Where did you start?

[AlaskanDad]

My grandfather was always trying to talk to me about politics and investments while growing up, and it was not until his death several years ago that my interests were peaked. He left me with a annuity that is paying me $200 a month for 10 years.

I would like to replicate something like this for me and my family. i have been doing lots of research for several months but still have very little knowledge.

Currently in my early 30's and full time college student with two young children, we are very tight but when my schooling is complete my job will pay between $80-$120k yearly. The program (oil field industry) is one that many of my friends have gone through but was to busy having fun and traveling when I was single. Now that we are tight, and sadly having to rely on assistance we have decided to take charge of our finances.

Before you judge my family. Having assistance is the last thing we wanted, we blew through our entire savings before caving in. Both of my wife's pregnancies were very difficult and we spent lots of time in the hospital missing work. She was also in an accident and broke her back and hip in two places while pregnant with our daughter. We both have always worked hard but with me being laid off 3 years ago and out of a job for 6 months plus her complications, life broke us. That is why we have assistance, plus we live in one of the most expensive states.

Anyways, I have $200 this month to start with and may not have any next month. Looking around sharebuilder.com, and some other sites reading about cd's, stocks, annuities, mutual funds, etc.

Any advice or input would be great, we do have a small savings again but because one vehicle is nearing 200k miles and my other vehicle needs a complete rear brake job (my old project car).

Go ahead and ask me any questions you would need to know or start a conversation. I would like to learn as much as possible while I finish my remaining 2-3 years of college. Both me and my wife plan to invest as much as we can once finished with school. We have always been budget conscious.

Sorry for the long post. Hopefully I get the idea across.

[JulieAlbright]

I'm sorry if this is overly intrusive but I first have to ask what sort of Assistance you are talking about. I'm asking because many assistance programs will disqualify you if you build up more than a couple thousand dollars in the wrong type of accounts.

Beyond that, the first place to start before you start looking at stocks and bonds or whatever is a Cash emergency fund. One sort of groundwork have you laid in building a cash reserve first?

[50Sense]

These are the things I would tackle first--

I would start with building a 6 month emergency fund, and because you have two young children, something like a term life insurance policy.

Once you have BOTH of those things in place, id throw the rest of your income into roth iras, provided you or your wife have earned income for the year. Within the roth iras, low cost index funds would allow you to invest in a disciplined manner, and if you only have the ability to do a few hundred dollars at a time, you can take advantage of dollar cost averaging.

[AlaskanDad]

I'm sorry if this is overly intrusive but I first have to ask what sort of Assistance you are talking about. I'm asking because many assistance programs will disqualify you if you build up more than a couple thousand dollars in the wrong type of accounts.

Beyond that, the first place to start before you start looking at stocks and bonds or whatever is a Cash emergency fund. One sort of groundwork have you laid in building a cash reserve first?

Thanks for replying. We are worried about being disqualified but we are not sure about what we can have and can not have. We are only on food-stamps, we qualify for more options but have decided that this is already more than we really want. Would like to explore all options that could potentially allow us to be back on our own feet.

College is costing us considerably especially with my wife's medical issues. I worked full time while attending college full time and we were trying to build a small business. However, when my wife began having issues with her back early last winter something had to give. So my work schedule was reduced 50%, and our business plans are on hold.

This allowed more study time and was able to give my wife some rest that she desperately needed. Was suppose to be full time this summer but there was a restructuring last February that cut our hours immensely. There are not many jobs in the area that are close enough, and my current job pays very well for the area.

We have just under the saving allowed amount, but as stated before one car needs some attention. Thankfully it is cheap and easy to work on. After repairing my car we will have a reserve again by the end of summer. It is not easy saving money right now, yet somehow we manage to save until it is needed again.

My biggest issue is that I feel helpless with all our current issues, even though we are working through them. I like being resourceful, and would rather be on my own again. My wife thinks we are going to need to stay where we are at so we can finish college to better our lives. her back problem is permanent and lucky she can walk. She really wishes she could go back to work but is not able until Dr's are done with her.

She could be right. However, even if we can have a small amount going into some retirement program I would be ecstatic! Although if for some reason we are not allowed and my wife is correct that we are better off where we are currently then perhaps I can learn how to invest and care for my money once college is done.

Even have a job prospect with on oil company. They are possibly interested in hiring next September as a trainee in my field of training. This would pay very well.

