Showing posts with label Genre- Money Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genre- Money Management. Show all posts

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Faith, Family, & Finances: Strong Foundations for a Better Life by Henry Fernandez


Tour Date: January 16, 2012


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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!




Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

Whitaker House (March 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to  Cathy Hickling  of  Whitaker House  for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bishop Henry Fernandez and his wife Carol are founders and senior pastors of The Faith Center Ministries, Ft. Lauderdale, an 8,000-member multi-cultural church whose mission is “reaching the world for Jesus.” An author, speaker, and entrepreneur, Bishop Fernandez is also founder of the University of Ft. Lauderdale. He hosts the television program Lifestyles of Faith which airs worldwide on the Word and TBN TV Networks, and is a frequent guest host on TBN’s Praise the Lord show. Despite being told they were medically unable to have children, God blessed Henry and Carol with their first son after 16 years of marriage and praying for a baby, then a second son, 16 months later.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:


Bishop Henry Fernandez addresses America’s economic crisis, breakdown of the family unit, and general moral malaise, consequences, he writes, of a shift away from faith in God to the pursuit of material gain and worldly pursuits. Bishop Fernandez believes it’s not too late to turn things around with God’s help and hard work. He offers biblically-based, practical solutions for restoring one’s faith in God, then building on a foundation of renewed faith, proceeds to teach readers steps for restoring family relations and rejuvenating their personal finances.



Product Details:

List Price: $14.99

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Whitaker House (March 1, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1603742808
  • ISBN-13: 978-1603742801


AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Strong Faith 


I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt, and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath—these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely—these are my native air.    


  —Dr. E. Stanley Jones 


Chapter One

In Whom Do You Trust? 


“In God We Trust.” That is a powerful declaration, isn’t it? Although we seldom notice it, that solemn and weighty phrase graces every unit of American currency, from the lowly penny to the $100 bill. It’s not merely a slogan or a nice sentiment that we intone on holidays or in times of national crisis. There is meaning and intent behind those words. “In God We Trust” is based on the conviction, held by generations of Americans since the nation’s founding, that a country and its citizens are only as strong as their faith in, and faithfulness to, almighty God.

   That, of course, is God’s opinion on the matter, as well. Throughout the annals of history, He has promised to bless those nations and people who put their trust in Him, corporately and individually, and who behave in ways that honor Him and His character. By contrast, He has clearly warned that those who do not reverence and put their trust in Him can expect to suffer physically, financially, emotionally, and politically—in every way imaginable!
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.       (Psalm 33:12)

A Look to the Past

   Look at America’s past and you will see that, for the majority of our history, we have been the nation to which other nations have looked for guidance, help, defense, and a model of a successful, prosperous society. There is good reason for this. For most of the past two centuries, we have been the most prosperous and successful nation on earth. Consider the following:
    • The lion’s share of technological advances that occurred during the twentieth century—from automobiles to electric lights to television and radio to the computer and space travel—had their start in America.
    • During this same time, America’s industrial machine was second to none, pumping out volumes of manufactured goods for markets all over the world.

    • For most of that time, America was also blessed with remarkable agricultural production, an abundance that has been used to feed not only our own sizeable and ever-growing population but also many other nations of the world.
    • Our educational institutions were world renowned, raising generations of young people who were trained not only with life skills to succeed in business, industry, and elsewhere, but also with the precepts of righteousness and morality that are the foundation of any successful society.
   Without a doubt, the greatest asset of America’s blessedness has been its people. In America, God has brought together individuals, families, and communities from a wide variety of foreign countries, cultures, ethnicities, and races, forming a veritable “melting pot” of hardworking, moral, and God-honoring people who asked for nothing more in return than the opportunity to be an integral part of this “land of the free and home of the brave.”

   Committed to a solid faith in God, to strong families, and to earnest stewardship of all that God had blessed them with, this broad range of individuals built strong communities “from sea to shining sea” so that, for generations to come, our country could declare that America was “one nation under God.”

   Throughout the years, as long as Americans have trusted in God, they have maintained that same strength and unity, enabling them to achieve just about anything they set their minds and hearts to do.
The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible: “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”       
—George Washington Carver

A Change of Heart

   Today, however, many people are wondering what has happened to our strong, free nation that once put its trust in God. The cultural landscape around us, and the personal circumstances millions of Americans are facing, seem far different from the prosperity, security, and hope that so many of us grew up with. The list of challenges is daunting.
    • The nation’s job picture is bleak. As of August 2011, unemployment was 9.1 percent, with nearly fourteen million Americans out of work. How different from the nation in which previous generations raised their families and planned for the future.
    • Over the last thirty years, more and more Americans have gone into debt for nonessential luxury items. As of January 2010, Americans held more than 609 billion credit cards—or two cards for every American. In June 2011, U.S. consumer credit card debt reached $793 billion, with an average credit card debt per household of $15,799.1 What a difference from the practice of thrift that previous generations of Americans have displayed.
    • With so many Americans in so much debt, it’s little surprise that in 2010, filings for personal bankruptcy exploded to more than 1.5 million people.2
    • On the housing front, where home ownership was once a carefully considered decision for previous generations, over the last several years, it has become an entitlement. Untold millions of Americans have gone into debt for homes whose mortgages far exceeded their incomes. As of July 2011, the national foreclosure rate had come down significantly since the financial crisis, down to 1 in every 111 homes. In my own state of Florida, however, the rate was even worse, with 14 percent of all homes actively in foreclosure.3
    • As the economy has faltered and families have lost their homes, homelessness has become a national epidemic. According to a 2007 study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, approximately 3.5 million individuals in America are now homeless—1.35 million of them children.4
    • Just as the economy in crisis has impacted individuals, families, and communities, it has also devastated businesses and financial institutions. Long-established, respected banks, investment companies, and lending institutions—many considered “too big to fail”—have collapsed, while others survived only through the direct intervention of a government that is being increasingly stressed in its ability to provide the answers.

