An easy way to same some money on your car

Quickly answer this. . . . How many miles between oil changes? I bet you said every 3,000 miles right? We'll you'd be wrong. Every 3,000 miles is what those quick lube places and dealerships put on that window sticker when you get your oil changed.

What you need to do is check your owners manual. I'll bet you'll find it recommends every 5,000 miles between oil changes. That's an extra 2,000 miles between changes. If you drive 15,000 miles a year, this means 2 less oil changes a year. This saves you time and money. At $30 per oil change, that's $60 in your pocket.

If you really want to save some green, do your own oil change. You can do it yourself for less than $20. I changed my own oil last weekend.

I've got a VW diesel my owners manual says to change the oil one a year or every 10,000 miles which ever comes first. So, every 3,000 would be a big waist of money and time for me.

Could you 401K be going away?

If House Education & Labor Committee Chairman George Miller D-California, and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, get their way, we can say good-bye to our 401k. These guys are looking at redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of "guaranteed retirement accounts" to which all workers would be obliged to contribute. I don't like the idea of the government controling my retirement account. This scares the pants off of me.

Under this plan, all workers would receive a annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5 percent of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3 percent a year, adjusted for inflation.

The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated.

Here's a link to the full story as reported in Workforce Magazine.

Freeze - Is $10 worth some great peace of mind?

$10 is all it cost me, I should say is what I invested, to put Security Freezes on all three of the credit reporting agencies. The costs vary by state but here in Ohio here was the costs

1. TransUnion - Free
2. Experian $5
3. Equifax $5

The entire process took me less than 15 minutes.

Here's why it's money very well spent. According to a new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study, 8.3 million U.S. adults become victims of ID theft each year. Consumers Union estimates that this amounts to more than 22,000 victims per day and 15 victims per minute.

A security freeze lets you stop identity thieves from opening new accounts in your name. So, even if thieves get a hold of your personal information, they can't do anything with it. This is huge! The freeze stops new potential creditors from seeing your consumer credit report and credit score. When you want to use your own credit record, you open your file with a PIN.

So, with your next paycheck, budget in the $10 and invest 15 minutes and FREEZE your Credit.

If you live in a state other than Ohio, click here to see what the fees are for your state.

A 30,000% return on an investment. (Wow!)

Yep, you read this right, a 30,000% return. This was a result of our FPU class last week. This session was one of my favorites as it's the lesson titled "Clause and Effect". This lesson educates class participants about all the different types of insurance.

In this lesson, Dave Ramsey does a fantastic job in explaining the difference between cash value life insurance and term insurance. I'm with Dave on this that term insurance is the only way to go for 98% of us. This lesson also is typically where participants save lots of money by switching from their old cash value policy to a good term policy.

This was the case with one couple in our class. They had been paying into a cash value policy for 15+ year. When they canceled their policy, the received the cash value. Are you ready for this? the check they received was for $30,000.

Had this couple not invested the $99 NewPointe charges to take FPU, they'd still be paying their monthly premium and the insurance company would have the $30,000.

With a good term life insurance policy in place and $30,000 in their pocket, this couple is well on their way to Financial Peace.

$30,000 on a $100 ($99 class cost) investment is a 30,000% return.

Here's what you missed. . . . (Motorcycles in service)

Ok, I made a short post on 10/9/08 regarding this past Sunday's service here at NewPointe. If you didn't make it here, check out this picture to see what you missed.

(We have a great volunteer photographer who captures the essence of Sunday mornings so well. Thanks Paul for using your talents to honor God!)


Part of Dwight's message was about God's power verses our own power. He used the motorcycles as a great visual. It was really cool to watch these bikes ride around the auditorium in the middle of service. I'm sure people will be talking about this for some time to come as it was very engaging. Way to go Dwight!

Ways to stand out at work

A few days ago, I had someone come up to me and thank me for the work I did for them. At the time, I didn't think much about it. Later I reflected on their comments and realized the simple things can make a big difference at work and at life.

Here are a few things I do that could help you stand out at work.

1. Respond quickly to someone's request. Even if all you can do at the time is let them know you'll get them the information by "x" date with every intention of gettting it to them sooner. So many times we request something of others via email or voicemail and with no response from them, we wonder if they even got our message.
2. On you're voice mail, as part of your message, ask people how you can help or serve them best when you call them back. I find by asking this, I get much better messages left for me and I'm able to have their answer when I return the call versed calling them back to ask what they wanted when the left me their voice mail.
   
3. If you can't give a person what they are requesting of you, give them alternatives. For example here at NewPointe, we get lots of requests to "borrow or rent" stuff. We tell them we are not able to do this and here are two sources we call when we want to rent this item. (People are turning to you because they want you to help them get solutions.)
4. Get on the solution side of a problem. Complaining is not a strategy. Look for and suggest answers that help move everyone forward.
5. Always end a conversation by asking a person is their anything else I can do for you? Most of the time the other person will say no but this is a great way to end.
   
   

Perspective. . . . on the market

I'm a facts based guy. So when I look at something or make decisions, I want to see the data. If you look at the stock market through a very narrow time frame, you'll be scared silly. Here's what you need to think about to get some perspective.

1. 100% of the 10 year periods in the history of the stock market has made money.
   
2. 97% of the 5 year periods in the history of the stock market has made money.
3. Since 1970, 38 years, the market has gone down 10% or more 10 time. 9 of those 10 times it completely recovered everything it lost within 2 years. And the first year it came back after it bottomed it averaged a 33% rate of return.
4. When the current market bottoms and you miss the upswing, you will be mad as . . . . if you panicked and sold out.
5. So relax, take a deep breath and count your blessings in life.
   

Don't miss this Sundays service

I don't usually blog about our Sunday service. There's lots of other NewPointe bloggers who do a great job with this topic. (Check out John Bunn's blog).

But this Sunday will include a visual that I'd venture to say has never been seen or done in any church before. Let's just say it's got me all revved up.

You need to be in the auditorium at either our 9 or 11 a.m. service to be part of this. Don't be late.

What financial crisis?

Ok, now that the title of this post got your attention, here's my thoughts / perspective on the current financial crisis. I, like everyone else who participates in some sort of retirement plan have seen my balance take a nose dive. I'm not happy about this but I'm also not fearful. Why no fear? I'm putting my trust in God not myself.

So, with that said, here are my thoughts.

1. God owns it all anyway.
   
2. Bear markets have come and gone before. This will pass.
   
3. With the market down this much, It's really the best time to buy as everything is on sale. Stick with mutual funds and stay away from individual stocks.
   
4. Keep investing into your retirement plan. Your buying more shares with the same dollars.
5. Stop looking at your investment value on a daily basis. This will drive you nuts.
6. Turn off the news. Their job is to evoke emotion and they are doing a good job of this right now.
   
7. I'm an even bigger fan now of life cycle funds. Most retirement plans now offer them. Consider putting some of your allocation into one of these types of funds.
8. Saving faithfully over time will always build wealth. It just takes a little while.
9. Start or continue to give. God will bless you for it. Stay faithful to him. It's easy to give when times are good. Giving in rough financial times points your heart toward Him.
10. Don't borrow any new money for anything.
    

