debt free: How to Get Out of Debt
- 05/12/10 12:20 AM
Debt sucks. I hate it. It causes stress, sleepless nights, divorce, premature death, and many other conditions that aren't helpful to living a happy life. Somehow we've (Americans) become accustomed to carrying the burden of debt, and have become numb to it's throbbing pain. But, for those who are realizing that it's time to unload the debt, here are a few thoughts. There are only two ways to get out of debt: 1. Make more money and pay it off. 2. Spend less money than you make, and pay it off. (Hint: Find your margin money - I'll talk about this … (10 comments)
debt free: How to introduce your insurance agent.
- 04/23/10 02:02 AM
I ran into a friend yesterday morning. He was sitting with one of his business colleagues and I walked up to say hello. "Hey, Todd," he said, and turned to his colleague and introduced me, "this is my insurance salesman." I'm not sure I was comfortable with this introduction. It didn't really rub me the wrong way, per se, but if I'm being honest, I felt the introduction beneath me (I know, pride issue.). An insurance salesman. I guess I've never thought of myself in this way before. Yes, I do provide insurance products, and people buy them, but I prefer to think … (2 comments)
debt free: Three questions to save your financial life.
- 04/22/10 12:38 AM
The older I get, the more I like simple. I just returned from a trip to Hawaii. It was nice, but not simple. Simple is getting in the car, driving four and a half hours to Destin, Florida, unpacking, and sitting on the beautiful white sand beaches watching the waves roll in. Simple is recognizing that life doesn't have to be all that complicated. Life has become more complex, so the more simple we make it, the better. Financial stuff has become more complicated, i.e., hedge funds, derivitives, bond trading, index funds, ad nauseam. Complicated. If you can answer the following three questions, you can … (3 comments)
debt free: Maybe I'm the frog in the lukewarm water?
- 04/21/10 12:42 AM
So you've probably heard the story. If you put a frog into boiling water it will not stay there long. It will jump out. On the other hand, if you put a frog into lukewarm water and then gradually turn up the heat, the frog will boil to death once the water is boiling. He preferred not to change, but just stay there and die. A lot of motivational speakers tell this story to let us know that if we just stay where we are in life, we'll be like the frog and boil to death - or something like that. If we … (4 comments)
debt free: Do you just like sitting on the toilet?
- 04/18/10 11:27 PM
I don't remember the date, exactly, but I was standing outside Barnes and Noble, on the phone with my friend Mike. We both had been talking about writing a book, but really, I was talking about it, he was doing it. "Just get off your #@@ and do it," he said, "I'm gonna keep asking you about it." (Wish you could hear his Jersey accent in my writing.) This was about the time that I made the decision to get back into the financial services industry, and I knew that I would have to put my book writing dreams on the shelf … (2 comments)
debt free: The Road to Nowhere
- 04/17/10 12:11 AM
Some people give their GPS a name (for you non-techies that's global positioning system, i.e., navigation). Since it talks to you, I guess it's kind of like having a friend in the car. Maybe that's why some of us give it a name. I gave my GPS a name just the other day. But it wasn't an endearing name. After I told her to take me to a certain location, and ended up on the opposite end of town, I didn't have too much affection for my techno co-pilot. A sexist expletive flew from my tongue. I trusted her to get me somewhere and she failed me. Had I prepared in … (1 comments)
debt free: Are you poor, or just broke?
- 04/16/10 12:11 AM
I've been broke before. In fact, if I'm really being honest, I'm broke now. I've got more money going out than coming in. That's what broke is. I've never been poor. I've never had to worry about whether I was going to be able to eat on a given day. I've never had to be concerned about having a place to lay my head at night. That's poor. I'm choosing to be broke, at least for now. I'm investing in a growing business that requires more capital than I bring in at the moment. Sometimes when you take risks with money, it means you may be broke for … (7 comments)
debt free: The Wayward Ho.
- 04/13/10 11:06 PM
I've only been to Vegas two times in my life. I've never lost more than twenty dollars in Vegas. I've also never risked more than twenty dollars. I've never been one to take risks where the other guy is guaranteed to win most of the time. On the other hand, I've lost hundreds of thousands of dollars taking risks in business pursuits. I have friends who have never taken a risk in business, but have gambled several thousand dollars away in Vegas, several times. Yet, they seem to be a lot happier about the money they've lost in Vegas than I've been about the money I've … (1 comments)
debt free: Is your head in the sand?
- 04/13/10 02:28 AM
Sometimes, when I'm telling a story to one of my clients, I'll try to make a point about how we often "stick our heads in the sand" whenever we don't want to face a certain reality. In fact, I usually start out my story with, "You know how an Ostrich sticks its head in the sand, blah, blah, blah." Most folks get the point of the story of the Ostrich. They know that Ostriches stick their head in the sand when they are being chased by a predator. Or at least they think they know. Guess what? Ostriches don't stick their heads in the … (5 comments)
debt free: Normal is boring.
- 04/12/10 09:35 AM
"You're soooo weird, Dad," my teenage daughter often tells me with rolling eyes. "I know," I reply proudly. I would rather be weird than normal. I don't know, for some reason I've always admired people who approach life in unconventional ways. I may not always agree with the methods of their unconventionality (Is this a word??), but at least they aren't boring. On the contrary, building wealth is boring. I know, you hear all of these stories about these high flying, exciting Wall Streeters who make a gazillion dollars a year, fly first class, and eat fish eggs, but that's … (3 comments)
Debt sucks. I hate it. It causes stress, sleepless nights, divorce, premature death, and many other conditions that aren't helpful to living a happy life.
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