The Bad Egg

Welcome to 2010! It seems like yesterday we were ringing in the new millennium!

I was listening to my talk radio on the way to work this morning when I heard something that I hope will stick with me a long time. A guy said (and he was quoting someone else), "Farmers don't put good eggs under dead chickens, and neither does God." Sit back and let that soak in for a moment. "Farmers don't put good eggs under dead chickens, and neither does God." When you think about this you really see the logic, the power, and the truth in this statement. For every good egg a farmer puts under a dead chicken, you get a bad egg. If God put good eggs under lazy people with bad attitudes, we would seldom if ever have anything positive around us. I truly believe that God always chooses those of us that have the drive and passion to be our best to give the eggs. Notice I did not include knowledge in that list. I believe that those of us that have passion, drive and a good attitude will find knowledge. When we combine the passion with knowledge that is when the eggs hatch and the great ones rise to the top. The statement "Farmers don't put good eggs under dead chickens, and neither does God" will be my theme for 2010... and beyond. I hope for all of you it will play a role, and you will allow the good talents and qualities God has blessed you with to come to fruition. Follow your passion, crave knowledge, and you will be well on your way to never having "Too Much Month."

Thanks

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior! Have a great day with family and friends!

Thanks

Blind leading the Blind

Let me start by saying I have always enjoyed reading anything by Robert Kiyosaki. His "Rich Dad" series will always be one of my all time favorites. He seems to be able to motivate individuals without even trying. I will also state that I agree with MANY of the things he has said and many of the things he has written. I will always echo his thoughts about becoming self employed.
I always look forward to his articles that appear on Yahoo Finance. However, the latest ARTICLE from him really hit a nerve. In the article he suggest that a 401k plan is not really a good plan at all. I will be the first to admit that there are better ways to retire than hoping with a 401k, however, for many out there the 401k is perfect. The 401k (not to mention the roth 401k) normally comes with a match. Many employers will match around 5 percent of the input. Robert, please tell me where else these people can place their money that will be 1)PreTax 2)Tax Deferred 3) Gain 100% return the second it is invested. GET REAL!
Sure, I see your point that if the market crashes then they lose their money. I see the point that if they need it early they have to take a 10% penalty. I get it. However, you know there are ways to avoid that and for once I think you left these points out because they would not have supported your article.
For those that are freaking out after reading Roberts latest masterpiece, step off the ledge. Walk back over to the 401k and take a look at it again.
If you can find another plan that will match you (meaning double your money upfront) and will give you the ability to do it with pretax money AND defer taxes until you use the money then I would say try it.
If you worry that you will lose all of your money because the stock market is going to crash and burn, then quit putting your money in mutual funds and look at other savings options inside your 401k.
I want to state again that Robert is very correct about fully relying on the 401k. If you are holding a 401k in one hand, SSI in the other and hoping you can have a great retirement using them both then please pass what ever you have been taking. It isn't going to work like that. You will always have "Too Much Month."
I hope you will take this as some type of motivation to research all plans, not just retirement. Many plans that are put in place have many benefits. Many plans will NEVER WORK...such as the latest health care goof and Social Security. If you do your research now, follow the proper plan, later you will never have "Too Much Month."

Thanks

NOW IT'S ON THE FRONT PAGE!!!

Rewind 18 months. You come home and check your mail box. Inside the box you have 8 pieces of mail. As you look through it you realize that in your hand you hold 3 solicitations from your local insurance agents and five 0% credit card offers. You think it is extreme but simply shred and dispose. Down the street, a neighbor with a 450 credit score receives the same mail you did. Around the globe one of Dave Ramsey's listeners checked his box and found a credit card offer for Toby Cocker, his DOG!

Fast forward back to Sunday, December 13, 2009. If you lived in Tennessee you opened your local "Tennessean" news paper to see THIS article on the front page.

