When I was in junior high there was a girl I liked.  A lot!  She couldn’t hang out with me because her dad said no.  We were too young, definitely couldn’t be dating at that age, and he was being a good father.  At her next basketball game I walked up to him and said “Hello, I’m Ed Kinsey, and I like your daughter.”  He and I then spent time together watching her play, and I was able to then spend time with her. 

 
As junior high love goes, we later moved on to other infatuations, but I learned a great lesson from that experience.  When you want something, ask for it.  It is your best chance at getting what you want.  One of my favorite things to ask for is knowledge.  I love to learn from others.  It’s less painful than learning from my own mistakes and the varying points of view and life experiences are extremely insightful and often entertaining as well.  I especially enjoy asking successful individuals what they learned in their journey of success.  From a financial perspective, here are 5 principles I’ve learned from “quiet” millionaires, those who are the wealthy incognito.   These 5 principles may seem a bit sporadic and random, but they are exemplified by nearly every wealthy person I know!

 

1- Income and Wealth are not the same thing- The single most consistent thing I see in the wealthy I work with is the habit of spending less than they earn.  You might say “It’s easy for them, they’re rich!” but truth be told most of them had lived within their means and stuck something away for a rainy day even before they were wealthy.  Saving and then carefully getting money to grow is key for anyone that desires self-made wealth. 

2- Know where your money goes- in tandem with point number one is the need to track your spending.  Spending with a purpose and understanding where your money is being spent are key.  Case in point: A few years back I was doing some strength coaching for the son of a wealthy family.  They insisted on paying me, though I was happy to train the young man for free as they were good friends, so we settled on $20 per session.  After getting a $40 check and not cashing it for two weeks, I received a phone call from the mother of the young man wondering if I’d lost the check.  This wealthy woman was still worried about $40.  That level of dedication to tracking their money is what really made this family wealthy.  

  

 3- Take responsibility- wherever you are financially, it’s your own fault.  Sure, there are plenty of people who have caused you problems and cost you your wealth, and those who lucked out and inherited wealth.  More often, however, are those who earned it through hard work, effort, determination, and other words we like to avoid.  They owned their life, including the financial part of it.  They decided what they wanted and they consistently worked for it until they got it.  Take responsibility for what you have, and for what you don’t have.  Then commit today to go get what it is you want to have.  If you need a reason to do that, do it because that’s what all the cool rich people do J Besides, it worked for Harry Truman, 33rd President of the good ole’ US of A.   

4- Home matters- swapping out spouses and trading in homes is expensive.  Two of the most costly things we see in society today are restarting a mortgage and ending a marriage.  Mortgage payments on homes are nearly all interest for the first 10 years and, on average, people stick with their mortgage for only 7 years.  Through refinancing and through unnecessary moves, we kill our financial plans and give thousands of dollars to the bank each year.  Try to stay put in your home rather than upgrading every chance you get.  Upgrading neighborhoods can also be a drain on your finances.  We all want to fit in and seeing our neighbor’s new (insert whatever you are coveting here!) makes us want to go out and buy the same thing.  Modesty is a great virtue when it comes to the home.

 

The same holds true for your spouse.  Broken marriages are costly.  Not only do they cause great stress and hardship emotionally, divorce also wrecks personal financials.  From the dividing up of household debt, attorney’s costs, and the loss of productivity to the one household’s income suddenly needing to cover two households worth of expenses, divorce is rough on the finances.  Instead, go get some professional help, put in the work it takes to have a great relationship, and try to salvage your marriage.  It doesn’t always work out, but if it can, it is to your financial benefit. 

 

5- Money doesn’t buy happiness, but controlling it does- Spending with a purpose provides gratification and is less –likely to lead to buyer’s remorse.  Living within your means brings great peace and some real financial confidence. An added bonus of understanding that “status” purchases don’t bring happiness helps us to save more and waste less.  So don’t let your money control you and don’t try to buy happiness.  Use your money to do things you enjoy, save for a rainy day, and build up a nice security blanket so you can live financially stress free.

This is my favorite time of year. I love the leaves changing and falling, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I love Football. You can smell the change in the air.

We are blessed to live in a place where we can experience all of the Season's. What are some of your favorite things about fall?

How would you like that down your pipes!!!!  I am surprised that the pipes in my house haven’t clogged already!!!  Well, after this little experiment I decided that we definitely needed to buy more of these.  

I definitely recommend this product and I am, my hubby is, and my plumber is very happy with the results. 




About this Author: De Kinsey is the co-owner/manager of LIFE 1010™.  She worked as a licensed residential and commercial escrow officer for over 5 years.  This experience helped her learn how to analyze and understand legal documents and translate them in a way the general public could understand.   De Graduated from Utah Valley University in Psychology and in Community Health Science.  She understands how a person’s psyche and personal health can have positive and/or negative impact on their LIFE and financial well being.  She brings this knowledge into the LIFE 1010™ program. 

