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It is best to plan for an emergency before it happens. You should start an emergency fund that contains at least three months? living expenses. Note that this is not just three months? rent, but three months? worth of money to cover all of your expenses: rent, utilities, car payments, daycare, groceries?everything.

Emergency money has to be something that you can access in an emergency. This means that you can?t have it in an investment that you won?t be able to get at. You might choose to keep it in a separate account than your normal account. The challenge is that if your money is easy to access, you might be tempted to use it for purchasing things on a day-to-day basis. Your emergency account is not for daily expenses or impulse purchases. It should be used for medical expenses, unexpected car repairs, and in case you lose your job.

Be wise with your emergency account. If there are layoffs happening at work, you might need to consider adding more money to your account. If your car repair bill is something you can cover without using your emergency money, don?t use your emergency money.

You need to choose an account that you will be able to access. You might choose to go with a savings account. You might also choose a money market account which will earn you more money. You want an account with no fees. Ask your banker about what account is best for you. Sometimes, to have no fees, you need to maintain a minimum balance in the account. This might even be an incentive to not spend the money in your account.

It might seem difficult to make payments into an emergency fund, especially if money is tight. Regardless, you should start with as little as $40 a month, or as much as you can afford (remember: more is Read more…

How much financial bloodshed is necessary before we realize that there is no safe and easy shortcut to investment success? When do we learn that most of our mistakes involve greed, fear, or unrealistic expectations about what we own? Eventually, successful investors begin to allocate assets in a goal directed manner by adopting a realistic Investment Strategy… an ongoing security selection and monitoring process that is guided by realistic expectations, selection rules, and management guidelines. If you are thinking of trying a strategy for a year to see if it works, you’re due for another smack up alongside the head! Viable Investment Strategies transcend cycles, not years, and viable Equity Investment Strategies consider three disciplined activities, the first of which is Selection. Most familiar strategies ignore one of the others.

How should an investor determine what stocks to buy, and when to buy them? Will Rogers summed it up: “Only buy stocks that go up. If they aren’t going to go up, don’t buy them.” Many have misread this tongue-in-cheek observation and joined the “Buy (anything) High” club. I’ve found that the “Buy Value Stocks Low (er)” approach works better. A Google search produces a variety of criteria that help to identify Value Stocks, the standards being low Price to Book Value, low P/E ratios, and other “fundamentals”. But you would be surprised how the definitions can vary, and how few include the word “Quality”. In the late 90’s, it was rumored that a well-known Value Fund Manager was asked why he wasn’t buying dot-coms, IPOs, etc. When he said that they didn’t qualify as Value Stocks, he was told to change his definition… or else.

How do we create a confidence building Stock Selection Universe? Simply operating on blind faith with one of the common definitions may be too simplistic, particularly since many of the numbers originate from the subject companies. Also, some of the figures may be difficult to obtain quickly, and it is essential not to get bogged down in endless research. Here are five filters you can use to come up with a selection universe of higher quality companies, and you can obtain all of the data inexpensively from the same source:

1. An S

Your boss has just informed you that your department is being reduced by two and you are fired. After he leaves, what are you going to do?
This is not about finding a job it?s about being prepared for financial change. How you prepare for employment change is different for everyone. Being prepared for financial change is the same person to person.

1. Build an Emergency Savings Account

Everyone should have a passbook savings account with money to use in Emergencies. This money is to never be touched except when your car needs repairs you can not afford, your basement floods and you need to pay to clean it up, or your Great-Grandma Ruth is dying and you need to go to her bedside.

Use your Emergency money, and immediately start rebuilding it by paying yourself. A good amount to have in this account will equal six months of your net income (after taxes). This will provide you with a cushion for when you receive the pink slip. If you have a little time to search, you will be able to find enjoyable, quality employment.

2. Prepare a Spending Plan

You already know you should be living on a spending plan now. Have you thought about how you would live after a job loss? Take time today to create a ?Job Loss Plan? so you will have an idea what spending you will reduce as soon as you know you our out of work. Then as soon as you are told those two little words (You?re Fired) you can pull out the plan and start conserving your money. Do not deny what happened and continue trying to live like you did before.

