If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Are You Living On Purpose

Passions and purpose are not always top of mind when we go through our daily activities. We start to experience frustration and emotional triggers that in short make us feel uncomfortable. We have all been told that we need to live on purpose, find our passions and live in the moment. It’s definitely easy to say and so much harder to do. You see when you are truly ready for success and everything you have always wished for new and exciting changes start to evolve in front of you.

The down side is that even though all of the new and exciting changes are taking place the truth is that while all of this change is taking place there is a pain deep inside. It’s that same old battle between what one of my closest friends called the “Triangle of Toxicity” The ego, the addict and the victim all combat inside to unseat your will power, distract you from your goals, ultimately proving you a failure and leaving you feeling defeated, deflated and downright frustrated.

These are the times you need to pay close attention to. It’s exactly when this activity of (I don’t like this feeling, I am not ready for the change, etc…)  your behavior may become passive aggressive, you seem to distance yourself from the new and exciting activities trying to hold on to a shredded fabric of the past. THIS MOMENT the one that makes you feel all of those negative feelings is when you need to stand up and have a support system in place. Your peers, your mentors, your valued friends and family who truly RESPECT your opinion and support your decisions are who we need to turn to in times of need.

Starsky & Hooch

Personally and professionally I can say this because my own life is a true living example of miracles through adversity. I have made the leap of faith and jumped on the purpose train. I told you last year that life had gone to the dogs and now that phrase has new meaning. I have taken a walk from what I thought was my purpose in life to teach and educate all about finances and taken my love for training to the dogs. Over the last three months I have been introduced to the Bully breed of dogs I had a beautiful Boxer / Pit Bull mix her name was Genesis. When she passed suddenly I became the proud owner of two brothers today they are 11 weeks old.

This coincides with my daily life since I have become COO of BetterHealthForDogs.com I have been around dogs for the majority of my life, my wife and I even had up to six dogs at one time, however I have never had my very own dog and these two guys are as sweet as apple pie. You can watch them all grow up here on their blog very own blog. These guys are my new focus and their well being is essential to our success. You see these guy are going to become a ring side attraction. I am going to dive head first into sporting events for these two boys. Agility competitions and sport tracking are great exercise and fun for them as well as their owners.

I have found that letting go of a situation when times are difficult can bring you full circle to a solution to a situation. Sometimes it’s just that full revolution that creates

Genesis my new found inspiration she will be missed

the symmetry and seamless solution to something that had been a challenge or difficulty in our lives. Stay tuned to the blog here for further updates. I am still very focused on creating wealth for everyone it’s just great to share amazing news and great progress towards fulfilling passions of my own. Stay tuned for updated because RW3.o is coming just after summer 2010.

• What's the cost of financial failure What's the cost of financial failure? I had never given this a thought until I had experienced financial hardship in my own life. People never give reason or rhyme to why they have served themselves a bad deal. When financial crisis occurs you wouldn't even begin to imagine the costs......
• How To Measure True Wealth and Success How does one truly measure success? How does one measure wealth? Is purely by their achievements in life? Does that mean that if you never reach the fame and fortune levels that you weer never truly successful? Have you ever thought about what what it really meant to be......
• Who's your competition when it comes to land banking for profits According tot the title of this article you do have some competition in this unique niche of real estate investing. Land banking is usually used for the purpose of acquiring land in the path of growth of a major metropolitan city and holding that property for the long term to......
• One man can make a difference Call it bragging or whatever you like I really don’t care. I have made the commitment to change the world or at least the largest portion of it that I have the ability to touch. Personally I may not be able to save the planet although I sure am......
• How to Protect Your Identity During the Holiday Season Holiday cheer is all around us and winter is in the air, we feel the chill of the season and the happiness of the time of the year. No matter where we go it’s hard to hide from the fact that it’s almost Christmas time. With mistletoe and lit......

