Money Thoughts

The place where I get to just blab about what I believe to be true about money. Most of the time postings will be about “hot” financial news of the day and the effects I believe it will have on our children’s future.

The Parallels of Business, Religion, Relationships, and Personal Financial Success

March 25, 2008 in Money Thoughts | No comments

In an office discussion this morning, our subject turned to realizing the amazing parallels on what is needed to do well in the 4 key areas of many peoples lives.

  1. Religion (God)
  2. Relationships (Family)
  3. Personal Finance (Money)
  4. Business (Work)

The interesting thing about all 4 key life areas is that they all require the same types of actions to be successful in them.

Commitment – Each key area need a form of commitment made to it. God needs your commitment, your family needs your commitment to them, your personal finances takes commitments, and of course your work needs your commitment to it. Be a person that takes commitments seriously.

Planning – All four areas need planning, yes even growing in your religion. Planning your future on how you want to grow in your church is as important as planning your family’s future. Proper planning of your finances for retirement and also how you want it to be structured for your heirs will prevent a lot chaos. With regards to business, you’re almost assured failure without a plan to go by. Put a plan together and commit to making it work in each area.

Communication – Growing in all 4 areas takes strong communication skills with others who are involved with each part of your life. Religion requires prayer and listening to God. Strong growth in relationships and family takes a lot of open communication. This means that listening is equally, if not more important than just speaking your mind and telling. Personal finance takes communication with all who have an effect on your finances. If you are married and have kids, they need to be involved in what is going on with the families finances. Lastly, in business, effective communication can be the key reason for success or failure. Employees, management, and everyone involved needs to be on the same page, which is done through good communication.

Sacrifice – All areas will require sacrifice for proper growth and success. God requires you to sacrifice your “fleshy” desires that are not in-line with him. Family and relationships require sacrifice of yourself to fulfill your role in the family (just ask any parent). To grow your personal finances and to secure your future requires you to sacrifice not buying everything you want today. Even if can afford it. Business requires sacrifice in all areas with regards to time and money. Many business owners sacrifice many hours to build a strong business foundation.

There are many other things that all 4 life areas can show a strong parallel. To me, these are just the beginning. Understanding the foundational concepts of PUDG (Prosperity Using Delayed Gratification) and PLUM (Preparing for Life’s Unexpected Messes) can help everyone in all aspects of our lives. Think about it…

Gold Bubble?!? Silver Bubble?!? Possibly…

March 24, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

Last Monday, I recommended that a very good friend of mine move a small portion (5%) of her investments into precious metals. Our conversation went long and she moved some of her funds over just before the BIG drop occurred. Being seasoned in investing, she understands she’s in it for the long haul and that her investments in metals are for hedging against the inevitable inflation coming our way. She’s seen her account go down about 10% since Tuesday, but is taking it in stride and just waiting for the turn around. She asked me an interesting question in an email today.

Is the Gold and Silver Bubble over? Oddly, I was amazed that the thought of it being a “bubble” never occurred to me! Why haven’t I heard it being mentioned earlier? I read everything I can about all the financial markets, and the “bubble” word is hardly ever mentioned. Maybe I unconsciously ignore the word itself when I read? The only bubble talk out there predominately speaks of the housing bubble and how it has popped. Interesting enough, a new article popped up on Yahoo finance soon after I read her email that was from bankrate.com. I don’t know if would say Gold is in a “bubble” now, but it’s definitely inflating.

Click here to read the article on Bankrate.com.

We haven’t seen the masses jump in yet. When we see people lining up at the Gold shops to buy some, I believe that’s when it’s time to get out. I DO NOT plan to hold on to my gold and silver forever. I hope to liquidate it at the top of the market. Timing it will be tough, but when we start to see the word Gold Bubble all over the news, I’ll know the time is near to sell.

Sadly, I truly still hope that Gold and Silver do not get to point where their prices get ridiculous. If that happens, it will mean that our middle class and US economy as a whole has fallen into really really deep problems. It will also mean that inflation has gone out of control and our dollar has finally lost any power it once held.