Family and Morality: A Changing Landscape

Destroy the family, and you destroy the country.
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
   The essential building block of any society is the family, and American society is no exception. From its beginning, strong families living morally upright lives have been an important ingredient to a strong America. We may snicker or roll our eyes at the straight-laced values from thirty, forty, or fifty years ago, but the truth is that life certainly seemed simpler and more wholesome back then.

  Families, whatever the faults and foibles of their members, were stronger and more stable. Marriage was considered to be a scared institution. There were stricter standards that governed relationships between the sexes, children were more respectful of their elders, and the values that defined behavior in society tended to keep people on the straight and narrow.

   That seems to be far from the case today:
    • In many sectors of our society, marriage has become an option rather than a sacred trust. A study by the National Marriage Project found that cohabitation—couples living together outside the bond of marriage—has become so accepted in our society that an increasing number of Americans view it as a perfectly functional alternative to marriage. Their study quoted U.S. Census figures, which claimed that in 1997, there were more than four million unmarried couples sharing a household, up from less than a half million in 1960.5 A study conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan found that nearly two in five children will spend at least some time living with a parent and an unmarried partner.6
    • With such a casual approach to lifelong relationships, it is no wonder that the institution of marriage seems to be in absolute crisis throughout America. A recent study by the Barna Group found that one out of three Americans who has been married has also been divorced. As George Barna noted in the study, “There no longer seems to be much of a stigma attached to divorce; it is now seen as an unavoidable rite of passage.”7
    • Along with a drastic increase in divorce has come a wholesale redefinition of what marriage means in America. Several states have ruled that marriage can no longer be defined as only between a man and a woman. In some states, unions between two men or two women have been declared legally acceptable. One wonders if there will be any end to the redefinition of God’s most foundational building block for humanity.
    • Over the last thirty-five-plus years, children have become increasingly vulnerable and, in many cases, an inconvenience to people’s freewheeling lifestyles. The fact that, since 1973, over forty million precious babies have met their deaths through abortion represents a serious blight on our nation.

What Has Happened to Our Faith?

   In April 2009, during a trip to Turkey, President Barack Obama held a press conference in which he said, “One of the great strengths of the United States is—although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”8 If that statement by the leader of our nation does not seem alarming, recall that in June 2006, Mr. Obama delivered a speech to the Call for Renewal Conference, sponsored by the progressive Christian magazine Sojourners, in which his prepared remarks stated, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”9

   Now, in one sense, President Obama is right. America was never intended to be a nation where individuals were compelled to become Christians. One of the great values of our nation is that everyone has the freedom to worship God after the dictates of his or her own heart.

   Nevertheless, whatever the president meant by his statements, the undeniable truth of the matter is that America was established upon Christian precepts, and it seems that, as a nation and a people, we have drifted away from those foundations. As a consequence, we are now paying a price that only repentance and turning back to God will cure.

   More than two hundred years ago, another president made a very different declaration. At his first inauguration, George Washington reminded his fellow citizens:
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.…We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.
   God Himself reminds us in the Bible that upright, godly Christian living will make and keep a nation and a people great. By contrast, sin, rebellion, selfishness, greed, and turning away from God and His Word will bring reproach and, ultimately, destruction.
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.                  (Proverbs 14:34)

The Foundation for Success

   Now, I realize that the America of today is far different from the one President Washington addressed so many years ago. In fact, many individuals living in the United States may not even be American citizens, and they may have difficulty identifying with the values and culture that have defined our country over many generations. The fact remains, however, that the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and actions of a specific group of people inhabiting a place—whether it is two people or more than 250 million people—will largely determine whether those people will in live in peace, health, abundance, security, and plenty, or in constant turmoil, danger, poverty, disease, and lack.
Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.  (Deuteronomy 28:1–13)
   When God called the nation of Israel to be His own special people, He promised to be with them, to guide them, and to bless them with perfect health, overwhelming abundance for their every need, the favor of the people and nations around them, and with success in whatever they set their hands to do. He told them that His blessings would overtake them and that they would not be able to stop the favor of God upon their lives. All they had to do was trust Him, put Him first over everything else, and follow the directions He gave them for life.

   Unfortunately, God’s people often ended up doing the exact opposite, and they paid a painful price. Their disobedience—their lack of trust in God’s mercy and goodness, and their insistence on looking to their own faulty wisdom and planning rather than to God’s perfect blueprint for their lives—led them, throughout their long history, to be in bondage to other nations. Throughout all of their ordeals, God continued to call His people back to His perfect path, where blessings and abundance awaited them.

   That story may sound familiar. It is much like the situations and circumstances that we face today. We say a little prayer, hoping for God’s blessing, and then we forge ahead with our own plans and agendas rather than waiting for His perfect timing. Although we are well aware of God’s counsel, too many of us end up following the opposite course of action. Of course, gentleman that He is, God allows us to go our own way, patiently waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves, where we finally say, “Father, I was wrong; You were right. Take control.”

   That is what God is waiting for: a decision by each one of us to turn from our own ways—with all the heartache and turmoil attached to them—and return to His perfect way. He promises in His Word that He will wait until we are ready to receive His mercy, when we have come to the end of ourselves and our own resources, our own ideas and strategies, so that we can rest instead rest in His care, receive His salvation, and feast at His table of plenty.
For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,…Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.              (Isaiah 30:15, 18)

Returning to the God of Our Salvation

   It certainly seems that a dramatic shift is taking place within our own nation and, indeed, throughout the world. The prosperity, abundance, plenty, and peace that have been assumed as our right and privilege for so long now appear to be drifting away. In their place has come an abundance of uncertainty, even fear, about the future.

   Jobs that once seemed plentiful and secure are rare and disappearing. Financial resources that seemed so abundant a few years ago now are scarce or nonexistent. The peace, order, and beauty of many of our neighborhoods and communities are being replaced by violence, abuse, corruption, decay, crime, and chaos. Many of our homes, once sanctuaries of peace against the slings and arrows of the cold workaday world, have become disordered, abusive, and discordant. The laughter and happiness of many of our children, once secure and well-adjusted, have been replaced, in many cases, by rebellion, anger, pride, and disobedience. Many loving couples, once committed to each other “till death us do part,” have been replaced by “partners,” devoted more to self and the pursuit of pleasure than to the welfare of the other, with discord and divorce as the fruit of their unions.

