Archives For Personal Finance Education

LOL vs LOM – 237 DSR

October 21, 2017

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Who is responsible for your current financial situation?

1) Perspective – What is poor? What is rich? Where do you look to get your ideas of both? How long do those ideas stay with you?
Media influence.

2) Where are you starting from? Increasing or decreasing?

3) Why change? Necessity or luxury?

4) Environmental Determinism. Are we products of our environment? Start poor, stay poor. Start rich, stay rich.

Recap:
Who is responsible for your current financial situation? You, your parents, your grandparents, your spouse, gov’t?
In the mean time (while waiting for someone else/thing to change).
This is about taking personal responsibility. Own it.
Power of action instead of blame.

Resource:
The Minimalists.com

Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight.
Debt Shepherd, 2017. All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education , ,
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Poverty, Inc. – 236 DSR

September 4, 2017

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“Fighting poverty is big business. But who profits most?”

from povertyinc.org

2015 Documentary Film
Winner of over 50 international film festival honors

This isn’t a film review. More a discussion urging you to examine why you give to foreign aid or any charity for that matter.

1) Who are these organizations? NGO’s, UN, Soles for Souls, World Vision, etc.

2) Am I giving due to a temporary crisis? Earthquake, flood, tsunami, etc.

3) How long after the headlines are over do you pay attention to the recipient country’s situation?

4) Foreign Aid is highly government subsidized.

i.e: The US rice company sends rice to Haiti. Haitians get it for free. The US sender gets money from the government, you the tax payer. Local Haitian rice farmers are put out of business. People become dependent on long term aid (food, clothing, etc). Not to mention the rice company who sends it doesn’t have to compete with Haitian rice farmers in a free market. Monopoly creation.

Recap:
Welfare/charity that isn’t temporary, becomes dependency. This is economic addiction, paternalism, colonialism (pc = democracy).

Institutions in power don’t want poverty to end. It’s a way to control large portions of the population. If institutions who “fight cancer” cured it, they’d be out of jobs.

Resource:
povertyinc.org / Poverty Inc (film)

Get your mind straight. Get your money straight.

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education, The Economy , ,
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What is Bitcoin? – 235 DSR

August 26, 2017

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Let’s talk about digital currency and the privacy it gives you. Not to mention not paying transaction fees.

What is Bitcoin? Digital coin. Digital Currency

The bit is a basic unit of information used in computing and digital communications. A binary digit can have only one of two values, and may be physically represented with a two-state device. These state values are most commonly represented as either a 0 or 1.

– Way for two parties to exchange money without third party interference/fees ie: government, banks, PayPal, Western Union, etc.
– Avoidance of paying fees for the facilitation of the transaction.
– Bitcoin essentially cuts the fee charging entities out of the transaction.
– Commerce with privacy.
– Gives those without access to bank accounts the ability to transact as long as they have access to a computer (library, internet café, etc). Western Union does this but charges fees and can take longer depending on method of payment and receipt.
– Transactions are logged in the blockchain and buyer/seller remain anonymous.
– Federal Reserve Bank has been controlling the creation, distribution, and sale of money for 104 years. Do you think they see bitcoin as a threat? Yes, because they can’t inflate the bitcoin supply and charge you a hidden tax (inflation).
– In it’s infancy.
– Same as cashless society? Gov’t idea of a cashless society still involves The Federal Reserve in control. Bitcoin’s idea of a cashless society does not.
– What if you worked and when you got paid your deposit was in Bitcoin instead of “dollars?”

Resource:
Banking on Bitcoin – 1 hr 23 min (documentary movie) Netflix.
Coinbase – Buy & sell digital currency
Blockchain

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Personal Finance Education, Technology, The Economy , , ,
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8 Hour Work Day – 234 DSR

August 19, 2017

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Why do we work 8 hours a day?

The United States Adamson Act in 1916 established an eight-hour day, with additional pay for overtime, for railroad workers. This was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Act in Wilson v. New, 243 U.S. 332 (1917).

The eight-hour day might have been realized for many working people in the US in 1937, when what became the Fair Labor Standards Act was first proposed under the New Deal. As enacted, the act applied to industries whose combined employment represented about twenty percent of the US labour force. In those industries, it set the maximum workweek at 40 hours, but provided that employees working beyond 40 hours a week would receive additional overtime bonus salaries.

8 hrs work, 8 hrs recreation, 8 hrs sleep – Australia

1) Why 40 hrs/week other than that it’s law? We’ve been trained? It’s what capitalism requires?

2) What are your options? Four 10 hr days = 40 hrs week. Be your own boss, set your own hrs? It depends. Can you cut your hours and still serve your customers?

3) Do the math and see at 35 hrs week, could you pay your bills?
If not, look at adjusting your bills. Less house, car, credit card, entertainment.

4) What’s important? If you don’t have kids, do the math and ask those who have kids what they’re really spending. Don’t forget to ask how much $ help they’re getting from family.

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education, Self Employed , ,
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A Run on The Bank – 233 DSR

July 30, 2017

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Imagine trying to withdraw money from the bank and they don’t have it.

