Edwards Family Empowerment

My youngest son scored a 25 on his ACT. He met the academic requirements for a full ride scholarship, but not the score requirement of 30 on his ACT. I had to use my super Mom persuasive powers to convince him to take a $100 prep class at UAH. He groaned and complained the entire two weeks, but I give him credit, he went and he paid attention. He increased his ACT score and obtained the full ride (minus room and board) scholarship to UAH. He simply stayed home to reduce costs or the need for a student loan. My oldest son, did decently in high school. He didn’t fail, he passed his courses. He wasn’t as academically proficient as his siblings, (he’s just as smart as his siblings) so we were not surprised when he suggested that he wanted to enter the military for the GI Bill in order to obtain his education. This is an option that you can also explore with your kids. My son’s advice is to stick to your intentions when you’re in the military. It’s very easy to get side tracked with ...

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College degrees are a small fortune now-a-days. They also are not a guarantee that you will be able to get a job in that field. However, most jobs that pay well require that you have a college degree. So it is a huge decision whether or not you invest in a college education or not. It takes careful planning on how you will approach paying for college. Baby Step 5 involves saving for your kids’ college degree. If you don’t have any kids, if your kids have scholarships, or your kids are grown, simply skip this step. You can continue to contribute to your retirement plan while saving for your children’s future. See below on how to calculate how much to save. Dave Ramsey recommends that you do your research about college before you begin this step. You should try to determine the costs of private, public, and trade schools. Then come up with a gameplan on how you will approach your kids attending college. The degrees that you get can be obtained affordably. Some tips are going to a c...

Finally someone from the State called me while I was at work asking if I was still was interested in an Accounts Examiner job I had applied and interviewed for a year earlier. I told him I was still interested and he faxed me a letter confirming my appointment that day. This job was basically performing audits. We use governmental/industry standards and regulations to provide reasonable assurance that the financials are free of material misstatements and that they present fairly the financial position of the State. We also audit individual agencies for compliance with grants, contracts and state and federal laws. These are forever changing. So, we have to obtain continuous education credits each year. I’ve worked with the same agency for the past 25 plus years. The benefits (insurance, retirement, and paid leave) are good. While working with the agency, our agency head encouraged us to obtain our CPA (certification as a Certified Public Accountant). So, I studied and took the tes...

During the second half of the school year my BOE teacher introduced us to bookkeeping with double entry accounting. I had never heard of it. Some of my classmates were struggling but I was making A’s. So, I decided to go to the library and research careers in bookkeeping and accounting. I found that accountants could make good money and there were different area of accounting. That was it! I was going to be an accountant! It paid well, it fit my skills and I actually liked dealing with finances. My mom started teaching me at 4 or 5 years old how to save, count and maximize the use of money. I learned that I would need a four year degree to obtain the type of accounting jobs I wanted. I looked to my older sister, Lisa for a path to get my degree. Lisa had gone to Wallace Community College while staying at home to earn her first nursing degree (LPN). This was affordable and didn’t require taking out student loans. She then attended Auburn University in Montgomery and earned her R...

  Hi Family! I’m L.C., the middle child of Joe and Ruth. One of the things my parents told us often after giving us a task was “Don’t go in there half doing it”. That set the tone for me determining what my career would be. I wanted to find something I could do well. Growing up, I developed a love for music. I sang around the house and listened to music every chance I got. I even toyed with the idea of singing opera. I was attracted to the life style the singers on TV seemed to have and wanted that career and seemingly good life for myself. So, I started preparing myself to become a singer by participating in the school chorus in grades 7-10. I found out I had a high pitched voice that my teacher taught me was referred to as first soprano. My teacher in grades 7-9 was very encouraging. He selected me to assist in his classroom and even selected me to sing a solo for our concert. However, my 10th grade teacher didn’t seem as impressed with my singing. She had a small select...

Let’s talk investing. The last four steps can be done simultaneously, but I am going to address them separately. Baby Step 4 involves investing. You should invest 15% of your gross household income into Roth IRAs and tax-favored retirement plans. Why 15%? You can work on the last 4 of the baby steps simultaneously: pay off your mortgage, save for college for your kids, etc. while investing at the same time. 15% is a safe rate to invest. Once you have paid off your home and your kid’s college fund is fully funded you can always increase the amount that you are investing. One thing you should check on is whether your company offers a Roth 401(k) option. Companies sometimes offer matching funds for your 401(k). What this means is that for every dollar that you put into your Roth 401(k) your company may match that amount. This is free money. If you are on this step, you should be maxing your 401(k) option. Invest your entire 15% here. The best part about this is that the dollars in...