   Is there hope for a nation and a people who once declared unashamedly “In God We Trust” but who are now mired in sin and selfish living, and who are drifting and confused? The answer is an emphatic and unequivocal “Yes!” God has a promise for each individual—and every collective people—who will turn to Him in humility and absolute trust. Just as He told His people, Israel, He still says to you and me, “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15 nlt).

   To many of us, that may sound like a tall order, an impossible feat to accomplish. When everything within us is screaming, in our need and anxiety, Don’t just stand there and trust God! Do something; anything!, to choose to be still and trust God seems almost ridiculous. But believe me, God is right there to help you, to enable you to stand and wait for Him through the power of His Holy Spirit. He is not far away but near to each of us in our need.
  Anything less than God will let you down.
—E. Stanley Jones

Are You That Individual?

   Whatever your need today, God is waiting to meet it, out of His mercy. He is looking for individuals who will make faith and a relationship with Him a lifestyle. He’s looking for people who will be part of a worldwide community of believers who turn their families, neighborhoods, communities, and nation back to God. He is searching for those who will stand in the gap, committed to a strong and vital faith; for those who will build strong families who trust God together; and for those who will practice financial stewardship based on godly, scriptural principles.

   The turnaround for a nation and a people on the brink begins with one person saying “Yes!” to God. Are you just such an individual? In the following chapters, I will show how you can find a doorway to the kind of faith that can move mountains in your life—mountains and obstacles you may have long thought would block God’s blessings forever. I will also show you God’s counsel on building strong families that can weather any storm life throws at them. Finally, I will show you God’s perfect counsel on sound finances—something all of us need in these days of uncertainty.

   Be assured, God’s provision—and all His best for you—is not dependent upon the economy, the whims of the stock market, how much money you have in the bank, or if you have a job tomorrow. God’s provision for you and your family is dependent upon one thing alone: God’s faithfulness to His Word. He is the Creator of everything—all the wealth of the world is at His command—and He has promised to supply all your needs according to all the riches of His glorious and unending kingdom. (See Philippians 4:19.)

   All you have to do is believe and receive.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It by J. Steve Miller

Tour Date: November 12

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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:


Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It

Wisdom Creek Press, LLC (March 11, 2009)

***Special thanks to Blythe Daniel of The Blythe Daniel Agency, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


J. Steve Miller - educator, investor, entrepreneur, and speaker - has taught audiences from Atlanta to Moscow. He’s known for drawing practical wisdom from serious research and communicating it in accessible, unforgettable ways.

Steve is the founder and president of Legacy Educational Resources, providing global resources for teachers of life skills in public schools, churches, and service organizations at www.character-education.info. A self-styled "wisdom broker," he collects wisdom from many fields and packages it for teachers and writers via his published books and the Web. His wife, Cherie, and their seven sons continually remind him what works and what doesn’t.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: Wisdom Creek Press, LLC (March 11, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098187567X
ISBN-13: 978-0981875675

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Preface


This book will help you to:


get out of debt and accumulate wealth.
get ahead, even when the work you love doesn’t produce big bucks.
find your strengths and passions and make a living with them.
live a more fulfilled life.


You'll discover the wisdom of the great makers and accumulators of wealth, presented in a story form to help you understand, internalize and have fun in the process. You’ll learn investing from Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor and wealthiest man in the world. You’ll learn principles of business success from Sam Walton, the uber-successful founder of Wal-Mart. You’ll find advice on landing and succeeding in a dream job from experts in career guidance.


Is This Book for Me?


You're never too young or too old to discover these ageless principles. They apply to the seasoned business executive as well as the entrepreneur with his first lemonade stand. Warren Buffet caught his vision at age five and started investing at age 11. My grandmother started multiplying her money in her mid-60's. At age one hundred and two, with her sharp mind intact, she's accumulated a small fortune.


What's Unique About This Book?


Many books teach personal money management. Some of them are good. But, as Paul A. Samuelson (MIT Professor of Economics and Nobel Laureate) said:


"The same surgeon general who required cigarette packages to say 'Warning, this product may be dangerous to your health' ought to require that 99 out of 100 books written on personal finance carry that same label. The exceptions are rare." 1


I strove to be one of those exceptions by basing my advice not just upon years of personal experience, but upon the knowledge and experiences of well over one hundred wise people. In the process, my house at times bore more resemblance to the famed library of Alexandria than to a home. But each new book or interview seemed to offer new angles or fresh insights, often pointing to new paths just begging to be traveled. 2


After writing my first draft, I put it into the hands of over forty smart people I respect, asking them, "If you could put a lifetime of financial wisdom into a book, is this what you'd say? Be ruthlessly honest!" Their input proved invaluable.


Essentially, I distill the wisdom of the wise on working hard, working smart, saving, investing and giving - all the ageless basics - applied to today's world. I was especially fascinated with the counterintuitive nature of so much of their advice. The more you study the successful, the more you see why most people aren't very successful. The path to financial freedom isn't the path that initially appears obvious. Thus, the need for books to challenge the conventional thinking of popular culture.


I cover critical topics often left out of books of this nature. For example, the excellent studies of millionaires by professors Thomas Stanley and William Danko found that character traits such as integrity, diligence and thrift are shared by most who accumulate wealth.3 The massive Gallup study of managers and people at work helps us discover our passions and strengths and put them to work in a fulfilling career.4


Finally, people usually seek money, not as an end in itself, but as a way to find peace and happiness. Funny that so many money books assume that lots of money will automatically cure our ills and put smiles on our faces. When does money help lead us to happiness? When does it hinder our happiness? Social scientists have studied happiness extensively and drawn some fascinating, counterintuitive conclusions.5 Isn't happiness important to consider in handling your money?


