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Archive for the ‘Lesson Learned’ category

What’s a Dollar? Keep It in Perspective!

September 4th, 2007

I was just sitting here thinking about the nature of value. Our whole economy is based on the human esteem of various objects. A dollar will buy you a hamburger at most fast food restaurants. A hamburger will feed you once unless you’re a light eater. A dollar will buy you a soda at a vending machine unless you’re buying an expensive soda. But what else is a dollar?

A dollar is a building block. It is worth one hundred pennies. The wealthy understand that a dollar by itself is still valuable because it can easily be appended to a collection of other dollars. The consumer mentality has devalued the dollar. We have taken the dollar to an all new low by seeing it as merely a tool to achieve instant gratification. It means that next year’s dollar is doomed to be even less valuable as we esteem the next tech toy, the next television with greater dimensions, the next digital media format or whatever our next cultural phenomenon is as valuable enough for a cheap dollar, but more valuable than a future of greater stability.

Assuming that the average American household has some amount of debt (outside of a home, or possibly wrapped up in a home they can’t really afford) they are in need of reconnecting with the value of a dollar. They signed up for a payment on something that is going to, or could, lose value for the price of many dollars they don’t value so that in the end they’ve traded away the chance to gain real value and longer term stability. Much of this has to do with esteeming the dollar with a false high value. That is that it makes the dollar ‘god’ but without understanding that dollars as deities don’t actually do much more than control your motivation.

What’s your perspective on a dollar? Is the dollar going to save the economy? Will the national or global value of a dollar impact your long term perspective on your personal finances? Take a moment to count your blessings because those aren’t just in dollars, they’re in every trial, every tribulation, every growing moment and in every second with a child, spouse or friend. A dollar spent now may not be a dollar to spend later, so make sure that the dollar you do spend is spent productively. I’ve been devaluing my dollars. Throwing them away, burning them and throwing them into the paper shredder. Not any more. Tomorrow is a new day to run with passion towards the goal of eternity and being a steward with what I’ve been given.

My dollar is worth one hundred of the next guy’s – what’s yours worth?

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Posted in Lesson Learned, Outside the Box

Help Your Parents Save Money

September 4th, 2007

Today I went to the dentist. The hygienist, who spent most of the time with me, told me something interesting that I thought you might like to know as a reader: their two demographics that they try to help take better care of their teeth are kids and convalescents. The children are notorious for cavities, but the convalescents they’re finding have arthritis in their hands and other joints and are less likely to take care of their teeth because of the pain associated with regular and lengthy oral hygiene sessions.

She recommended that older folks with reservations about brushing for a longer time period get an electronic toothbrush. She said that its easier for folks to hold the larger handle and that the motorized brushing plus softer toothbrush heads means that they can endure. Many higher quality brushes have timers built in as well. If you’ve got older parents, talk with them about helping them keep their teeth in tact and oral hygiene as a priority!

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Posted in Lesson Learned, Taboo & Money (religion, sex, and politics), Tips'n'Tricks

Five Mistakes Married Women Make When…Reporters Build Straw Women

August 31st, 2007

I just looked over this article about mistakes women make, the first example is a straw woman argument. The problem is pitched as being about money, but it really, really needs to be about relationship. You see, finances are just an expression of your relationship. If your finances aren’t unified then your finances are one of possibly more pieces of the relationship that are out of order! Your finances could be in order and they would be out of order if your relationship isn’t together. By ‘together’ I mean a major focus of your day to day life. Kids don’t get to be an excuse for the focus and quality of your relationship not being what it should be. If anything the kids need you to get your marriage relationship together!

The whole article is based on several ideas:

You should always suspect that your marriage is going to fail
You should always keep yourself separate from your spouse

Here’s the kicker: by keeping yourself separate from your spouse you’ll probably increase the chance of a divorce! The more unity that a marriage has in physical, spiritual, emotional, sexual and financial ways the greater your chance of not getting divorced. When my wife and I got married the pastor, who happened to be my grandfather, sent us down the aisle as a unified, singular person – with two bodies and two wills. The purpose of the marriage ceremony was for us to publicly declare the union that we were prepared to undertake! We are constantly amazed when we run into people who don’t understand why we’re so concerned with unity in our marriage.

