Hey guys I recently saw on TV a show about a family of 14 living in an RV. Whoa did you just read correctly? Yes they travel from city to city, enjoying the outdoors, living life far from the norm. It is a Dad, Mom and 12 kids all ranging from ages 20 – 1 year old. From what I saw on the small TV segment they seemed happy to be road tripping for an indefinite time. This is an amazing contradiction to question the bigger is better house lifestyle. Do we really need a 4 thousand square foot house in Arizona to live a happy comfortable life?
Personally I would prefer having a decent sized home with a bigger than average back yard. Why because I am happiest when I am outside moving around. After watching this special I am considering living a year in an RV road tripping after retirement. Mind you I do not have the stats if this will reduce your annual expenses or not. My fellow blogger at canIretireyet.com said in a post once that it does reduce expenses from his experience, so please take his word for it because he already achieved financial freedom.
After all these details about living in RV tight spaces, enjoying the outdoors, and reducing expenses. Would this sway you to maybe give the RV lifestyle a shot? If you fit the personality I say go for it, as adventures can only be had once you begin one. Personally I would do it just to avoid the crazy property taxes NJ has and pocket the savings to help give me an extra buffer against inflation in my nest egg. When I retire in that first year, I can probably save about 15 grand because taxes in my state are now in the 7-12K range for an average house and they are headed up in the future. The only downside is I would have to sell the house, and then buy another one when my adventurous RV life comes to an end.
We all have reached a new level of success, but with money being so taboo in this country; nobody ever talks about what to do next. The next steps you take after a new level of success will really impact your life in unbelievable ways. Do you know that I can count in my hand how many times my parents spoke to me about money while growing up? I got the most influence from watching their behaviors and not from their communicating abilities. New level of success, what’s next?
We all need to talk more about how to go about doing the next personal finance steps, but people need to be open to hearing a different financial viewpoint. NO you don’t have to settle with having debt forever. No you don’t have to have a brand new car right out of college. It will be up to you to live in your truth or fall victim to the banks game. The fico bosses will lure you to continue playing that debt game, but will you listen. I will not play their games anymore. I don’t need a credit score to buy a home, and that is the only thing that I will ever borrow for again.
New level of success, What’s Next?
– You graduated high school now, what’s next? – In the summer weekends dedicate some fun time for yourself, during the weekdays allocate some time to work, which will help you avoid going into debt during college.
– Four years later the 2nd cap and gown is achieved, with a diploma in hand, now what’s next? – Lock down that internship for the summer and or fall. If you already have a job, great stay the course and continue to keep expenses low living like a college student, do not buy anything worth more than 40-50% based off annual income (aka a brand new CAR). DO not lose the power of cash flow by getting into CC or Car debt. If you still live at home with parents, pay them $200 dollars a month in rent, and save 50% of income. Stay for 1-2 years max; if job is stable, and you are debt free buy a manageable property with the savings you accumulated.
– After 3 years you have dug yourself out of debt and you got to finally yell, “I am Debt Free”. – Continue to send the last debt payment amount to your savings or brokerage account, build that nest egg up by not changing your spending patterns too drastically. Now you will be on the other side and feel just like the banks feel building a boat load of dollars and compounding it for years.
– Business is slowing down after a good 4 year run, now what’s next. – Well it depends on how you see the market, is it expanding or not? Do you still want to compete in the same space? If the answer is yes and yes, then you have to either provide something different and new while being innovative. Get new ideas from customers how to deliver it and expand your network to attempt to attract new customers. Being an entrepreneur might seem hard, show great desire to achieve and you will see results.
– You have successfully paid off a car in 5 years, now what’s next? – DO NOT GO TO the DEALERSHIP to window shop because the vortex and allure of a new set of wheels will sink you into another car payment. Avoid them for at least 4 years after paying off the current car. Stop being so patriotic by supporting these car brands, save your wallet and hold off buying a car for a long time. It will separate you from being average, and will allow you the cash flow to fund kids’ colleges or a retirement account in the millions. (You decide)
– You received a big bonus or an inheritance / settlement, what’s next: Well if you do not want to blow the money like Bernie Madoff, you have to set it aside away from your checking account. Place an equal amount of 3-6 months living expenses in your online savings account. (If you don’t have one open one immediately) Second if you have money left over, buy a few index funds based off the S&P 500 index. This will help you begin to grow that money. Next if you have some dollars left over set it aside in a different savings account at a credit union for any other financial goals, like a vacation, to replace an old car, or to buy a home. ( Do not get a debit card for this account- it will help you avoid taking it out on impulse) Last if you still have money left over spend some. To recap you can do a split of the money like so – 30% emergency funds, 30% index funds, 30% short term goals and 10% blow money.
Comment if you if you have reached a new level of success and you want to discuss the next steps?
Did you know that on average we maintain the same habits throughout our life? Guess what, a light bulb just turned on, look above your head for the light. What habits are driving you in your life? I hope by now you realize that it takes great effort to maintain good habits consistently, and it takes the same effort to maintain bad ones.The habits we keep will help us succeed or not in life.
We consciously make choices to see those habits develop as the years pass. Now I ask you, if bad habits drive your life what can you expect back out of life? Karma and a guilty conscience will eat at you little by little. I believe that the mental fortitude we have only gets weaker with every bad decision we make. So I am telling you we are creatures of habit, and if we try to make the good ones stick you can win with personal finance. Granted not all habits revolve around money, but many have a direct relationship with your ability to keep more dollars in your possession.