So, in summary, keep everything in perspective, God owns it all. Make sure you have a plan and work that plan. 5-10 years from now, we won't be talking about this financial crisis.

The NewPointe Staff

I'm very proud and thankful to get to do ministry and life with the staff of NewPointe. I wanted to share this great picture of us with you.

It was taken just before we departed from our staff retreat to head back to the real world.

Can you find me in the picture?

4.35% 6 month CD

No joke and this is a great rate right now. I've used Amtrust Direct as one of my tow online savings accounts for years. They have lots of branches in the Cleveland Ohio area.

If you've got some savings laying around in low interest bearing accounts, you should consider this 6 month CD.

Another 2008 Goal met

I like setting goals. It drives me to grow. Today I've met another personal goal. I now weigh less thank 170lbs. Ok, 169.6 to be exact but it's under 170 none the less. I weighted 184 at the first of the year.

I set goals in every area of my life because it keeps me from drifting and just going through the motions.

As a result of some current reading that I'm doing, NewPointe's current series, One Month to Live, and our Staff retreat, I've come up with 10 daily goals. I carry these in my wallet and review them every day.

1. Pray
2. Value my family
3. Put people before things
4. Server someone
5. Encourage someone
6. Develop a thankful spirit
7. Smile (It's the key to health)
8. Exercise
9. Be open to new ideas
10. Treat everyone with respect
    

Reduce or elimnate unsolicted emails

I came across a great service provided by the direct marketing association that lets you put in your email address that allows consumers to indicate their wish to reduce the amount of unsolicited commercial email they receive.

Here's the link. DMA Choice.

I just signed up so I'm interested to see how long it takes for the junk email to be reduced.

In addition to emails, this site also tells you how to get off of

• mailing lists
• telemarketing lists
• marketing lists

Sunday - relax day

What's my favorite way to relax? Riding my bicycle of course. I took my camera along with me today and I wanted to share these pictures with you. I love fall in Ohio.

God is good!

True Colors

Yesterday and most of today, the NewPointe staff was off-site at Sky View Ranch for a staff retreat. It was a great time for team building activities, campfires and getting to know each other a little better.

One cool tool we each took home with us was a "True Colors Profile". This a form of the DISC profile. According the the True Colors Profile, I'm 100% green. What does that mean? Here's what my values to the NewPointe team are:

1. Objective and Realistic
2. Always looking for logical solutions
3. Builds good relationships
4. Consistent and steady
5. Presents the facts without emotion
6. Service-oriented
7. People-oriented
8. Good listener

I'd say these are some great qualities for a business administrator.

One funny/cute thing to note that came out in this profile. I like people to stay at least three feet from me. (I don't know why this is but it's true.)

Church Admin resourse

I just returned from Granger Community Church's Innovate Conference. Granger knocked the ball out of the park and I've brought back lots of ideas that I can implement here at NewPointe.

During the breakout session on church finance, the group was sharing resources they use in their role as church business administrators. Dave Moore hosted this breakout and he did an outstanding job.

Here's one resource you need to check out. It's a Yahoo Group called ChurchAdmin. There are over 2,800 members and here's what's discussed on this Yahoo Group.

Church business administrators who share information about church management issues. Typical questions might be, What are your scheduling policies for non-member weddings? Have you had any experience with nursery paging systems? If so, what vendor did you use? Do you have a facilities use policy that you would be willing to share? How do you track interest and participation of volunteers by ministry and more

Keeping up with what's going on

Internally here at NewPointe, our Executive Director Mike Conn gave the staff a new reporting tool. We call it our 5-15 report. (15 minutes to prepare, 5 minutes to read.) Maybe we should call it the 15-5 report.

Anyway, this report is do each Monday. I turn my report into Mike. He's my boss. My direct reports turn their 5-15 into me. This report keeps us as a staff moving forward and focused.

Here's whats on the report:

1. The "Win" for my environment is:
2. My primary goal this week is:
3. I need help from you on the following items:
4. My biggest challenge righ now is:
5. Upcoming changes to my normal schedule:
6. My top projects (with start date, percent complete, and due date)
7. Things that happened last week you should know:
8. People I met with last week and the purpose:
9. Groups I led last week with time and place.

What do you think? Should something be added or taken off this report? Would this tool be useful to you? It sure brings some accountability.

And the survey says. . . .

2007 has been and looks like it will continue to be a very had year financially. According to a survey by Gizzard Commutations Group, (No I didn't make that name up.) 29% of the 500 people surveyed expect to cut back on their charitable giving this fall.

As the Church business guy, this survey doesn't bother me. Here's why. I firmly believe that God is in control. I have no doubt that he will provide the necessary resources, financial and otherwise needed here at NewPointe.

I also believe NewPointe does a great job in teaching people how to manage their finances in a God honoring way. We do this by teaching Financial Peace University.

The question if find myself asking often is when things get tight financially, why is giving to the church one of the first things to go? Wouldn't you want to be working with God and have him involved in your finances vrs cutting him out of the picture by stopping your giving?

Google Health

I was cruising around the net today waiting for the Ohio State USC game tonight and came across a new and free offering from Google.

It's Google Health. It's currently in beta. Here's what they are claiming on the home page.

Google Health puts you in charge of your health information. It's safe, secure, and free.

• Organize your health information all in one place
• Gather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies
• Keep your doctors up-to-date about your health
• Be more informed about important health issues

This all sounds quite interesting to me. Especially when it's time to fill out all those medical forms as my kids are going back to school. I can never remember what medicines they are allergic too.

So, what do you think? Would you feel comfortable putting you medical information in the hands of Google?

Another Church Finance Guy joins the Blogging World

My buddy Dave Moore sits in the same chair as I do. Well not literally, but figuratively. Dave is the Finance Director of Granger Community Church. (As a side bar, I'll be out visiting with Dave next week as part of Granger's Innovate Conference. I'm really looking forward to that.)

Dave just started blogging and he's got some great stuff there already. Starting with his blog name, mooreforthemoney. Dave & I go back and forth with questions, ideas and suggestions. Most of his advise to me rocks my world.

So if your into personal and church finance, stop on over and check out his blog. I get to check him out in person next week.

My experience with BookStore Manager

It's not often I deal with a company that leave me dumfounded. But this is one of those time.

Long story short, the staff member in charge of our bookstore purchased BookStore Manger Software. The plan was to convert from QuickBooks Point of Sale.

A few days after BookStore Manger Software arrived here, this staff member resigned. With this, the bookstore responsibilities ended up on my plate. I wanted to return the BookStore Manager Software. Over the next month on the phone and via eamil I repeatedly requesting to return the UNINSTALLED software for a refund.

Here's the first paragraph of their final email response to me dated 9/8/08.

We appreciate your concerns about implementing Bookstore Manager RMS software into your ministry. Regretfully, we must decline your request for a refund.

I am shocked at their response.

May I have your Attention Please?

I've reached another one of my 2008 goals today.
I've exceed 2,500 miles peddled on my bicycle.


Take a look at my bike computer. The bottom number (2,511) is the total miles for the year. I took this pic as soon as I finished my ride today.

Do you see the 43.4? Don't tell my wife but that's my maximum speed on today's ride. We've got some great hills around here. Cindy really hates when I go this fast. I on the other hand love it.


