iGrow - A Service of SDSU Extension

Estimating how much money will be needed for retirement years is challenging as there are several variables difficult to predict.  While there are a number of retirement calculators available on the internet, most ask you to guess the following variables: your annual spending budget, estimated inflation rate, expected lifespan, annual income from sources other than savings, estimated return on investments, and expected retirement date.

If you have a child that will be graduating from high school this year or one continuing with their college education, it’s time to start thinking about financial aid for the 2012-2013 school-year. It may seem like it’s early, but colleges/universities have priority dates for forms to be completed. For example, public universities in South Dakota is March 10. This is NOT a deadline; it is a priority date for sending your information in. This may make the student eligible for certain types of aid (some grants and loans) that the school has limited funds for.

Balancing your checkbook may seem like a tedious and useless task when you can just check your balance online. But, there happens to be a few good reasons to balance with your records every month.

Food borne illnesses never go on vacation – they are persistent and can even follow you on your camping weekends.  While grilling meat and poultry, a thermometer is the only way to confirm that minimum cooking temperatures have been met.  It is important that you use a food thermometer to make sure harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Camplobacter, and E. coli 0157:H7 are destroyed.

Much press has been given to the challenges of parenting teenagers.  Parenting teenagers requires balancing a child’s growing independence with the adult’s responsibility to set limits.  Through the teenage years, parents must learn to let go of control yet still provide guidance and support as teenagers learn self discipline, responsibility, and the basic skills they need to survive as an adult.