Kids have earned money for generations by selling lemonade, walking neighbors’ dogs, and mowing lawns. Those ideas still work, but maybe your kids want something a little more clever or out-of-the-box. Here are six unconventional ways kids can make money.

Grow plants

Every spring homeowners around the country dig holes in their yards and insert plants… That they bought at the local garden and home center. There’s no reason they couldn’t have given that money to your kids for plants they grew in the basement over the winter.

There is some investment involved – seeds, potting soil, and plastic trays. And there is definitely work involved. But you d

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It used to be that retirement was an attainable vision for just about everyone in the U-S-of-A.

Definition of Retirement: sit around the home, read the paper, play some golf, drive around town in a Cadillac, catch the early bird special at the local diner, watch some TV, go to bed, and do it all over the next day. Mix in an occasional RV or European vacation to take some photos and all was right in the world.

Retirees had a simple financial formula for achieving that dream:

1. Hit age 65.
2. Stop Working.
3. Collect your pension check, replacing the majority of your annual income before retirement.
4. Collect your Social Security benefits to fill in the rest.
5. Rely on your retiree health benefits from your employer.
6. Collect your medicare benefits to fill in the rest.

Those days are all but over.

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Many young people are unable to get private student loans without a cosigner. Their parents may step in to help them get the loans the need, but end up putting their own financial security at risk. Here are some things you should think about when weighing the pros and cons of co-signing for student loans.

Federal vs. private student loans

Your kid should always apply for federal student loans before turning to private loans. Federal loans such as the Perkins or Stafford are not based on credit scores, so there is no credit check. Students also do not need a cosigner to qualify for federal aid. However, private student loans do require a credit check, and your student probably won’t qualify without a cosigner. D

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Earlier this week I proposed the idea of building a personal endowment. In short, this involves building an investment portfolio that is 25x-33x your annual living expenses. If you can achieve this goal, then you can fund your ongoing expenses from your investment income, without ever having to touch the principal.

Given the large numbers involved (e.g., $50k annual expenses = $1.25M-$1.7M, depending on the multiplier), I also talked about breaking this down into sub-goals. That way you can buy your financial freedom one piece at a time. Your $1k rent expense? That’s yours for a $300k-$400k. You groceries – at $250/month? You can eat for “free” (for the rest of your life) for $75k-$100k.

Today, I want to talk about two related items…

First, a reader (and fellow finance blogger) named Evan pointed out that it’s also useful to look at this concept in reverse. That is, if

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In what it’s claimed could be the future of high street payments, the ‘Quick Tap’ system, unveiled today, enables customers to make purchases up to 15 by tapping their handset against a contactless reader.

2for1 deals for eat-in or takeaway

Up to 15 mths interest-free spending

Payments are accepted at 50,000 stores nationwide including Eat, Little Chef McDonald’s, Pret a Manger, Subway, Wembley Arena and Wilkinson.

Only Orange customers with its new Samsung Tocco Quick Tap mobile can use the system, although Orange says more handsets are expected to follow over the next few months.

You also need either a Barclaycard, Barclays debit or Orange Credit Card to spend via a mobile.

Bear in mind these cards may not be the cheapest to use.

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Raw, uncensored sex…below! Yes, dear reader…read all about it. But don’t skip down right away. First, read this about something much less titillating and less serious: money.

As you know, we’ve been wondering about the exhaustion of the Industrial Revolution innovation…and the bankruptcy of the Social Welfare state as a result.

We take for granted that a healthy economy ‘grows.’ Our governments depend on it to pay the bills. Our investments depend on it too; we buy investments that we hope will become more valuable as sales and profits grow along with the economy. But what if all of our assumptions about what is ‘normal’ are wrong? What if the growth spurt we have known for the last 300 years was the exception, not the rule? And what if it were now coming to an end?

We traveled to Switzerland yesterday.

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Getting free Netflix is possible if you sign up for a 1-month free trial with Netflix (NLFX). I have been using Netflix for almost two years now, and I sometimes wonder what Id do without it for my entertainment fix. Depending on my schedule and mood, I can choose to receive DVDs by mail, or watch many great movies and TV series through their instant streaming. Before you sign up for a Netflix free trial, read this review to find out more about the pros and cons of Netflix.

Netflixs Growing Popularity

Netflix is a hugely popular DVD rental company in the U.S., well-known for its value-for-money online subscription service. By offering a new customers a free Netflix trial, they are hoping those who sign up for the trial will end up being a customer.

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The most recent statistics issued by the real estate tracking firm the Warren Group showed that the number of foreclosure petitions filed in the Bay State rose to 1,192 in April, up 14 percent from March, according to a report from the Boston Globe. This was also the highest rate observed in the state since September. Typically, these actions are taken when consumers fall three months or more behind on paying their home loan bills.

“Banks are picking up their foreclosure activity,” Nadine Cohen, a managing attorney for a nonprofit that works with low-income clients, told the newspaper. “The economy is never going to improve until we deal with the foreclosure crisis.”

However, despite the increases in March and April, the state’s foreclosure rate is still well below the number of actions taken through the first four months of 2010, the report said. In all, t

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