Take a straw man out of this equation and the financial advice goes away. In stead the advice should roll down to the relationship and your first priority should be unity. Marriage counseling may be required, but whatever it is you’re going through in a marriage your focus should be first on the marriage and unity and second on finances. If the three reasons people get divorced are money, sex and communication… you better get your communication in order because money and sex come and go with time and age (though many sex researchers have been pouring their grant money into studying older people’s sex lives it seems based on the news reports I’ve seen). If the communication is open and clear then you’ll find the communication will encompass money and sex, but sex and money won’t create communication!

Get out the big, bad wolf and blow down the straw woman, but get ready for communication and unity because that is the one mistake people make, failing to communicate, that has no straw man or straw woman. They’re you, and you’re real.

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Posted in Foundations, Lesson Learned, Outside the Box, Taboo & Money (religion, sex, and politics)

Debt is From the Devil

August 28th, 2007

I don’t actually think that debt is from the Devil, but I did find it ironic that while I was looking at a credit card account that I’m paying off the following amount was left for me to charge up: 666. Mark of the beast indeed.

Debt is from the devil

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Posted in Funny Money, Lesson Learned

A Good Choice After a Series of Bad Choices

August 22nd, 2007

I listen to the Dave Ramsey Podcast on a regular basis. I find that his manner with callers can sometimes be grating – he uses the word stupid too often and harshly – but one thing that I find most astonishing is that the people who call in often have a lot of issues going on and that finances are usually only one of many major catastrophes going on. Often women call in with husbands that are unresponsive to their emotional state (often the women will slip in some sort of comment about the husband’s emotional abuse, or that there is deception with the finances, or complete apathy. For the record these men suck horribly and should be tarred and feathered). The couple, if you can call two people that live together but seem very disconnected a couple, is in a state of near disrepair and the woman is calling a radio talkshow host for advice because it seems that there is no hope!

The situation comes down to people not knowing their options and so that’s why they call a professional to hopefully help them find that there is hope because there are options. On occasion the option is to sit and suffer. This isn’t a first choice for most folks, but if you’re going to suffer you might as well find some good in it (if you’re a Christian, please consider listening to these messages on value in suffering). Learn from the hard time because they’ll often make the other times sweeter and also more fruitful.

The thing that people are looking for is the first step to reverse the often hundreds of bad steps they’ve taken prior to their point of despair. I have been there, I have done that. What I see in the world of finances as in the rest of the world is that we’re focused too much on now and not enough on where we’re going as well as knowing where we’ve been! There are some personal steps that I take in looking at adversity, they’re not revolutionary, but maybe you’re not familiar with them so I’ll throw them out here for your evaluation.

Remember who you are. Stop listening to outside voice and sources and evaluate things. If you’re not sure, seek counseling.
Look at what lies before you. Its an uncertain future, but that’s a good thing! If there are trials then they will bring with them growth, if there are victories (which also come with trials) then those will bring growth. You can only grow going forward if you are looking for the growth opportunities.
Look at what is behind you. Surely you’ve left some things behind – some of it garbage, some of it treasure, but all of it is behind you. As in a thing of the past. Any baggage you carry is your willful choice to carry. If you’re unable to deal with the past get some counseling, but don’t sit and stair at your despair!
Who is with you? Often we feel most alone when we’re at a point of adversity. This is often not the case but it is often how we feel. Feelings aren’t stupid, but they can be wrong. Figure out who is around you that you can find support in. If the list is short that’s fine. If for some very, very strange reason you’re absolutely alone, get some counseling and proactively find some friends. I recommend that they not be where you’ve been looking for friends if those places have helped put you where you are now.
Throw your watch away. Not literally, but one of the things I’ve found that helps time pass is to not be counting the second hand on the clock. If you’re facing financial debt, for example, then you need to get your plan in order for a budget and repayment of the debt and then stay on schedule and stop worrying about the debt on a day to day basis. Worrying about it won’t do anything for it anyway.