• Thank You Fellow Bloggers! In today's internet, I feel like people don't usually check out the a blogger's blogroll, so as a way to say thank you I wanted to list the blogs that I read almost daily.  My Blog Roll AllFinancialMatters Bad Money Advice Bargaineering Bible Money Matters Budgets are Sexy. Cash Money......
• how to enjoy life, or not The longer I live the more I learn about how NOT to enjoy life. The opposite lesson is much harder to figure out - how to enjoy life. I have learned a lot about what makes life less than pleasant. Commuting, for one thing. Poor health, for another. Bad relations......
• Lobster Elite Model 3 Tennis Ball Machine One of the best ways to practice tennis is to use a ball machine, but these can be expensive. If you have your own home court, or you play at a public court system where there isn’t a ball machine on site, buying your own is an option that many......
• Books and Movies that Fire Me Up, Financially With the expanded cable canceled and football season a distant memory I've gone on a bit of a scavenger hunt through the house looking for things to fire me up. A couple years ago I ran across a book on CD that totally changed my outlook on finances. I've decided......
• Purpose and Passion Last Thursday I was so inspired after hearing a talk from the CEO of a company called TriVita, that I started writing this blog right there on my yellow pad in the midst of the meeting. “Purpose” and “Passion”, he kept saying it over and over. I knew right then......

Funny how when we look at money, financial affairs and wealth we often overlook some of the most simple things. For example what about cutting back on items or finding ways to save on the purchases of the items or services, I read this article in Readers Digest a couple of months ago. I knew the information was very timely and will still be 5, 10, even 25 years down the road.

 When principles are followed and used as a rule of thumb per say the foundational principles are definitely the key to success both short term and long term. As with any system duplication, processes, and standardized rules apply. If you don’t set yourself up for success you’re never going to obtain it.

 Just real quick I remember when I was down and out I couldn’t do the right thing when I knew what it was. Stupid foolish pride, stubbornness and a rebel without a cause was literally keeping me and my family away from total financial freedom and the success we both needed and deserved.

 I have emphasized over and over the importance of planning, organization and action; this is where it all stemmed from. Because of my failing myself and the constant at war with my 3 most feared altered egos. The addict, the victim and the ego all fighting and vying for total control over my thoughts and actions. The victim says why why why, the addict stay addicted to the drama and chaos taking place while the ego fronted the attitude of nothings wrong this is fine just keep on doing what ever it is you are doing.

 Take these words well and obied by them, study my every word in that last paragraph to see if you have any symptoms of the above mentioned personalities. Are you dealing with the addict (physical or mental addictions), the ego or the victim to circumstance and looking for reassurance. Let’s make it clear these three villains are out to destroy your progress and your dreams for the future if you let them.

 With that let’s jump right to the chase here are the 29 tips to help you save money. If you know of others please leave them below. After we get to 100 comments with additional cost cutting measures I plan on making a special report featuring the best the top 50. They might not even be from the article I read. They could be yours.

 TAXES

1.  Forget the short form: Most tax payers – 65 percent of us, to be exact just take the standardized deduction. But you may save money by itemizing expenses. Things like out of pocket health care expenses (including some for job searches), and charitable donations are just a few of the items you may be able to deduct. Fill out the long form (IRS 1040) if your total deductions are greater than %5450.00 (standard for 2008 for single person) or $10,900(for a married couple filing jointly), you’ll save money by itemizing when you file.

2. Your children should file a tax return – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t care how old they are. If they earn more than $5,450 in a given year. (wages/interest income), they have to file – even if you claim them as dependants. If they make less than that they still need to file because they will get back all of the monies their employer withheld. Help them with t he paperwork. It’s a great learning experience possibly earning them some extra cash.

