Dave Says - August 23, 2010

Dear Dave,
My wife and I are getting close to retirement, and our 36-year-old son recently moved back in with us. His automotive restoration business went bankrupt, he hasn’t been able to find another job, and he has nowhere else to go. What can we do to help him?
John

Dear John,
You have to define what helping your son really means. In my mind, you haven’t helped him at all if he’s still squatting in your basement five years from now. That’s called being an enabler. But it’s not going to help him, either, if you toss him on the street and say “You’re 36. Be a man!” I think you should formulate a progressive plan somewhere between those two extremes—something that includes a move-out deadline, but will help him regain some dignity.

As part of living with you, I’d require him to do three or four things. One is that he abides by your household rules. If he’s going to live in your home, he should act the way you want him to act. Number two, he needs to be engaged in some kind of regular physical activity. Even if you have to pay for it, you could get a membership at a gym or buy some exercise equipment. Exercise stimulates the mind, and he needs that right now. It’ll also be great for his body. Getting beat up like he’s been can be tough at that age. It can lead to depression if you don’t engage in physical activity and goal setting.

Next, is to think about career steps. He could start with a part-time job to get some money in his pockets. Then, work on a long-term career goal. He knows how to turn a wrench, and he probably likes that kind of work. His mind works spatially, which means he can look at things and figure out how they operate. So, it might be a good idea to move in that direction. It doesn’t even have to be cars. He could learn to work on boats or aircraft.

You don’t want to beat the kid when he’s down, but you don’t want to participate in his sewage, either. Help him clean up his life, and get him out of there as fast as possible. It’s what’s best for everyone!
— Dave

Dear Dave,
We live in Boston, and we’ve got three kids who are almost ready for college. My wife and I make about $114,000 a year combined, and that includes a $34,000 a year pension I receive. Should we use the pension money to pay for their tuition, or should we let them take out student loans?
Geoff

Dear Geoff,
There’s no way I’m going to send anyone into student loan debt, especially when the household income is in the six-figure range!

Now, that assumes the kids choose a college you can afford, but with your income you guys could handle tuition at most state colleges. And that means all the kiddos are going to have to pick a reasonably-priced school if they expect you to foot the bill. We’ve got to use a little common sense here. No champagne taste on a beer pocketbook!

You guys are doing okay, but you can’t afford to send these kids to $30,000 a year schools. All this will be hitting you at about the same time, so I want you to cash flow this thing, and pay as you go along. College is great, but you need to invest your money into something that fits your budget!
— Dave

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Dave Says - August 2, 2010

Dear Dave,
I’m about to complete Baby Step 3. I’ve been very intense about following your plan, but I was wondering if there’s ever any kind of frustration or letdown after you’ve come this far.
Rasheed

Dear Rasheed,
You’re right. The beginning three Baby Steps are very intense. First, you get $1,000 in the bank—$500 if you make less than $20,000 a year—for a beginner emergency fund as fast as you can. Then, pay off all your debts, except the house, from smallest to largest, and after that you finish out your emergency fund with three to six months of expenses. This is a real whirlwind of activity because everything should be wrapped up in an aggressive, we’ve-got-to-get-this-done kind of attitude.

I guess if there’s a letdown it could come from the feeling that once you’re out of debt except for your house, things should kick into overdrive and you’ll become instantaneously wealthy. That just isn’t realistic. But it does remove a ton of stress from your life, and you’ll experience a sense of freedom that you’ve never felt before. Just think about it. Try to imagine how it would feel to have no payments on anything except your home. There’ll be no more credit card bills and no more car payments. How great is that?

As for frustrations, they’ll be fewer because a huge cause of stress and frustration will disappear after you gain control of your money and get out of debt. You may feel like things aren’t moving fast enough, but things never seem to move fast enough when you’re intense and really into what you’re doing!
—Dave

Dear Dave,
What’s the best financial gift for young grandchildren?
Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
Well, it’s definitely not savings bonds. You get nothing in the way of a return from those things. I get mad just looking at them! I’d suggest opening up an Educational Savings Account (ESA) in a mutual fund in the child’s name. You can put up to $2,000 a year, per child, into these, and they grow tax-free.