Remember, It's not reaching your goals that matter most, it's you you are becoming as you work on reaching your goals that counts.

Money Podcast "worth" checking out

I really enjoy listening to Podcasts on my commute to and from work. I also listen to them when I walk my dogs.

If you enjoy the topic of finances, here's a few podcasts worth listening to.

1. The Money Guy
2. Marketplace Money
3. The Dave Ramsey Show
4. Marketplace

What Podcasts do you enjoy listening to?

A GoodSearch for a great cause

I'm very excited to let you know about a new search tool that works great and helps fund the ministries on NewPointe. I know what your thinking, what service or gimmick do I have to sign-up for? There's no gimmick or sign-up.

GoodSearch, powered by Yahoo, donates to charity, every time you do a search or start your online shopping from there. GoodSearch has been featured on ABC News and the New York Times.



It's very simple to use. I've got GoodSearch set up as my homepage. It's very easy process to get setup.

Step 1. Select the charity you want to donate to. (Here's where you type in NewPointe)

Step 2. Search or shop.

That's it. Give it a try. You'll like it and help fund ministry. - Thanks

Way cool online financial software and it's free

Surfing the net tonight as I wait for my son to get home from the varsity away football game, Chaz is sophomore dresses for varsity and plays reserve, I was doing some research on online personal accounting software.

I came across a site that I had not seen or heard about before until now. The site is Geezeo. I'm very impressed. Geezeo keeps your personal budget organized while providing a social network to help you stick to your budget and to get ideas for spending money more effectively. The social aspect of Geezeo acts as a financial support group.

The budget tool in Geezeo is graphically presented with each tag resembling a tile. The tiles are green, yellow (reaching budgeted spending limit) or red (over budget) so you can tell at a glance where you need watch your spending.

Fox news out of Boston even did a piece on this. It's worth a look.

I'm all for using tools that help you manage your money.

Your Health Credit Report

We are all aware that we each have a financial credit report. Did you know more than 200 million Americans also have a Health "credit report"?

Your health credit report draws from databases containing your prescription drug records. What's the big deal here? Well, more and more heath insurance and life insurance companies are paying these database companies, Milliman IntelliScript and Ingenix are the two largest, for your prescription information. Armed with this information, insurance companies then make decisions about offering you coverage.

How can this be you ask? When you sign a consent form while appling for insurance, you are giving insurance companies the permission to search your medical history. If you want the insurance, there's no way around this.

When your precription information is gathered by the database, it provides insurers a "phamacy risk score". A higher score implies higher risk.

How popular is this database becoming? IntelliScript got about 1 million quereis from insurers last year. So much for HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

Freeze! - Your credit report that is. . .

Experian and TransUnion 2 of the three credit reporting agencies, (Equifax is the third) now allow residents of all 50 states to freeze their credit online . This is something you should consider doing.

A credit freeze is a way to block your credit reports to make it a lot tougher for an identity thief to get a loan or open a credit account in your name. That's because while a freeze is in place, no one, not even you, can open an account in your name. Lenders, insurers and even employers doing background checks are not able to access your credit file.

You can have the freeze lifted if you need to get new credit, but you have to give the bureaus a specially issued personal identification number and a few days' notice to do so.

Note that while a credit freeze can help shut down economic ID theft, it will not help eliminate criminal identity theft. That's where crooks use a fake ID with your information.

So, If you're ready to freeze your credit here are the links

TransUnion or by phone at 1-888-909-8872

Experian or by phone at 1-888-397-3742

Equifax (Online for Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey and Wyoming) or by phone at 1-800-685-1111

Doing Life together

Today, our small group along with two additional NewPointe staffers (John Bunn and Danny Bunnelle) spent the afternoon serving together in a big way. We through NewPointe were able to present the Coshocton Boxing Club with an official sized boxing ring. The club does some great work with the youth and we've been able to develope a relationship with the club owners.

Getting together with my small group each week to learn and grow though studing differnent topics is a vital part of group life. But when we serve together is when we bond. I can't imagine doing life without being in a small group. You need a group of beilvers in your life that you can laugh with, share with, and support through lifes ups and downs.

Today we shared some "up time" in helping others. After an day of good work, we went back to Steve & Sherry's (a couple in our small group) house for a great dinner.

The 3 big take-aways for me from this day were.

1. A small group is a vital need in my relationship with God.
2. It's a blessing to serve with friends
3. Somethings the doors God opens make me laugh. (A boxing club???)

Here are some pictures from the day.

Making Changes

Lot's of great stuff happening here at NewPointe as we get ready for the Fall season. One of the major building changes is the move of our Bookstore. There are a lot of folks around here that are very excited about our new space. Take a look.Thanks to the work of some awesome Bookstore volunteers (Rich Rilke, Nancy Rilke, Sherry Trimmer, and Therese Fillippi) we made some great headway last night in the new space.

Rich & Nancy are coming back in tonight to put the finishing touches on and to get ready for the grand opening on Sunday. Stop in and let me know what you think.

Great financial advise

I know these are crazy financial times. With every 401k statement of late, the value is less than it was the month before. What's a person to do in times like these?

The best answer is stay the course and look to those who are much more successful. A great read / place to spend some time is Shareholder Letters for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. They are written by Warren Buffett. He's arguable the greatest individual investor of our time. He's #1 on Forbes list of Billionaires in 2008. (current net worth $62 billion)

Plan your final exit online

You and I are most likely not going to be able to plan or anticipate the when and where of our exit from this world but a new online tool can allow you to detail out your final wishes.

MyWonderfulLife.com is a web site where you plan and share funeral details including things like music choices and where and how burial will take place. Up to 6 loved ones can have online access to your wished and instruction on where to find you r will and account information. This site was started by two women after the death of their husbands.

While I'm one this subject, did you know you can also order your final resting bed, ok your casket online? When I did a Google search on "buy casket online" I got back 180,000 sites. Most online sources have Next Day shipping. I've told my wife many times I want my casket purchased online. This is will be my last money saving adventure and bargin purchase.

Financial Stress

Recently I've been consulted by a number of people who are experiencing financial stress in their lives. The reasons are all different but the anxiety and pressures are similar. What's a good plan to deal with financial stress?

Here's my advise.

1. Acknowledge that you feel overwhelmend by your situaition
2. Pray for God's help and comfort as you go thought this time
3. Exercise hard. Yep, exercise helps you clear your head.
4. Talk with someone you trust. They are not emotionally attached to the situation like you are.
5. Cut out all extras. Yes, cable TV is an extra.
6. Are there things you can sell on Ebay or Amazon?
7. Talk to those you owe and explain your situation.
8. Never sign or agree to something you don't understand
9. Never allow automatic drafting out of your checking account
10. Talk with your church. Most churches have a "helps / benevolence" fund.
    

Mission Accomplished (333 miles in 4 days)

I'm home. Mission Accomplished. Close to $100,000 raised for the two Ohio American Cancer Society Hope Houses.

A very short summary of my great bike adventure.

1. It was a great life experience.
2. Our team "Heals on Wheels" is a great bunch of people.
3. 333 miles peddled. (Only two close calls. One at high speed.)
4. From day one, I wondered where each rider stood in there relationship with God. I had the opportunity to have a couple of spiritual conversations.
5. Some good pictures. See below.
   