Money management can be exciting! I believe that this story of Antonio, Akashi, James, Amy and their mentors can build some of that excitement. It's fun to beat the system. It’s fun to see your money grow. It’s fun to feel successful. It’s fun to have enough money to help others. To this end, I hope you have fun reading my book.




Table of Contents

Page

Preface…………………………………………………………………………

Introduction……………………………………………………………………

Part One – Investing Money

Breakfast 1 – Discover the Basics……………………………………………

Breakfast 2 – Catch the Vision………………………..…………………

Breakfast 3 – Don’t Lose Money in Stocks……………………………………

Breakfast 4 – Make Money in Mutual Funds……………………………

Breakfast 5 – Diversify with Real Estate and Prepare for Hard Times ……

Breakfast 6 - The Breakfast that Almost Wasn’t…………………………

Part Two – Saving Money

Breakfast 7 – Live WAY Beneath Your Means…………………………

Breakfast 8 – Save on Food and Clothes ………………………

Breakfast 9 – Save on Cars…………………………………………

Breakfast 10 – Save on Houses……………………………………

Breakfast 11 –Ten Popular Ways to Lose Loads of Money………………

Part Three – Making Money

Breakfast 12 - Find Jobs You Love………………………………………

Breakfast 13 – Excel at Your Job…………………………………………

Breakfast 14 – Invest in your Mind………………………………………



Part Four: Enjoying Money

Breakfast 15 – Look for Happiness in the Right Places…………………

Epilogue: Where Are They Now?

Web-Based Complementary Resources

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………

Bibliographical References

Index





























Introduction
From Cliff Hanger to Hash Brown’s Breakfast Bar


August 15, 2005, Somewhere in the Montana Rockies…


Dangling off the edge of a massive rock, something had to give. Antonio could no longer hang on to both his well-chalked handhold and his struggling, neophyte climber - a Down ’s syndrome teen named Chad.


Antonio shot a piercing glance directly into Chad’s fear-filled eyes. “I’ve got to let go of ya, Chad! Trust in what you’ve learned and hang on to that rope!”


After the briefest silent prayer, Antonio let go….


Chad let out a blood-curdling scream, which quickly shifted into quiet concentration as he relaxed his death-grip on the rope and let it slide through the carabineers. He pushed off of the rock and began bouncing down the cliff. Rappelling with newly found confidence and his own distinctive style, his silence erupted into laughter. Chad had conquered yet another challenge during his week-long retreat with Extreme Wisdom Wilderness Adventures.


Antonio free-climbed his way down the adjacent rock, shouting triumphantly to the cloudless sky, “What a job! The wilderness is my office. My clients love me. I’m changing the world, one person at a time!”


Then, he chuckled to himself as his mind rewound to a decade earlier, to “In School Suspension,” “The Counterculture Club,” and that loony old Mrs. Kramer, who turned out to have more sense than anyone he’d ever met.


“Without them,” Antonio thought, “I could have never landed this dream job. Not the way I handled my money back in high school. When I get back to civilization, I’m calling a reunion of the “The Counterculture Club.”


11:00 PM, Two Months Later, Hash Brown’s Breakfast Bar in Acworth, Georgia…


Second-shift manager Larry Wiersbe was experiencing a rare lull in customers until four rowdy twenty-somethings suddenly charged in, looking like they’d stepped straight out of a culturally-sensitive brochure: an Asian girl, an African-American guy, an alternative-looking Caucasian girl and a Hispanic guy.


Larry introduced himself, took their orders and retreated to the grill until a sudden movement forced him to glance at the crowd. The Asian had jumped up suddenly and was swinging her glass Ketchup bottle over her shoulder like the start of a tennis serve. Then, she brought it down forcibly toward the table. Before he could intervene, she stepped back just far enough to miss the table. Riotous laughter followed, until an elderly lady appeared in the entranceway. She pointed her cane at the small party and announced at the top of her lungs, “I christen thee, ‘The Counterculture Club!’”


“Mrs. Kramer!” the Hispanic shouted, as they sprang from their seats to hug their old mentor and friend. High fives, hand slaps and severely dated hand-shakes followed. After all the commotion, Larry half expected them to boost the old lady overhead and body surf her to the table. Instead, they led her gently by her hands, respectfully seating her at the head.


His curiosity piqued, Larry followed their loud conversation from the grill.


“You crazy kids!” Mrs. Kramer began. “What in the world have you been up to? You kept me up-to-date with e-mails and an occasional meeting for a few short years, but then you fell off the face of the earth, you ungrateful bums!”


“You were never one to beat around the bush,” Antonio said sheepishly. “I’ll be the first to plead guilty to the charge of not writing…”


“Enough with the boring confessional,” Mrs. Kramer broke in. “I’m dying to catch up with your lives!”


For the next hour, Larry listened intently to some incredible success stories. Although far from perfect, these people seemed to “get” something that Larry didn’t. They exuded vision, goals, purpose. Much of the conversation revolved around finances – refusing debt, making, saving and investing money. But then the conversation would move seamlessly to finding fulfillment in serving others with their time and money.


Larry knew he didn’t fit in. He shared their age, but that was it. The three credit cards in his wallet were stretched to the max. He worked two dead-end jobs just to keep his head above water. At this rate, he’d never own his own home, much less have the time and resources to help others. And he resolved to never marry a girl who was stupid enough to choose such a loser. Finally, he got the nerve to break in.


“OK guys, it’s midnight, closing time. But you’ve obviously got something I desperately need. Unless you’re all high or suffering from delusions of grandeur, you’ve achieved a freedom that’s eluded me all of my life. Can you tell me what you learned from this lady that made your lives into something I’m envying?”


They looked at each other and shrugged.


“I’ll cut a deal with you,” Larry continued. “If you’ll tell me in one hour how you’ve achieved this…“financial freedom” as you call it, I’ll let you hang out as long as you like. Plus, I’ll serve you whatever you want. No charge.”


