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County Assistance for First-Time Homebuyers
Suffolk County HOME Consortium has a
new program in which prospective first-time homebuyers
can apply for a down payment assistance of up to a maximum
of $12,000 or 14,000 depending on income level.
The program starts as of May 1, 2008.
Call the Community Development office at 853-5705 to have
your name put on a mailing list. Applications will be
mailed out starting May 1st. Applications accepted by
mail only, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Assistance available is up to 75% of
a down payment towards the purchase of a principal residence,
up to a maximum of $12,000 or $14,000, depending on income
level. The down payment is defined as the difference between
the purchase price of the house and the dollar amount
of the mortgage obtained. The program does not fund closing
costs.
New Program to Give Students Financial
Literatacy
(L-R): RHS Principal David Zimbler;
Phyllis Frankfort, President of W!SE and Chair of the
NY Financial Literacy Coalition; Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Diane B. Scricca; Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum
and Instruction Nancy Carney.
Riverhead Central School District Superintendent
Dr. Diane B. Scricca announced today that she wants all
students at Riverhead High School to graduate "financially
literate."
Starting this term, Riverhead High School
will integrate personal finance instruction as part of
Economics, a course required for graduation. Students
will learn about topics such as banking, credit, insurance,
investing, housing, retirement and financial planning.
The school district partnered with W!SE
(Working in Support of Education), to implement their
Financial Literacy Certification Program that includes
a Financial Literacy Certification Test and survey post
instruction. Students who pass the test will receive documentation
verifying that they have been Certified Financially Literate
(CFL).
Dr. Scricca lauded the Financial Literacy
Certification Program as "one of a kind" and
says it will bring the students of Riverhead High School
up to speed in understanding how to manage their money
and avoid the pitfalls of debt. The program paves the
way for Riverhead High School students to grasp concepts
that are foreign to so many students of the same age."
"Current headlines about home foreclosures,
the sub-prime lending crisis, and escalating personal
bankruptcies underscore dramatically the need for far
greater focus on personal finance in our nation's schools,"
said Phyllis Frankfort, President of W!SE and Chair of
the New York Financial Literacy Coalition. "By adequately
educating today's students about how to be financially
savvy, we will avert the repetition of such crises in
the future."
The Allstate Foundation is sponsoring
the Financial Literacy Certification Program for Riverhead
High School, which will join the more than 40,000 students
in 23 states that who are participating in the program
with the goal of earning the CFL.
"This is another step in preparing
our students for their financial futures," said David
Zimbler, Principal, Riverhead High School. The Financial
Literacy Certification Program, winner of the United States
Treasury Department's John Sherman Award for Excellence
in Financial Education.
Getting Our Financial Homes In Order
For easy-to-use calculators
and information on family finance topics such as college,
retirement, household budgeting, debt, and home finance,
go to Choose
to Save, a web site of the American
Savings Education Council.
Cornell University offers
online learning tools and information for teens and young
adults (and those of us looking for simplified financial
information) at www.addsup.org.
The Importance of Allowance
republished with permission by Cornell Cooperative Extension
of Suffolk County
An allowance helps children begin to
realize that money is limited and choices must be made
on how it is spent. The allowance should come with ground
rules, and those rules should be clearly understood by
the child.
Decide how the allowance is to be used.
What expenses are to be paid out of the allowance and
which will the parents pay? Young children may receive
an allowance for after school treats and occasional
inexpensive toys. Older children may receive allowances
large enough to cover clothing, fees for sports or other
activities, and for social activities.
Specify how much of the allowance is
to be donated to a charity or church or saved.
Put limits on spending. It is perfectly
all right for parents to impose their values and forbid
children to buy certain things, such as guns, products
that are harmful to the environment, or other products
the parents do not wish to support. Be selective about
the limitations you put on the allowance.
Whether allowance is given in exchange
for chores is up to the family values. The job should
be tied to the allowance if you are teaching the relationship
between work and money. If family chores are expected
as part of the family, then you do not want to tie the
allowance to the task. A middle ground is to require
everyday tasks such as clearing the table or doing dishes,
but to give extra money for unusual jobs.
Avoid using an allowance to reward
or punish. This mixes love with money and may encourage
the child to think that money can buy affection or make
up for an injury. The goal is to teach children appropriate
values regarding money and skills for wise money management.
When financial problems force family
cut backs, the child should be included in discussions
of whether his allowance will be affected. A child needs
to understand that differences in wealth exist among
families, that every desire cannot be satisfied by the
available resources and these lessons are best learned
in a real-life situation.
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