   

Day one in the books (79 miles)

Our first day on the PAN Ohio hope ride was great. I'm meeting lots of new people and blogging from the college of Wooster. I haven't been on a college campus in many years. Boy how things have changed.

I've had the opporuntiy to talk with one of my team members about NewPointe. Funny thing is it's not who I've been investing in. Anyway I'm very pumped that she will be checking out NewPointe next Sunday.

Here are some pictures from today.

Our Team "Heals on Wheels" before the start today.



Rock & Roll HofF (Cool)

Browns Stadium. (Go Browns!)

Ride countdown begins

In just over 24 hours, I'll be leaving for my PAN Ohio Bike adventure. Cleveland to Cincinnati Ohio in 4 days. (over 300 miles)

I'm very much looking forward to this ride for a number of reasons. Here are the top 5.

1. The cause. Hope Lodge and the families that get to stay there.
2. Being able to say I road my bicycle from Cleveland to Cincinnati.
3. Four days of nothing but riding bike and hanging out with bike nuts.
4. I'm praying for an opportunity to share my faith with my team.
5. Every time I'm away from my family overnight, it makes me appreciate and value them more when I return. (I hope they think the same about me.)

Raising them right!

Like all parents, I want my kids to be responsible, respectful and full of love for people. With two teenagers, it's hard to get a read on how they are doing in life. Our kids are trying to find who they are and want to be independent of Cindy and I. I'm ok with that as it's the way life works.

Every once in a while, God gives me some insight into how my kids are doing. I had one of those moments this week. While at work, I received a phone call from Chaz. He started off the conversation with, "Dad, your mountain bike is ok and so am I." (I've got a pretty nice mountain bike but that's another story.)

Chaz said he and some buddies were ridding bikes and horsing around. Chaz ended up riding into the back of a parked van. He cracked the tail light of the van. At this point it would have been very easy for him and his buddies to ride off but Chaz didn't do that. He told his buddies to stop. Then he when up to the house, rang the door bell and told the owner of the van what had happened.

Chaz told the owner he would pay to replace the tail light cover and gave the owner our contact information. I was so proud of the way Chaz handled the situation and as a reward to him, I said I would pay to replace the cover for doing the right thing.

For days now, I have been thanking and praising God for how Chaz handdled this situation. I'm very proud of him. This event has drawn me closer to God and I'm thankful for that. Through this situation, God gave me a glips into Chaz's character.

How much oil is in a barrel?

Well, did you ever wonder how much oil is in a barrel? You know the news is tell us daily how much a barrel of oil costs. As I type this, oil is down $2.54 a barrel to $122.19. (This did wonders for the stock market today it's up 264 points. But that's another story.)

I grew up in the coal business and we always had 55 gallon drums of oil around. So, I assumed a barrel of oil was 55 gallons. NOT. I came to find out that a barrel of is 42 gallons.

We'll the question that follows that is how many gallons of gasoline come from one barrel of oil? The answer is roughly 20 gallons.

So, now you know and you can impress your friends with this new found information.

Is your Mutual Fund on the Lemon List?

How often do you look at the mutual funds you own? Don't forget the mutual funds that are in your companies retirement plan.

I came across a cool tool called the Mutual Fund Lemon List. Here's what this web site has to say about itself. This list has been around for 10 years now. Who knew?

The new "Mutual Fund Lemon List" shows you which mutual funds are costing investors money, plain and simple. Included are those funds that have underperformed their one-, three-, and five-year benchmarks.

How many funds are we talking about here? The total number of funds that made the Lemon List last quarter: 2,000+! The total assets in these funds: $1,000,000,000!

That's not a misprint. $1 trillion is currently languishing in these underperforming mutual funds. And I'd be willing to bet that you have at least some assets committed to these funds.

If you have a fund on this list. It's time to dump the fund.

The Debt Trap

Cruising the net this weekend, I came across a great money series in the New York Times called "The Debt Trap." It's a series on consumer debt and the lenders that make this possible.

There are videos, tools and calculators that show you where your debt stacks up to the rest of America. The series starts off with a video of how Diane McLeod accumulated $280,000 in debt. I found it heartbreaking that people end up here.

You've got to get educated on how to handle your finances. Stop and ask yourself, who and where did you learn about money? . . . . . Times up. If you are like most people, you can't really point to a time and place in your life where educated about finances.

Here's a fantastic resources for you. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. If you don't want to purchase it, then go to your local library. No matter where you are in your financial life, this book has something for you.

Roll it over

One of our new hires here at NewPointe asked me a great question today. " What do I do with the money I have in my old employers 401K plan?"

I love this question. This is an opportunity for freedom / great choice. Let me state the best action to take is to roll your money out of your old employers plan. Never take the money out.

Roll your old 401K into a self directed IRA not your new employers plan. The biggest reason for this is freedom in choosing your investment funds. Your not limited to the choices in your new employers plan. Notice I said "funds" not individual stocks. We are talking your retirement nest egg here and individual stocks carry way, way to much risk.

When people come to me for investment advise, I recommend two funds for them to research. I like Vanguards life cycle funds and I love the Sound Mind Investing Fund. (Do your own research before purchasing any investment.)

The way to get started with rolling your old 401K money over is to first open a new "IRA Rollover" account with an broker (I prefer online brokers), or the mutual fund company directly.

Was it time?

The short answer is no. And now the rest of the story. . .

Cindy and I arrived 15 minutes before the doors opened. We had to stand outside in the 90 degree heat with a couple of hundred other bargain hunters waiting and hoping for a good deal. The doors opened promptly at noon and the race was on.

At first it felt like cows moving into a barn to be milked then once everyone was in the warehouse, it felt like chickens running around. What can I say about the animal metaphors, we were in Amish Country.

Anyway, Cindy did spot one couch she liked. Unfortunately by the time we weaved our way though the people and ran over 2 older folks, someone beat us to the couch. The lady was sitting on the couch shooing would be purchasers away and waiving for a sales person to come take her money. I thought to myself, oh well it wasn't the couch for us.

Until the "right" couch comes along, I'll keep saving. Little did I know how much a couch could cost.

Is it time?

There's lots of unwritten rules in a marriage. One of those rules in our house seems to be that the inside of the house stuff my wife takes the lead on and the outside of the house stuff I take the lead on. As such, some months back my wife said we need to start saving to replace our living room furniture. Cindy pointed out our couch is older than our 12yr old daughter and my son using it as a bed hasn't helped. My first though was so? (I didn't say it out loud but I was thinking it.) Being a good husband I said Ok.

Fast forward to today. We've got $1,100 now in our furniture fund and my wife reminded me Andreas Furniture is having their annual warehouse sale. So at 11:30 today I'll be standing in line in the 90 degree heat waiting for the doors to open at noon. I'm always on the lookout for a good deal and their warehouse sale is a good deal.

Here are some important facts/things about this process.

1. We agreed on the major purchase (In our house a major purchase is anything over $100)
2. We saved up and are going to pay CASH.
3. Our furniture fund is not part of our emergency fund.
4. We are going together to make the major purchase. This will keep us balanced. We won't spend more than we should.
5. This process strengthens our marriage.
   