   As I was talking with a prospective client the other day, we’ll call him George, George said “I only need a couple more years at 12% and then I’ll be retired and life will be good.”  He’s a small business owner, and a successful one at that so it really surprised me to hear this come out of his mouth.  It has bothered me ever since.  So often we forget what the past has taught us.  In just the past 15 years we have had two major adjustments in the stock market.  All of the pundits are at a loss for an explanation for the stellar performance of the market and many are expecting a major correction once again.  (Don't take my word for it see what Forbes says, click here.)  Yahoo Finance also states, that the real estate market is bad, and could get even worse, gold has stalled out, and yet George is still expecting 12% for a  few more years.  When I asked what he was basing this expectation on, he couldn’t really say, just that he’d been able to get that the last few years.  Yes, he also lost 28% in 2008. 

Eleanor Rosevelt said “Learn from other’s mistakes.  You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”  But as John Dewey stated “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”  If we take a moment to reflect on what George’s experience has been and the mistakes he has made, and is currently making, perhaps we can learn from him, rather than having to make those same mistakes ourselves.  I see 3 quick lessons we can learn from George.  

 Lesson #2- Warren Buffet’s number one rule of investing is “NEVER LOSE MONEY”.  The reason behind this rule of one of the most successful investors of our time is two-fold.  First, losses require significant returns to recover.  In George’s case, though he has earned roughly 12% on his investment each of the last  3 years, he needs a 39% return just to break even and recover from his losses.  If we throw this out in a mathematical equation that shows us the effects of compound interest included we see reality(we’ll simplify it a bit and just use $100,000 and show the loss year immediately followed by 3 years of 12% returns):

So we can see that even with great returns of 12% annually for 3 consecutive years, George has just barely recovered from his real-life losses.  While doing so, George also lost 4 years of potential earnings while getting 4 years closer to retirement.  This illustrates clearly why Mr. Buffet feels so strongly about avoiding losses.  If we were to take, instead, a conservative 5% rate of return with guaranteed protection from loss instead of a risky approach chasing the 12% rate of return, he would instead have  $115,762, as you can see in the example below:  

   That’s a difference of more than $14,000 in a very short time, in a very conservative approach, just by avoiding loss (the Wharton School of Business ran this concept, called indexing, over an extended period of time and found that historically it is a very viable approach, not just for those close to retirement, but for all those who are saving for retirement).  Besides, if it’s good enough for Warren Buffet, it’s probably good enough for me.

Lesson #3- Taking time to reflect on life, in all areas, is essential to improvement and true happiness.  Money isn’t everything, but it can teach us a great deal in life, if we let it.  As Mr. Dewey pointed out, learning comes from reflection.  In George’s case, running a small business has occupied his mental energy for so long that it is now getting in the way of him taking a reflective and crisp approach to his retirement planning.  What are you allowing to sap the mental energy you should be putting towards those important things in your life?  George is a great man and is doing his best to juggle his various priorities.  We all have to do the same, but often times we find ourselves dedicating time to Facebook, Youtube, and Netflix rather than reflecting on our relationships, work, plans, dreams, and wonderful blessings we each enjoy in our lives.

About this Author: Ed Kinsey has been in the financial services industry since 2003. He has experience in Real Estate, Mortgages, Commercial Finance, Annuities, and Life and Health Insurance.  His goal is to benefit the lives of one million people. He want companies to start providing better benefits at lower costs through our services. He wants to enlighten people to the retirement benefits available through life insurance, the only tax free retirement option. We have secure solutions.  Ed is also a world ranked powerlifter and fitness enthusiast.

Prep Time 20 Minutes Cook Time 10

Ingredients:

1 Stick unsalted Butter

1/4 cup softened coconut oil

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 large egg

2 cups Flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. Ground ginger

1/4 Cup white sugar for rolling the dough in




Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place butter in a small saucepan on Med. Heat. Stir till browned remove from heat let cool 15 minutes.

Mix Butter, oil, brown sugar, egg, and Molasses Till all combined. Slowly add Flour, Baking soda, salt, Cinnamon, and Ginger. Mix well. should have a sticky consistency.

Roll Dough into 1 Tbs. size balls. Roll in sugar and place on a Jelly roll pan on parchment paper.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Life can change in an instant.  One thing that is sure to happen to all of us is we are going to die.  Sooner or later the curtain of life will fall and our short time on this earth will be over.  I had an instance that reminded me of this fact earlier this week. 