Happy Easter! Another exciting week ahead of us…

March 24, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts, Real Estate | No comments

I hope everyone had a great Easter out there! This weekend for me was all about getting back in to reading more and watching more financial news and commentary, and dog sitting. I never owned a dog before, and after this weekend, I don’t know if I’ll ever own one in the near future. They’re definitely a lot of fun, but my house is a mess and I think I’ve come down with allergies.

Anyway, on one of our many walks (I am so paranoid the dog will relieve herself in the house, I take her out every 2.5 hours just to be sure she stays on empty), I went to see an open house in my condo complex to see how much property values have dropped. Here is where we can see what’s really going on in our Southern California area. Real numbers…

A 3bedroom/2bath condo that once sold for $330,000-$350,000 was now on sale for $219,000 and another for $199,000. That’s over a 33% drop in prices when you factor in that the realtor said we could probably negotiate even lower if we wanted too.

Most recessions follow the real estate and construction markets. Right now, with real estate dropping so rapidly, our construction industry is following suit. With this happening, rest assured that it won’t be long till it seems as though construction is at a halt. The real estate investor pros are preparing for the next boom coming. It won’t be for a few years, but when it happens, they’ll be jumping in and waiting to become exceptionally wealthy. For now, money is going into hiding. Some of it seems to be moving toward the stock market, but I don’t think it will stay there long. The stock market is unforgiving, and when a little negative news comes out, it reacts fast and hard. The gold market has also shown to be extra volatile, but the world is going to be dependent on it to hold value, so I am personally confident many wealthy people will continue to shelter their funds into this precious metal.

The good news is that oil prices are on their way down. However, I saw that OPEC will make sure that oil prices does not go below $85 or $80 a barrel. I think we might hear an announcement that OPEC may be planning to cut production soon. If that happens, we can expect even more volatility on our markets.

Metals & Oil prices dropping fast, but jobs are too…

March 20, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

OUCH! The value of my precious gold and silver is down 10%! What should I DO?!?! You might be thinking it’s time for me to get out now. Go ahead, laugh away, make your jokes… Just know that I still stand firm in my beliefs that Gold will continue to get back in line with the trend channel. Take a look at this chart (I drew the trending channel):

Gold Chart Technicals - March 20th, 2008

Here is the the big news today supporting my claim that our economy is not getting better. Job loss claims jumped by 22,000, here is the opening statement from the yahoo financial article.

“WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid off workers filing for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in nearly two months, providing more evidence that the weak economy is having an adverse impact on the labor market.”

Oil prices are sliding due to the fact that consumption will go down, so prices will slide. Hopefully that will hold true, even though that will affect the price of my gold and silver dramatically. I personally do not believe we will see gas prices drop too much and a friend of mine sent me a link that said Maui now hit $4 a gallon.

Know this:

  1. Inflation will be a BIG concern soon.
  2. The FED cannot drop rates much further to stimulate the economy any more.
  3. Gold is now being bought in BIG quantities by gold dealers and jewelry makers. Do you think they would buy now if they thought the price still has a long drop ahead of them?
  4. There are countries where smaller cities have stopped taking the US dollar for currency exchange because they are losing too much money in it’s value dropping.
  5. There is good news for some who have business overseas. Here is an article that came out today regarding Nike’s results:

“In earnings news, Nike Inc. reported late Wednesday a 30 percent gain in quarterly profit, signaling to Wall Street that some companies are faring well despite the credit crisis. Nike said sales overseas increased largely because of the weak dollar.”

Notice the last sentence of the paragraph?

Don’t worry if you bought gold and silver at the height of the last run, it will STILL be a blessing to you.

The REALLY big picture…

March 19, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

I know, I know… You bought gold yesterday before the FED cut rates by ONLY .75%. Gold and silver are down by nearly 5% and you are probably worried that there will be a “run” on people selling their gold. All I can say is to take a step back at the BIG picture.