In the end you’ll want to make sure that you have strong, established relationships with close people to help you through the tough time, but whatever it is, make the first good choice. Odds are its not the first good choice, but the most recent good choice after a series of bad ones. If you keep making bad choices with more frequent good choices in between its at least progress. Don’t give up, don’t look down, but look up and give it your all.

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Posted in Lesson Learned, Outside the Box

Some Steps to Avoiding Identity Theft Online

August 21st, 2007

This post could be out dated due to the constant changes in technology. Please be careful as you surf and don’t consider these steps as the absolutely safest way to surf. You need to be an alert and aware technology user!

Earlier today I got off the phone with someone who was dealing with identity theft due to a malicious website hacker that had done some things to try to take over his eBay account and his Yahoo account. After trying to explain things to him I asked for permission to blog about his scenario and then give some tips on avoiding this problem moving forward. Hopefully you’ll find this post handy and you can use the advice and information appropriately. Here’s an outline of the things you’ll want to do/need to do:

Know the danger
Know the technology (not everything, but enough to be informed)
Know your browser
Know where you surf

These are important keys to avoiding many online identity theft issues.

Know the Danger

The danger is real, but its not pervasive. You need to be aware that bad people exist out there who want your money. They want your money for little or no time or money on their part! So what you do with your computer needs to be set into a routine that you control and with safety in mind. Your money should change hands when you tell it to, not any other time. The rest of this article will outline what the dangers are and how to avoid them. By understanding these simple things you should be taking steps in the right direction. Be an alert web surfer.

Know the Technology

There are several terms that you should know in the context of the internet.

Vocabulary

Browser: The browser is the application that you used to access the internet. This may seem like a rudimentary thing to know, but I have talked to many people who don’t know that Internet Explorer is for web surfing and that Outlook Express (or Yahoo.com or MSN.com) are different mail clients. Different browsers are available for different operating systems. For example Internet Explorer is the default browser under Windows. It is free with the operating system and many people assume that its the only browser. That’s not true, there are also other browsers such as Firefox (my personal choice), Opera and Safari. I recommend you check them all out and look at the choices they offer. No matter which browser you use, you’ll need to know its settings to maintain some higher standards of safety.
SSL: SSL stands for ‘Secure Socket Layer’ and is a security feature that all sites that handle sensitive data should use. If they require a username and password (or email and password) for you to login, they should offer it with SSL. All browsers will give you some sort of visual indicator that tells you that you are accessing a secure location. Look for a lock icon in the address bar (where you type the website address) or possibly down in the toolbar. Firefox will actually change the color of the address bar to give you a large visual indicator of your location.
Cookies: Cookies are used by web sites to store small amounts of data on your computer to be accessed by the browser. Cookies are often used to improve security, but its these little bits of data that can cause the most harm! You don’t need to disable cookies, you just need to know how they work. Cookies are set by the computers sending you the web pages (called ‘web servers’ or sometimes just ‘servers’) with a command that your browser understands. Cookies can also be access through javascript, and this is where things can get sticky. Javascript is a programming language that is embedded into web pages and it is what makes many web sites do slick visual things like hide and show content, but it also can be used by bad people to do bad things to people who don’t know what they’re doing. Since you’re reading this article we’ll assume that you want to be informed and want to avoid bad people doing bad things. JavaScript is NOT Java. Don’t confuse the two.
Cross Site Scripting: Cross Site Scripting is when someone who wants to do bad things writes JavaScript code that attempts to get your cookies or other data from a web page by embedding their code into another site’s code. This is most commonly done through advertisements on a web page. What takes place is this: a web page wants to make money so they contact a third party company who handles the advertising and the web site owner puts generic code into the web page that gets the ads from the third party company. That third party company may then link to yet another site where the ads are stored. Here’s the rub: those fourth party sites could be run by bad people doing bad things. Those people could be trying to get yoru information.

What you need to do is to setup your browser to take advantage of some built in security features that will take advantage of the technologies without losing any usefulness on the web.