3. Avoid the tax refund, You may feel giddy knowing you’ll get a check from the IRS this spring, but you shouldn’t. Getting money back means you’re essentially lending money to the government interest free It’s better to have the cash in your account than lending it to Uncle Sam. So if you’ve been getting big refunds or have had a big life change such as (marriage, having a baby, a divorce, a radical increase or decrease in income), adjust your withholding allowances on your W-4 form. You can do than now for your 2009 taxes by visiting irs.gov. Use the withholding calculator to determine the correct figure for you. Then print out s new W-4 form, fill it out and give it to your payroll department.

4. Avoid the “Rapid Refund” programs – Yes yes yes avoid them at all costs or temptation, sure they all sound great. After all, what can be better than getting your money fast? A tax – prep chain might try to get you to agree to one of these “instant” or “anticipation” options. Don’t take the bait (it’s a trap). It’s not a refund; it’s a loan at a very high interest rate. The average for 2008 was 123%. File your refund electronically even if it’s with a tax chain the IRS will deposit your refund directly into your account within a week or two. Such a better deal for you the tax filer.

 CHECKING AND SAVINGS 

1. Make sure your free checking accounts are really free – Many banks advertise free checking, you need to ensure that it really is. Read the fine print, if the minimum balance is steep such as thousands of dollars, in some cases – look for a bank with no minimum requirement. This could easily save you $100 or more per year. Bankrate.com is a good site for comparing accounts. (Also stop wasting the $1.00 – $3.00 per transaction at other banks ATM’s)

2. Bank Online – It’s so easy to pay your bills, transfer funds, save automatically and have the ability to keep track of it all. Using these will definitely help save you both time and money as well as protecting your credit score. In fact I wrote an article about automating your investing and credit scores that uses this very same principle. http://ryanwegman.com/blog/?p=274 The other benefits are safer transactions, reduced exposure to identity theft.

3. Keep your money in super safe places – You need to set your sights on amassing a minimum of six months of contingency funds; for the simple purpose of protecting you from job loss, sudden injury and setbacks that happen when you least expect it. So where’s the best place to keep it.? FDIC insured bank savings accounts, CD’s, and money market accounts are stillthree of the most secure places. (Uncle Sam increased the limit it will insure to $250,000 per account until December 31^st 2009. Money market funds that invest in treasury bills are super safe, too, but they have very low yielding. Internet banks and credit unions tend to pay higher interest rates,before you make the switch you need to go to fdic.gov to check if these banks you are reviewing have the same FDIC government insured guarantee. Also Series I bonds, or I bonds which are just as safe and are guaranteed. These I bonds are also guaranteed to keep up with inflation and they are free from state and (possibly federal tax if you use them for college costs). The downside is you cannot redeem them for at least a year and if you cash in before 5 years there is a small penalty. Other areas are corporate and tax-exempt money market funds, these are a bit riskier. You can view yields at cranedata.us

 DEBT

1. Cut up your extra credit cards – DO NOT CLOSE THE ACCOUNTS!!! sure it’s proactive and smart to reduce the temptation to splurge by destroying your credit cards. However if you actually close them you will damage your credit score. This is due to the way your credit scores are derived with amount of available credit to your existing debt. Did you know that the average American family has approximately 9 credit cards. You can widdle it down to 2 or 3 active cards and use the others every quarter to keep them open and active.

2. Pay your bills ontime – Just one single late payment could increase your future interest rates dramatically on future loans and your existing credit card accounts. Just one missed payment can lower your credit score as much as 100 points. This inturn starts a chain of events that basically show lenders that you are a higher risk customer. Shopping for credit such as auto loans, credit cards or mortgages could cost you as much as one full percentage point more. Equaling a potential cost of tens of thousands of dollars in interest payment. Be sure to set up your automatic bill payments to ensure you are never late on a payment again.

