Home Preparedness Consultants

Emergency Preparedness – Family Values.  (Paraphrased from Vanguard Group’s Money Whys)        Seventy percent of parents believe that children today have a sense of “entitlement,” according to a 2004 study.  In other words, kids expect “to get whatever they want whenever they want it.      Does that hit close to home?  Then consider the example of a couple in suburban Philadelphia who taught their children the value of money.  They started with allowances in grade school, moved to checking…

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Emergency Preparedness – The 50 Year Home Mortgage is On Its Way.   QUESTION:  Considering 18% credit card debt, and 6% home mortgage debt, which will cost you the most money in interest expense during the repayment period?      Most would say this is a NO BRAINER – 18% is more than 6%.      ANSWER:  When repaying the first year’s payments on short-term credit card debt (5 years or less), about 45% of the monthly payment is applied to principle. …

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Emergency Preparedness – Feel Good Debt;  Good, Better, and Best.        “I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go.”  How can I ever feel good about my debts? FEEL GOOD – pay off your student loans and cars. FEEL BETTER – pay off your credit cards and pay cash for all your purchases. FEEL BEST – pay off your house mortgage and use the payment money for retirement and missions.      It doesn’t matter what everybody says,…

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Emergency Preparedness – Taxes, Value and Cost.        “If I hire a painter to do the house, it will cost $3,500.  I’ll have to earn $5,000, pay taxes and tithing and I’ll have enough for the painter.  If I paint the house myself, materials will cost $300 to $400.  What’s my time worth?      If this man paints his own house, he is obviously getting the best deal – adding value at the lowest cost and minimal taxes.  In…

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Emergency Preparedness – Self Sufficiency or Social Security?        “Americans Not Saving Enough,” read the TV headline, as two matronly Mall shoppers walked by.      “That’s ridiculous,” said one of the women.  “I bought four pairs of shoes and saved $60.00.”      Socialism is when you expect others to provide for your needs with tax dollars from somebody else.  How quickly we surrender our own accountability when someone else makes a guarantee, especially when participation is mandatory and the…

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   Payor:  “Good news:  interest rates are down.  I’ll refinance and borrow more.”    Payee:  “Bad news:  interest rates are down.  Where can I get a better return and less risk?”    “If I was offering an investment that you could put your money in and get an immediate 50% return, you’d beat my door down to buy it,” said the financial advisor.  “Look at your mortgage amortization and see how much you will save in interest expense if you…

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   On 2 November 1979, two days before Islamic radicals took over the Tehran Embassy with 66 US hostages, a senior official and his family were trying to escape by car to the west.  After four hours of driving, the man stopped to buy fuel and food for his family.  Tourists traveling abroad will attest that usually the American dollar can buy anything at any time in any country in the world.  Our currency is baseline in valuing all other…

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   The old axiom “them that has, gets,” implies that those who control tools and resources can increase their holdings.   However, a second axiom says “them that got, has to work harder to keep it.”    Your financial success is dependent on learning the difference between precious ore and overburden.  The truly impoverished are those who lack resources of any kind, and are denied opportunity.   But many that “got” stuff can become overburdened when many unnecessary possessions become a financial…

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   In l992 Hurricane Andrew was the nations most costly natural disaster of the century.  But in 2003, Hurricane Isabel, hailstorms in Dallas, and the California fires combined to almost exceed the dollar cost of Andrew’s devastation.  Add to these losses the fact that from 1999 to the end of 2002 the US Stock Market suffered its worst period since the l929 crash.  You were lucky if the net worth in your retirement plan or investment portfolio didn’t sink by…

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