Here is what no one is reading about today.

“The market overlooked other data in the report that showed crude oil stockpiles grew by a much smaller than expected 200,000 barrels last week. Gasoline inventories fell by 3.5 million barrels, when analysts had expected a small increase, and supplies of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 2.9 million barrels, more than double the expected amount.

Greed has taken hold of a lot of amateur investors who are running to the gold shops to SELL their gold for what they think is a great move at this point. Honestly, these people will be kicking themselves for not seeing the “BIG PICTURE” by September when Gold will have touched $1500 an ounce and will still be climbing.

In one report, wait lines at the gold shops were as long as 4 hours to sell GOLD. People who were interviewed claimed that they needed to sell to pay taxes and the gas bill. Yikes… Wise investors are still buying at this low price today knowing GOLD IS ON SALE.

Don’t regret, and don’t panic. Be smart, take a look at the big picture as to why gold is so high today and think about the reasons it’s where it at. Those factors have not changed:

  1. Oil prices are still high, and although consumption is down, so is supply. (This means oil will probably not drop much more)
  2. Inflation is inevitable. Rate cuts cause inflation, yesterday was a HUGE cut. Rumor has it that they may still have to make more cuts.
  3. Other countries are starting to slowly liquidate their US Dollar supplies into GOLD and Silver.
  4. Our housing crisis is continuing with a vengeance, and the end is no where near in site.
  5. Our Dollar is reaching new lows day by day. Yesterday was just a really short spike for the dollar because the cut wasn’t as big.
  6. Oil supplying countries have lost so much faith in the US dollar, they are now selling oil for other currencies. This means they are putting their assets elsewhere. (gold)

I have no market thoughts for today. I am taking a wait and see approach and letting things settle to be able to get a bigger picture of where things are going.

It’s like pulling teeth…Literally!

March 18, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

If you were waiting for a better time to get into gold, do it now. I just heard that the gold shop dealers are getting very busy with people trying to get cash for their gold. Someone actually went in and gave the gold dealer a tooth he just pulled out of his mouth to get cash for the gold. 8-O Can you believe that!

Poor guy, he should have waited a few more months and we would have got $50 more for his pain.

The FED just dropped rates another 3/4 point and gold is doing a pullback. It’s a good time to get some on sale now because the pullback will only cause gold to do a higher jump on the next bad news to come around.

The damage is done… Are you prepared?

March 18, 2008 in Money Thoughts

Take a look at this article. It says everything you need to know to understand that we cannot stop the problem because the numbers just don’t lie.

http://www.payvand.com/news/08/mar/1183.html

Bear Sterns…what does it mean?

March 17, 2008 in Money Thoughts

I am so blown away with the news that an 80+ year old company needed to be bailed out and sold off for 87% of its value. The Bear Sterns, which was our country’s 5th largest investment banking firm, now has its employees going through and experiencing what many Enron employees did. This was a company that survived the 1930′s depression and has a large portion of its company (something like 30%) owned by its employees. Imagine having your retirement depreciate nearly 90% in a day! Poor management of company assets lead to bad investments that made the company near the brink of bankruptcy. Unlike Enron, this wasn’t money “technically” stolen by the company leaders, but it might as well have been. I GUARANTEE we will see officers of the company being investigated for criminal activity, hopefully all of them will be clear and innocent.

Read closely to what history has told us in the past… Our dollar is in immediate jeopardy, and it will soon go into hiding in a big way. Start moving your funds into assets that will not free fall when this happens.  I heard a comment from someone say that they are leaving 40% of their retirement in the stock market and they are willing to let that money ride the next downturn for 20 years…  Are you thinking the same thing?

Get educated, think different…

If you get a chance, this will blow you away.

March 14, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts

Click here and watch this!

Pay special attention to Mike Maloney. The last one.