Know Your Browser

Your browser, no matter which one you use, has some settings that you need to understand. Each browser has settings that will allow you to enable or disable cookies (or other custom settings) as well as enable or disable JavaScript. I don’t recommend disabling either of these handy features as they can be used for security. I do recommend that you understand how they work so that you can use them in a secure fashion. I’m going to post some screen shots for each browser so that you can find the one you use and make sure that you have things set appropriately for your risk tolerance. Always check your browser maker’s recommendations for maximum security!

Internet Explorer 6 & 7

To access the cookie and javascript settings in Internet Explorer you will need to click on the tools menu option and then select Internet Options. There are multiple steps as Internet Explorer makes doing this (without plugins) difficult.

You will need to go into the ‘Privacy’ tab and select ‘Advanced.’ After going to the advanced view you’ll want to make sure you prompt for what cookies are being set.

Click OK after changing your settings.

After each site you visit with private information used you’ll need to do the following:

Open up the options and click the ‘Browsing history’ Delete button.

You’ll need to delete cookies and it wouldn’t be bad to either disable password storage all together or delete the data periodically and re-enter it at regular intervals. This does two things: 1) it keeps the passwords in your head and 2) It keeps the passwords off your computer. After you’ve deleted the cookies you don’t have to restart the browser, but its a good practice to also delete the history as well so others can’t click the browser’s back button and possibly discover sensitive information.

Firefox

In Firefox you have several options for cookie security. You’ll want to change it to ask every time or have it delete the cookies when you close the browser. Then, after you’ve changed this setting close the browser after you visit a site that will have financial or personal information affiliated with it!

Opera

Here in Opera you can see that you can request that the browser prompt you for permission to set the cookie as well as deleting the cookie when you shut down the browser. It is always good to know that you’ve erased valuable cookie data when the browser shuts down. By using these settings and by shutting down your browser after visiting sites that could be setting valuable cookies you’ll greatly reduce your chances of getting hacked.

Safari

In Safari’s preferences you’ll want to make sure that you have cookies set to only accept from the site you’re visiting. This reduces the number of sites that can track your whereabouts, which is good for privacy. Also, after you’ve visited a web site with sensitive data you’ll want to clear your browser history by going to the history menu and clicking ‘clear history’.

Know Where You Surf

When you surf the internet you need to really be careful. I strongly recommend that people only go to sites that they’ve heard about from many, many people and that they can feel comfortable at. Sites that I don’t recommend (for ethical reasons and not moral reasons) include file sharing sites, adult content sites and any site that looks like its just selling something that you’ve never heard of. Google actually does a good job of filtering out bad sites in comparison to Yahoo!, but you need to be alert and aware of where you’re going!

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Posted in General, Lesson Learned, Outside the Box, Tips'n'Tricks

The Paycheck to Paycheck Mystery

August 18th, 2007

I heard recently of a person who was living paycheck to paycheck with payday loans keeping that precarious imbalance. Furthermore at a past residence they were beginning to receive phone calls from creditors. Actually, I’ve heard about this over and over. Its not happening to just one person, seven out of ten Americans in a a recent survey were living from paycheck to paycheck. I’m personally trying to distance myself from this approach to living as fast and efficiently as possible. Here are some things to consider in the process for those who may be involved with such a problem:

Reach for help from family and friends. Yes, its humiliating, but you have got to get out of the cycle you’re in. Find a place to stay that will reduce any rent/mortgage/utility bills. Those are the essential bills and if you can reduce those its a great place to start. Pride comes before the fall so don’t be proud and avoid the tumble.
Get a plan together to limit your expenditures outside of the food, clothing and shelter realm. Figure it out and then execute it. Figuring it out without action will just create continued failure.
Figure out how much you have coming in and then how much you have obligated yourself to pay out. You need to know how much you have to pay off creditors in the next step.
Contact your creditors. Be proactive – I know this sounds crazy, but if you don’t contact them and work out some sort of payment plan a lawyer may be contacting you. Depending on the type of loans, debts and such you could be sued for your debts and have your wages garnished. Given that your own choices got you into this mess its probably best to just figure out how to get out of it while cooperating with your creditors. The plan mentioned above involving limited expenditures will free up money to pay off debts!
Learn from your experience. If nothing else walk away from things having learned what not to do ever, ever, ever again. Find your personal weaknesses – whatever they may be - and start to evaluate why you’re weak there and learn things to grow and strengthen yourself in those areas.
Learn from others. Ask others around you what they’ve done to fix their financial situations. If you find others who are still financially broken – band together to learn more from folks you find who aren’t hosed financially Communicate when you learn something new. Often that communication about something new will help you remember it for the longer term.

