Talking to your parents about money can be a humbling experience–for them

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Can i just SreaM?? Ramit, my parents have to have a meeting with you. lol... we've only been here for a year and a half having moved from another continent.. i got a quick start on my finances thanks to my friend.. i'm doing good.. got my 401k, roth ira, emergency savings. i pay off my cards every month. here's the thing.. my parents and my brother have no credit!!! my parents are averse to debt. they've never had a loan nor have they had credit cards before. nope. nada. they don't have stocks. well they did. but not because they invested but because the company was demutualized. not that i want them to invest in stocks at their age but the least they could do is have some credit history!!! i can stop griping now.. i got tired of asking them to fill out the secured card applications that i filled them out myself.. i just asked them to sign and yes finally... they're getting credit cards!!! as to my other gripes.. i love asking people how they invest.. i almost always ask those questions you have above from people at work.. and so far i've only had one satisfactory answer. it came from someone who worked in investments before. as for the others.. here are my observations: 1) they think of their 401k as a savings account. it's like a one-time thing. set up how much you want taken from your paycheck and choose your funds. no rebalancing. 2) they put way more than what the company matches on the 401k. (the rest could be put in a roth ira.. that's just me.. they look at me funny like why are you only putting 6%???) 3) they don't know what affects their credit/fico scores. 4) they'd rather put their retirement funds or whatever savings they have on "physical" banks that offer interest rates of a third of a percent!! GOOD LORD! instead of placing them with ING direct or other online banks that are also FDIC insured!! just because they want to be able to talk to real people.. (okay.. maybe i'm over-reacting.. but would you give up 2.85% of your possible interest earnings just to talk to a live teller at the bank?? i wouldn't.. ing has a rate of 3.15 less almost 1/3 of a percent= around 2.85%) 5) most of them don't have roth ira's even if they qualify 6) they never listen when younger people try to give them investment advice!!! i've tried (with little success)to talk to them about putting their savings in accounts that have higher yields, or rebalance their 401k or open a roth ira. i'm just a little frustrated.. agh!... lol..

HI! My name is Lauren and I am just out of college, working as a slave (ie; flight instuctor) in Dallas, TX and after seeing my parents struggle with credit card debt and all the other ailments of adulthood, I am ready to take the reins on my own life and start investing and making sound financial decisions. If you have any good advice as to where I should start investing (mutual funds, roth IRA's, stocks, my company does not offer 401k's) I would really appreciate the help. I hear ING is a good company to invest with and would love to hear anyone's thoughts. I am just trying to live the "American Dream", not fall into the pitfalls of my predecessors-ha! Thanks guys!-Lauren