Personal Finances (Not!)

I love the world of personal finances. I guess that's why I lead 3 Financial Peace University classes each year. I also subscribe to and follow a financial newsletter for today's Christian family. That newsletter is Sound Mind Investing The lead article in June's issue is titled "How to Ruin your Financial Life." It was a great article. It's based on Ben Stein's book titled the same. Here's the 10 quickest ways to ruin your financial life according to Ben.

1. Forget about tomorrow. Tomorrow will never come. It's always today.
2. Live a high-consumption lifestyle with enormous fixed expenses that we can't afford.
3. Don't balance your checkbook. (I balance mine within hours of getting my statement.)
4. Save money only when you feel like it and if you don't feel like it then don't save.
5. As soon as you succeed in maxing out you r credit cards, get new ones!
6. When you get your credit card bill pay only the minimum each month.
7. Make a point to watch all those late night financial success infomercial.
8. Don't be satisfied to just buy and hold. Rapid trading is the key to wealth.
9. Put all your eggs in one basket. Only sissies diversify.
10. If taking charge of your financial life seems overwhelming, just put it off a few more years.

These 10 are great! I got a big kick out of all of them. I guess because in times past I may have been guilty of one or more of them. I talk with people weekly that are still doing one of these and that's not a funny thing. It's time to wake up and take control of your financial life. Last year the U.S. family had a savings rate of -.5%. How is that possible? If you can identify with any of these 10 listed above, you need a plan. Try staring with these two things first.

1. Save, Save, Save $1,000 and put it in an emergency fund.
2. STOP accumulating Debt! Cut up your credit cards and call and cancel them. (That's what the $1,000 emergency fund is for.