The biggest thing I have learned while evaluating my own finances has been that I had to start somewhere. If you find yourself in the straights wondering if you’ll make it you have to figure out where you are and then plan how to get out. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results then you have to break the cycle somewhere. Sure, you may be living on beans and rice and used clothes under someone else’s roof for a bit but once you’re on your feet again financially you’ll be ready to charge forward with greater productivity and you’ll know not to ever take out a payday loan again. Ever.

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Posted in Lesson Learned, Money Management

Post-Purge Peace

August 18th, 2007

I wrote recently about reading the “It’s All Too Much” book by Peter Walsh. The last month my wife and I (but mostly my wife) have been uncluttering our house. We had company in the last week, which is why this blog has been slow, and in the company filled times we’ve managed to keep our sanity due to the lack of crud to step on, things to put back, or junk to distract us. It also helps that our company are really neat folks, but that’s outside the spectrum of this post.

By getting our financial house organized (or at least making a plan) and by keeping our physical house organized we really have seen a lot more peaceful, undistracted time. I realized this morning as I watched “Clean Sweep” (the show that Peter Walsh is on) that I didn’t have the urge to go get something cleaned up because the cleaning burden has been significantly reduced to a manageable level. I have two projects left to do to help get the house where it needs to be, and when they’re done I’m going to be able to relax and work on other things that are important to me: like my wife and two daughters. I’ll have time to continue to hone our budget down to the machine it needs to be, time to do some music, and hopefully have some time to learn some new things about investing. Good stuff considering we have been overwhelmed with stuff and finances for far too long.

If your budget is out of whack and your stuff is overwhelming, check out the book and get your life in order – you’ll thank yourself!

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Posted in Foundations, Lesson Learned, Tips'n'Tricks

What Will You Be Doing in Five Months?

August 10th, 2007

A question that I have begun asking myself the last five or so years is the following:

“What will I be doing in five minutes, five hours, five days, five months, five years, fifteen years, fifty years and one hundred years?”

I haven’t always answered that question well, but its something I try to ask myself regularly. This sort of mindset will be critical to evaluating life while you’re awake, and even when you’re not awake.

Five Minutes

What you’re doing in five minutes may not seem like it matters very often, but its important to sometimes take a good look at what you’re going to be doing in the very short term. That could mean making lunch plans to keep a relationship healthy. It could mean finding a break in your work day to check your bank account. It could mean taking a break to check investments. Five minutes is a good short time from now to know what you have to get done between now and then.

Five Hours

There are times when five hours from now you plan on being asleep. Other times five hours from now you need to have a project done. What you’re doing in five hours may be checking the closing numbers from the stock market, tucking children into bed, or relaxing. Thinking five hours ahead will give you some perspective if right now you’re stressed out and need some clarity of thought.

Five Days

Knowing what you’ll be doing in five days can help you plan for that fifth day. In five days now will be the past. Make sure that you’re keeping track of what goes on between now and then because it could help you focus on smart investing choices, smart relationship choices, or smart stress relief choices. Five days is a work week for many people. Think about what five days means for you.

Five Months

What will you be doing now in five months? Will you be preparing for your holiday breaks? Will you be preparing for taxes? Will you be looking for ways to save for the taxes that you’ve got to pay? Five months from now is more than half of a pregnancy term [no, we're not expecting]! What will be happening in five months? Should you be saving up for an expense that is five months away? Where will your finances be then? Do you have a five month plan?
Five Years

The five year plan is important. It gives you a broader goal for your life, but with the expectation of adjustments between now and then to handle windfall cash, surprise expenses, or a market boom or bust that could take your investments to a new place (hopefully good because you’ve been thinking five days, weeks or months ahead somewhere between now and then). Where will your investments, your budget or your relationships be in five years? Think about it.

