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need to make an active effort to involve every member of the family in providing for the family's welfare.

Whether this means everybody agrees to take shorter showers, collect aluminum cans, or simply not ask for a special treat for a period of time, doesn't matter. What does matter is that the family members all understand that they are in it together and they each have an important role to play in the family's welfare.

Principle #8: Always Seek Education
Education can be formal, college courses or simply trade school training. Whatever the case may be, constantly seeking improvement in one's career, as well as making the effort to gain other skills, makes a person more valuable and employable. The goal is to become indispensable at your workplace, or to have other options to fall back on if you unexpectedly lose your job.

This prioritizing of education can have a great effect on the children in a family as well. As children see parents constantly seeking improvement, they will catch the vision and try to emulate their parents' example.

Principle #9: Pay Off Your Mortgage
Most homeowners understand that their home mortgage is a useful tax benefit. However, this tax benefit is greatly outweighed by the immense amount of interest you will pay throughout the lifetime of the loan. This being said, you want to do your very best to accelerate the pay-off of your home mortgage.

The truth is that your home is not an asset until you truly own it. An asset makes you money, but your home doesn't do this until you have eliminated your interest payments. So make it an asset as quickly as possible.

Principle #10: Use Insurance Appropriately
Life insurance is an important part of any family's financial plan. However, it is easy to be deceived by the many slick salespeople and deals' out there. You want to take the time to educate yourself adequately before you choose an insurance plan.

Term life, whole life, universal lifethese can each be useful at different times in your life. It is vital that you understand which one will work best for you at your current stage in life. However, it is also vital that you have something in place soon if you do not already. It is simply irresponsible to not have an insurance plan in place.

Principle #11: Understand the Impact of the Economy on Your Plan
Today, many people are seeing just how profoundly the economy can affect their current financial state, as well as their prospects for retirement. Important areas that you need to study include: inflation,

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