Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Money Mistakes Series - 4
Sports and money don’t build character as much as they reveal character. - Rennie Gabriel
The money mistakes series deals more about attitudes, beliefs and values than specific tips.
Mistake # 4: If I just made more money everything would work out fine. This is one of the biggest lies we can tell ourselves. Just like an alcoholic can’t get enough liquor or an overeater can’t get enough food, more money will not solve a problem of over spending. Things work out fine when expenses are addressed first, and figuring out how to increase your income is addressed second.
Solution: Start by listing your fixed expenses, like mortgage or rent, car payments and insurance. Next, list your variable expenses, like food or utilities. You will have these each month, but the amount will vary. Finally, list your discretionary expenses. These are the items you have complete control over like entertainment, clothes, meals out or vacations. When you include the items that don’t show up every month, like taxes or auto repairs, and convert them to a monthly amount, you will have a picture of your total monthly expenses. Now make this smaller than your monthly income and also factor in regular monthly savings.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Friday, May 29, 2009
Biggest Money Mistakes Series - 3
Just like many others, I have gone from broke to multi-millionaire by following some simple concepts that allow anyone to move from debt to wealth, on any income. One thing you will note about the following money mistakes; they deal more about attitudes, beliefs and values than specific tips.
Mistake # 3: Credit cards are more convenient than cash or checks.
This is one of the most frightening mistakes many people make. They operate unconsciously when it comes to using credit. They think that someday, magically, they will have enough money to pay off their credit card debts. Unfortunately, even if they refinance their home, get an inheritance or win a lottery and pay off the credit cards, the debts only come back again. Getting the money from anywhere other than systemically paying off the debts teaches the individual nothing about how to get rid of debt. It only teaches them that they can get another family gift or a consolidation loan.
Solution: Drop the credit cards cold turkey and live the lifestyle of “pay as you go.” Use the money you set aside for emergencies to replace the situations where you would have used a credit card. Also, wake up and realize the credit issuers are not your friends. Their advertisements are designed to put you in bondage, not provide freedom. Borrowing money against your home to go on a vacation is crazy.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Biggest Money Mistakes Series - 2
Many people have gone from broke to multi-millionaire by following some simple concepts that allow anyone to move from debt to wealth, on any income. In this series, you will see that the following money mistakes deal more about attitudes, beliefs and values, versus failing to reconcile your checkbook.
Mistake # 2: Emergencies always show up and ruin my savings goals.
In studying the spending habits of thousands of people for over 20 years I discovered that many people live on 105% to 115% of what they earn. They didn’t plan financially for their vacation, back to school clothes for their children or for the car to break down. But it happens, and when it does they turned to their credit cards to solve the problem and the balances grew and grew.
Solution: In addition to saving for retirement, set aside 10% of your income to spend later on the emergencies you didn’t plan for that will happen anyway. This will also cover back to school clothes, vacations, and possibly property taxes. The goal is to live on 75% to 80% of what you earn after taxes.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Mistake # 2: Emergencies always show up and ruin my savings goals.
In studying the spending habits of thousands of people for over 20 years I discovered that many people live on 105% to 115% of what they earn. They didn’t plan financially for their vacation, back to school clothes for their children or for the car to break down. But it happens, and when it does they turned to their credit cards to solve the problem and the balances grew and grew.
Solution: In addition to saving for retirement, set aside 10% of your income to spend later on the emergencies you didn’t plan for that will happen anyway. This will also cover back to school clothes, vacations, and possibly property taxes. The goal is to live on 75% to 80% of what you earn after taxes.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Biggest Money Mistakes Series - 1
Many people have gone from broke to multi-millionaire by following some simple concepts that allow anyone to move from debt to wealth, on any income. One thing you will note about money mistakes; they deal more about attitudes, beliefs and values, versus failing to review a restaurant receipt for errors. In the Biggest Money Mistakes series you will find the six most common attitude errors that prevent people from creating wealth, and the solutions to that faulty thinking.
Mistake #1. There is no reason to track my cash spending because it doesn’t add up to enough money.
People have the attitude that only large amounts of money are important and that small amounts of money are not. They will not be concerned about how invest a few hundred dollars, but only thousands of dollars. They will think nothing of spending $5 a pack of cigarettes or a cup of coffee and muffin at Starbucks when they can make the same things at home for 50 cents. The fallacy is you can’t get to the large amounts of money to invest if you spend all the small amounts. You must have respect for the small amounts too. Over a 30-year time frame, $5 per day can create a $1,000,000 portfolio when invested appropriately.
Solution: Use a small notebook or spending register to track all cash spending. You cannot create a change in your behavior you are unaware of it. Create awareness by tracking your cash spending. Track everything from 25 cents in the parking meter to a fancy dinner and tip.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Mistake #1. There is no reason to track my cash spending because it doesn’t add up to enough money.