What I am hearing around me

March 14, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts, Real Estate | No comments

I am hearing so many crazy things around me lately. I do not understand why basic global economics is not taught in high school today. Maybe our kids would understand where our country is headed if they knew what was going on because they were taught the basics of how global economics works.

I am hearing very disturbing opinions of where people think our country is headed and also what they predict will happen soon. The general public does not pay attention to the “real” news out there, or they think it doesn’t apply to them. The news of Bear Stearns needing to be bailed out today should be a real concern to everyone. If the nations 5th largest investment bank can have such an emergency that the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan Chase need to bail them out of their financial problems, it’s just another sign that needs to be taken seriously. How much can the Federal Reserve really do to save our country if all our big investment firms start to collapse from mistakes made? Our FED knows that they are on the verge of causing hyperinflation. To save bad financial institutions with bail out money is necessary to prevent a run on the banks, but what will it cost us in the long run?

I predicted that Gold would do a pull back today, which it has…but not nearly as much as I think it should be pulling back. Those who are selling are also being offset by a lot more people buying in, so gold is almost stable right now. That’s scary…It means that confidence in our dollar is sinking more and inflation is about to probably get ready to pounce hard
on everyone.

***MARKET THOUGHT OF THE DAY*** Here is a little bit of news I am passing on some investments that should weather the storm of recession pretty well. BUY into Storage Facility Companies. Do your best research into each company first. Make sure they are solid in their balance sheets. The reason for the gains in these industries will be coming from those who get foreclosed on and need to take their stuff out of their homes to downsize. I am thinking this is a good theory, but I am not sure if people going through foreclosure will have enough money afford a storage place. What are your thoughts?***Disclaimer: I am not a “professional” and do not have a license to give advice and could be totally wrong in all my predictions or my feelings. If you decide to take my advice without doing your own research, that is not wise, and not recommended. Trade at your own risk and know that most individual investors (something like 90% +) lose money investing in the stock market.***

New lesson to be added to program

March 14, 2008 in Money Thoughts | No comments

An additional essential lesson about understanding money and how to be prosperous is being added. I originally thought that PUDG & PLUM  and the lessons they would teach would be enough(PUDG teaching all about delayed gratification and PLUM teaching about Preparation for the unexpected things that life throws at us). This morning, another essential lesson came to mind that will be a big key to truly harnessing the understanding and power of money. I was going to tell everyone about this new lesson on the blog, but I am beginning to realize that some elements of my program need to be kept confidential until I have protected it with either trademarks or copyrights.

Here is what I can tell you about the new program that is to be added. PUDG & PLUM only address the handling of money with regards to budget principles. They do not adequately address the importance of what to do after you’ve mastered PUDG & PLUM’s lessons. I am excited with the new lesson and will talk about it more as it develops.

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Gold hits a $1000 – how much did you own?

March 13, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

The momentum is moving hard and in full force for Gold prices to rise hard. I believe the $1000 mark was a resistance to breakthrough that will open the floodgates for higher prices through the end of the US recession we are in.

Realize this…most people who owned gold will be wondering if they should sell now, and many people foolishly they will. We could very well see a VERY LARGE (but temporary) pull back tomorrow on the price of gold bringing prices as low as $950 per ounce as fools take profits before the big run up really begins to happen. Hold on to what you have if you have any, and don’t be afraid to buy more now. It doesn’t take a whole lot for prices to make a move in either direction, but with the strong momentum gold has now it will be a great investment to have over the next 5 years.

Just in the last 6 years our US dollar has lost more than 30% of its value. Remember when a Snickers candy bar cost only 25 cents? It could very soon go to a dollar a bar. What this means is that Gold will be where the money will run too.

So what about silver? I personally think silver is a better investment than gold right now due to its shortage. There is very little silver left in the world, and it’s in mostly every electronic item made today. Put 2 and 2 together and you’ll see that the signs are all pointing to a huge run in silver one day and it will surpass gold in gains %.