Life change continues. . . .

Three cheers for our current Financial Peace University Class. In this weeks lesson, we covered dumping debt. This is one of my favorite lessons. Dave Ramsey spells out 15 debt myths.

Here are my top three myths from this lesson:

1. You'll always have a car payment. I'm living proof that you can save up and pay cash for a car. It really is doable.
2. If I loan money to a friend or relative, I'll be helping them out. (No way) If you do this, you just changed your relationship to master / servant.
3. I can get a good deal on that zero percent interest new car loan. Fact is, that new car goes down 70% in value in the first 4 year and that so called zero percent interest rate is built into the price of the car.

Well, these three debt myths along with the other 12, lead to the destruction of 7 credit cards from this FPU class. These cards are not part of my 200+ destroyed credit cards sitting in my office.

To quote Dave Ramsey, "Debt is Dumb".

In the lead. . . .

As some of you know, I'm riding my bicycle 300+ miles over 4 days in August in the PAN Ohio Hope Ride. This ride is to raise funds to the two Hope lodges in Ohio. (Cleveland & Cincinnati) These facilities provide free, supportive lodging to of cancer patients and caregivers who have to travel for treatment. They have helped more than 15,000 cancer patients and caregivers avoid millions in hotel bills and travel expenses.

I've very proud to announce that my team "Heals on Wheels" is in the lead as far as dollars raised thus far. To date, our team has raised $4,700 of which I have personally raised $625 as of this post. Anita B was my last donor. Thanks Anita!

My personal goal is $1,000. I'd greatly appreciate your help in reaching my goal for a great cause. If you can help, click here.

Coupons.com

Looking to save some money at the grocery? I always am. Here's a web site that I like a lot.

Coupons.com is basically like going through one of those Sunday newspaper flyers online, except you just mark the ones you want and at the end you click on a “print” button and the ones you selected pop right out of your printer. Very cool.

I'd suggest making out your grocery list before visiting the web site. That way you don't buy things you were not planning on purchasing in the first place.

Stay Encouraged - Investment are on sale

Well, the first 6 months of 2008 are in the books. Usually, the end of a quarter is an exciting time for me. I like to reallocate my investment choices inside my retirement plans. (What, you don't do this? You should, at a minimum of once a year.)

At first, I wasn't very excited at this quarter end. Most of my retirement account balances are less than what they were at 12/31/2007 and that's even after I've put money into my retirement accounts over the last 6 months.

While walking my dogs tonight, that's my thinking time, I remembered that since the value of my mutual funds is currently lower than it was 6 months ago, every time in put money into these funds, I get more shares for the same dollars invested. That's a good thing.

Here's an example. Let's say I have $200 a month coming out of my paycheck for my retirement plan.

5/1/08 per share value of my mutual fund: $10 @ $200 invested is 20 shares purchased.

6/1/08 per share value of my mutual fund: $7.50 @ @200 invested is 26.67 shares.

So, I got 6.67 more shares than I did a month ago with the same $200 invested. Cool.

Here's were perspective comes in. If I'm concentrating on the month-to-month value (from $10 a share down to $7.50) I'll get worried as the value of my investment when down. My focus is way to short. I need to be looking long term. 5, 10, 20 years from now. Long term, being able to purchase more shares now will have a greater payoff.

So, stay encouraged, keep investing. Steady plodding wins the race.

Great Rates for your savings dollars. 3.75% and up

I'm a big fan on online savings accounts. The interest rates far exceed what most local banks offer. Of late, even my two online banks rates are very low. Amtrustdirect is currently paying 2.5% and Emigrantdirect is paying 2.75%.

I'm pleased to let you know that the Free Methodist Foundation is paying 3.75% on their Flexible Certificate. Basically a flexible certificate is a savings account. You can get you money back in your hands within hours if you need it back that quick. The Foundations 1 year certificate is paying 4.25%. These are great rates in today environment.

One of the questions I get asked when I give the foundation props for their interest rate is, "Is it safe?". Yes. The foundation has been doing this for over 50 years and they have never defaulted on investment dollars.

So, put your money to work with the best interest rate available. Here's the foundations phone number if you've got questions for them. 800.325.8975

New browser for me. . . .

On our home PC we have been having trouble with our Firefox version 2.x browser. My family wanted me to go back to Internet explorer. I won't move back to IE for a number of reasons. Security and pop-ups being the biggest reasons.

I could upgrade to Firefox version 3 or search for an alternative. And search I did. I came across a great and cool browser called Flock. Flock titles itself as "the browser for people who like to be connected". I don't know about that but I do know it's fast. I downloaded the beta. version 2. It runs on Firefox 3. I figured I get the best of both browsers. From my point of view, I did.

My family seems to be pleased with Flock as well. Faster page loads, a cool clean look and easy navigation. Give Flock a look it may become your new browser.

TransUnion settlement makes your Credit Score Free to you

TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting agencies recently settled the class-action lawsuit that accused the company of improperly selling consumer information to marking companies.

How does that impact you?

You can now get free credit monitoring services and your credit score from TransUnion as part of the $75 million dollar settlement.

Click here for a summary of the settlement.

To receive benefits from this settlement, you must register by September 24, 2008. You may register for the following benefit options:

1. Sign up for six months of credit monitoring services. If you select this option, you can also register to possibly receive cash benefits in the event of a cash distribution or file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.
2. Sign up for nine months of enhanced credit monitoring services. If you select this option, you will not receive any further benefits, including a cash payment, and you will not be able to file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.
3. Register to possibly receive a cash payment. If you select this option, you can also sign up for six months of credit monitoring; however if you receive a cash payment, you cannot file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.

You may only register once. Individuals with multiple submissions will only be eligible for the benefit chosen in the first registration.

Click here to sign up. (I'm choosing #1)

In need of a Financial Pick-Me-UP?

From time to time, I need a good Financial Pick-Me-UP. I just have those moments, days, weeks, where it feels like I'm going backwards in with my financial game plan and goals. (Hey, that's life and I know God is in control.) It's all his anyway.

One of the ways I get out of this financial funk is to tune into the Dave Ramsey Radio Show. My favorite way to listen is via Dave's web site and his archived shows. This way, I can listen via my computer or download a show or two onto my mp3 player. I especially like listening to Friday's show as callers get to yell, I'm DEBT FREE. This gets me "juiced".

So, take a listen. You'll be financially "richer" for the time you listened. Maybe it will even keep you from paying what Dave referrers to as "Stupid Tax".

What's your Walk Score?

In my never ending quest to save a buck or two, I'm considering walking to the library today. (I've got a book waiting for pick-up and I want to read the current bicycling magazine.) In searching the internet to find the distance between my house and our library, I came across a cool web site called Walk Score.

What is Walk Score? You put in your home address, then Walk Score lists the services near your house in a bunch of different categories (movie theaters, schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores, restaurants and on and on). It also assigns a "score" which provides a numerical estimate of how good your location is in terns of resources available within reasonable walking distance.

My address didn't score so well. I got a 17 out of 100. Yea but I can jump on my bicycle and ride a 25 mile loop and only pass a dozen cars. (That's how many I counted on my ride today.)

Anyway, the library is 1.28 miles from my house. I'm up for the walk but I don't think my kids will be for it.