First I want to thank Naomi for the research done to write this article. A year and a half ago the large majority of the nation had no idea of the nonsense going on in the financial industry, today it is making the front page of Sunday news papers. For those of us that have been working a plan such as Dave Ramsey or Larry Burkett, this news doesn't really effect us other than it might make us focus a little more. However, if you were someone just floating along, being normal, it might make you check with your card provider...or providers to find out about your rate. The truth is America had become very trusting of their banks and credit card providers. We believed that they would honor the fixed rates they provided us with and would not dare charge us a yearly fee for the ride. Well I would like to thank the banks from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you for waking us up. Sure there are a lot that will continue to float through life and trust you snakes. However, many of us were already awake, and many that weren't are beginning to rise. We have found out that as long as you are in our lives we will always have "Too Much Month."

Many of us have made getting out of debt a new hobby. If there is any advise that I can give it is simply this, do not make getting out of debt a hobby, make it a way of life. I have worked in this industry. They do not care about you. You are a number. They will brain wash their "adviser's," who are mostly just sales people with a financial calculator, to give you every form of debt they offer and show you why you can not live with out it. Truth is they can not live with out you. It is time to take our banks back, our money back, our lives back, and our months back.

Thanks.

She Finally Figured IT Out!!!

It's a new day and not a happy one for the Bank of America's, Citi's, Capital One's, and Wells Fargo's of the world. For years now Dave Ramsey has taken these screw ups on by changing one family at a time. Over the years he has created quite an army of followers. He has fought tooth and nail to get people to go back to cash and debit cards. All the while he has been changing the lives of millions, these millions have laughed at Suze Orman and her use credit and save your money stance. It was a great idea to save your money at 2% and use credit at 20-30% interest PLUS spending 15-20% more because you are using plastic. It was proof that if you market yourself, no matter how goofball your suggestions are you can be famous.
If the latest article is any evidence of what is to come, Suze might have figured it out and this could be dangerous. She is now suggesting we all use cash. I think she has finally realized that these companies are all snakes and even those that keep their end of the bargain with these lender would be bit. They do not care if you make every payment 5 days early and never break the rules, at some point they will get you. For Suze it took them raising her directors wife's rate to 29.9% for no reason.
Together Suze and Dave can cause a lot of stress for the CEO's for these companies. Just when things look brighter for the financial industry this happens. I kind of laugh when I think about these CEO's sitting in their nice office sweating it out. Builds character.
With all of this said I have two statements...
1)Thank you Dave for your stance over the years. You have stood tall, taken the high road, and changed lives against all odds.
2)Suze, I'm not sold on you. However, after years of advice I would not give my worst enemy you have finally figured it out in this article. Good job and keep it up. One day our opinion of you might change.

I can tell all of you that suffer from "Too Much Month," Dave is the way to go. Follow his teachings and regardless of income level you can succeed. Also pay attention to what Suze said IN THIS ARTICLE, and it will help.

Thanks.

Who's Kid is This?!?!

Your walking up the cereal isle at your the grocery store of your choice, minding your own business looking for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Quietly you are being a good shopper and seeing just how many pennies an ounce you save on the big box verses the small. It never fails that then, while you are deep in thought, someone stops beside you with the their four year old strapped to the seat of the buggy. It is never just a normal four year old is it? NO, it is always the four year old of terror, with the loudest lungs ever given to a child and he or she is using them in all their glory! "I WANT THE ONE WITH A TOY!!!!!," screams the little ankle biter. You turn and expect to see the mom or dad being the parent they should be and smack the little one and teach them to be respectful, however that's not how it happens is it? Instead mom or dad just does not have the energy in them to give the child what he or she deserves, instead they give them EXACTLY what they do not deserve...the cereal of choice.

They next day you are walking in the Supercenter and you pass the toy isle. In the middle of the floor is little Johnny, lying in the floor, acting like a kid that is well on his way to becoming one of life's greatest screw ups. "I WANT THE GAME!!!," he screams. Dad being the dad he should be (sarcasm) does not want to cause a scene (or doesn't care) and simply gives Johnny the game.