“Why not?” said the old lady. Obviously the mouthpiece for the group, she seemed to enjoy taking charge once more. “It would be a hoot to reminisce about old times, and a helpful review for these slow learners. Keep that order pad handy, because you’ll need to jot some of this down.”


“And you’d better pull up your chair,” chuckled the black fellow, “because once you get us started, we’ll take more than your hour.”


In School Suspension


“I’ll start,” volunteered the alternative-looking blonde. “I remember that first day vividly because I’ve relived it in my mind a hundred times since. You wouldn’t have recognized me back then. As a fifteen-year-old, I didn’t have the cheek-ring or tattoos that today help jump-start conversations while volunteering at the Juvenile Center. Back then, I was a reluctant cheerleader. This unlikely group first met in ISS.”


“In School Suspension?” queried Larry.


“If you don’t know, you must have been one of the good boys!” teased the Asian.


“So, I walked in to find these three students, but no teacher. I’d hoped someone I knew would be there, but no such luck. An assistant principal broke the ice by stepping in and explaining that our teacher would arrive shortly. Then she asked for our names and wrote them on a legal pad:


Antonio, Amy, Akashi, James.


She took another sheet and began to read our crimes, something like this:


Flash Back to High School


“Antonio: Fourteen tardies? We’re only into the fifteenth school day!”


“I’m not a morning person,” Antonio offered.


“Akashi, sleeping through Algebra again? I figured you’d be good at Math.”


“Not all Asians can be Math geniuses, you know,” Akashi responded, showing more than a hint of attitude.


“James, caught in the hall without a pass.”


“The teacher wasn’t around, and when you gotta go, you gotta--”


“Spare me the details. And Amy, what’s with parking in the teacher’s lot?”


“I was late, and a visitor had taken my spot.”


“Typical teens: all victims, none responsible. Anyway, Coach Helms will be in shortly.”


As the door closed behind her, Akashi mocked, “typical teens…all victims, none responsible. And since I’m Asian, of course I sit around studying Math for fun. I’m so tired of this prison of a school. And here I sit in house arrest with a couple of jocks and a cheerleader.”


“So you resent being labeled a stereotypical Asian Math whiz but have no problem labeling us as stereotypical preps and jocks?” shot back Antonio. Can you say “hypocrite?”


“We’re getting off to a bad start,” offered James. “If coach Helms walks in and finds us in a rumble, we’ll be stuck in ISS the rest of the year. Obviously, none of us want to crack a book until we have to. Let’s break through the stereotypes and get to know each other a bit. Surely we have something in common. Amy, you’re a cheerleader, right?”


“I hate cheerleading,” complained Amy. “It’s not me at all.”


“What do you mean?” asked Antonio. “You so look the part.”


“I’m a rebel living in a preppie world. You see, my brother started dressing goth in high school about the same time as he discovered drugs. My parents, fearing the same would happen to me if I got with the ‘wrong’ crowd, won’t let me near a Hot Topic or thrift store. I understand their concern, but I’m not about to do drugs. I see what they’ve done to my brother. But I’m not comfortable with jocks and preps.



My parents want the best for me. I don’t want to hurt them. But I’m counting the days till I go off to college, shed these Abercrombies and join a punk band. Alone in my bedroom with my bass, I can keep up with almost any song you give me.”


“Amazing. And you guys probably think I play Soccer,” teased Antonio. “It’s never interested me. I’m more into weightlifting and wilderness adventures, like rock climbing and caving.”


“If you’re into stereotypes, I do like basketball and fried chicken,” offered James. “But I don’t like watermelon, and I’m not on the school basketball team. I spend my after school hours making money. My parents always fight about money, so I plan to make a million by the time I’m 40 so that it won’t be an issue in my family.”


“Parents with money problems, now that’s something we’ve got in common,” replied Akashi. “My parents are so obsessed with ‘getting ahead’ that they work day and night and weekends. We live in a nice neighborhood and have great cars, but they can’t enjoy life. They have to work all the time to pay the bills. I’d much rather live in a one room apartment and have time to travel and hang out with my family. Amy, what about your parents?”


“They’d love to teach at the University and write on the side, but they can’t quit their corporate jobs. They need the money. They’ve never been savers. They max out their credit cards over Christmas, pay them off by the end of summer and start the cycle over again the next Christmas.


When my brother went into drug rehab and insurance wouldn’t pay, Mom and Dad had absolutely no savings to draw from. They took out a second loan on the house and are now in worse financial shape than ever. It’s depressing. They’re always tired and worried. I can’t see how they’ll ever dig themselves out of this hole. Antonio?”


“Mom works day and night to support the family. Dad’s a deadbeat. He’s always either looking for a job or complaining about the job he has. Money’s definitely a big issue at home. Mom and Dad argue all the time about it. It gets so bad that I fear Dad will eventually pack up and leave.”


(Enter Coach Helms.)


“Okay class. Sorry to be late. I recognize all of you from previous suspensions, so I’ll dispense with introductory matters. Please open your text books and get to work.”


“Coach Helms, we’ve got problems,” interjected Akashi.


“Hello! That’s why you’re in ISS, Right?” offered Coach Helms.


“Not those problems,” explained Akashi. “I’m talking about family problems. Our parents suck with their money.”


“Tell me about it,” said Coach Helms. “I wish I had some answers, but I overslept this morning because I work a night job to make ends meet. I can’t seem to make it on my teacher’s salary.”


“Is everyone in this town hopeless with their money?” asked Akashi. “If you don’t give us some answers, we’ll end up just like our parents – broke, tired and whining all the time. You’re supposed to be our teacher. Give us some direction here.”


Coach Helms thought for a moment, tapping his pencil nervously on the desk. Without looking up, he said, “What about Mrs. Kramer?”


“Old widow Kramer, the Social Studies teacher?” asked James. “I had her for a class. She dresses worse than my grandma…and her car isn’t anything to brag about.”


“She may not look the part,” said Coach Helms, “but my banker says she’s the best money manager he knows. She’s got all kinds of investments going. Besides Social Studies and Business, she also teaches Money Management.”


“Come to think of it,” continued James, “I remember her being hyped about her world travels. I wondered how she paid for it on a teacher’s salary. Maybe she got a big life insurance claim when her husband died. But she can be a little scary…and those riddles….”


“Her personality…,” continued Coach Helms. “She’s definitely a work of art. More Picasso than Norman Rockwell. Been around students so long that I think she’s more comfortable with teens than adults. Hardly ever see her in the teacher’s lounge. Speaks your language.


She eats second lunch. How about this? I’ll let you eat second lunch. Try to connect with her. Until then, get out those notebooks. I want to see some progress.”


Hmmm…


1. What are your friends and relatives doing right with their finances that you’d like to emulate?


2. What are your friends and relatives doing wrong with their finances that you’d like to avoid?


3. What would you like to learn most about making and managing your money?


4. For more free discussions and activities for each chapter, visit www.enjoyyourmoney.org.


Old Widow Kramer


Fast Forward to Reunion


“So we met her for lunch, and she told us her story,” Amy continued. “Tell him about it, Mrs. Kramer.”


“At thirty years of age, my husband died of cancer, leaving me, not with a fat life insurance pay out, but with over $20,000 in credit card debt and funeral expenses. The monthly payments on those debts were killing me. Every time the phone rang, I knew a debt collector would be on the other end, hounding and threatening me.


So I sold my house and moved into a condo to pay down my debts and reduce my expenses (and avoid mowing that blasted yard). Then, I took a weekend job. The extra job also helped keep my mind off of my grief. I worked like a dog to dig my way out of debt and get those accursed creditors off my back. In a little over four years, I paid those debts in full, on a day I refer to as ‘one of the best days of my life.’ I felt soooo free!


From that experience, I got a bad taste in my mouth about debt. I avoided it like the plague. I vowed to never again make credit card payments unless it was absolutely necessary.


I still owed about $15,000 on the condo, so I kept my weekend job, putting all my extra money into paying it down. I was amazed at how quickly I paid it off. I was totally debt free! Nobody could take my home from me. It was mine.


With very few expenses, I quit my weekend job and divided the money I used to make in payments into investments, travel and giving to worthy causes. So far, I’ve saved up about $500,000 toward an early retirement.”


“From $20,000 in debt to $500,000 in savings!” reiterated Amy. “That was quite an impressive story – actually, a bit unbelievable at the time.”


Amy continued. “From that short lunch, we knew that there was a lot more wisdom where that came from. And it was more than book wisdom. It came from her experience. She had beaten the system that was killing our parents. If we could learn her lessons at age 18, she could save us tons of headaches along the way.”


“More than that,” added James, “I decided that she just might hold the key to my dream of making a million dollars by my fortieth birthday and taking early retirement.”


“My needs were more emotional,” admitted Akashi. “My older siblings were academic overachievers. My parents drilled into me that ‘A’s in school would set me up for an ‘A’ career and an ‘A’ life. But somehow I’d botch up every class with ‘C’s and ‘D’s, which I thought would guarantee me a ‘C-Minus’ life. I was a loser, and felt that everyone saw a huge ‘L’ tattooed on my forehead. I acted tough, but was scared stiff at the thought of meeting with Mrs. Kramer. Yet, I felt that she offered a glimmer of hope. I was desperate. What did I have to lose?”


“We asked her if she would meet us for breakfast once a week,” continued Amy, “to ask questions and learn more. She said that she’d love to, if we’d pay her $5.00 each per breakfast. She explained that it would be a good lesson for us to pay for wise counsel.


For the next year, we met with her every Saturday morning, here at Hash Brown’s. Sometimes, we’d discuss a book for a month of meetings. Other times, we’d just ask questions. We’ll just tell you about the meetings where she pulled out her notebook and covered new topics. Each week, she exposed us to stuff we’d never learned, either at school or at home. Those meetings changed our lives.”


Hmmm…


Was it really possible for Mrs. Kramer to go from $20,000 in debt to $500,000 in savings in a span of about 30 years?

What keeps most people from making such a dramatic turnaround?

What could have kept Mrs. Kramer from getting into her predicament in the first place?




































Part One


Investing Money
































Breakfast #1

Discover the Basics



“I remember that first meeting well,” volunteered Antonio, wincing. “I’ll tell about the first two breakfasts.


So, I stroll in at 9:04 to find everyone there, waiting on me.”


Flashback


Kramer: You’re four minutes late!


Antonio: I have a hard time getting places on time.


Kramer: When you’re late, you waste our time. Half of success, financial or otherwise, is showing up…on time. It’s so important that I’ll lay out some incentive. If you’re late next week, you pay for the entire breakfast by yourself.


Fast Forward to Reunion


“Everyone but me thought it a splendid idea, so my resistance was outvoted. I was more than a little ticked off, threatening that I just might not show up at all next week. Kramer nonchalantly replied that it was my choice. We learned quickly that if we wanted her advice, it would be on her terms, not ours. She ignored my pouty expression and continued.”


Flashback


Kramer: So you want to learn how to handle your money. Well, if I talk the entire time, I don’t get to eat. So let’s do it this way. We order our food. While we wait for it to come, I tell a story or throw out five to ten minutes of advice while you think and jot down notes.


After the food comes, everyone throws in their thoughts. I want to know your experiences with the concept, good or bad. Take your best shots at my ideas. Too much education these days is merely transferring a set of notes from the teacher to the students, without it going through the minds of either.


I’m not easily offended. Tell me why it won’t work for you. Your objections and comments will help us distill each concept into something that will work for you. At the end of each session, tell us what you want to deal with the next week. That way, we stay practical. Sound good to you?


(Everyone agreed as the waiter arrived to take our orders.)



Kramer: First, I’ll pass out a sheet that should help you to lighten up on your parents. I know that you think they’re totally incompetent buffoons with finances. I want you to understand the bigger picture of our culture, a big part of the reason for their money issues. Your parents’ neighbors, friends and relatives probably handle their money the same way. They’re just doing what their culture has taught them. When everybody’s doing it, it’s hard to question your way of life.


