Folks,

The final schedule for the Financial Peace Class is:

09/12/2007 — Super Savers

09/19/2007– Cash Flow Planning

09/26/2007 — Relating With Money

10/03/2007 — Buying Only Big, Big Bargains

10/10/2007 — Dumping Debt

10/17/2007 — Understanding Investments

10/24/2007 — Understanding Insurance

10/31/2007 — Retirement and College Planning

11/07/2007 — Buyer Beware

11/14/2007 — Real Estate and Mortgages

There will be no class on 11/21/2007 due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

11/28/2007 — Careers and Extra Jobs

12/05/2007 — Collection Practices and Credit Bureaus

12/12/2007 — The Great Misunderstanding

What is Financial Peace University?

Financial Peace University (or FPU) is a 13-week course that will teach you about how to handle your money in a very practical and applied way. The course looks at personal finance in a very holistic way, examining things from the individual, spiritual, emotional, and relational points of view. The emphasis is on personal responsibility, understanding yourself and your motivations, taking care of your family, living well, and being a wise consumer.

FPU is designed for everyone who wants to do better with their money, regardless of their background or level of income. In a given course, we will have people making anywhere from $20,000/year to $250,000/year. Everyone who takes the course is able to learn, contribute to the overall discussion, be supported and respected. During the course we have a lot of laughs, hugs, and even a few tears. We all get to know each other very well and a lot of times after 13 weeks it is hard to say goodbye.

One last thing … absolutely everyone is welcome in FPU, but keep in mind that this is a course based on Christian principles that is taught in a church by Christians. We provide this course as a service to our members and the public because we believe that it improves the lives of everyone involved and don’t use this course to proselytize. At the same time, we don’t hide who we are or what we stand for.

Getting Started

We normally have FPU courses 3 times a year, in January, May, and September. You can take a look here to see exactly when and where the classes are happening. There is no course limit and everyone is welcome. We would prefer it if you would register on the FPU web site ahead of time, but it isn’t necessary. As long as you show up at the first class you will be fine.

If you would like to learn more about how FPU works and what it is about, there is a free 20-minute video that you can watch. We find that this answers most of the questions that people have about the course. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us directly.

Where is the class held?

Our classes are held at Oak Hill UMC. The church is located at 7815 Highway 290 West, which is southwest of the “Y” in Oak Hill (you can see a map here). The classes are held in the adult education, which is the easternmost building on the campus. It is next door to the sanctuary, and is visible as you enter from Highway 290

Fees and Materials

The class is free, but it does have required materials. The kitsare available through DaveRamsey.com or through Oak Hill UMC, either way will work. Oak Hill UMC sells the kits at cost for $95, from other sources they can be up to $229, plus shipping. The materials will be available for purchase on the first day of class.

Also, we feel very strongly that anyone who needs Financial Peace should be able to enroll in the course, regardless if financial status. Scholarships are available in cases of financial hardship and everyone will leave with materials, one way or the other.

Childcare

Free child care is available through Oak Hill UMC. If you need childcare for while attending FPU, please contact the church directly so that they can have appropriate staffing on hand.

Do you really think it is worth it to spend more to get frequent flier miles that are limited more and more?  If so, then get ready for the terms to change whenever it is convenient for the issuer to make a buck.

Stay away from the plastic!

The homework for this week is:

1. Read Chapters 4 and 20 in Financial Peace Revisited.
2. Check out the inspirational stories at the FPU Member Resource Center.
3. Tell someone else you know about FPU and what it has done for you. Remember, you can always loan out your materials and we have scholarships available for all of our classes.

Remember, you have a lifetime membership for your family and can attend at any time at no cost. If you ever need a refresher, feel free to stop by a class for one week or the entire course.

Lastly, we have some additional reading on this subject, if you are interested.

An exerpt:

The new rules would require companies to tell customers 45 days before terms of a credit card contract are changed, compared with 15 days now. And the rules would expand the list of changes requiring advance notice to include those involving penalty interest rates, which often range above 30 percent. Today, most consumers learn only after opening their monthly bills that they have been penalized with significantly higher interest rates because of paying late, going over their credit limits or falling behind with another lender.

Also:

Companies would also be required to spell out that low rates on balances transferred from another credit card apply only to that balance, not to new purchases. And it would require companies to apply payments to the debt carrying the highest interest rate. Many companies now apply payments to the least costly debt, thus forcing customers to pay more in interest.

These measures will definitely help people in getting out of debt. Still, it is shocking that consumers can be treated so badly by an industry without any public scorn. These changes still don’t make credit cards a good method of payment, but they at least start to even the playing field.

The final schedule for the Financial Peace Class is:

05/13/2007 — Super Savers

05/20/2007– Cash Flow Planning

No class on 05/27/2007 for Memorial Day.

06/03/2007 — Relating With Money

06/10/2007 — Buying Only Big, Big Bargains

06/17/2007 — Dumping Debt

06/24/2007 — Understanding Investments

07/01/2007 — Understanding Insurance

07/08/2007 — Retirement and College Planning

07/15/2007 — Buyer Beware

07/22/2007 — Real Estate and Mortgages

07/29/2007 — Careers and Extra Jobs

08/05/2007 — Collection Practices and Credit Bureaus

08/12/2007 — The Great Misunderstanding

MSN Money has a related article on rewards and security for debit cards. The most important thing to understand here is that DEBIT CARDS HAVE THE EXACT SAME FRAUD AND LOSS PROTECTION AS CREDIT CARDS. Check

You see, in the 1980′s, the company borrowed heavily to invest in the inflated Japanese real estate market. It was an opportunity too good to miss, they thought. The bubble burst, and they were in hock up to their eyes. Then, demand for their services diminished (they are specialists in building and restoring Buddhist Temples) and they couldn’t keep afloat.

The 1-2 punch of debt and hard times is too much for almost any business or family. You can’t predict when hard times will come, but you can influence how hard they will hit you. By preparing with a generous emergency fund and keeping out of debt you can make sure that your head stays above water, no matter what.
If you are interested in learning more, Business Week has all the sad details.

Parents DO have responsibilities in their relationship with their children. I think that parents must:

1. Take care of themselves, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
2. Build and maintain relationships with friends and family that are both functional and loving.
3. Strive to improve themselves and their fortune.
4. Model the behavior that they expect their children to follow.
5. Discipline their children to ensure that they do.

Everything else is details!

If you notice, there isn’t anything there that says you have to be able to send your children to the best private college and let them live the high life. You might need to look at the best college values and your children might need to work. Deal with it!

1. Robert Reich wrote about the real problem with student loans, that the average consumer is being ripped off by finance companies and underserved by the government.
2. The Washington Post exposes how student loan companies abuse your privacy in order to try and make a buck.

Now, do you still think that these people are the ones we want our children to do business with starting at 18?