Fifteen Years

Fifteen years is a long way away. I’ll have one daughter that will be an adult and one daughter that will almost be an adult. That kind of freaks me out to think that far ahead but I need to have my finances in a good place then if at all possible so that I can cover any number of expenses – maybe even a wedding! What will you be doing in fifteen years and what can you plan for it?

Fifty Years

In fifty year I may be in a retirement home, or maybe in the grave. In fifty years I hope to be in heaven, quite honestly, because I’d like to let go of this mortal coil. But if I’m still on this earth I need to have my finances in such a state so as to cover my financial liabilities and to hopefully leave a chunk for my children and their children, and maybe their children, too. Thinking fifty years ahead is a big jump between five and fifteen years, but if I keep thinking five years ahead then I’m going to keep this in perspective the whole time.

One Hundred Years

In one hundred years I surely hope to be in heaven. I don’t expect to have the life expectancy of a human being jump by such huge numbers that I can expect to live to be one hundred thirty years old. If I do live that long I’m going to need my investments to have done wonderfully or the government is going to have figured out welfare Or my kids will have figured out how to make my money last for me. Or if quality of life for such a life expectancy goes up I’ll be in charge of my own finances. Why not? Assuming I’m in heaven then the worries of life right now just don’t matter.

Conclusion

Keep this in perspective when the market goes up, down, sideways or disappears. You simply can’t live life for now, live it now, but don’t live it for now only. Hollywood has a way of pulling on heart strings and putting things into a romantic way, but in the end you need to focus on what matter now, what matters in five minutes or five years, but don’t lose perspective of eternity either. The mixture of everything together will bring a huge, ginormous sense of purpose. Don’t get overwhelmed, get over your sense of insignificance or futility and think about how much influence you have on people around you. As a believer in Jesus Christ I need to set my mind on things above where Christ is seated in the heavenlies. Right now, in five minutes, in five years and in one hundred years I don’t think that will matter because I’ll be with Christ. But don’t lose perspective – it’ll cost you big time if you do!

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Posted in General, Lesson Learned, Outside the Box, Retirement

Billy, Basketball and Burdens

August 9th, 2007

I was looking at my stats today and noticed that one IP address that hit this site was from Sunnyvale, California USA. I’m actually sort of from Sunnyvale. I spent about two years there while my dad worked in Mountain View, California. I have fond memories of Sunnyvale for the most part. One of the more negative memories is one from the playground where I used to play basketball with two friends. One of them was a kid named Billy. Billy had about 200 of those jelly bracelets that were cool at the time on his arms. I can’t fathom having to put those on and take them off for bathtime, bedtime or the likes, but Billy said he did that every time.

Billy, Jorge and I would play basketball together at every recess unless all of the courts were taken, and even then we would sometimes just practice dribbling and passing. In all honesty I am a horrible basketball player now, but back then I enjoyed it greatly. Billy was there every day at recess. The three of us would take turns shooting hoops as best as our second grade bodies could manage. At the end of the recess time we’d all pack back int our classroom and at the end of the day we’d say, “See you tomorrow!”

One Monday Billy never showed up. Jorge and I passed it off as him being sick and threw the basketball around together. But the next day he was still missing – so we thought he must really be sick. But after a week of being gone and then another we realized that Billy was gone for good. I have no clue what happened to Billy. Maybe his parents moved, maybe his parents got a divorce and just one of the moved, but whatever happened: he was gone. Jorge and I played together for a while but two wasn’t the same as three and eventually things fell away and I moved onto some other playground games, as did Jorge.

I tell you that story to tell you this: Set up an emergency fund because you never know what might happen to your job. You don’t know what could happen to your health, and you don’t know what could happen to a family member that was an income source. It would probably be prudent to review your will, your insurance policies and anything else that makes up your “after I’m gone” plans. Planning ahead could prevent any of these events from being critical, and instead make them unfortunate, but not a burden. There is little you can do about those things, but whatever you do, don’t just be a sitting duck. Though usually on the playground they don’t play duck, they play HORSE. Don’t be a sitting horse either.