'Museums On Us' from Bank of America

If you are a Bank of America customer, you can get free admission to more than 150 museums or cultural institutions nationwide (94 cities in 31 states) in first full weekend of every month.

For example, in May, you can avail of this opportunity on 4th and 5th.

You need to produce your Bank of America ATM, check or credit card and photo ID.

You may get the entire list of museums in your local area at: www.bankofamerica.com/museums

College Selection Criterion: Food !!

Harvard, Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, .... - Where are you planning to send your junior next fall? Will that depend on the food quality of the canteens of those great universities?

This is probably the time when you are sitting with your (High School leaving) kid to select a college for his/her future and applying for his/her college aid. Probably you are taking into account all pros and cons of financial matters, quality of education, closeness to home etc etc. But do not forget about 'food' that your son or daughter will have to eat day after day.

Here is a link to Nacufs Loyal E. Horton Dining Award for 2007. 'Nacufs' stands for the National Association for College & University Food Services. Visit it and you may find interesting information about one of the most important things of college life - Food ! http://www.nacufs.org/recognition-dining-awards.

Apart from knowing which university canteens are serving the best food in various categories, the nacufs.org site provides many other useful information about college dining habit.

Disclaimer: LiveInUSA does not have any connection whatsoever with the website(s) mentioned above. The information is provided only because we think this could be helpful to our readers.

College Aid Application

If your youngster(s) are going to college this year, this is the time to start your work for submission of financial-aid paperwork. The deadline for such applications usually fall on a date between March 1 to March 15.

The key form involved in this process is called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You may download the form and related instructions from: FAFSA Form. This site also allows electronic filing of the form. It is a free form and you should apply even if you think that there might not be any chance for you. New scholarships are created every year and you may find some surprises.

You will need the data from your 2012 federal income tax return to fill out the application, but DO NOT wait until you file your 2012 tax - you may use estimates to complete the FAFSA form. Otherwise you may find yourself somewhere around the end of a long queue. That's because most states and colleges start allowing submission of FAFSA forms beginning Jan 1.

Applications received earliest are given top priority. Although the form is FREE to submit, Parents should remember that student financial aid is not meant to provide a free financial assistance to you. The system is set up to provide assistance to those who might not otherwise be able to attend college.

Teach Finance and Savings to Kids

Many of us ignore the importance of teaching ideas and concepts of personal finance to our kids but it is a crucial part of their development and growing up as a responsible individual.

If they cannot manage their personal savings and planning for their future, just a good education may land them on a good job but they may fail to utilize that advantage of having a good job.

There is no hurry, of course. But you may slowly start ... probably as they enter Middle School. There are, of course, various courses/camps available for achieving this goal but they cost money and are not cheap (we'll have a posting on those some other day). But if you wish to start soon, the following websites may assist you in your endeavor:

For Middle School Students:
KidsBank.com, MoonJar.com and RichKidSmartKid.com teach about money and banking through fun characters and games.
YoungInvestor.com and StrongKids.com teach about earning, saving and investing money and also explains functioning of retirement accounts, trust funds, and savings accounts. These may also be used for high school students.

For High School Students:
YoungBiz.com has useful articles about student investors and student-run businesses and also career planning tips
www.ssa.gov/kids/faqs1.html can teach all about Social Security system.

Disclaimer: LiveInUSA does not have any connection whatsoever with the website(s) mentioned above. The information is provided only because we think this could be helpful to our readers.