3. Carry No-Debt

This is good advice for everyone, but as it pertains to this article no-debt is really wise. If you are out of a job, you do not want to be paying $500 a month in non-mortgage bills. By keeping your credit card and even your mortgage debts Read more…

Is it possible? Can you crawl out from under the credit rock? The answer is a definite maybe. It depends upon your particular situation, of course. Many people have extricated themselves from horrible credit situations. There are several ways to go about getting yourself free from a crushing debt load and a poor credit picture. You must do several things:

1)If it is at all possible, you must change the circumstances that got you into this bad credit situation in the first place. If you are spending too much, you must change your spending patterns, and do it right now. Just because you friends go out to nice restaurants every Friday night doesn’t mean you can too. The same holds true for weekend ski trips, nights at the casino, and just about anything else that is not absolutely necessary. There may be a time in the future you can resume frivolous spending, but that time is not now.

2)You must work out a plan to quickly eliminate as many of your credit accounts as possible. You may keep a credit card for emergencies, such as car or home repairs. Other credit accounts, such as credit cards and store charge cards, should be canceled and the accounts paid off as soon as humanly possible.

3)In order to complete a debt reduction plan, you must work up a budget. List your after tax income from all sources. Then list your expenses. It’s a great idea to keep a record of all your spending for an entire month. This will show you where you can cut back on your spending. There may be areas where you are spending far more than you realized. The morning latte is a great example. Many people stop at the espresso stand on the way to work without realizing just how much the morning shot in the arm really costs every month. If you get a $2.50 tall latte and tip $.50, you’re spending $3.00 every weekday. That’s $15.00 a week and $720.00 a year! Eliminating just two or three of this type of expenses could pay off many peoples credit cards in a year or two. If you really need the caffe’ in the morning, make it at home.

4)If your cash flow is such that you’re spending more than you make every month, you must change the situation right now! If you can’t do that with the simple type of spending modifications outlined above, you’ve got to do something more effective. It Read more…

You Can Either Spend a Few Minutes Learning How to Break the Chains of Debtor Enjoy Being a SLAVE To Your Debt For The Next 25-30 YEARS

It amazes me that there are things like this out there, available to anyone, that no one really wants to tell us about. The banks and mortgage lenders don?t want you to know because all that interest you pay is their profit. Over the last few years, how many of you refinanced to take advantage of the lower rates? I?m sure some of you even thought it was a great idea to get interest only or negatively amortized loans which you will surely regret in the next few years. Refinancing at a lower rate is how we?ve been told is the best way to reduce the interest costs of servicing our debt.

So what is it that you are just not being told? If I told you that you could pay off all your existing 30 year mortgage and your other debt in 5 to 10 years or so, without changing the amount you pay to service your debt, you probably wouldn?t believe me. Anytime something sounds too good to be true, it is natural to suspect deception. So I have two things to accomplish with the rest of this article ? convince you it is possible and show you how you your debt can be paid off honestly and fairly without you committing any upfront cash or obligation.

Whether you believe me that it is possible to completely pay off your 30-year mortgage quickly is a lot like the situation with the four-minute mile. Before it was done and common knowledge, it seemed impossible, but once others had done it, it no longer became so uncommon. When I was shown that it matters where my money is sitting each and every day of the month, when Daily Calculated Interest was explained to me, and when I learned that banks manage their money to their advantage, I knew there had to be a better way. I reviewed every single book I could get my hands on through the county library system, I checked out all the online gurus, and was shown a process available to anyone that wants to pay off all their debts quickly.

**************************************************************

Example of Savings When Daily Calculated Interest Matters:
Traditional Mortgage Accelerated Plan
$150,000(original loan amount) $150,000(original loan amount)
7% Interest 7% Interest
After 5 Years = $9,000 Equity After 55 Days = $6,500 Equity
30 Years To Pay Off 6 Years 2 Months To Pay Off
Total Paid $359,000 Total Paid $185,000
Interest Paid $209,000 Interest Paid $35,000

Interest Savings $174,000

After 10 Years = 10% Principle Paid
After 22 Years = 50% Principle Paid

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Why don?t more of us take advantage of these plans and systems? Other than the fact that most of us don?t even know they exist, it is also true that we typically don?t have the discipline to follow through with financial plans. I heard just recently that something like one Read more…

On Friday evenings I look forward to closing the week by going twilight racing on a friend Alan?s 30 ft yacht on beautiful Sydney Harbour. It?s a wonderful experience, with some spectacular sites of the city skyline and the many sails as we return to base in the setting sun. We have a handicap of about half an hour, which means we start about half an hour after the first boats.

Yet week after week we manage to overtake the other boats and arrive back at or near the front?..

At the start of the season the club organisers decided to challenge us further by moving us into the next category of yachts ? to race against the 40ft yachts which are designed to be faster due to their increased sail area and length?? yet a few weeks ago we took out line honours there too!