Thanks or Thanks for Nothing

The other day while I was reading through a financial magazine, I came across an advertisement from a mutual fund company that showed to "yellow sticky notes" The first note said "Thanks" and the second note said "Thanks for Nothing".

What will your financial future say to you if it could talk with you today? Will your future be thanking you or cursing you?

Want to be thanked? You can do so by saving for retirement. In my opinion, the best places to save for retirement are here and in this order.

1. Your employers retirement plan up to the employer match. The employer match is FREE money. You'll never get a better return than that.
2. A Roth IRA. Earnings are tax FREE.
   

At the 1/2 way point

Goals are very important. I believe we should all have some.

I've got goals in the following areas of my life

1. spiritual
   
2. family
3. financial
4. personal
   
5. work

Today I hit the half way mark on one of my personal goals. I set a bicycle mileage goal of 2,000+ miles a year. This weekend I went over the 1,000 mile mark. take a look at the last number 1009.8.

Do you remember your fist time?

You used your debit card that is.

The learning experience, with me as the teacher and my 15 year old son as the student completed another chapter today. After much grass mowing and a few deposits into his Chase checking account, Chaz road his bike through the ATM lane and made his first cash withdrawal.

Before he left the house, I walked him through what to expect and how the process would work. He said while at the ATM, everything worked just as I had explained to him with one exception.

He said a voice came from the speaker that said, "young man, what are you doing? come over here so I can talk to you." Chaz looked up and the teller working the drive through was motioning to him to come over to the window. I asked Chaz what did you do? He said, "I waived at her, finished my transaction, took the cash from the machine and road off."

I know Chaz was pleased with his first Debit Card transaction. I happy he's learning how to work for his money, that he's only got a finite amount to spend, and the banking system takes a little bit of time before a check turns into available cash.

I wonder what story the teller is taking about to the other bank employees?

A great story on Debt to good not to share

The Wall Street Journal recently did a story on Debt. Titled "Hi, My Name is Fred, and I'm Addicted to Debt.

The article mentions two of my favorite things. Financial Peace University and Granger Community Church.

If you have a few minutes check out the Wall Street Journal article by clicking here.

Help me reach my goal. . .

August 7th thru 10th, I'll be riding my bicycle from Cleveland Ohio to Cincinnati Ohio to raise money for the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge. (300+ miles)

• Day 1 Cleveland to Wooster (75 miles)
• Day 2 Wooster to Columbus (90 miles)
• Day 3 Columbus to Dayton (70 miles)
• Day 4 Dayton to Cincinnati (75 miles)

The Hope Lodges are beautiful facilities provide free, supportive lodging to of cancer patients and caregivers who have to travel for treatment. They have helped more than 15,000 cancer patients and caregivers avoid millions in hotel bills and travel expenses.

On this post, I'm asking you to consider helping me reach my goal of $1,000. If you can help, please click on this link. Todd's Hope Lodge page.

Thanks so much.

Todd

Summertime savings. . .

Today the temperature is forcasted to reach 94 degrees. Ouch. So I'd say summertime is officially here even though the calendar doesn't say so yet.

One of the things I love most about this time of the year is all the fresh fruits and vegetables that are all over the place from roadside stands to the local grocery.

Did you know that depending on what month of the year it is, fruits and vegetables are cheaper in some months verses others? Hey, I'm always on the lookout to save money.

About.com has a great post by month on the best month to buy fruits and veggies. I've copied May's and June's list here and if you want to see every month here is a link to the post. (Click here.)

May

cherries, pineapples, apricots, okra, zucchini, rhubarb, artichokes, asparagus, spring peas, broccoli, lettuce

June

watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, blueberries, peaches, apricots, corn, lettuce

Enjoy Summer. I know I will.

Saved some $$ and am healthier for it

I've always wanted to try riding my bike to work. (I know I can do the distance as it's only 10.5 miles) The issue for me was putting all my work cloths in a backpack before I got on my bike.

Well today, I did it. I peddled my bike into work today. It was great. Even navigating two "big" hills it only took me 40 minutes. I showered and am ready to go.

Exercise in the a.m. really sets the tone for me. I forgot how great and energizing it is.

One other benefit of peddling to work. It's a creative way to save a few dollars by leaving my car in the garage and I'm healthier for it.

Start your day off right

How I start my day set's the tone for my entire day. I did a lot of reflecting this weekend and I realized the way I start my day is the most important thing I do all day.

So here's my list of morning rituals.

1. Tell God good morning and thank him for waking me up.
2. Take the dogs out (Ok, this one doesn't motivate me but it must be done.)
3. Say out lout 10 things I'm thankful for. (It's hard to start off on the wrong foot when your thankful first thing in the morning.
4. Touch my two kids while they are still sleeping.
5. Say this daily prayer before I leave the house.

Father God, It is a privilege to be your child. It's a gift of grace I don't fully comprehend. I thank you for your wondrous love for me, and I ask that you would help me lead a life that honors you. He me live according to the truth that my identity is based on who I am IN Christ. May I seee myself and others through your eyes. May I understand more clearly how much you love me & let that love empower & guide me. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ through whom you graciously demonstrated your amazin love for me.

How do you start your day?

Identity Safety / Fraud

How much do you think about your Identity theft? I've thought about it enough to purchase Identity theft insurance. It's cheap and easily added to your home owners insurance.

I came across a cool little online test that looks at your ID safety. This test got me thinking. Here are my results. Take the test and let me know what your score was. (I scored in the top 3rd) Click here for the test.

Your Score is 26.

Please note that a perfect score is 0 and the worst possible score is 100; a typical score is 38.

Congratulations! Your scored among the top third of those taking the Javelin identity safety quiz.

Here's what you need to do to improve your identity safety:

• Eliminating paper statements eliminates the threat posed by unsecured mailboxes and minimizes the need to shred sensitive documents. Many companies allow you to turn off mail delivery of paper bills and statements. Whenever possible, cancel mail delivery of your paper bills and statements, and review statements and pay bills online.
• If you have paper records, shred every document before placing it in the trash.
• Regularly use and update anti-virus/anti-spyware software to protect your electronic transactions from potential online threats. Keep your home and office PC operating system and browser up to date.
• Credit reports and credit monitoring services are very successful in detecting fraud cases and usually report the lowest consumer costs of resolving the fraud compared to all other detection methods. Review your credit report monthly or more because acts of fraud are generally harder to detect in new accounts than in existing accounts.
• Almost half of fraud discovery continues to be done by the consumer. Self-detection also averages a quicker time of discovery, lower fraud amounts, and lower consumer costs than notification by businesses or institutions. Review bank and credit card statements regularly. You can monitor account activity on a timelier basis, 24x7, by having bills, statements, and checks securely sent online.
• Refrain from leaving unnecessary sensitive information where others could potentially access it.

Javelin Strategy & Research is proud to present www.IDsafety.net and the ID Safety Quiz to help increase consumer and business awareness concerning identity theft and fraud. Hopefully this quiz has given you some useful tools and tips to better protect your identity in the future. For more information concerning this crime as well as additional tips on how to combat it, please download the "2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report" by selecting the "2008 ID Fraud Report" tab at the top of the page.