In contrast if you regularly live life practicing good habits you will reap the benefits. For example consistently investing almost always gives you a bajillion dollars in the bank. Granted bad things happen to good people, and I know for a fact statistically bad things also happen to bad people. Keeping that in perspective we can’t live life in fear, and we can decide how to live life based off either good or bad habits. If you’ve decided to live life fostering bad habits, that’s fine live your life, but at the end of the day what does that say about how dishonest you are with loving your life.
Yesterday was father’s day and I’m here to say all the things some fathers do to support the household. We do our best to hold down the fort in any way possible. This post is obviously from my experience as a father and as a son who was raised by a great father. An Oath to Father’s Day is all the things great father’s do all year round in many ways to show support. What were some of the things your father did for you in your childhood home? See below for the best father’s day list ever:
An Oath To Father’s Day:
We are Leaders
An
Oath
To
Father’s Day
Leaders
Healers
Builders
Providers
Garbage Men
Teachers
Mayors
Chefs
Supporters
Videographers
Coaches
Psychologists
Dish Washers
Husbands
Directors
House Cleaners
Judges
Movers
Comedians
Dancers
Photographers
Trainers
Piggy Bank Managers
Taxi Drivers
Debaters
Role Models
Painters
Fathers
We are Fathers
I know maybe I missed a few of the jobs and roles we have as fathers. As a way to motivate each other, if you are ever struggling to find a career remember all the things you do as father and maybe you can find a job doing one of these roles. It takes real courage to provide for a family, and if you have a career crisis, just do your best to do any job for the sake of the family. It doesn’t matter what you do, all that matters is that you can successfully put some food on the table.
If you can think of a few I missed, send them over and Ill gladly add them to the list. Why did I do a list like this, because I take pride in everything I do to support my family?
An Oath to Father’s Day is about appreciating all the little things father’s do and I hope you can leave a comment on this great topic.
Get an Emergency Fund and carry big Money Bags like this Guy.
I recently wrote a piece titled the 5 reasons you need an emergency fund and it was a success. Now I want to give you a sequel to the subject at hand named emergency fund heck yea. I implore you to do anything possible to build this baby up because in life we have no real safety nets. Mind you I want this to be a funny post, provided by actual circumstances that might have happened to me, someone else or just plain old fiction.
We just don’t know when bad luck will hit our doorstep, and I am doing a community service by giving you these reasons below for your cackling amusement. Mind you if you are Derek Fisher (NBA Coach) you should stop reading right now, because he just signed a $25 million dollar contract.
Do you want to own a home one day or are you ok being a renter?
It is almost summer and guess what people love buying homes during this season. Do you think many people dream of owning a home or do you think those folks who rent are just as happy as homeowners? In the US we always get bombarded with stats regarding the housing industry. After the recent bubble popped, the media has had a love affair with all things housing. Now in this crazy housing and equity market space, where negative or positive housing news influences equities in a big way, it is important to fully understand housing better. Why would an economy be so interdependent on home ownership percentages.
If a thousand Joe Schmoo’s buy houses then guess what, stocks will go up on the positive housing report. I want to provide you the home ownership percentages in different countries and compare it to the US. How will this information benefit you in any way? Maybe you will decide if you are a lifetime renter or maybe it does not fit in with your lifestyle. It can also show how other individuals view homeownership in different countries. There are arguments supporting both those who rent and those who are homeowners. Where do you fall in the argument?
Pump up the Portfolio with Dividends as Quickly as Possible.
Do you want to know my dividend strategy? I am hoping the moves I make will pay off within my retirement accounts aka Mutual Funds. I am not suggesting anyone try implementing this strategy for their finances. It has worked well for me on most occasions and I have an ultimate goal in mind, to achieve a high portion of retirement income off my mutual fund dividends. Imagine owning 20 thousand shares of dividend paying mutual funds and stocks growing every quarter. I am on track to finally break the 4 grand total shares owned mark.
I keep a record of fund prices on all funds as to help me decide when is a good time to sell one fund and buy another. The same goes for the dividend amounts each fund pays and how often they pay. The best scenario is when the fund that pays the smallest dividend is at its 52 week high, and the fund that pays me a high dividend is priced lower than usual. I would immediately exchange a set amount of dollars from one fund to another, with no fees or charges. The reason is because they are all in retirement accounts and doing exchanges are free. (401K and IRA) See below for my dividend strategy:
Do you know that many municipalities in the US are filing for bankruptcy due to retirement pension default? A recent report released by Bridgewater states that 85% of them will fail in a specific time frame. How confident are you that your pension will last you the rest of your living years? This is why pension concerns are alarming for millions of people in the US. It is a frantic time for anybody who is dependent on that pension succeeding because most are hanging on a short financial string. A sharp scissor is ready to cut funding and politicians could care less. The problem in my opinion is that the people who manage the funds, are not doing enough to grow it, or are misusing the money for the municipality’s other budget shortfalls.
Private pensions are on the same boat as the public pensions. The corporation who was set up to help failing pensions is 34 billion in deficit. The numbers do not lie as it beckons anyone who believes pensions will be around to support them. As quoted in Forbes, “Over the past forty years the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has assumed responsibility for thousands of failed plans. Traditional defined benefit pension plans offered by private employers are rapidly facing extinction and with the PBGC’s deficit recently hitting a record $34 billion, the future of private pensions looks grim.”
Now let’s focus on what can we do to avoid getting a heart attack due to worries that your pension might go under very soon. It all boils down to realizing you have to save more while in your working years. See the pension as gravy if you get it when you retire. Never be dependent on that income from day one and you will see things differently.