What?s the secret? Is it a special purpose built lightweight boat with secret features built for speed? Do we have a special winged keel like Australia 2 had in 1983 to win the America?s Cup?

No. None of these. It is a standard yacht built over a decade ago.

Our hidden gem as to why we do so well is the experience and leadership of our tactician Jim Vaughan.

His many years of sailing on board many owners? boats in all conditions means that he is totally in tune with all the parameters needed to win. He plans each race before we hoist a sail.

He checks weather forecasts, current weather conditions, tides, winds, competition, skill levels and weight of those on board?. the list goes on. Then, once we cross the starting line Jim watches for every slight change that may come our way.

For nearly two hours Jim checks every detail around him on the boat, what the crew are doing, the surface of the water for tide and wind changes – to make sure he sticks to his plan or makes fine changes to suit if any unexpected changes occur.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of helping him and a few friends sail the yacht about 20 nautical miles in the open sea from an inlet called Pittwater (North of Sydney), past Sydney?s northern beautiful beaches, before re-entering Sydney Harbour.

While this was not a race, Jim and Alan still planned the trip down to the smallest detail.

For this one we had charts; Global Positioning equipment to check not only position but also our actual speed relative to the ocean floor bed and extra safety equipment in the form of personal EPIRB ? so that satellites could track us if we fell overboard ????

This time we were due to sail south into a south west wind. For the benefit of non sailors, let me first explain that you can?t sail into a wind head-on. This means that you have to ?tack? back and forth in a series of steps in a zig-zag pattern to progress forwards.

For our journey yesterday Jim eluded to us that in addition to the wind coming almost face on, we also had an opposing tide to slow us down too.

Jim?s solution? He also explained that a few miles off the coast there were ocean currents which contained warmer water – travelling southwards in our favour. The weather forecast was for slight seas and no storms forecast so his risk assessment was that he felt safe heading straight out to sea.

So rather than do a series of multiple tacks backwards and forwards close to shore, Jim?s plan was to sail a few miles out to sea until we found these warmer waters and then to alter course to take only one more tack straight in through Sydney Heads.

Sure enough, when we found the ocean current, the colour of the sea turned a magnificent shade of blue; we watched the sea temperature climb from 23.8o C to 26.3 o C within an Read more…

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
> >
> > Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a
> >
> > We Deserve It Dividend.
> >
> > To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000
> >
> > bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+.
> >
> > Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
> >
> > and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
> >
> > So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals
> > $425,000.00.
> > My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
> >
> > We Deserve It Dividend.
> >
> > Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
> > So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
> >
> > Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
> > That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
> >
> > But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
> > A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
> >
> > What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
> >
> > Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
> > Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
> > Put away money for college – it’ll be there
> > Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
> > Buy a new car – create jobs
> > Invest in the market – capital drives growth
> > Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
> > Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
> >
> > Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
> > who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
> > that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed
> > Forces.
> >
> > If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every
> > adult
> > U S Citizen 18+!
> >
> >
> > As for AIG – liquidate it.
> >
> > Sell off its parts.
> >
> > Let American General go back to being American General.
> > Sell off the real estate.
> > Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
> > Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
> > Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
> > But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
> > How do you spell Economic Boom?
> >
> > I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $59.5 Billion
> >
> > We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in
> > Washington DC.
> >
> > And remember, The plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because
> > $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
> > Ahhh…

I got this email yesterday and thought it was a GREAT idea! What do you think?:
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a “We Deserve It Dividend.” To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bona fide U.S. Citizens 18 and over. Our population is about 301,000,000 ± counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up. So divide 200 million adults 18 and up into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18 and up as a “We Deserve It Dividend.” Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18 and up has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18 and up has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college – it’ll be there Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car – create jobs. Invest in the market – capital drives growth Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else.
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18 and up including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1,000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult US Citizen 18 and up!
As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.” But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion “We Deserve It Dividend” more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Hold on….here it is.
I’m against the $85,000,000,000..00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to
America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are
200,000,000 bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man,
woman and child.
So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that
equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We
Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a
tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it
means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your
family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care
improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including
the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really
do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” )
economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President..
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let
American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the
$85 Billion. We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, The Buddy plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ah…I feel so much better getting that off my chest

I’m against the $85,000,000, 000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000, 000 to America in a
“We Deserve It Dividend”.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000
bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. (200 million)
Our population is a bout 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals
$425,000.00 per each adult.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
“We Deserve It Dividend”.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000, 000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000 .00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – ends the welfare crisis
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost t heir jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed
Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth le t’s really do it…instead of
trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult
U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Su re it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
“We Deserve It Dividend” more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in
Washington DC .
And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.