Go Tribe

I promise once the holiday weekend is officially over, I'll get back to my financial posts.

My family and I have had a great holiday weekend thus far. Spending lots of time together. We started it off with a Cleveland Indians game. Thanks for the tickets Larry. They were awesome. 2nd row on the third base side.

Here are some cool pictures from the game. Enjoy.

Grady Sizemore (It was Grady bobble head night)


Katie & Chaz before the game from our seats.


Cleveland has a great scoreboard.

Me time this weekend. . . . I road just under 100 miles on my bicycle. (Yes!)

Biggest & Best for last!

Spring is almost in the books and Summer is just around the corner. But wait, Thanks to Jim Troyer, a super volunteer here at NewPointe, I get one last great taste of Spring.

I know you cant see the ruler very well in the picture but these babies are 5 inches long. Ted, if you can get to my house by 5 pm, I'll put one on your plate.

Learning about money. . . .

Want a great and easy way to learn more about money and finance? I hope so. I'm always on the lookout for good information on the topics of money and finance.

It's well worth your time to explore bankrate.com.

Their personal finance tab is an outstanding place to start.

They have a 12 part series on personal finance that is outstanding. So, take some time this week and explore this site. You'll be better and hopefully richer for it.

Jing it

As I've noted in the past, I'm always on the lookout for great new, and my favorite "Free" tools. This weekend at the Dynamic Church Conference, my buddy Dave Moore told me about Jing.

So, what is Jing? Here's how Tony Dunckel, the Jing Product (err, Project) Manager describers it:

“Think of Jing as a supplement to all your chat discussions, email threads, forum posts and blog entries. It sits nicely on your desktop, ready to capture and share your stuff at a moment’s notice. Simply select an area of your screen, capture it as an image or record it as a video, and then click Share.

Here's my first Jing. I did it to show our staff how to get to the training videos for our church management software. I'll be creating lots more Jings soon.

Day one in Texas over

I wanted to blog last night but was too tired after leaving my house at 4:30 am and not getting to my hotel room until 9 pm. So, I'm blogging before I hit the Dynamic Church Conference for day 2.

A quick rap up of day one. (Great Day) - Sessions I attended

1. Key Note from Jeff Hook CEO of Fellowship Tech
2. F1 and multi-site campuses
3. Granger Community Church's F1 super team
4. Best practices for reconciling online payments
5. Dinner on F1, great conversation and ideas.

Have met some really great new people, touched based with friends made last year, scorring brownie points with F1 staffes with the giveaways I brought for them. I really appreciate all they do for me.

2 for 2

I'm getting ready for my 2 trip to the 2nd annual Dynamic Church Conference. (2 for 2). I'm very much looking forward to connecting with Dave Moore, finance director at granger community church and Mark Lindsley, F1 Guru. I also hope to make a few new contacts.

Last years conference taught me a great deal on how other churches from around the country are using Fellowship One, our church management software, in creative ways. I'm hoping for some of that same type of insight this year.

I'm most looking forward to Granger's presentation as to how their F1 team works. (No pressure Dave.)

I've decided to leave my laptop sitting here on my desk as the conference pretty much runs late into the evening. On Friday night, I'll enjoy an up-close concert by Lincoln Brewster.

The only downside of this trip. . . . no bike riding for me on Saturday.

NewPointe's 50lb challenge results. (Wow)

90 days ago, the staff at new point formed 6 team for our third and final "health and wellness" program, year #1.

Each 4 person team had to loose 50lbs total in 90 days to reach the goal. I'm very pleased to say that all 6 team exceeded the 50lbs. With Team #4 "The BJ's" (Bill, John, Jon, Jane) loosing the most weight at a whopping 104.2 lbs.

Here are some other cool facts from the last 90 days.

1. Total weight lost 449lbs
2. Most weight lost by one person 32.6lbs
3. Most percentage weight lost by one person 16%
4. Total inches lost over 500
5. A much healthier and happier staff.

As a side note, I dropped 10lbs. That weight loss has helped me peddle up the hills faster on my bike. I'm liking that.

Where's my stimulus check?

Have you received your IRS stimulus check yet? If not, don't worry. Here's the schedule from the IRS web site. (www.irs.gov)

Remember to pay yourself first and consider giving some of it away before you spend the rest.

People who use direct deposit also will be among the first to receive the payments starting April 28. Direct deposits will be made daily and completed by the date listed below:

DIRECT DEPOSIT

Last two SSN digits:	Payments will be transmitted no later than:
00 through 20	May 2
21 through 75	May 9
76 through 99	May 16

Paper checks will also go out based on Social Security number. For Social Security numbers ending in 00 through 09, the paper checks will be mailed starting May 9 and will continue through May 16. A similar process will be repeated in the following weeks.

PAPER CHECK

Last two SSN digits:	Payments will be mailed no later than:
00 through 09	May 16
10 through 18	May 23
19 through 25	May 30
26 through 38	June 6
39 through 51	June 13
52 through 63	June 20
64 through 75	June 27
76 through 87	July 4
88 through 99	July 11

People who file a return after April 15 will receive their economic stimulus payment, but probably later than the schedule shows. A return must be filed by October 15 in order to receive a stimulus payment this year.

If you still have questions after reading this schedule, you can call 1-800-829-1040.

Amazing Spring Time Treat

Last night at small group, my buddy Todd (Not me, the other Todd in our group) handed me a bag of just picked morel mushrooms. Now I'm not a guy who gives or likes getting hugged, but I gave Todd a great big hug for these.

If you never had morel mushrooms, you don't know what you are missing. I'd rather have these than lobster or shrimp.

The morel's on this plate are gone already. I had them for supper. They were unbelievable. I did save a few to cook up tomorrow morning for breakfast. Can't wait for that.

500 miles rain and all

Do we? Don't we? We did. . . .

We decided to head out for a bike (bicycle) ride this afternoon. Ended up riding 15 miles in a downpour. But hey, I had to get home. (We were really hoping to have a 2 - 3 hour window with no rain. We were wrong.)

The good news is today's ride 33 miles pushed me over the 500 mile mark for 2008. 1,000 miles here I come.

Car replacement fund back at $0 (That's Life)

I finally got my 1998 VW Beetle TDI running great again. Thank you so much Beechy's. You guy do wonderful work. The problem was I had a tremendous amount of carbon buildup in the air recirculation system. Basically, my car was chocking for lack of air.

With my car in my garage, and repair bills topping $1,500, the thought did cross my mind is it time to replace my car? The short answer is NO. See, I had roughly $1,000 in my car replacement fund. The other $500 for the repair work came out of our emergency fund. Now for the longer version of the story.

While my car was in the shop and I was begging for rides to and from work, I started thinking what a hassle this is. I should be looking for a replacement car and say goodbye to the bug. After all my parents and mother-in-law were telling me it was time for a new car. Then I woke up.

See, here's what really matters.

1. The average car payment is now $350 over 60 months. In one year that's $4,200. Much more than the $1,500 I spent in repairs.
2. I'm never, ever going to be a slave again to a car payment. It's just not worth it.
3. My son will be behind the wheal in 6 short months. I don't want him to think a car payment is the way "dad buys cars".
4. I believe God will reward me for staying out of debt.