3. Paying an extra $10 a month – Paying a little extra principle towards reduction accelerates your payoff reducing your overall time in debt. Most American families carry a balance of $2000. The exception are the 10% – 15% carry balances around $9,000 or higher. If you were to only pay just the minimum payment in this scenario it around $224.00 that’s required on the $9,000 balance every month, it would take you 31 years and over $13,000 in interest payment to pay it off. If you added just a simple $10 to your payment making it $234 until you paid off the balance would save you $8,900. The debt would vanish in 5 years. (check your balances using the calculator on bankrate.com)

4. Put your savings to work – Many people that have credit cards debt usually have a stash of cash away in a bank account. People argue that they don’t want to use their hard earned savings to pay off debt. (I agree with this philosophy however when I was shown the math I saw a light). Here’s where it makes sense to keep your money in the bank, is the bank paying a higher interest rate than what the credit card or loan interest rate is charging? Paying off a credit card with an interest rate of 13% is equivalent to earning 13% interest on your money after taxes. There are no savings or investments that guarantee that type of return.

5. Pay more on your mortgage – You may have heard this because interest payments are tax deductible, even though a mortgage is a good debt. Even if you are getting a tax break you are still paying interest. The longer you have a mortgage the less of a tax break you get. The sooner you pay off your debt the better. Here’s a simple way to see how long it will take to create you a debt free lifestyle http://yourdebtfreedate.com/258571 register for a free debt elimination plan.

6. Reduce your credit card interest rate – it may be time to get a little assertive and nervy with your creditors and credit card companies. If you pay your bill on time and you’re not late and your credit card company is still raising your interest rates or lowers your limits, call the companies 800 number ask for the retention department and explain that your thinking of taking your business elsewhere. You want to get a reasonable rate if they aren’t willing to negotiater source a new company that offers $0.00 transfers and lower interest rates. Banks are still motivated in spite of the recent credit crunch you may have heard about.

7. Get your credit report for free – Each and every year you are allowed 1 free copy of your personal credit report from each of these three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) every year. A word of caution here most of these companies are actually trying to sell you credit monitoring services and other things you actually don’t need to buy. You will automatically signed up for these services when you order the free credit reports.  

INSURANCE 

1. Shop around for auto insurance – Utilize the Internet and phone to secure several independent quotes. You’ll also want want to ask about lesser known breaks. Example if you children are grown and out of the house, they may be able to receive a substantial discount if they insure their cars through the company you use. One of the best places to start shopping your rates is carinsurance.com

2. Sign up for FSA – Many employers offer flexible spending accounts as a way to set aside part of your salary for health care and child care costs. The accounts are able to pay for everything from band-aids to orthodontic work with pretax money, which translates into an approximate discount of 30 percent, depending on your tax bracket. Word of caution plan carefully if you don’t use all of the money in your FSA you loose whatever is left.

3. Keep grown kids on your health insurance policy – If you are going to wind up giving your child money for coverage it’s usually cheaper to keep them on your policy as long as possible. In some states the age limit is up to 26, whether they are in school or not. (New Jersey will give you until 30) Some states require proof of single, have no children and are living in the same state as you. Visit statecoverage.net for state eligibility and also even if your state doesn’t mandate coverage your insurance plan may; call your human resources department for details.

4. Hold off on that long term coverage – With the onset of rising health care and extended nursing costs many people in their 40’s and 50’s decided to purchase long-term-care insurance coverage in order to lock in a rate. It’s true that the premiums go up as you age, although the increase isn’t as much as you might think. According to data collected by America’s Health Insurance Plans; a 65 year old may end up paying $126 more per year than a person aged 55. If you looked at the overall cost over 10 years it would equate to $19,000 on the coverage even though the person wouldn’t typically need it until age 83 or so. Depending on your health the best time to buy is between 60 and 65.