If you started when your grandchild was born, and set aside $2,000 a year for 18 years, you’d have saved $36,000. But if you go the ESA route, and figure 12 percent average growth over that time, the kid could have about $126,000 waiting when it comes time for college. That’s a pretty sweet gift!
—Dave

Dear Dave,
Where is the best place for me to put my savings?
Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
Saving and investing are two things I talk about a lot. Investing is when you’re going to leave the money alone for five years or more. I’m talking about things like retirement, college planning or saving up to buy a house. For these things, I recommend good, growth-stock mutual funds. Make sure you’re looking at mutual funds that have stable track records of five to 10 years, and then spread your money across these four categories: growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international.

Now, when it comes to savings, I’m not really concerned with making money. Things like setting money aside for vacations, Christmas, or even an emergency fund fall into this category. One and one-half percent would be an incredible rate on a savings account right now, so you’re not going to get rich off anything like this. The idea is to park this money in a safe place, and keep it separate from the rest of your money so it doesn’t get spent on the wrong thing!
—Dave

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Dave Says - August 30, 2010

Dear Dave,
When is it okay to buy toys for the lake—things like boats and jet skis—when following your plan?
Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
I’m a lake guy, too. So, you’ve hit a soft spot with me on this question. Still, you have to be an adult about these things, and here are a few rules.

First, you should be completely debt free except for your house. Second, you need to have your fully funded emergency fund—that’s three to six months of living expenses—in place. In other words, I want you to have completed the first three Baby Steps. And remember, no matter how shiny and cool it may look, buying a Sea-Doo is not an emergency! Save up and pay cash for your toys.

Remember this rule of thumb when it comes to toys. With the rare exception of collectibles, anything with an engine goes down in value. You should never have more than half of your annual income tied up in the total of all your vehicles. It would be pretty stupid to make $60,000 a year and have $40,000 tied up in cars, boats and other toys. That’s way too much money tied up in things that go down in value the wrong way.

Always make sure your family is well taken care of before you go out buying toys!
— Dave

Dear Dave,
My wife and I are both active duty Marines. She’s planning to get out in a few months, but I’m staying in for the long haul. You recommend saving 15 percent for retirement, but how does that apply in my case when I’ll be getting a good pension after 20 years?
James

Dear James,
I’d like to see you do both. Just imagine the money you guys would have for retirement with your military pension and a big pile of cash from having saved 15 percent of your income over the years!

Having options is a great thing. Think about all the things you could do down the road if you save for retirement and have your pension in place. You could pay cash for a home, or even open a business when you retire from the military. And these are things you probably wouldn’t be able to do working with just your service pension.

You’ve got a great future if you’ll just keep plugging along and saving, James. Let the military do its thing, and you guys keep pumping 15 percent of your income into Roth IRAs and other pre-tax retirement plans. It’s going to be pretty cool!
— Dave

Dear Dave,
What’s the best way to finance a business I want to buy?
Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,
When you borrow money to start a business you’re introducing a huge risk factor into the equation. I don’t borrow money, so I really can’t recommend that you go into debt. Saving up and paying cash is the best way to go.

The only other thing I would consider doing that would lower your risk would be an owner-financed deal. The current owner finances the transaction, and your pay to them is based on the profitability of the business. That way, if there’s no profitability you’re not bankrupt!

Some people will go out and borrow $500,000 or more to start a business. Then, if the business doesn’t do well and you can’t make the payments, you’re bankrupt. There’s really no in-between, and that’s a bad deal!

It’s just a dumb idea to do these “all or nothing” business deals. Even if owning a business is your wildest dream, there’s no point in taking risks like that. It’s just not necessary!
—Dave

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Dave Says - August 10, 2010

Dear Dave,
What’s the best way to respond to a sibling who continually makes poor choices with money and often asks to borrow money? I don’t want to be heartless, but they’re out of control asking for money anytime they want. I’m currently on Baby Step 2 of your plan, and I’m six months away from being debt-free. Do you have any suggestions?
Jen

Dear Jen,
I think you should just tell them the truth. You’re trying to get out of debt, so you don’t have extra money sitting around. Let this sibling know that you’re working hard to change the way you handle your money. Let them know, too, that part of that is you’ve decided debt is dumb, so you don’t borrow or loan money anymore.

