Finance/Children

Hey Taylor I’m closing in on 30, have a good job, and steadily increasing wages, but I Taylor feel like my Kovar student debt and credit cards aren’t decreasing at all. What am I doing wrong? - Jim

Hey Jim - Sorry to hear about the debt. Honestly, it’s less about what you’re doing wrong and more about what you aren’t doing right. So many people work hard and make consistent payments, but debt is designed to stick around and hold you back. With that being said, there are two ways to tackle the problem.

Consolidate. If you looked into debt consolidation right after college and couldn’t find anything, there may be better options available for you now. A lot of lenders have narrowed their focus to help certain professionals get out from under their student loans and credit cards. For example, Splash Financial helps graduates with consolidation, with a special focus on the medical students who come out of a decade of schooling with upwards of $200,000 in debt. If you compare and contrast the different online lenders, you should be able to find a company with the right financing for you, especially if you’re working steadily and making a good living. If you want to learn more about the basics of consolidation, check out the post on GoFarWithKovar.com.

Get aggressive. Once debt reaches a certain tipping point, becoming a significant portion of your overall worth as opposed to a small monthly bill, you have to go above and beyond to take care of it. I know from personal experience that it takes a near Herculean effort to deal with hefty loans, but when you get into the mindset of budgeting, saving, and putting every extra penny toward getting out of debt, it can be done. Start by making a debt management plan - look at all your loans, see which have the biggest balances, which have the highest interest rates, which might be easiest to consolidate, etc. Once you have a plan for how and when you’ll pay off each balance, set a budget that helps you pay as aggressively as possible. Every extra dollar you put toward debt is a few pennies saved on interest, and that effort will lead to huge dividends when you shorten the life of a loan.

Remember, your expenses will always rise to meet your income unless you make a concise effort to not allow it. Be smart and decisive, and you’ll soon see those loans dwindle away until they’re a thing of the past. Good luck!

Legal Disclaimer: Information presented is for educational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. To submit a question to be answered in this column, please send it via email to Question@GoFarWithKovar.com or via USPS to Taylor Kovar, 415 S 1st St, Suite 300, Lufkin, TX 75901.

Ephesians 6:10—6:20 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

“No rational person would argue that the smaller the class size, the better, right?” asked the radio talk show host. “I think I’m a rational person,” I said, “and I can offer proof that smaller class size propaganda is nothing but, well, propaganda. Small classes are overrated. Individual attention is overrated. It quickly reaches the point of diminishing returns.” “Really? What proof?” History, personal and otherwise. I went to first grade in 1952. At the time, Kindergarten was not universal in South Carolina, so first grade was my first grade. One teacher presided over fifty children. That’s a large classroom, for sure, yet I’ve spoken to women who taught as many as ninety-five first graders in the early-to-mid 1950s, when the first wave of boomers was entering school. All of the women in question attest to orderly learning environments. Today, in many third-world areas of the world, classroom size is huge by first-world standards; yet, those teachers also report orderly learning environments. How much individual attention do you think any given child received in my first-grade class? Correct. Very little. Occasional. We had to pay attention. Get it? Typically, a 1950s elementary teacher taught for fifteen minutes or so, gave a timed assignment, and worked at her desk while her students worked at theirs. When time was up, students exchanged and graded one another’s papers. Then, on to another subject area. Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, five minutes, put away one workbook and take out another. I’m writing this column for parents who homeschool, the number of which the current

school shutdown has greatly and suddenly increased. For the first time in over a century, most elementary-age children are being taught by their parents, at home. The Internet is full of advice for John these new homeschoolers, but I Rosemond have yet to run across one article that tells these folks, mostly moms, many of whom are complaining of exhaustion, to relax about the involvement thing. Homeschooling does not require a high level of parent involvement. That is myth. Across the demographic spectrum, student achievement in the 1950s, when children were largely “deprived” of one-on-one attention, was significantly higher than it is today. The key to successful homeschooling is not lots of involvement, it’s organization. When I’m giving advice to a parent who wants to homeschool, I recommend the fifteen-thirtyfive routine. It worked with fifty or more kids; it will surely work (and does, in fact) with less than a handful. The more individual attention children receive in a classroom setting, the more they expect it and the more they come to depend upon it. The attention-overdosed child is likely to not pay close attention to what his teacher is saying unless she’s standing over him, talking directly to him. In a homeschool situation, codependency is an ever-looming possibility. Codependency is exhausting. Homeschooling, per se, is not. Family psychologist John Rosemond: johnrosemond.com, p arentguru.com.

John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology. In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

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