So, starting this next pay, I'll be building back up my emergency fund to replace the $500. Once that's done, it will be time to start saving in the car fund. Someday, I will have to say goodbye to the Beetle and when that day comes, I'll be paying cash.

$15 for your will. Now what's your excuse?

I recently met with a great young married couple who are well on their way to getting out of debt and financial peace. It's great to see spouses on the same financial page and attacking debt together.

One of the many things we discussed was there need for a will. Well, Dave Ramsey to the rescue again. Linking to US Legal Forms from Dave's web site allows you to get a will for only $15. If you don't have a will get one. With only costing $15 there is absolutely no reason not to have this vital legal document in place.

If you don't want to do it yourself, they do it for you for only $49.

Click here and you'll be taken to US Legal Forms and have your will in no time.

Big Day . . . .

Friday was a big day for me and my just turned 15 year old son Chaz.

I picked Chaz up after school and we headed over to JP Morgan Chase bank. For his 15th birthday, I helped Chaz open up a checking account complete with a debit card. He's more excited about the money his mom and I deposited into the account for his birthday than the checking account but I'm more excited about the money lessons he's already learning. Here's some of the money / life lessons he's learning already.

1. How to fill out a deposit slip and record this in his checkbook.
2. The first check he wrote was his tithe check.
3. How to record his tithe check in his checkbook.
4. How cool it is to see his balance increase with depositing his other birthday money and this weeks mowing money. (He's mowing 4 yards this year.)
   
5. Trying to decide whether an Xbox is really worth taking his new checkbook balance down to zero. (No final decision yet.)
   
   

Best lessons here for me.

1. Knowing and trusting my son enough at 15 year young to manage his own money and put a checkbook and debit card in his hand.
   
2. Seeing his mental wheels turn with all the "firsts" in using his checkbook.
3. Watching him go back and forth in trying to decided "do I or don't I" buy an Xbox or save the funds towards' his first car. (There's another great blog post here.)
4. Knowing that I showing and teaching him good money habits that's he'll be using long after he's moved out of our house. (Sooner than I think his mom or me will be ready for.)

This is one of these life moments for me where I think to myself "Life is good." Thanks God!

Roth IRA Basics

I've talked about Roth IRA's in lots of posts. In doing so, I've made some assumptions that everyone knows what a Roth IRA is. We'll, we all know what happens when we assume.

So, here's the 411 on a Roth.

1. Where did the name "ROTH" come from? The Roth IRA was born on January 1, 1998 as a result of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It's named after the late Senator William V. Roth, Jr.
   
   
2. What's the big deal with a "ROTH" vrs a regular IRA? The chief advantage of the Roth IRA is the ability to have investment earnings completely escape taxation. This is a really big deal.
   
   
3. When can I contribute to my Roth? Annual IRA contributions can be made between January 1 of that year and April 15 of the following year. Because of the extra three and a half months, if you send in a contribution to your IRA custodian between January and April, be sure to indicate the year of the contribution so the appropriate information gets sent to the IRS. Remember, contributions to a Roth IRA are never deductible from a taxpayer's income (unlike a traditional IRA).
   
   
4. How much can I contribute in 2008? $5,000 if under age 50. $6,000 if 50 and older.
   
   
5. Can I take money out of my Roth without penalty? *Contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free at any time. *There is 5-year clock 'A'. Clock 'A' starts on the first day of the first tax year in which any Roth IRA is opened and funded. *Earnings can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free after Clock 'A' hits 5 years and a qualifying event (such as turning 59.5, disability, etc.) occurs.
   
   
6. Are there income limits for eligibility? (Can I make too much money to contribute?) Yes. You need to look at your Modified Adjusted Gross Income. This is the last amount on the first page of your tax return. If this amount is greater than:
   
   *Single filers: Up to $101,000 (to qualify for a full contribution); $101,000-$116,000 (to be eligible for a partial contribution)
   *Joint filers: Up to $159,000 (to qualify for a full contribution); $159,000-$169,000 (to be eligible for a partial contribution)

I'm a firm believer that no matter what type of retirement plan your employer offers, you will greatly benefit from having a ROTH IRA.

What type of retirement plan is right for me?

This post is in response to a recent comment I received form relientk008.

The question posed to me was, "as a teacher, should I consider other forms of retirement savings in addition to State Teachers Retirement?" Now if your not a teacher this post is still for you because everyone should save for retirement both through their employer and on their own using a Roth IRA.

Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Before you start thinking about saving for retirement, You must establish an Emergency Fund. Start with $1,000 in savings. Next, you need to pay off all you consumer debt. Attack it! Kill it. When it's zero, now it's time to start saving for retirement.

Here's what I do.

1. I contribute 3% into NewPointe's retirement plan. Why 3%? Because the church matchs 100% up to that amount. I've just made a 100% return on my investment. That's way cool.
2. Next, I fund my Roth IRA as much as possible. The limit for 2008 is $5,000 / $6,000 if you are 50 or older. If your married, then double these amounts. (Hands down, the outside of company matching funds, the Roth IRA is the greatest retirement vehicle ever.) Why? Because 100% of the growth, and that's where the wealth comes from is TAX FREE when you take it out at retirement age.

Where do I have my Roth? Sound Mind Investing Fund.

relientk008, I hope you and everyone found this post helpful.

Fantastic Results - Lives changed!

Last night we finished this round of Financial Peace University classes here at NewPointe. The results were fantastic. Take a look.

1. # of graduates 29
2. # of Credit Cards cut up / destroyed in class 56
   
3. New Debt offered through credit cards $4,261,050
4. Total debt paid off during the class $57,110
5. Total amount put into savings $16,794
6. Most debt paid off by one couple $13,100
7. Most amount put into savings by one couple $5,000

I can't describe how great I feel in being part of this life change. It's truly a gift from God

5 best and different retirement calculators

I'm always on the lookout for great financial tools. Today I stumbled across CNN Money's web site that list the "Best online retirement calculators". You can visit the site by clicking here. These calculators address the following issues.

1. Am I on track to a secure retirement?
2. Am I investing properly?
3. Should I go for a Roth IRA?
4. How long will my money last?
5. How much income can I get?

Check it out when you have a minute

Eliminate Pre-approved Credit Card Offers from your mailbox

Those pre-approved credit card offers that arrive in your mailbox can be very tempting to identity thieves. Once they get their hands on that credit card offer, they can complete it and change the address in the process.

That's all it takes to open up a credit card account in your name. Unbelievable isn't it. Fortunately, there is a way for you to opt-out of these pre-approved credit card offers. Just visit the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website at www.optoutprescreen.com. The process takes less then 5 minutes. It's well worth your time and it's a great step toward financial peace.

Did you know?

I know I'm a financial nerd. So much so that I subscribe the the Social Security Administration's monthly digest bulletin. Sound exciting? Ok, maybe not but here's some news you may find interesting.

2017 is the year the projected point at which tax revenues will fall below program costs. Translation. Benefits being paid out exceed money coming in. Ouch. If this is only 9 years away, why isn't anyone talking about it?

I'm not a "sky is falling" person. I do think this topic should be on the forefront of what our elected officials should be talking about.

And if you were wondering, The projected point at which the Trust Funds will be exhausted comes in 2041.