Now as you read this everyone is thinking, "what's this guy's problem" however, everyone also had a memory pop in your mind very clearly of an instance like this. Maybe even your own kid.

This post is not to bash parents or their children. It is to simply make a point. How many of us have found ourselves standing in the DVD section, the new clothes section, the hunting or fishing store, or looking at that beautiful new purse, and all of a sudden the kid we described shows up. No not in person, but inside of us. WE start screaming and pitching a fit in the floor of our mind. We work hard, we watch every penny, and then the nail in the coffin statement, "I deserve this."

Honestly, many of us do work hard, watch every penny and do deserve the item, however we do not deserve the struggle that comes with impulse buys. Impulse purchases are the reason so many of us are so deep in the debt pit. Americans have thousands of dollars in credit card debt and most of us have no idea where from where it came. As we continue this fight to solve the problem of having Too Much Month, this is the single most important area we must over come. We must concur. We must defeat and kill.

I actually get to write this tonight with a touch of pride. Tonight my wife was so excited about getting to get the Black Friday ads and map our where we need to go to purchase gifts. Before we would have just went around blindly spending money on every "good deal." I challenge each of you and myself to gain this discipline. Fight the urge to impulse. Keep the fight to win and never again have Too Much Month!!!

WHERE TO START?

My story is simple from the outside looking inward. Kid grows up in a great family, family teaches kid all core values which include living on less than you make, kid grows up and ignores these teachings. That part of my story may be different than yours. The inward looking out part of my story is most likely very similar to most of yours; so let's give it a try. Kid grows up in a family that has a good home, good car, gets to go out and enjoy life. Kid then grows up and is on their own and wants to maintain the same life. Kid acts like a kid and gets the same life... at a price. To get these things the kid has to sell his or her soul. You may be thinking that is a little drastic. I don't. Seeing first hand through myself and my former job I have seen "kids" come into the bank in horrible financial shape asking for even more. They were willing to sell their souls for just a small loan to buy some new stupid toy. Then the banks, maybe because they have such a soft heart for kids wanting toys, would look at their "I love debt score" (thanks for the quote Dave Ramsey), ask for proof of income... sometimes (keep in mind many times people would go to the local office supply store and create a fake pay stub), then give them a check to do as they stinking please. I'll let you decide who to blame here. I personally decided for a long time to blame the bank.

Zig Ziglar is one of my all time favorite people and authors. I listened to a lot of Zig's lessons on CD as I tried to motivate myself to make more and more money to make the payments on all my junk. I remember hearing Zig as he talked about writing his first book. In that book he wrote he had lost a lot of weight. The only problem was that he hadn't. Zig had a living room full of books to sell that told the world how much weight he lost. Zig used this as self motivation to lose weight and sell the books.

Upon listening to what Zig was saying I had something click that really woke me up. Zig realized the only person responsible for his situation was Zig. The only person responsible for my situation was Trey. The only person responsible for your situation is you. Now before you jump down my throat and tell me all the things that have gone wrong (and I do know that many of you have had things happen that truly weren't your fault) let me explain. The only person that truly can make a life changing difference to your life is you. People can help, people can instruct, people can walk with you every step of the way. However, the only person that can make it happen is yourself.

When it comes to finances, there isn't an "undo" button in life. Sure we can sell our toys, our house, and other things but odds are we can not get everything back. What we can do is realize that only you can make a difference. To make a difference we must start with ourselves. Start with our actions, our beliefs, and our knowledge.

Many times you have heard me talk about knowledge. That is were it starts. It starts with us wanting to change and searching for the resources to gain the knowledge to do this. If we truly are tired of the loose ends, the stress, the sickening feeling of having too much month at the end of our money, we must teach ourselves to change. Teach ourselves how things really need to be and how they work. We must teach ourselves to win.

Thanks