they should save a third in the piggy bank, spend a third on their own and give a third to charity. Once the child gets a little older, parents can open a savings account for them.

2. Take Them Grocery Shopping: As a kid, it takes as a little bit of time to understand that different items have different values. To help children learn, parents should take them on weekly trips to the supermarket. It will help them understand that everything has a different price. They'll also see parents doing some comparison shopping, looking for deals, and paying for the items.

3. Become Young Entrepreneurs: Encourage kids to open their own business -- a lemonade stand, a bake sale, a jewelry shop or whatever the child is interested in. Young children can learn how to give proper change; older ones can learn proper marketing; and teenagers can develop advanced business plans. The child should be the boss while the parent guides decisions. They can learn phenomenal lessons - ones not necessarily taught in school. And, this type of experience is a safe place for them to fail; children need to learn that failure is a natural thing that happens and understand how to adjust and move ahead. Adults make mistakes and fail all the time - such as when they lose money in the market. But, they must rebound.

4. Lead by Example: The best way to teach kids about money is for parents to lead by example. If the parent is drowning in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck, the kids will feel the same stress and frustration. Parents need to teach them how to be financially responsible adults by being one first.

About Chris Hobart
CEO and Founder of Hobart Financial Group, Chris Hobart is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. He is a nationally recognized financial commentator, author, Registered Financial Consultant (RFC ), Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) and a licensed insurance agent. Acknowledged as one of the nation's top independent financial advisors by leading industry publication Senior Market Advisor Magazine, he has been a featured guest on CNBC, Fox Business and CBS. Due to his extensive knowledge of and work in financial management, Chris has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Associated Press, MSN Money, The Charlotte Observer, Men's Health, Kiplinger, Market Watch, The Street, USA Today, The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, and many other publications.

For more information, visit http://www.hobartfinancialgroup.com.

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