James: You’re saying that if I were to live with my neighbors for awhile, I’d likely find the same financial problems that Mom and Dad have? I’ve assumed that their nice cars and smiling faces meant that they were better off than me.


Kramer: Wrong assumption. Here’s the way many of your friends and neighbors manage their money.


Personal Finances in America


According to surveys:


Ninety-seven percent of workers over 45 say they regret how they spent their money, in light of how much they could have saved.1


Almost one in four adults live paycheck to paycheck.2

Fifty-nine percent of Americans don’t save regularly.3

We’re getting worse and worse at saving.4


Twenty-five years ago, Americans saved over ten percent of their income.


Ten years ago, we saved 4.5 percent.


By 2005, for the first time since the Great Depression, we spent more than we earned.


Approximately 1,500,000 Americans declare personal bankruptcy each year.5


The average college student graduates with over $20,000 in debt.6


Most Americans haven’t even calculated how much money they need to retire.7


Personal debt is reaching record highs, and personal savings is reaching all time lows.8


James: That’s insane! I'd hoped that retirement would be the time for me to say goodbye to the eight to five grind and relax at a beach house. If I follow the crowd in finances, I’ll be worrying about money the rest of my life!


Akashi: One in four adults living paycheck to paycheck? Talk about risky living! And adults complain about teens’ risky behaviors! A short-term job loss or illness could put them in serious debt and make them lose their houses.


Amy: The scary side of it for me is that if we don’t do something different, we’ll all be over $20,000 in debt in about six years. Then we’ll go to work and live paycheck to paycheck, until we retire in a low rent district, watching Wheel of Fortune on one of our four antenna stations, constantly whining about how we regret the way we lived our lives and don’t have enough money to have any fun.


Akashi: Our kids will probably hate our visits, assuming we’re there to ask for another handout!


Kramer: Exactly! Somehow, you’ve got to break loose from a culture that’s gone crazy with its finances. Many dig themselves into a deeper hole every day, enjoying life less and less as they spend everything they’ve got to pay off past debts. In the land of the free, they’ve become financially enslaved.


(Kramer gets a wild look in her eyes, more animated with each sentence as she rises from her seat.)


You’re already different from the mainstream. That’s why I relate to you. I challenge you to extend your independent thinking and counterculture attitudes to your finances.


And to that end (she pulls back a glass ketchup bottle high overhead with both hands, waving it menacingly in the air), I christen this group (she brings the bottle back down with increasing speed, aimed directly at the table), THE COUNTERCULTURE CLUB!


(She pulls back the bottle at the last second, missing the table, but sending her students scattering all directions. Kramer erupts into laughter.)


Amy: You scared me to death! Did you really have to embarrass us in front of all these people to make that point?


Kramer: A little adrenaline is good to help cement points in your memory. You’ll never forget this moment. Plus, if you never get over the “Oh my gosh, what’s everybody gonna think?” thing, you’ll find yourself living everyone else's life, the life of your culture, rather than your own life. I like a little drama now and again to spice things up. Later today I’ll get a good laugh out of picturing your faces as you envisioned ketchup exploding all over the restaurant.


James: (Settling back into his chair.) A good laugh at our expense! Don’t be surprised if you find toilet paper in your yard from your favorite club to test your own embarrassment index. So where were we? Something about how our culture sucks at finances?


Kramer: From the stats on my handout, you know how NOT to handle your finances - the way most others handle their finances. You’ve seen it in your parents and now in the culture at large. Let’s transition to how we can do finances right. This being the first breakfast, let’s start with an overview - some basics of financial wisdom. In the coming weeks, we’ll devote entire breakfasts to each principle.


But instead of handing out the list, I want you to draw out the basics from a real person who went counterculture with her finances. From decades of teaching, I’ve found that students remember stories better than lists; plus, stories are more interesting. As I tell the story, jot down the principles that you think made the person successful.


Oseola Enjoys Life and Saves a Fortune

Some of us might fear that we'll never have enough money to make ends meet and enjoy life. What if your job doesn't pay well, and you can't seem to get ahead? I want to introduce you to Oseola, who has a lot to teach us. She didn't have the advantages of most of us, yet she enjoyed life and saved a ton.

Oseola grew up in a simple house with her grandmother, mother and an aunt. As an eight-year-old, she would wash clothes after school to help make ends meet. Her school education ended at age 12, when she dropped out to care for her sick aunt and work full time at washing.

So far, she's not on anyone’s “most likely to succeed” list.

Her work was hard, but she enjoyed it. She washed the old-fashioned way: building a fire under her wash pot, then soaking, washing and boiling a bundle of clothes. Rub. Wrench. Rub again. Rinse. Starch. Hang out to dry. She worked Monday through Saturday, for 75 years, until arthritis forced her into retirement at age 86. She never got to finish school, never had a car and owned few possessions. Her TV received only one station. But that didn't bother her because she never watched it very much anyway.

I can hear you thinking, ''Get a life, woman!'' But, you see, Oseola did have a life - a great life. She didn't desire travel or possessions. She loved her God, her family and her work. Singing and storytelling filled her days with joy and laughter.

She never bought on credit so that she would be financially free. And since she didn't need money for a lot of possessions or travel, she invested it, a little each month. By July 1995, a half year after her retirement, she had saved - get this - $280,000. That’s over a quarter of a million dollars! Then, she stunned the world by giving away over half of it, $150,000, to establish a college scholarship for needy students, offering others the education she never had.

Until recently, Oseola McCarty referred to herself as a ''poor little old colored woman who walked everywhere.'' No one paid her much attention when she was out. But when the word leaked out about her donation, the world took notice.

She has since received numerous awards, been interviewed on ABC, CNN, NBC, BET and MTV. She's been featured in Newsweek, The New York Times, People, Life, Ebony, Essence and Jet. But all that recognition never changed her simple life. You see, she didn't need all the recognition. In her own words, ''I think my secret was contentment. I was happy with what I had.''9

Now, compare her to most Americans. Many with huge salaries haven't managed to save a cent. Many are worth less than nothing, worrying constantly about their debts. But Oseola shows me that if she can save over a quarter of a million dollars by washing people's clothes in boiling water over a fire, I can save money as a schoolteacher.

