Nice Read, to think about !

[setravis]

Help Your Kids Become Millionaires
By Chuck Saletta September 5, 2007

We all want better lives for our children, so I'm going to let you in on something that can help you get them started on the path to success. If you invest just $30 a month -- about a dollar a day -- for each child, you can help your kids become millionaires. There's no magic involved. It's just what happens when you let money compound in the stock market over decades. At a 10% annual return, about the market's historical average, it will take about 56 and a half years to get there, but it can be done.

While you may think $30 would be too small to be useful, there are several companies that actively welcome your investing dollars, even at that level. They're part of a group of shareholder-friendly businesses that offer something called a DRIP: a dividend reinvestment plan. You may need to buy one or more shares or make a larger deposit to get started, but once you're in the plan, they often let you make small contributions for low -- or even no -- fees. In fact, the companies listed below will both accept your ongoing contributions and reinvest your dividends at no charge to you.

Company

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS)
1 share of stock
$25


Bank of Hawaii (NYSE: BOH)
1 share of stock
$25


Carnival (NYSE: CCL)
1 share of stock
No minimum


Hasbro (NYSE: HAS)
1 share of stock
$25


Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX)
1 share of stock
$25


RR Donnelley & Sons (NYSE: RRD)
1 share of stock
$10


Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP)
1 share of stock
$10


The big benefit to your children, though, isn't the $30 a month, or even the million dollars at the end of the endeavor. It's the lifestyle, attitude, and financial know-how that come from being able to make that small, regular contribution in the first place. To invest money properly, the rest of your financial life needs to be in order. The bills need to be paid, the bad debts (like high-interest credit cards) need to be eliminated, and any other expenses need to be under control. Most important, though, you have to make saving and investing that money a priority in your life.

Improve your family's financial future
There will always be demands on your money. Once you have the basics like food, medicine, shelter, clothing, and transportation taken care of, everything else you're spending your money on is negotiable. Even within those basics, there may well be room to negotiate. For instance, could you hold on to your reliable, older-model car a bit longer, rather than trade it in for a newer one? And even then, would you consider buying a demonstration vehicle or other gently used, generally well-maintained car, rather than a brand-new one?

The choices you make today will affect your family for years to come. Getting to the point where you can invest that $30 a month -- and staying there -- will help you take control of your financial life. It will also help teach a powerful life lesson to your children. One that -- when combined with the substantial nest egg you're helping them build -- will go a very long way toward helping them succeed.

The hardest part of helping your kids become millionaires may well be taking control of your own finances. That's where my colleagues at Motley Fool Green Light can help. Advisors Dayana Yochim and Shannon Zimmerman help you find the hidden fortune in every paycheck. You can take the next 30 days to try out the service, absolutely free. A brand-new issue releases at 4 p.m. ET today. Check it out -- you just might discover that you really can put your family on the path to financial freedom.

This article was originally published on June 14, 2007. It has been updated.


Link to Article... http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/general/2007/09/05/help-your-kids-become-millionaires.aspx

[setravis]

A four-step plan
The four keys to achieving this goal are:

1. Start today!

2. Invest regularly. Every month, put away $250, $100, even $50.

3. Look to the stock market for your best hope of realizing your dreams.

4. Seek out undervalued small-cap stocks for your greatest returns.

You can beat the market !
You know the importance of investing sooner rather than later. And you know that putting small, regular amounts into the stock market can make a big difference over time. But why small caps?

Small caps are in the market segment where investors can make the greatest returns. With small caps, investors have an edge because institutions tend to ignore them and analysts don't cover them. By the time anyone realizes they're there, they've already grown and appreciated in price. Even the venerable Eastman Kodak, which traces its lineage to George Eastman's experiments on his mother's kitchen table, started off as a small company.

Finding good, undervalued companies is not as difficult as the professionals want you to think.

It is possible to make a more comfortable retirement for yourself, even if you have little money to start with or are starting late in life. It is possible to turn $100 into $1 million. You just have to commit to doing it now and doing it regularly. No amount is too small.

Inspirational stories of stock market successes like these give me hope that I'll achieve my own personal financial goals. However, I can already hear the objections. What if you don't have $50,000 to launch your investing career? What if your bank account doesn't have $5,000 in it, let alone $10,000, to start building your retirement nest egg? Are you doomed to a life of penury and misery? No !