The reason we fail to make health decisions in our life so we find ourselves playing catch up. The rest of our life. Even if you just saving twenty-five dollars a week for thirty years how much money would you save. Everyone has money they just blow on stuff they do not need. The Roth is a great way for students to save money for the future and they can draw up to ten thousand tax-free for the future. In addition, you should have four times your income saved for an emergency or illness now I do not even have that much saved. Try to start small and build up. Before you know, you will have thousands saved. The best option is the Roth because you are taxed when you invest but never when you withdraw. I honestly believe this is the only way as Americans are going to get out of debt. Just because you have, a paycheck does not mean you have to spend it. Honestly, I struggle with this concept myself. When I was young, my dad and I were nearly homeless so now that I have money I like to have nice stuff. Therefore, a lot of the time I fight with myself about saving. One thing I have learned is leave the cards at home also pay with cash, which makes it much harder to spend money you do not have.

But, she owned her home, never owned a credit card and always deposited money every month into a Christmas fund where she bought presents with the interest earned. She always contributed to an IRA and savings account and even had a 401K that the small cleaning company she worked for provided her. Which she of course - contributed the maximum. My grandmother didn't have a lot of money by today's standards but was extremely diligent and reminded me often that as a country girl, she collected eggs from the smelly chickens every morning and that she learned at an early age,

“Never put all your eggs in one basket but every now and then, expect one to crack.”

What my grandmother understood was simple, the benefit of long term investing, diversification but more importantly, risk. Not bad for a sixth grade education. If you understand that every investment has some type of risk associated with it, you've won three-quarters of the battle when it comes to investing.

The key to successful investing is managing risk while maintaining the potential for adequate returns. One of the most effective ways to help manage your investment risk is diversification. This allows you to manage risk by spreading your money across a variety of investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, exchange traded funds, private REIT's, commercial equipment leasing programs, natural gas an oil programs (for accredited investors) and cash equivalents such as CD's or money market funds.

The philosophy behind diversification is by spreading the risk among a number of different investment types can buffer a loss in any one investment. It may also help smooth your returns over time. As one investment increases, it may offset the decreases in another allowing your portfolio to ride out market swings, providing a more steady performance under various economic conditions. By reducing the impact of market ups and downs, diversification can go far in enhancing your comfort level with investing.

I'm a child of the 70's but grew up watching reruns of the old black and white shows of the 1950's. One of my favorite shows was, “Father Knows Best.” Well I'd like to submit a new old rerun called, Grandma Knows Diversification.”

Failure to regularly review your will. You should review your will with your attorney whenever there are major changes in your life, or every two to three years. Has the executor or some other person named in your will died, or become incapacitated? Are there new family members since the last will? Have your purchased or sold property?

Not having a power of attorney or healthcare advance directives. Without a power of attorney, simple tasks like filing a property insurance claim may become impossible. A property owner who suffers a period of incapacity, may find that without a Power of Attorney there is no one authorized to collect rent, or to institute an eviction action against tenants who fail to pay rent. And without advance directives, your final illness may not be managed as you had hoped.

Failure to name a beneficiary, and an alternate beneficiary on your insurance policies. Life insurance benefits are tax-free if they are paid to a named beneficiary. Otherwise they may be taxable, and sometimes, undesignated insurance proceeds can only be released after a probate process.

Not keeping copies of beneficiary designations . Your insurance policies, bank and brokerage accounts, IRAs, 401(K) accounts, and other assets will usually go to a specifically designated beneficiary irrespective of what your will says. But if the institutions holding those assets misplace the beneficiary designations, your desired beneficiaries may have a problem, and a costly one at that. Banks, insurance and mutual fund companies merge, or sell assets. Therefore, the burden is really on you to keep track of all your paperwork. When you send in beneficiary designations, always request that the company send you back an acknowledged copy of the designation.

Naming your estate as your IRA beneficiary, or failing to designate a beneficiary for your IRA . Such a mistake may mean that the IRA must be emptied immediately, with heirs losing the benefits of further tax deferral. Otherwise, even a nonspouse beneficiary may be able to stretch withdrawals of several years, adding thousands of dollars to the inheritance.

Assuming trusts are only for rich people. Your eighteen-year-old heir may be able to vote, or to serve in the military. But is she really ready to handle thousands of dollars. Some are, and others aren't. You can postpone the age at which she receives here inheritance by setting up a simple trust in your will. Name a trustee you can rely on to pay her income and to invade the trust principal for her only when necessary.

Failure to leave a letter of Instruction. When someone dies, that's when loved ones are least in a position to go searching for assets and important legal documents. This also is the time when individual feelings may be raw and closest to the surface. Sudden disputes about Dad's intent or what Mom would have wanted can permanently split families. The letter of instruction ties up your entire estate plan in a way that reduces the likelihood of family squabbles, and assures an orderly transfer of your assets.