May lack of artistic talent…I need a logo

March 12, 2008 in Money Thoughts

Alright…been struggling over making a logo that i think will be able to brand me. Love to hear your thoughts!

Click here for Pudg and Plum logo

Pudg and Plum logo

“Worst housing market in 100 years…” – Ceo of Freddie Mac

March 12, 2008 in Money Thoughts, Real Estate

That’s gotta be the best news I’ve heard in the last 4 years. First of all, someone with some huge credibility and influence in the real estate market is finally admitting there is a huge crisis. I hated hearing all those other “real estate” pros who sell real estate for a living or have a vested interest in the market doing well keep touting that the worst is over and that it will start to turn around now. Finally, a realist speaks, and he definitely has an interest in what happens to the market. When the president of the National Board of Realtors says that things are not that bad, it’s because he has to say things that are optimistic to keep all the realtors from leaving the industry and leaving the realtor association.

So why is the CEO of Freddie Mac willing to make this statement today when it could very well hurt the real estate market even more? It’s because he needs to protect his own interest now. People will start to really scream when they hear that mortgage interest rates have GONE UP! Even after the Federal Reserve and Central banks have released $200 Billion dollars yesterday to make it easier for banks to get and loan out money. Most of the American public will not understand his decision until they see the quarterly earnings report. He’s simply saying this to back himself up to his stock holders when he says they’ve taken a hit worth millions and his strategy is to keep the interest rates high to offset the loses.

Personally, I don’t really care what his reasoning is for saying it, I’m just glad he did. It was really upsetting me to hear so many others be unrealistic in saying that real estate was about to start turning around.

***MARKET THOUGHT OF THE DAY*** Same as yesterday, continue watching the financial institutions closely. As soon as they start to turn downward, jump in short or buy some puts. The ride down will be fast and hard! Yesterday’s crazy jump was because of the flood of funds by the Fed and Central banks, but it will have nothing to do with strengthening the banks position in stimulating the economy and people will begin to realize it as news gets worse and worse about this credit crunch. The BIG banks will NOT fail with the government trying to help them, but they will still hurt from all the bad loans they put out there.***Disclaimer: I am not a “professional” and do not have a license to give advice and could be totally wrong in all my predictions or my feelings. If you decide to take my advice without doing your own research, that is not wise, and not recommended. Trade at your own risk and know that most individual investors (something like 90% +) lose money investing in the stock market.***

One last added thought. I found a pretty good article on how all this is cycling through and it gives a basic idea of what is going on. Take a look at this article on yahoo. It’s called “How the Credit Mess Squeezes You.“

Don’t get too comfortable…

March 11, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

The Federal Reserve and Central banks have just made it easier to get to the money supply. There is a plan to also relieve bad loans from many banks’ books.

Those of you that have kids out there, what happens when your child does something wrong and has no consequence to pay? What if your 10 year old child took all their electronic toys and and put put them in the toilet? Or what if your teen (who doesn’t work yet) took their cell phone or ipod to use as a hockey puck in the back yard? Would you just go out and get them another one? Probably not.

This is exactly what is happening with our government doing too much to bail people out of their problems. Money has become too easy to get without working for it.

Our Fed was not responsible for the millions of people who took money out to refi their homes, nor was it responsible for the lenders making the bad loans. It was the everyday American man and woman who went out to use their homes as an ATM and didn’t worry about the consequences of not knowing how to handle their money. Now the money is gone, their house has lost its value, the rise in oil prices have made it difficult to fill the car with gas, and paycheck to paycheck living is now in jeopardy.

Please…Take responsibility…If money is getting tight, find ways to make more. Go out and borrow books at the library on how you can make more money at something. Educate yourselves. If you leave your head in the sand, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself for not getting ready for the worst economic situation our country is ever going to experience.

***MARKET THOUGHT OF THE DAY*** Let the financial sector have its ride and prepare to jump in and buy short. Wait a few days and keep an eye on what’s making the sector move. All it takes is a little bad news (which we hear daily) and the sector will start heading back down again. It will take a while before the $200 billion has an effect on the economy, and I truly do not believe the effect will stop the downward fall of the markets. Also, the news today has again put gold and silver on sale. Buy now if you can. Even getting some the ETF shares would be a good idea, SLV and GLD are the symbols to do your purchase.***Disclaimer: I am not a “professional” and do not have a license to give advice and could be totally wrong in all my predictions or my feelings. If you decide to take my advice without doing your own research, that is not wise, and not recommended. Trade at your own risk and know that most individual investors (something like 90% +) lose money investing in the stock market.***

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Looking for a graphic designer

March 10, 2008 in Money Thoughts | No comments

While trying to organize the pudgandplum.com website, I’ve come to the realization that I really have no artistic skill what-so-ever. Anyone know of a graphic designer out there willing to work for free in return for recognition on the site? I am looking for a designer to create me a logo for the website. Should the logo become the permanent branding symbol of the company, the the logo designer will get full recognition on the site for the design. Basically the trade will be free advertising for them.

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Buy it on sale

March 10, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

Gold and Silver have done a short term pullback as investors have taken some of their profits off the table. Now is a great time to buy more while it’s on sale. At the time of this post, silver is at $19.53 an ounce, and gold is at $967.90 an ounce. Even if it goes down a little more after you do your purchase, don’t worry. This is a hold you won’t regret.

Remember, Gold and Silver are usually 5 year holds minimum and safety dictates that you should not invest more than 5% of your retirement portfolio. Though my wife and I hold nearly 50% of our investments in gold in silver, and the other 50% in real estate, this is not something most people would be able to stomach, nor would I recommend to anyone who cannot handle a loss, should one occur. One of our real estate properties is still cash-flowing for us and we bought our property in a place that has not “yet” been affected by the real estate market downturn. The our other “big” property investment has not done so well at the moment, and we are taking a wait and see position.

Both real estate and metals investing are a passion of mine. I’m planning to start a new category on this blog focusing on tips and tricks for those who want to get into real estate investing. If you have any experience in investing in either precious metals or in real estate, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the market!

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Working on new feeds

March 7, 2008 in Money Thoughts

Did you know that you can get automatically emailed anytime this blog is updated?!? Ha ha! You can read me everyday if you want! I love this technology. I’ll post how this can be done as soon as I figure it out.

mmmm. I feel kinda smart.

March 7, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

Not to toot my own horn, but I just found a very good article about what I tell a lot of my friends.

If you want to know about what I feel about investing in Gold and Silver, click here or cut and paste this to your browser: http://www.kitco.com/ind/willie/mar072008.html

My OPINION is to buy now, even if it goes down a little, don’t worry. Give it at least 5 years and you won’t be disappointed.

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GREAT NEWS! Take advantage of this if you can!

March 7, 2008 in Gold and Silver, Money Thoughts | No comments

I’ve been dying for a chance to give some positive thoughts amidst all the negative economic news. Well, today there are many Americans who might be able to fix a problem and better prepare themselves financially for the recession we are in. (YES, we ARE in a recession. I don’t care what the FED calls the “true definition” of a recession, we are already there.)

So here’s the good news. Some of you who bought homes or refinanced and fell within the “Jumbo Loan” category may have a chance to refinance and switch that mortgage to something that will be better suited for you and more affordable. There has been a big adjustment in the way a Jumbo Loan is now defined and you may no longer be in a jumbo loan category which will give you a lot better interest rate than you would have got last week. Whether or not this is a good thing for you is contingent on many factors, but if you can take advantage of it, do it soon! The only thing you might want to wait for is the official announcement that the Federal Reserve is dropping the interest again. I think the next announcement is on the 16th of this month, but you might want to check the date. Here is a link to check what your area’s jumbo loan rate is. Before you decide to do any changes to your mortgage, find a friend or relative (someone you really trust) who understands the true affect of what the mortgage refinance will do for you. Then make sure YOU HAVE A PLAN. I mean a REAL PLAN on how you will prepare for harder economic times to come. We all have the ability to surf this wave that is just beginning to form. If you plan early enough, this wave will pick you up and can even give you a nice ride that is comfortable and profitable. Here are my Basic Rules before you Refinance.

***Disclaimer, the following is just an opinion. If you decide to take the advice below, seek trusted professional help first and get educated. If you take the advice below and do not seek trusted professional help first, you could end up worse off than where you are today. ALWAYS VERIFY.***

1. Work with people you trust. Get at least 2 referrals before you work with them from people who will brutally honest.

2. Spend time looking for a good mortgage broker and don’t be cheap when it comes to paying for good service. I use a broker and she gets paid very well when we do loans with her. I am glad she gets paid well, because we have saved thousands of dollars over what she would have gotten in fees because of her looking out for our better interests. In fact, I have also LOST thousands of dollars when I chose not to listen to her advice and decided to do things on my own. I like “good brokers” over going straight to a lender because they shop around for you for the best loan and fight for you. Be wary of BAD brokers though, because bad ones can really really hurt you. They are one of the reasons our country is in this economic mess we are in. Unfortunately, I still personally hear many horror stories from people I meet who got hurt by their bad mortgage broker.

3. Seek help from trusted friends if you do not understand the loan. I recommend finding people who are in the real estate business. Especially investors. If you have a friend who does real estate investing well, ask them for help to review your loan. The best person to review your loan is a person who sells these loans but is not involved in your finances or selling you this loan. Some financial consultants could be a good source as well, but make sure they really understand what they are reading and that they don’t try to make you take equity out just to invest with them.

4. Make sure you have your spending in check. This is an opportunity to prepare for the future and maybe fix a problem. If you know you don’t know how to control your spending, you will probably end up losing your house…seriously. Take a serious look as to what got you into a mess (if you are in a mess now). If it’s because of your spending, seek counseling.

Good luck!

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Free Offer!

March 6, 2008 in Money Thoughts

For the next 2 months, I will give away 0ne free copy of this book out to the person who posts the most interesting comments to this blog. The free books are new, and have never been read or opened. I bought a couple of cases of this book and used to give them away at as prizes when I did financial seminars, but lately I’ve been too busy to do them anymore. On March 31st at midnight, I will count up all comments for the Month of march and the person who has the most comments will get a copy of this book mailed to them. Then again, on April 30th, I’ll do the same and count who submitted the most comments for all of April and mail out a copy of this book for free.It’s not the best or my most favorite financial book, but there is decent content in it that is still relevant for the next few years. The best thing about the book is that you can already see the problems our economy is going through that both Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki talk about.

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Product Development for Pudg and Plum

March 6, 2008 in Money Thoughts

The goal of the pudgandplum.com website is to develop a fun and family interactive program that educates kids about money. There are 6 stories being written about the adventures of Pudg and Plum. Each story having a lesson dealing with a key point children need to know about how money needs to be controlled and how not to let it control them. If you don’t understand about control, check back tomorrow about how money is probably controlling you more than you control it. This will be a big eye opener for a majority of people.

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“Ouch! This is definitely gonna hurt!”

March 6, 2008 in Money Thoughts | No comments

Are these your thoughts when filling up your gas tank? It’s what I think every time I have to fill up the car with gas. Last night while driving home after a meeting, I passed a gas station that had $3.59 a gallon for regular unleaded. If you read my post yesterday, I just mentioned it was $3.41 a gallon. That’s an 18 cents per gallon increase in less than 24 hours! I mentioned yesterday this might happen. OPEC, the oil producers, decided not to increase oil production (which I predicted). They based it on news that there was enough in supply currently and that they also predict US economic slowdown which will slow oil consumption. BUT, unexpected news was announced yesterday that US supplies were not where they thought, so our oil companies in the US are increasing their prices.

