Business, economic and consumer tidbits from DNT reporter Candace Renalls. Click here to view previous posts or additional resources.
Posted on September 2, 2010 by Candace Renalls
So you're a new parent or a soon-to-be one.
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Beyond day-to-day expenses to provide for your family, what should you be doing to ensure a secure future?
Start a savings plan? Get life insurance? Start a college fund?
None of the above, says Clark Howard, this blogger's favorite money expert for regular folks. What you need to do first is make sure you and your spouse have wills. Wills aren't just for divvying up money, property and possessions after you're gone.
"If something terrible did happen to you and your wife, you need to set out in a will who would see to raising your child for you," Howard said on a recent edition of his cable show.
Once you get that will taken care of, then focus on life insurance. Adequate life insurance provides for your children up to age 18 and provides for a surviving spouse if one parent should die.
"You're going to need money to provide for child care that maybe you could have provided yourselves," he said.
After a will and life insurance, then comes savings.