[snafu]

Alaskan Dad, welcome to this site where we learn from one another often taking small steps forward to build a sound financial base for our family, long term. Like you, we also live in the heart of an oil patch mentality. I caution that while the pay is high so are expenses and it certainly demands total commitment which plays havoc with family life.

50Sense wisely suggests term life insurance and an Emergency Fund as starting points. What constraints does assistance have in place? You must learn/research your state's programs. If you are willing to outline your income, expense categories and debt we may be able to point out some savings/cost avoidances acknowledging that costs are far higher in Alaska. Are you carrying any consumer debt like crdit cards or vehicles loans?

If you are living on student loans what type and interest rate is attached? I presume you know that it's not smart to borrow more than you'd reasonably earn in your 1st year of full time employment. Every dollar borrowed is an albatross that will affect every decision after graduation. SL debt cannot be discharged no matter your circumstances until the sum and added interest is paid off to the penny.

[AlaskanDad]

Alaskan Dad, welcome to this site where we learn from one another often taking small steps forward to build a sound financial base for our family, long term. Like you, we also live in the heart of an oil patch mentality. I caution that while the pay is high so are expenses and it certainly demands total commitment which plays havoc with family life.

50Sense wisely suggests term life insurance and an Emergency Fund as starting points. What constraints does assistance have in place? You must learn/research your state's programs. If you are willing to outline your income, expense categories and debt we may be able to point out some savings/cost avoidances acknowledging that costs are far higher in Alaska. Are you carrying any consumer debt like crdit cards or vehicles loans?

If you are living on student loans what type and interest rate is attached? I presume you know that it's not smart to borrow more than you'd reasonably earn in your 1st year of full time employment. Every dollar borrowed is an albatross that will affect every decision after graduation. SL debt cannot be discharged no matter your circumstances until the sum and added interest is paid off to the penny.

Not sure how much can be said without doing research about my state programs. We have no credit cards and my school loan interest rates are not bad. My mother graciously offered to pay off my school class costs and books as long school is finished in a timely manner with good grades. However, everything is in my name and will not payed off till school is done. Any extra money pulled aside is my responsibility. My total school debt will be dependent on how long my program will take to finish, and is extremely intense.

If it takes 2 years there will be $10k of debt, and if it is 3 years there will be $15k of debt.

We also have $5k of medical expenses that have been reported to collections. However, we have been trying to pay it off but still have not got a bill from the hospital. They would not take any payments with out our billing number that was supposed to be mailed to us with our bill. We still have not got one in 3 years and have been unable to pay it. The collections will not provide any proof either. So this has been a long battle. We are still in contact with both parties and have been trying to work this out.

[feh]

I think you need to get on more stable footing before you start thinking about investing. Going to school, getting public assistance, raising kids...first step is to put together an emergency fund and get your budget well defined.

[jpham540]

Yeah at this point don’t even look at share builder or any stock investment. I would focus more on finishing your school and finding a better paying job. Also you should keep track of your budget and cut back on any expense you don’t need. Since your wife have medical issue maybe she can start a blog or something online.

[AlaskanDad]

There is good news.

My wife took our kids out for a picnic with some friends and one of her friends husband happened to go along. He wants to better advance himself by taking the course I am taking, even though he already works oil field work. Anyways, he gave her some information for me. This information has given several job prospects that will hire student in my program full time year round entry level training position for $56k a year. Once school is complete my pay would be over $100k

My professor said they will work with students fortunate enough to have oil field work already, they are now recording every class and with my schedule being 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off they will let me make my up my tests.

With this new information we are debating if we can actually handle a work load like this. My wife's brother works for this company and with him as reference my chances are really good.

This would get us back on our feet

Thanks for all your input and advice, I plan to lurk around and ask questions, even if we do not take this job.

[snafu]

Wishing you luck in being hired for oil field work whose hours will mesh with your continuation of your university program. During this intermediate period...not yet hired, you need to get a handle on how you spend the money and benefits you have access to right now. Use mint.com or write out spending categories, sums required and interest rate charged each month.

If your income increases, you just adjust the figures. I suggest you help your wife create a menu plan of foods you'll eat that stretches sums awarded on your food card. There is security in having a pantry of nutritious foods on hand. The trick is to plan made from scratch foods and avoiding expensive, highly processed, full of unpronounceable chemicals that don't offer much except convenience packages. Lots of info on-line