Make sure you do this with a kind spirit, Jen. You could even let them know you might consider giving them some money as a gift if you had any extra lying around and you knew they were in control financially. But you’re not really helping someone who’s incompetent with money when you give them cash or even loan them money.

You’ve got to look at the big picture in situations like this. You’re not helping someone if you participate in their misbehavior with them. Sometimes you have to love somebody enough to tell them the truth, and that can mean saying no and telling them to straighten up!
—Dave

Dear Dave,
I want to keep one of our credit cards open and use the bill-pay option for utilities and other monthly bills. I want to do this so we can continue earning rewards points, and the way I look at it, we’d just be re-routing the money and paying it off every month. My husband doesn’t like this idea and thinks we should get rid of them all. Am I just asking for trouble by wanting to keep the rewards card open?
Cheryl

Dear Cheryl,
Yes, you are. Life never works out exactly the way you think it will. You can make all the well-reasoned and best-intentioned plans you want, but sooner or later that snake is going to bite you.

The only thing I’d consider in a situation like this is a debit card that has a rewards system attached. Lots of debit card programs offer the same kinds of rewards programs offered by credit card companies, with one big exception—you don’t have to go into debt!

You need to stop chasing these stupid brownie points. According to Consumer Reports, 78 percent of credit card airline miles are never redeemed. Studies also show that people spend more when using credit cards as opposed to cash. That extra money you spent is money you could have been saving. So, where’s the reward? It’s a myth. It’s like trying to catch a unicorn.

Cut up the card and close the account, Cheryl. You don’t build wealth by using credit cards!
—Dave

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August 2, is no easy coconut cake recipe a step?

by Lucie Berube
(Yellowknife, NT Canada)

I have had nothing but congratulations every time you make one of their cake and have been asked to make an "emergency" birthday cake for a young lady who works at a camp and only home for his father's birthday. It is a fan of large coconut, so I want to try your recipe Easy coconut cake.There is no instructions on where to put the ingredients of flour and humid. AM missing something.These alternate in other recipes to the butter and sugar mixture?

Thank you for all your help Michelle! you are amazing!

From the editor:

Hello Lucie,

UNRWA! you have right. recipe for Cupcakes coconut, which can also be used to make a 10 "round cake, missing a step."

It should be step 4: Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients as an alternative to the batter, ending with the dry ingredients.

Continuing with the recipe.

I will fix that now mismo.Gracias for the heads-up.

Good luck.

What is concerned,
Michelle (editor)

Lucie

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August 2, the problem with fondant drying and cracking

by Sandy
(Midlothian, VA)

Hello
I am trying to cover cars TEM and trucks for a birthday cake and the fondant is cured before they can get them covered.That I've got cover have begun to crack. What is there anything I can do to evitarlo.El fondant I'm using is the fondant boxed Wilton, really has no time to make my propio.Se would appreciate any help with this.?

Sandy

From the editor:

Hi sandy,

Here are a couple tips that may help:

1. Try to implanting the fondant between two sheets of paper of pergamino.Esto allows you not to use any sugar powder, which can help prevent the fondant drying.

2. Make sure really well knead the fondant.You can pop in the microwave to soften a little to get started, 10 seconds is good.

3 Soften a little shortening in areas that are of craqueo.Esto can help repair cracks that already has.

Good luck.

What is concerned,
Michelle (editor)

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August 15, polka dot cake

by Monica
(W.V.)

abstract pink perfection

This Polka Dot cake was made by the store bought the cake mix and decorating icing.

I used fondant Marshmallow I only learned to do.The cake was only my third attempt to cake decorating.

The family of commented on how good the cake was, please comment.

From the editor:

Great job Monica! thank you so much for sharing with us.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, asked on measurement of butter

by Dianne
(Saskatchewan, Canada)

As I go on this wonderful website, I'm reading the recipe and I noticed that the quantity of butter used is called "clubs". how much is this equivalent in cups?

From the editor:

Dianne, Hello

A stick of butter is four ounces or 115 grams. measurement of weight, rather than volume will give best results.

Thank you for your question.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, herbie car cake

by Nora
(KY)

I was wondering if you could show us how to do a Herbie the classic cake car?

From the editor:

Hi Nora,

You can be sure that if you ever do a Herbie cars cake, will publish a comprehensive tutorial step by step on the site.

