Colada

A drink of Knowledge Wisdom and Change

"Each man (is) the architect of his own fortune."

Appius Caecus

MONEY

OPERATING WITH OBJECTIVES

     Laurence J. Peter said "If you don't know were you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else."

     The good news is you know were your going, how much MONEY you want to have when you retire. You know just how munch MONEY you need to save every day to reach your monthly goal. Lets go over some ways and hows, for you to get this MONEY, and use it in your LIFE PLAN.

     Your first responsibility in life, is in taken care of YOU. If you do not take care of yourself now who will? Who will later on in life when you retire? Let me say this again, YOUR FIRST RESPONSIBILITY IN LIFE IS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.

     If you are healthy you can work, spend time with your love ones, with out being a problem for any one, so too if you are RICH and have a lot more FUN. Think of the person that smokes, in front of his kids, not only is he killing himself, he is killing his kids.

     If you do not have enough MONEY to last you the rest of your life when you retire, then your kids, or the government will have to take care of you.

     Your kids will have to work harder and longer to take care of themselves and you and will more then likely die earlier then they should have. Plus what will they teach their kids, what they learn from you?

     This would put you in the same place as the person that smokes in front of his kids, both would be teaching nothing but bad habits.

     One of the reasons most people don't have a LIFE PLAN, is that no one ever told them they needed one. They don't know anyone that has one, and may have never even hear of one.

     They are doing just what their parent and grand parent did and what their friends are doing, and beside that if it was something they should have learn, then it would have been taught in school.

     Let me say this, just because MILLION of people do something does not make it right. If they say that this is the way we have always done it also DOES NOT make it right. Because you see it on TV, does not make it right.

     Let me tell you a true story about testing done on monkeys. In case you did not know this, monkeys hate water. They put 7 monkeys in area were there was food, all kinds of things to do and to climb on. It was almost as if the monkey had died and went to heaver.

     Then one day a ladder was put into the area and if the monkey went up the ladder there was more bananas and other treats for them. Well let me tell you this, it did not take the monkeys long to go up the ladder for the treats.

     Once again the monkeys not being dumb stop touching the ladder and once again the rules changed. Now if the monkeys looked up they got wet. And again the monkey also change the did not go up the ladder, touch the ladder or look up, they knew they would get wet.

     After a week of not being able to wet the monkeys the test changed, what they did was take out 1 monkey and replace it with one that had not gotten wet.

     Before long this new monkey would not go up the ladder, touch the ladder or look up, even if someone or something was making noises above him. They replace all the monkey 1 by 1 and when all the monkey were replace, none of them would look up, or even go near the ladder.

     After a few weeks they removed one monkey and replace him with a new monkey. Would you like to guess what the other monkeys did to him when he went near the ladder or looked up.

     Keep in mind that none of the monkey in the area were ever wet with water, those monkey had over time been removed. So when someone tells me that this the way we always done it, I look for the tail as they walk away from me.

     I will be doing several newsletters on how to make and use the LIFE PLAN, but for now, I want to give you some ideas on were the money may be to get you on track for your retirement. I use retirement here and you have to make a plan for this day, but you can use the same idea to put MONEY away for a new car, vacation, etc. But keep in mind that SOMEDAY WILL COME EVEN IT IS NOT ON THE CALANDER.

     What is the first thing you do with you get your pay check put in the bank? If you are like 99.9% of the people you start paying BILLS. You pay this bill and that bill and that bill and if there is any MONEY left over, you put some aside for a rainy day, or you go out and spend it on something or both.

     HERE IS A KEY POINT: To meet you goal, YOU MUST PAY YOURSELF FRIST. How much you ask? 10% or more, now you may not start off with this much but you must get to this amount with in a YEAR.

     Let make this clear, If you make $500.00 per week, you need to put $50.00 aside for your retirement, if it is $750.00 the it would be $75.00. At 10% you would be working about 1 hr a day for yourself. I would like to see you put 20% or more since you are going to spend a long time (I HOPE) in retirement.

     Let us take a look at one of the places you might get that MONEY. The average person works until some time in April just to pay their taxes. If you don't believe me look at how much MONEY the government got from you last year, and don't tell me how you got MONEY back, all that means is that you gave them FREE use of YOUR MONEY.

     Now what if you change a few thing so that you did not get that BIG CHECK BACK from that GREAT PERSON SOMEWERE IN WASHINGTON, that you feel just gave you MONEY. And you put that MONEY away. Keep in mind that MOST MONEY you put into a IRA, you DO NOT HAVE TO PAY TAXES ON but any MONEY YOU MAKE IN A IRA, YOU DO NOT PAY TAXES ON UNTIL YOU TAKE THE MONEY OUT.