5. Sign up for disability insurance – This will help to protect your income in the event you become unable to work for a long period of time. Ideally you would have enough to cover 60% to 70% of your salary. If your company doesn’t provide this much coverage you may want to source out additional coverage. It can be costly, but it’s worth it if you can afford it. Visit affordableinsuranceprotection.com or unum.com

6. Think twice about life insurance – If you don’t have dependents you may not need it. If you do have childre3n or other dependents you’ll probably be better off with term life insurance, until, say, your children are grown and can take care of themselves. It’s less expensive than whole life insurance or other types of policies that build up value until you die or cash them in. Many agent will recommend to you that these whole life and other policies build up better value tax free but these same policies come with very high fees. You would be better off putting that money towards your IRA or 401(k) plan. Compare rates at term4sale.com

7. Write your will – No one like to think about dying, you need to. Wills don’t have to be fancy contracts that lawyers slave over. It’s a simple written record of whom you want to entrust your estate and children to when you die. You can create a simple boilerplate will, sign it in the presence of a witness (usually two people who aren’t named in the will). Nolo.com is a legal publishing house provides a good boilerplate copy for around $25. This template is valid in every state except Lousiana. Also make sure your beneficiaries are on your life insurance policies, bank and retirement accounts too. Also make sure these accounts are up-to-date. 

RETIREMENT 

1. Contribute to your company’s 401(k) – If your company matches funds, SIGN UP. This is free money to you yes I said FREE Money. A typical company will kick in 50 cents for every dollar you save, up to 6% That’s an immediate 50% return on your investment, you can’t get that anywhere. As the facts stand one in three American’s are not taking advantage of this benefit. Just with the matching funds you can double the size of your 401(k) in 20 years, even if the stock market remains flat. For a family making $44,000 your contribution may be as low as $33/week. You won’t even miss that money on your paycheck due to the pretax benefit.

2. Put your retirement ahead of college savings – Sure you want to take care of your children’s college needs however because of the tax breaks and th3e flexibility of these accounts, you are much better off contributing to your 401(k) or IRA accounts and then taking out loans for college. Many people don’t realize that the contributions you place into a Roth IRA are able to be withdrawn free of penalty at any time. This is very different from the college savings plans, called 529’s, that smack you with a significant penalty if the money is not used for college. Most schools don’t count the money in your retirement accounts when assessing how much financial assistance you’ll require for college. Once you’ve maxed out your retirement accounts then you can search out information on college savings plans.

3. Say no to company stock – Think of big companies such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Enron. All of these companies were once on top of their game, when they went under, many employees were left without jobs, retirement accounts were overloaded with junk company stocks. Basically people got screwed. You already have a huge stake in the company since you depend on it for your paycheck; don’t risk your retirement money as well. If your employer offers company stock as a 401(k) option do not take it. If your offered company stock as part of your matching plan sell them as soon as it’s allowed and switch some of that money into another type of investment.

4. Don’t worry about social security – Don’t worry even though you have heard the stories about anyone 35 and younger will not have social security benefits. Even in the middle of our economic chaos. Social Security will probably pay you 65% – 80% of your current promised benefits. With some fairly modest changes such as raising the retirement age or increasing payroll taxes for anyone earning over $250,000 per year – the system can be shored up for decades. Make sure your saving enough so you don’t have to rely on the system for your entire retirement income.

5. Stay away from individual stocks – Despite what you may have heard from your cousin the broker, buying the stock of an individual company is not wise. Essentially you are breaking the golden rule of “never put all of your eggs in one basket”. Plus you are paying broker fees that could easily eat up your earnings. In fact you really don’t need a broker. Instead of buying individual stocks, invest directly into ETF’s*, these are the new age mutual funds. These put your money across many companies at one time allowing you allocation and diversity with one purchase. You only want to do this with money you can invest for the long term.

6. Stick with index funds – You’ll want to go with a special type of mutual fund called an index fund, which buys a little piece of each of the companies that make up the established bench marks like the S&P 500. One of the best kept secrets of investing is that in the long run index index funds perform at least as well as the funds that charge high fees. As of December they had lost less than the average stock fund run by the so called expert. You can find a list of low cost index funds at either vanguard.com or fidelity.com

7. Don’t buy investment products from your bank – None of the products that banks sell are FDIC insured, they tend to cost more than comparable assets you can pick up elsewhere. Banks also charge huge commissions and fees. You would be better of buying from a broker or a company that can provide you with lower fees and sales commissions.