Be sure to visit often so you don't miss it.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, how do I get a moist chocolate cake?

by Marcia
(Netherlands Antilles)

My chocolate cake comes to dry especially in part higher. How can I get a moist chocolate cake?

From the editor:

Hey Marcia,

Not to mention what recipe is using what I cannot tell if anything has to do with it, but here is some suggestions that may help:

1 Check the temperature of the oven with a thermometer oven, available in most ferreterías.Muchos household ovens can be off so as 50 degrees (F), which means that your cake bake much faster as esperado.Esto can cause the cake to lose everything of moisture.

2 Bake the cake in two pans for uno.Esto allows you to bake for less time which retains more moisture in the cake.Pour 2/3 of the batter cake in a frying pan and 1/3 on the other.Bake, cool and divides the thickest layer two and now has three equal layers.

Good luck.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, aid for a first time cake manufacturer?

I I refrigerate or freeze the cake before decoration?

From the editor:

Hello

Some people like to freeze cakes before decoration, but can adversely affect the texture and taste of the cake.

Here are my top tips for a beautiful decorated cake:

1 Baking cake two days before it will serve.

2. After of baking and cooling cake completely, refrigerate for an hour, divided into layers (tort) padding between the layers.

3 Adding a coat of Crumb and keep in the refrigerator overnight.

You are now ready to decorate!

Good luck.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, what temp butter should be?

by hope
(Idaho)

I have never done frost or cake from scratch, and was curious if butter needed to be softened for anyone?

From the editor:

Hello hope,

Unless otherwise noted, you generally want butter at room temperature for cake recipes and glitter.

Thank you for your question.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, why does my fondant cracking?

by Valerie
(Argenine)

Hello, I was wondering why when I use fondant store bought, the edge crack. knead too much or not enough, I would add too much sugar powder, is the cake too cold below?
I really appreciate some help!

Thank you

Valerie

From the editor:

Hi Valerie,

I I do not know with certainty, of course, but sounds as you may have added icing sugar too.

Next time, try implementing the the fondant between two sheets of paper of pergamino.De thus do not need to add the icing sugar and this can help prevent the edges of cracking.

Good luck.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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August 2, tiara bread cake recipes of many tastes and flavours combined

From the editor:

Hi Cindy,

I understand a tiara pan is a basic flan Pan leaving an indentation in the Centre of the cake, once you invierte.A then populates this indent with a fill and, often topping of some kind.

Here are some ideas for flavor combinations:

1. Lemon cake filled Blueberry fruit and white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

2 Chai spice cake with cinnamon filling of Apple Pie and cinnamon whirlpool spongy topping.

3. Coconut cake filled fruits of mango and Lima cheese cake frosting.

You can find all the flavors recipes suggested using the Search page.

Good luck.

What is concerned,
Michelle (editor)

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The August 2, the idea of a boys cake

by JUDY
(LOUISIANA)

I am looking for an idea to make a cake of a boy hydro sliding in a Lake being pulled by a barcocualquier idea to share?

From the editor:

Hey Judy,

I am sure that our charming visitors will share some good ideas.

What to the Lake used blue jello in double strength.?Only dig indented deep 1/2 "at the top of the cake, cake freeze for 30 minutes, then pour over the jello and leave the establishment in the fridge."

Good luck.

What is concerned,
Michelle (editor)

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August 2, how to travel 2 hours with a decorated cake?

Us two hours we are traveling to our children's b-day party and I'm not sure how best to keep it fusion, any suggestion. Thank you.
Donna

From the editor:

Hey Donna,

Short of having cake to travel on a portable fridge, here are some things you can do:

1 Chilled cake at night so you all have a chance to firm up.

2. Add additional support if it is a cake in niveles.Utilice spikes of 7-9 cake by level and a long pin in the Centre, have negotiated on the dashboard of cake, to avoid any slippage in warm climates.

3. For travel, place the cake in a reversal of a bathtub plastic storage quart 58 (55 litres).Place the cake on the cover, with a piece of rubber under pastel plate and the adjustment of the tub shelf lining instead.Wrap the tub with towels to insulate and crank place out of direct sunlight direct, if possible.

Good luck.

What is concerned,

Michelle (editor)

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