So, what do you think?

Reflections on Oseola

Akashi: I’ll start. I think her life sucked. She spent her entire life in a hovel working the same crappy job day in and day out, with only one TV channel for entertainment. She didn’t even own a car. What kind of life is that?

Antonio: Akashi! Mrs. Kramer is trying to help us out here. Don’t be so hard on her!

Kramer: I’m the one who sets the ground rules, and I challenge you to be just as outspoken as Akashi. If you other three sit there smiling at each other and sipping your juice while disagreeing in your gut, we’re getting nowhere. Say what you think. Be ruthless.

Jack Welch, one of the greatest business leaders of our time, devoted an entire chapter of his book Winning to push for candor.10 He observes that we usually don’t tell it like it is, fearing we’ll hurt people’s feelings. He thinks lack of candor is deadly to business.

Lack of candor may be easier in the short-run, but it hurts us in the long-run. Without candor, we don’t face reality. Be honest, guys! Do you agree with Akashi?

Antonio: I’ll be candid with you, Akashi. In ISS you complained about your parents being so wrapped up in their work and living in a ritzy neighborhood that they didn’t have time for the important stuff, like family.

Oseola chose relationships over things. She enjoyed working at home, spending time with her relatives and helping others. She didn’t secretly desire to get the latest version of Halo or go to Disneyland. She lived life the way she wanted to, had lots of fun and can look back with the satisfaction of knowing she helped others along the way.

Think of Einstein. He never drove a car. He enjoyed thinking more than mansions and hot cars.

Akashi: You nailed me. As much as I complain about my parents’ obsession with things and money, I’m pretty hooked on some of my things, like always upgrading to the latest cell phone, playing online games till late at night and the freedom that my car gives me.

But fun is different for everyone. I do admire Oseola for bucking the crowd, choosing her own path, finding financial freedom and putting people first.

Kramer: We don’t have to adopt everything about her life. But what can we learn from her financial success?

James: I’m astounded that she could accumulate such wealth from what must have been a pitiful salary.

Amy: I think it’s actually pretty simple. She spent less than she made. With no car, low-cost housing and no frivolous spending, she could save more than a lawyer who has a great salary but spends it all on his ritzy house and payments on his Porsche. The first thing I learned from Oseola is: Live beneath your means. All of our parents make tons more than Oseola, but I’ll bet you that everything they get on Friday is spent by the next Thursday. You can’t save if you spend all that you make.

Akashi: Look not only at what she did, but what she didn’t do. She didn’t own even one credit card. Whereas most of us spend outrageous money in interest, she waited till she could pay cash. I’ll bet that one habit saved her thousands and thousands of dollars.

Kramer: You bet right, Akashi. In Oseola’s own words,

''I save my money till I can buy something outright.''11

Akashi: So, principle number two is: Avoid paying interest.

Antonio: Principle number three: Save for the future. If she had a medical emergency, she wouldn’t have to sell her house to pay for it.

James: She took the money that she would have been paying the credit card companies and invested it, so that she was receiving interest rather than giving it away. Over time, it all added up. Principle number four: Invest over time.

Antonio: She worked hard at something she enjoyed. Even a small salary adds up when you put in the hours.

Kramer: I think you’ve summed up the basics of financial wisdom. Think about those principles this week, and see how they apply to your personal finances. In future weeks, we’ll talk in much more depth about each principle. What do you want to cover next week?

James: I’m fascinated with how Oseola multiplied her money. I want to be financially independent as quickly as possible. How can investments multiply my money so that I can retire in my 40’s?

Kramer: Is that okay with everyone else?

(Nods all around.)

Hmmm…

What facts from the “Personal Finances in America” sheet bother you the most? Why?
Why do you think Americans struggle with their finances?
How would your personal finances be different if you handled them more like Oseola?
Are you living above or below your means? How could you begin living below your means and saving some money each week?
What can you do this week to start handling your money better?
Assignment

This week, ask your parents to tell you what they know about investments. Go on the Internet and read some basic articles on stocks and mutual funds. You’ll need to bring your calculators. What I’ll tell you is so extraordinary that you won’t believe it unless you see the numbers yourselves.

One more thing! I have a riddle for you to solve:

To some I’m their greatest nightmare
To others their greatest friend.
Neither spirit nor flesh
I’m not hard to comprehend.

I increase the wealth
Of both paupers and kings,
Rewarding the wise,
Robbing fools of their dreams.

I work when you work
Just as hard when you sleep.
With me Buffett made billions
If you sow, you can also reap.

I’m slow at the beginning
‘Till my power is unfurled.
It’s why bankers and investors say,
“You’re the eighth wonder of the world.”


Resource to Take You Deeper

Read Oseola McCarty, Simple Wisdom for Rich Living, (Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1996).

*********************************
Please do not construe this book as the author’s or publisher’s prescription for your personal finances. Only a qualified financial counselor who knows your specific life circumstances, your personality, your goals and your objectives might be qualified to advise you in these matters.


Enjoy Your Money! Copyright © 2008 by Wisdom Creek Press, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for brief reviews. For information contact Wisdom Creek Press, LLC, 5814 Sailboat Pointe, Acworth, Georgia, 30101, www.wisdomcreekpress.com.


Cover design by Carole Maugé-Lewis
Front Cover Photography by Rasmus Rasussen

Author Photo by Christina Cosenza

Typesetting by Callisa Ink & Co and Carole Maugé-Lewis


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Miller, J. Steve, 1957-

Enjoy Your Money! : how to make it, save it, invest it and give it : the adventures of the Counterculture Club/ by J. Steve Miller.

p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

LCCN: 2008941060

ISBN-13: 978-0-9818756-7-5

ISBN-10: 0-9818756-7-X


1. Finance, Personal. I. Title.


HG179.M4919 2009 332.024

QB109-200015



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