Milk: $4.19/gal.; Gas: $3.05/gal.; Social Security: $1692/mo., Peace of Mind: PRICELESS

Before I get rolling, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is the time that so many of us resolve to do better in so many areas of our lives. Sometimes it works and we actually make some changes that stick. A friend shared the following link with me this morning that I thought was appropriate to pass along in that spirit of change. Keep things simple. The 4 minutes it will take you to watch is 4 minutes well spent.


http://www.tonyrobbins.com/12TENETS/index.html?=136092

Now - on to the BLOG!

Yep, the I'm abusing the MasterCard "Priceless" pitch.


Well, kind of. The idea here is pretty simple. Life is costing more and more these days. If you have a financial plan in place that handles the fluctuations in cost - no sweat. If you don't have a plan - I'd be concerned, really concerned if I were you...CALL ME @ 703.773.8409 NOW!


Americans have some pretty heavy "fiscal lifting" to do over the next 2-4 years as we address our current financial position...personally, corporately and as a citizenry. At the "personal" level, Americans are carrying $920 BILLION in non-mortgage debt. Astonishing, isn't it? As it turns out, food and energy cost a lot of money! Problem is, the government doesn't include food and energy in their inflation numbers. So, when employers are looking at wages, they see inflation as flat....while everything costs more there's more month at the end of the money for most people. Heck, you don't even need and MBA to figure that out.


Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not a doom and gloom kind of guy. I never have been. I'm an optimist to a fault. I believe that 2008 is going to be a great year for a lot of different reasons.


But, the plain truth is this. Most people don't have a good plan in place to deal with the financial reality of the day. Income levels have stayed (basically) the same for almost all client's I've worked with in the past 5 years. That's right, the same.


But, everything's gotten more expensive. So, most folks have resorted to credit cards to "bridge the gap" between what they spend and what they make. Pretty much, the lifting relates to the 2 lead items I note in the title:


1. Milk: $4.19/gallon - jeez Louise! I went to the grocery store last week to pick up some milk and it was $4.19/gallon...at BLOOM! That's like saying a T-Shirt is $30 @ WalMart in my book. Okay, the same gallon of milk @ Costco (if you have a membership) is $3.06/gal. But, for those of you not familiar with Bloom, it's a "dressed up" Food Lion grocery store here in Virginia and down the Eastern Seaboard into the South. That same gallon of milk was $1.99/gal. in 2006. So, if you don't have a Costco membership, you're looking at a 110% increase over 2 years. Did you get a 110% raise over the last 2 years?

2. Gas: $3.05/gal (as of this week). That's up $0.71/gal from 12 months ago. That's a 30.3% increase over 12 months. Did you get a 30% raise this year?


3. Social Security: $1692/month - I'm going to work until I'm dead! I got my annual Social Security Administration (SSA) update in the mail yesterday...January 2nd. Keep in mind, the update was prepared on November 29, 2007! So, it took the SSA more than a MONTH to get that out - that's another topic. My point here is that, if I retired @ 62 (long ago believed to be the retirement age), I would have $1692/mo. in benefits coming my way. That would be great if I lived in - say - a tent, ran my car on leaves that I foraged and had my own cow I could milk because I couldn't afford the Costco membership to buy milk @ $3.06/gal. If I elect to work until I'm 70, I'll be able to pull in a whopping $2982/month. Now, I know these numbers will change as I put more and more into the system. But, c'mon - whether it's $20K/yr or $35K/yr, that's not enough to live on - let alone retire.


The point . . . . . get a plan, have some peace of mind in your financial life. Don't think you've got it all figured out if you're not even "started". The bottom line is this - it's a new year - get your house in order. Interest rates are lower than they've been in 2 years right now. It's true that "fools rush in" and even more true that "he who hesitates is lost."

Give me a call @ 703.773.8409 to get started. Or, for a copy of my FREE REPORT: "How To Literally Melt Down Your Debt, And Discover What the Banks and Big Credit Card Companies DON'T Want You To Know" - call 1-888-267-0280 x 8601 and I'll get it out to you in the mail.

Your Friend,


Rich Hayden
Financial Coach
rahaydenjr@yahoo.com
703.773.8409 - p


P.S.: Have a friend who could be helped by this info? Why not forward this on to them? That's what friends are fore!


P.P.S.: Starting to plan for college? Ask me how I can help.


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