Over the last few weeks I have had the feeling that I should travel to Reno, Nevada to visit some of my family.  My hubby was gone so even though it was going to be several hours in a car with little children I decided I should take off and go.  Usually I have a list a mile long of all the things my family could/should  do on vacation, but this time I couldn’t seem to put anything together.  I really just wanted to go and not be so anal about our trip. 


The day after I got to Reno I went to visit my Grandma who I love dearly.  She was feeling a little under the weather but was happy to have company and welcomed us in.  Lately I have been interested in learning more about my ancestors.  While we were visiting I asked my grandma about her parents and grandparents.  She shared stories about them she showed me some quilts that her mother had sewn that were hanging on her walls.  I was even able to borrow one of my great grandpa’s journals to look over for the week.  After a while we decided to let her rest and planned to get together another day.  After we left her health declined rapidly and within 2 hours an aunt of mine took her to the hospital.  She was quickly moved to ICU and remains there today. 

We don’t know what the outcome will be with my grandmother right now, but we do know that she will pass from this life soon.  In reflecting on this fact, I have come to ponder the question, “what will I be remembered for?”  As I have been looking at my ancestors I have started to categorize them.  Grandma Hellen loved to sew and make porcelain dolls.  Grandpa Van made it a goal in life to do something nice for someone else every day.  Grandma Sarah forgave and cared for her father later in life, whom had abandoned her and her sisters to die as children.  I read these stories and I am so inspired by these people that I have come from.  I believe that if well all looked into our ancestry we would also be awe stricken and gain strength knowing who we come from.  This is where my question is stemming from.  “What will I be remembered for?” 

I have children, and I hope they will be able to grow and someday have families of their own.  I want to watch them get married, have kids, and experience life.  I want to watch my kids children do the same.  I want to have the opportunity to grow old and I know someday I too will be laid to rest.    When I am laid to rest will my family remember me as the mom that was always in a hurry to get things done?  Who never really knew them?  Who cared more about what was going on around her family than what was going on in her family?  Or will I be remembered as a woman who truly loved her family and people?  One who knew what was important and did not let distractions get in the way of what mattered most to her? 

My ancestors live on.  They live on in my memories of them and the stories I have of them.  I want to live on as well, but not as the woman that was always tied up in doing the “thick of thin things.”   I am fearful that I show the characteristics of how I don’t want to be remembered all too often.  It is so easy to get caught up in a whirlwind and step over the important people/instances/moments in life.  I know I have already stepped over to many people/instances/moments and I pray I will not skip over any more. 



I believe faith without works is dead, so I have a few questions we can ask ourselves to help us evaluate what we want to be remembered for/as.  Take a couple of minutes and write down your answers to the following questions. 

1.        What do you want to be remembered for? (Kindness, Cleanliness, Charity, Forgiveness, Love, Health/Fitness, and/or activities you do?)

2.       What do you want your family and friends to say about you when you pass?

When done ask yourself:

1.        Am I living my life the way I want to be remembered?

2.       What changes can I do today that will lead my life the way I want it to go?

3.        Can I commit to changing and how am I going to change?  (Create a plan to change for the better)




About this Author: De Kinsey is the co-owner/manager of LIFE 1010™.  She worked as a licensed residential and commercial escrow officer for over 5 years.  This experience helped her learn how to analyze and understand legal documents and translate them in a way the general public could understand.   De Graduated from Utah Valley University in Psychology and in Community Health Science.  She understands how a person’s psyche and personal health can have positive and/or negative impact on their LIFE and financial well being.  She brings this knowledge into the LIFE 1010™ program. 

If you are like me you are going what happened to Summer? Back to school already? I hate the thought of having to get ready for back to school. So here are my tips for easier preparedness.

1-) School schedule. I hate the day after the first day of school. The kids are already telling you that they are too tired to get up. So start about a week before school getting up and doing your school routine. Have them start setting their own alarm give them some responsability.

2-) Coupon Clipping-  Umm I hate spending money on school supplies. This is a couponers dream month. You can spend next to nothing for school supplies if you find the right coupons. 

3-) Clean out the old- Back to school means new clothes and that means no room for the old. Time to go through the closets and drawers, find a great second hand store to pass on the old. Again use those coupons for the new.

4-) Turn off the TV- time to get into the habit of not having the electronics, this will help when the homework starts rolling in. This also helps when it is time for conversation. Find out how your kids days are going and where you can help. Your kids want to talk they want you to listen. This wwill also help out with reading time.

5-) Time to set up the family calendar- If you are like our family you are busy. Make sure that your calendar is set up so everyone knows where they are supposed to be and when. There are many important dates that have to be added when kids go back to school. You may not think that they are important, but to your kids they are.

 I hope that this helps you get a little more prepared for those long school months coming up. Just remember summer will be here again soon.