What is a run on the bank? When a large number of people want to withdraw their money from a bank because they’ve lost faith in the banks ability to give them their deposits when asked.

This is when depositors learn the bank doesn’t have all their money. It’s a house of cards, a sham, fake.

If this happens to enough depositors the bank can collapse and go out of business. You see the wizard behind the curtain, lose faith in the system.

What is fractional reserve banking?
The bank only needs a fraction of what you deposit on hand at the bank on any given day. You deposit $100, they are only required to keep $20 on deposit.

Where is your other $80? What if they’re lending it out for loans on cars, mortgages, & for credit cards, etc. What interest do they earn? From 4% to 29%. What interest do they pay you? .25% on CD.

Solution?
Buy a floor safe, free standing safe, or a gun safe. Floor safes can be installed before concrete is poured, others can be bolted to the concrete slab, wood flooring, or wall studs.

Benefits: You have immediate access to your cash/valuables at all times. Many are fireproof. Don’t go cheap. Deadbolts in door, key and combination to access.

You can still bank with your favorite bank for checking. Deposit money used primarily to pay bills via checks or debit cards.

If bank shuts down due to bankruptcy, how long will it take to recover the contents of a safe deposit box? They own the metal box, you own the contents.

You won’t get your checking/savings deposits back, they will be used to pay the banks creditors in the BK.

Resource:
The Creature From Jekyll Island – by G. Edward Griffin

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In credit, Money, Personal Finance Education, The Economy , ,
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The 4 C’s of Lending – 232 DSR

June 26, 2017

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Without you the bank wouldn’t be in business.

1) Character – You actually knew the banker. Local lending.

2) Collateral – Car, house, 4 wheeler, tractor, etc.

3) Credit – Payment history. 3 X 5 cards at Sears when my wife was young.

4) Capacity (paycheck) – This is the real asset. The real collateral.

Closing:
The real asset is you. No paycheck, no monthly payments. They’re not in the car business or the 4 wheeler business. They’re in the business of collecting interest payments from you. Selling the installment contract to someone else who collects the interest payments and getting paid a fee.

Bank doesn’t want empty houses they have to pay taxes/insurance/maintenance on. They want interest payments, your rent payment for the use of their money.

Resource:
You know where to find me. Podcast page. email or voicemail.
Coaching is available.

I’m Greg Whitaker reminding you:
Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In credit, Mortgage, Personal Finance Education , ,
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Collections & Credit Scores – 231 DSR

June 17, 2017

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How collections affect your credit score.

1) My collection.
Medical, $2 or $3k. No credit score issue. Couldn’t get checking account.

2) Client’s collection/derogatory credit.
10 days PTC, Soft pull. Re-pull. 620 min for home loan.
642 to 500. Mortgage loan denied. FHA loan, $2,000 or less total don’t have to be paid off. Over $2k, use 5% of balance as mo pmt, or show payment history.

3) Pay something each month.
Negotiate lower balance if you can pay in full. Get it in writing before paying in full. Get paid in full letter in writing. Send paid in full letter to credit bureaus (resource).

Closing:
Collections are like an anchor keeping you stuck in one place. Baggage. Eventually roll off after 7 yrs? Imagine being 1 collection away from getting a home loan. One 90 day late student loan away from getting a home loan.

Resource:
Equifax.com, Transunion.com, Experian.com.
To send paid in full letter. Don’t assume who you paid will report to credit bureau.

I’m Greg Whitaker reminding you:
Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Education, Mortgage, Personal Finance Education , ,
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The Dynamic Debt Destroyer – 230 DSR

June 10, 2017

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You can’t borrower your way out of debt. There’s only one way to get rid of it. Pay it off.

1) What where do I start?
Stop borrowing money. Send your Visa & Master Card divorce papers.

2) Which debt should I pay off first?
Smallest balance first, regardless of interest rate. Pre-paying neutralizes compounding interest on revolving debts.

Take min mo pmt, add 10% of your net pay. Divide that number into the balance of the debt. Divide that by 12. That’s how many months until you pay the debt off.

Example: $1,000 balance. $20 min pmt = 50 mo or 4 yrs to payoff. That doesn’t account for revolving interest, which takes longer.

$20 min mo pmt plus $60 extra. $1,000 balance divided by $80 = 12.5 mos to payoff or 1.5 yrs.

3) What about interest rates?
They’re nothing but rent payments. Interest paid is rent for the use of someone else’s money. They borrower it at, say .50% and they’re lending it to you at 4.5% for house, up to 29% on credit cards. Who’s getting the best deal in that equation?

Closing:
Borrowing money is fast and convenient. Ask why are you doing it your entire life? When does it stop?

Resource:
Piece of paper, something to write with, and calculator.

Get in touch. Podcast page. email or voicemail button.
Coaching is available.

I’m Greg Whitaker reminding you:
Get Your Mind Straight. Get Your Money Straight

Debt Shepherd 2017, All Rights Reserved

In Money, Motivation, Personal Finance Education , ,
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