Retirement of a giant and the rise of future leaders I looked as if I was a deer staring in the headlights when I opened the news this morning. You see I have been buried in tons of different activities and meetings over the last several weeks as I have been working on locating new partners and authors to contribute to your reading pleasure.

I have not been watching the ‘headlines” as often as I should have been. Yet I’m glad I was able to catch the headline in Barrons. Barrons states “NetJets Pick More Likely to Succeed Buffett”

I stopped in my tracks what Buffet is finally going to retire. [I had often wondered how the richest man in the world would spend his retirement and who would ever replace him? They say that David Sokol will be the new chair person after the departing Richard Santulli as the chairman and interim chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway.

So as one giant lays to rest an eon of achievement and accomplishment what will the future hold. This was really not even on my mind when I started this task today. I really was performing an experiment or assignment given to me during the intense meetings I have been involved in. So I decided to look around for a second at what inspired me to write about today.

I looked through all of the financial papers as well as pinging away at my favorite search engine to see what has the ability to grab my attention. Then it occurred to me after I saw Buffet’s headline I wanted to start with the clean slate approach I have been discussing over my last few blog posts.

Buffet has plenty of worries as this transition takes place, sure there will be a period of time for dust to settle. New energy and ideas will resonate as Buffet detaches from the ranks. New management always means change and change isn’t always easy.

So my Aha moment was deciding to change the way we all as a community think about, as well as act about money. I was challenged to choose my target market who I wanted to cater too. Teens, twenties through forties, above fifty, above seventies?

I have always generalized my information to all audiences. Now segmenting would require more change. So here’s the top 3 topics related to 3 different categories but before I begin let me state that “the green back is broken”

The U.S. dollar index is at 11-month lows and shows no signs of turning around. This frightens me to the bone, think about that for a minute Obama has been in for 8 Months now and we have a track record of exorbitant spending as well as weakening purchasing power.

No matter who you are this affects you and your ability to create and grow wealth, sure prices are lower and bargains are everywhere, yet services and products still continue to rise in cost and inflation. So now lets address the categories. As our falling DOW Jones Industrial Average fights to remain alive  we are all faced with more challenges ahead. Time to buckle down and get SERIOUS!

Teen Finance

• I found this site very interesting and informative to teenagers and finance the articles were priceless they covered topics from impulse buying, recession and teens challenges, there were also theories on why money was important.

• Next I decided to venture on to another site which had six theories on financial advice and the important rules to follow.

• Lastly I stopped by another site called the Motley Fool this article was for teenagers about becoming millionaires I find this interesting due to having a two teenagers in my life my Son and my step daughter watching their trends with money and spending are fascinating to see the path they choose to wander and the choices they make.

Parent’s

• Next we look at the teenagers life on fast forward, young parents faced with choices of survival, college planning, and retirement planning – can relate to the market segment most myself. So I found an article written on 9 ways to find help getting organized

• Then we delve right into ways parents need to talk to their children about the “economic crisis”

• Finally we run to the advice column where we look at the costs of child bearing and the importance of education

Retirement

• This article isn’t just directed towards seniors yet since there is a huge demand for medical treatment for seniors I thought I would start here. Doctors visits usually have co pays associated with them and now patients are receiving bills after treatment. Now some are even being asked to pay for the entire process out of pocket costs on the visit.
• The we roll right into retirement planning tips  straight from business week.
• Lastly on this journey w stop and cover issues of senior finance and I find only planning and health care services listed on top for these major search phrases, I know the senior citizen can face financial challenges with medical, trust and estate planning, assisted living and many other areas. Protection from fraud is huge.

So I will stop here and let you stir the info around. Remember that life goes on and we all choose to want a better life the real question is are you willing to choose a better life?Buffet chose a time to hand over the thrown in the worst of crisis and turbulent change, our new leaders will be formed under this rule. Can this giant of giants remain tall and waver through this change or will it fall and crumble. My guess is Warren Buffet made sure he had a foundation for strong growth and strength for change.

My guess is you will mold yourself to model the master and to grow your children with values and respect for currency and cash, to respect credit and to create wealthy lifestyles for comfort and enjoyment.

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Have you considered using a debt settlement company for your over leveraged credit lines? What’s the best method, service provider and option for you as a consumer? These are questions that many people should be asking before they answer an ad for a company who “specializes in debt consolidation.”

Many companies that perform debt settlement and consolidation have a couple of pitfalls. First off many of them negotiate with your creditors and set up a payment plan, then the funds that they collect every month are accrued and collected for their fees first, then after a period of time up to six months your capital is being applied to their costs and not your debt.

Secondly they are consumer advocates and not necessarily attorney based there for when your creditor decides to sue you for settlement trying to force your hand into financial turmoil or bankruptcy you get dropped from the debt settlement company.

Scenario case and point we had a client in our office who needed a debt settlement service so we directed them to a known source. The payment plan was negotiated and set up for three years. Soon after the program started the clients proceeded to make the required payments. After three months and $7,500 later the clients received a notice from their mortgage company.

They were being sued, after contacting the debt settlement company 3 days before the end of the refund policy they talked it over and decided to file bankruptcy. The couple called the debt settlement company back and they were informed of two issues.

1. Yes we see you have been issued a lawsuit by the mortgage company & that they would not be receiving any refund.

2. You are also being dropped from our program because we do not have an attorney on staff,

Needless to say we had some very, very upset clients for the obvious reasons of loss of thousands of dollars and now being dropped for something totally out of their control. Now they had to file a bankruptcy to save their home, which translated into more of an expense and more headaches.

Another scenario plays the same way; the debt settlement company charges a fee of $14,000 up front on $100,000 in debt. The credit card company receives no payments for several months and issues a lawsuit. The clients are out the months of payment for debt settlement, they received a total of three months and simultaneously were dropped from the debt settlement company because they did not have an attorney on staff.

When it comes to debt settlement you need just as much legal protection in this arena as you would to modify a loan or start a corporation and draw up the documentation. Time and time again people fall victim to companies who are out for their own agenda and business gain.

It’s sad yet people make decisions based on emotions and not necessarily on well thought out or planned out strategy and they wind up with either a band-aid on a sever wound that needed proper medical attention; or they wind up with a situation that is far worse than the one they started off with.

Also besides having the professional advise of an attorney you have the representation to assist you when those creditors retaliate against you. This way you can rest assured that you are protected and safe from those unexpected bumps in the road.

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