These are the Headlines all over the news, “Oil prices hit a record $105.10 a barrel Thursday, a day after a surprise drop in U.S. crude supplies and a decision by OPEC not to boost production.”

I drive a Honda Accord which typically takes 14 gallons to fill. My next fill-up will now cost me an extra $2.52. Ouch, this will get me over the $50 mark. That’s huge for me.

***MARKET THOUGHT OF THE DAY*** (please read disclaimer following this section): Buy into US oil companies that produce gasoline and hold on to the stock till about 10 days BEFORE they have to announce their quarterly earnings, or until you see a super huge spike in the stock driven by estimated quarterly earnings news. Move 5% of your total LONG TERM savings to purchase gold and silver. I favor buying the actual gold coin or silver bar (must be pure, no mixed stuff), but a GREAT second option is buying SLV shares and GLD shares from the stock market. Split the 5% long term savings and use 2.5% to buy silver and 2.5% to buy gold. Hold on to it for the rest of your life. This is not to keep buying and selling. This is to offset inflation and will keep 5% of your money from losing too much of it’s value. Of course I know the price of Gold and Silver could drop dramatically and it would be pretty lame to think this is 100% safe, but it is my OPINION that this is one of the best places to protect a small portion of your money when you look to diversify your retirement. I do own gold and I do own silver as a very large part of my savings portfolio and I have seen my investment double in the last 3 years. It may of not done as well as my real estate deals did with over 5 times return in 2 years, but I am not complaining and expect the gold and silver to only accelerate in gains for quite a while.

***Disclaimer: I am not a “professional” and do not have a license to give advice and could be totally wrong in all my predictions or my feelings. If you decide to take my advice without doing your own research, that is not wise, and not recommended. Trade at your own risk and know that most individual investors (something like 90% +) lose money investing in the stock market.***

I think I better look into buying a bicycle to ride to work… Or really put more effort into getting my websites up to make more income.

What we all need to know what’s going on in the world…

March 5, 2008 in Money Thoughts | No comments

Growing up in Hawaii really isolated me from what was going on in most of the world. Reading an article by Robert Kiyosaki on yahoo Finance (click here to read the article) this morning really shed some light that I’ve come a long way to understanding our global economy and made me realize that most people are oblivious to what is going on around them.

There are so many things going on ALL over the world that affect our economy which in turn will affect our future. When the financial news begins, too many people decide its time to end listening, not realizing that there is so much to gain by thinking about how every bit of news will effect them. you may not be aware of this, but today will decide how high oil prices could skyrocket to in a few months. Our regular gas here where I live is at $3.41 a gallon and I expect it will shoot up to $4.00 by mid summer. President Bush is warning OPEC, the organization that is made up of oil producing countries, to increase oil output to help bring down oil prices. Bush warned that not increasing production will hurt the world’s economy. He said this because the United States’ economy affects the whole world in one way or another. OPEC leaders anticipate that they will not increase output. I don’t blame them one bit. Hopefully though, some of them may be smart enough to realize that they will weaken our US economy which in turn will weaken our dollar even more (which is what everyone buys oil with) so they will see the purchasing power of their bank accounts weaken. I honestly think they will better protect themselves by helping to keep the American dollar’s value strong since they hold so much of it.

Let’s see what happens later today!

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Every website has a starting point…

February 29, 2008 in Money Thoughts

AAAcckkk! If you are wondering about the blog posting dates and times being all weird and messed up, it’s just me learning how to do get this put together. Today, my work on the pudgandplum.com website consisted of getting graphics into proper places and scrolling through template designs. After a few hours of sizing graphics and viewing templates I am still not sure of what template I will be using. Once the template is chosen, I’ll be able to start the long task of adding content.

The first story has also been started once again for the 4th time. It should not be long for me to get into a groove to get the story to a point where I can test its “entertainment strength” (which basically means if it will have the ability to hold a child’s attention).

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