People have the attitude that only large amounts of money are important and that small amounts of money are not. They will not be concerned about how invest a few hundred dollars, but only thousands of dollars. They will think nothing of spending $5 a pack of cigarettes or a cup of coffee and muffin at Starbucks when they can make the same things at home for 50 cents. The fallacy is you can’t get to the large amounts of money to invest if you spend all the small amounts. You must have respect for the small amounts too. Over a 30-year time frame, $5 per day can create a $1,000,000 portfolio when invested appropriately.
Solution: Use a small notebook or spending register to track all cash spending. You cannot create a change in your behavior you are unaware of it. Create awareness by tracking your cash spending. Track everything from 25 cents in the parking meter to a fancy dinner and tip.
Rennie Gabriel – Rennie@RennieGabriel.com
Author of Wealth on Any Income: 12 Steps to Freedom
Monday, May 18, 2009
Donate Catered Food
Did you know that if you have a party catered at a hotel or other venue that you can have the leftover food donated to a charity or homeless shelter?
However, you will not find any caterer offering to do this for you. They will cite fears of lawsuits over spoiled food, inconvenience of arranging pick-up, or some other excuse. The bottom line is this; people are starving all over the world, and when there is so much left over food from all sorts of parties and events, it makes sense that left-over food should be donated.
We even have a federal law that protects restaurants and caterers from the fear of lawsuits. There are no valid excuses. The Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act was signed into law (PL 104-210) on 10-1-96 by then President Bill Clinton.
California State Senator, Jenny Oropeza has sponsored a bill to require the notification that food can be donated, but has met strong resistance from restaurants.
You can make a difference. Tell whoever caters your next event, or one that you attend, that the left-over food should be donated. Be prepared with a charity or homeless shelter in mind with the contact information of the individual responsible to receive the food. People do not have to go hungry.
For more details, please see the article from the Los Angeles Times dated March 25, 2009 by David Lazarus.
Rennie
However, you will not find any caterer offering to do this for you. They will cite fears of lawsuits over spoiled food, inconvenience of arranging pick-up, or some other excuse. The bottom line is this; people are starving all over the world, and when there is so much left over food from all sorts of parties and events, it makes sense that left-over food should be donated.
We even have a federal law that protects restaurants and caterers from the fear of lawsuits. There are no valid excuses. The Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act was signed into law (PL 104-210) on 10-1-96 by then President Bill Clinton.
California State Senator, Jenny Oropeza has sponsored a bill to require the notification that food can be donated, but has met strong resistance from restaurants.
You can make a difference. Tell whoever caters your next event, or one that you attend, that the left-over food should be donated. Be prepared with a charity or homeless shelter in mind with the contact information of the individual responsible to receive the food. People do not have to go hungry.
For more details, please see the article from the Los Angeles Times dated March 25, 2009 by David Lazarus.
Rennie
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Meltdown for Beginners
It has been months since my last blog, and the bad news on the economy has been coming fast and furiously. With the latest bailout of AIG insurance, now totaling $170 Billion, I was lucky to find a great blog site that explains how the problem was created in simple examples designed for beginners to understand at Financial Crisis for Beginners and a broadcast from NPR that you can listen to at http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242.
With the global economic growth around the turn of the century, new wealth was created. This new wealth, about $35 Trillion, started chasing investments that could not keep up with the demand. The mortgage backed securities expanded at a rate that was ridiculous in an attempt to keep up with the demand. Loan standards were tossed out the window so that more mortgages could be issued and mortgage backed securities could be created. They were then sold to countries around the globe and insured by various investment banks and AIG.
To protect against default, banks and AIG sold Credit Default Swaps (CDS). Unfortunately, there were no reserves set aside in the event of default. While a 12% default rate was used for the calculations of risk, we are entering a 40% default rate. AIG alone insured about $500 Billion of these. There is no way they could stay in business and cover these global losses. 460 employees of AIG were responsible for the creation and sale of the CDS, but 30,000 employees of the company are painted with the dirty brush.
Again, for a more detailed explanation of the financial meltdown, please visit the NPR link and the blog site mentioned above.
Rennie Gabriel
With the global economic growth around the turn of the century, new wealth was created. This new wealth, about $35 Trillion, started chasing investments that could not keep up with the demand. The mortgage backed securities expanded at a rate that was ridiculous in an attempt to keep up with the demand. Loan standards were tossed out the window so that more mortgages could be issued and mortgage backed securities could be created. They were then sold to countries around the globe and insured by various investment banks and AIG.
To protect against default, banks and AIG sold Credit Default Swaps (CDS). Unfortunately, there were no reserves set aside in the event of default. While a 12% default rate was used for the calculations of risk, we are entering a 40% default rate. AIG alone insured about $500 Billion of these. There is no way they could stay in business and cover these global losses. 460 employees of AIG were responsible for the creation and sale of the CDS, but 30,000 employees of the company are painted with the dirty brush.
Again, for a more detailed explanation of the financial meltdown, please visit the NPR link and the blog site mentioned above.
Rennie Gabriel
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