8. Build a portfolio – The typical rule of thumb is to put 50% of your long term savings in stock (I recommend against this) 30% in bonds and keep 20% available in cash. In tough times especially getting the right mix will depend on the risk you’re willing to take. Stocks are more risky than bonds, there are exceptions to every rule such as junk bonds or high yield bonds. Visit financialengines.com which charges about $40.00 every 3 months. This is a great site for calculating the right mix. 

BONUS 

1. Always take care of your health – Eat right, exercise, and get plenty of rest and sleep. For more tips go to readersdigest.com/moneyguide

2. If you are in need of any services mentioned above please don’t hesitate to contact me at ryan at ryanwegman dot com

3. Lastly here are a few resources you could use to power you along. For constant 24/7 advice for money management FDI offers a Money-Trax program, also FDI offers First Class retirement to help you set up your IRA and keep your investing right on track. Earlier I mentioned a debt elimination plan with FDI as well just go to yourdebtfreedate.com/258571

4. Lastly most financial advisors will not recommend real estate for your portfolio. I however am a first hand believer and owner of real estate used for long term capital appreciation and preservation. Visit http://thesecretofland.com and register for your free webinar called Pay Dirt.

• Is fear really holding you back from the true wealth you deserve Funny sounding and actually quite appropriate for this time of the season. With Halloween right around the corner, the leaves turning red, orange and yellow. The sight of monsters, goblins, creepy and eerie things that you only find in horror films. Isn't that what this month's tone happens to......
• 5 steps to a better more accurate credit score Often times I get asked how do I raise my credit score, now of course the answer may not be the same for every individual circumstance. Although the basic four rules apply to assist in keeping your credit scores in their best possible. score. Number 1 rule of thumb is......
• Investing in your online accounts with automatic bill pay Many people have tried to systematize a method for automating their investments and although it takes a human touch make the buy and sell calls in the stock market you can charge your investment accounts with your dollars automatically. Set up your account and then when you have all of......
• Recovering from bankruptcy isn't as difficult as you may think I hear this cry from many people worried about their financial circumstances after they have decided that bankruptcy is their only alternative when it comes to recovering from financial hardship. I'm not an attorney yet I work very closely with them in my real estate business. On many occasions bankruptcy......
• Finding the Value and Benefit of Using Discounted Service Providers In today’s economic turbulent times the value of the dollar is limited and consumers are searching for more economically affordable solutions.For the most part price wins decisions more often than not. Just like people searching for solutions for their mortgage people rate shop and often take a lower rate......

• Credit Scores Matter More Than You Think Credit scores are important when you want to borrow money or get a new credit card. They're important when you want to rent an apartment or a house, since the landlord will usually run a credit and background check on you before they'll hand over the keys.  If you thought......
• How To Make Yourself More Layoff Proof Last Friday the U.S. Labor Department announced 533,000 people lost their jobs in November.  This figure represents the largest number of layoffs in a single month in some 34 years.  For those fortunate to remain employed the numbers are a worrying statistic. Will we be next to join the growing......
• Credit Card Companies Cutting Credit, Rewards; Upping Interest Rates. Wall Street gets a bailout, regular old Americans see their available credit decrease, their interest rate go up, and their rewards get smaller... Big lenders — like American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup and even the retailer Target — have begun tightening standards for applicants and are culling their portfolios......
• Home Improvement Grants for Home Improvement Help If you are seeking out home improvement help, then one of the best things that you can do, at least on the financial side of things, is to get the home improvement help that you need by way of home improvement grants. If you are looking to sell your home......
• Tax Rebate Checks Coming? The latest news on the economy is bad. Apparently, the housing debacle, years of negative savings rates, and a credit crunch thanks to our insatiable appetite for something bigger and better was too much for the bull market. This economic "perfect storm" has effectively wiped out gains earned since March......