     Let's say that you last check back from your favorite uncle (SAM) was $1.500.00 and you went to H.R. And found a way so that next year your uncle would only be given you back $300.00. That would mean that you would have $100.00 more every month in YOUR pay check (not on loan to your uncle). What do you think you could do with this MONEY?

     Since both you and your better half work and you both have health insurance MAYBE you could drop one and use that MONEY. The last I know in this state,if you get any medical help only 1 company will make a payment. You can not tell them we make 2 payments and we would like both claims for the 80%. They will (if they are nice) ask you what have you been smoking?

     What about that insurance you had to get went you got the house, since you did not have any equated, your FRIENDLY BANKER made you get it to pay off the house if you died. (it may not be needed)

     How about that LIFE insurance (I don't know why they call it LIFE, when it only pays if you die) is it the RIGHT ONE FOR YOU NOW, COULD YOU GET SOMETHING BETTER FOR LESS or your car insurance.

     Another hint DON'T ASK YOU FRIENDLY INSURANCE AGENT, he MAKE HIS MONEY FROM YOU. Why would he tell you to go to another company.

     How about your calling plan with your cell phone or your home phone do you need both? The newspaper that you get but don't read or the magazine or club membership. On the boat you don't have time to take out, or the 2 car just in case the 1^st one does not work.

     Look around your house, are there things that you do not use that you could sell (yard sale) to get MONEY. I was talking to a guy the other day that was only paying $30.00 a month to keep things in storage, when I asked what he had, he told me he did not remember, (he has been on auto pay for 3 years)

     You could also say I am going to cut all express and work 2 or 3 jobs for x years and I am going to put 50% or more aside for retirement. Then I will cut back to a 40 hr week and put 15% away. In this matter like so many things in life you have a CHOICE and it is what is right for you that matters.

     You may stop getting a hair cut ever week, or your nails done, or find some one that will do it for less, you also may stop paying $6.00 for coffee, or eating out. You may stop going on 2 or more vacations a year, getting a new car every 2 year or stop renting one.

     Look at YOUR LIFE, look at were your MONEY is now going. Sometimes you have to stop, regroup move slowly(GET MORE FINANCIAL EDUCTION) and then get back into full swing of LIVING LIVE.

     Read the story in the last COLADA, what he gave up was lunch and 1 hr from home. (The guy next door was not the Jones' they lived down the street and was the best friend of the guy next door)

     Setting up for the MONEY you decide to PAY YOURSELF should be automatically taken from your pay check before you get it. Most of your bills should be on auto pay so that you do not need to sit down and write check, go to the post office buy stamps and mail them, which is be a big wastes of your time. (Just because you are auto pay does not mean that you don't keep a eye on them.)

     As for what to do with your MONEY this is something that you need to decide.

     You can open a IRA that you control, or IRA for MONEY after taxes (most MONEY that going into IRA are tax free) what that means is if you put that $50.00 a week into the IRA you would only have to pay taxes on $450.00 not $500.00.

     You could buy real estate or tax lien, or start your own business buy stocks or bonds. The point is that unless you die, SOMEDAY will be here and you will not be able to retire because you did not have a PLAN for SOMEDAY.

     The idea for information on MONEY was to help you to understand what is going on around you, not to recommend any course of action, BUT TO GET YOU TO THINK. To get you to understand that SOMEDAY will COME and to get you thinking about some GOALS or OBJECTIVESin your life in a way that will HELP YOU to live a life free from stress and financial worriers.

     Most people do not think for themselves, when they have a problem they ask someone else even if that person knows less then they do. Some time we get good advice but most of the time we do not. The bottom line is that YOU and ONLY YOU knows was is best for you. WATCH YOUR MONEY.

     To cap off: What you have learn about MONEY, right or wrong is the why in how you view MONEY (also your value). Hopefully you learn that if you CHANGE the way you think about MONEY you will change this value.

     That MONEY is not only good but very important in your life. That MONEY was need to start this country and to build school, bridges, hospital and etc. That all rich people are not BAD. That 10% is not 10% and that bank and credit card company only love you if you play by their rules and give them your hard earn MONEY.

     MONEY is not hard or cold, but soft and warm, with just two CHOICEST for what you can do with it, spend it or save it and that spending it was more fun. Do not follow the JONES' and budgets and diet's don't work. Compound interest is good if you are getting it but bad if you are paying it.

     MONEY does not care what you do with it, and you need to be smarter then the 20 people around you, or you will be dead or dead broke when you reach 65. You can not be foolish with you MONEY or your TIME. AND YOU, YES YOU CAN BE RICH.

One last thing look out for the MONKEYS.

                                                                         Jack Boston