States Visited

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Free Advice

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

I started writing this really great piece explaning why I am recommending the things I have below, but once it got to three pages and I was still going I knew it was so long only my brother would read it! Instead, here are my recommendations and please remember that getting financial advice in a blog is only moderately better than getting medical advice from one. Every situation is different and can be extremely complicated. One size does not fit all and 99.99% of the time, "that" guy/girl at work is NOT qualified to give you advice on financial matters. Get professional help. Send me an e-mail if you have specific questions or, if you aren't comfortable talking about it to me, I'll put you in touch with someone else. This is not a joke or some hokey crap I'm reposting from somewhere else. I am putting this here because I see some things in the economy and from our government that make me very, very nervous.

  1. a. Start putting some cash into an emergency fund. 3-6 months of expenses at a minimum would be best.
    b. Payoff every credit card you have as fast as you possibly can and stop using them
    c. If you bought your home with an ARM or an interest only loan go get some really good advice from someone not trying to sell you a mortgage. Find a CFP or a CPA or a real estate attorney. Paying someone for an hour or two of their time could save you THOUSANDS of dollars.
  2. Pay back any individual that you owe and payoff any debt you have that isn't associated with a car or home
  3. Pay off your car
  4. It is still over a year away but pay attention to the next Presidential race. On top of all of the "normal" things that comes with being President, our next one may face the single biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression and all the talking and photo ops in the world won't fix it.
And just so you know, I'm not just talking a good game, I'm playing, too. It is going to take me a year to do it, and I have every dime from now until then budgeted, but following these steps to the letter. I would rather plan for the worst and hope for the best than plan for the best and get the worst.

No comments: