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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Vosilla who wrote (144239)	7/9/2014 1:14:32 PM
From: pcstel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

<Seriously the little guy just wants to make an honest living, the fed gives him no desire to save even if somehow he could manage to have anything left over at the end of the month. Now you want him to invest in the stock market?< The purchase an Iphone for $800, or invest $800 in AAPL stock was just an example. Adding to the dilemma, the IPhone was probably purchased on credit at 21% APR. The point is, there are choices that everyone can make to increase their own wealth, even small amounts at a time. Some chose to "Live for Today", well that is great until Tomorrow actually arrives , ehrn they are 55, they have no savings, and suddenly all those items of "Live for Today" were disposed of in the last yard sale. From time to time, people approach me asking for a "Good Stock Pick". I ask them,. You want a great investment? Do I have a suggestion for you. What if I can give you a stock that pays a 21% annual dividend, so you will make 21% on your money. Now the best thing about this 21% return is that is 'double tax free", so void of Federal / State / Local taxes. And, the 21% return is Guaranteed by the US Govt. You are guaranteed to make 21% annual return, double-tax free, with 100% Government Guarantee. By this time, the people are usually calling the bank to see how much of a "cash advance they can take out on their credit cards." So I tell them that the greatest/safest investment available to 100% of the population is simple. Pay off you "Credit Cards". The interest you save every month is equivalent to a double tax free return tied to your current Interest Rate on their Credit Card. Their smile quickly turns to disappointment as the idea of paying off the Credit Cards does not sound near as alluring to draining the "Cash Advance Amounts available on the Credit Card" to place a bet on a equity. < Jeez only asking for more trouble better J6P get empowered by being able to buy a house with affordable monthly payments and build equity the slow old fashioned way. < Well of course, that is the old fashioned way. Look at the housing bubble. People piled into the housing market with low interest rates and lax lending practices. Many who got in "early on" on, and saw sizeable increases in equity values, simply took the cash out on a Home Equity Loan and "blew it" No real interest in "building wealth". Instead of "Living for Today" when I was young, I saved my money, bought my first Condo when I was 20, paid it off at 28, used the rental cash flow from the condo to purchase a house, paid it off at 36, rented it, bought another house, paid it off at 44. I bought houses and commercial real estate in the crash when it was priced far below distressed prices. I started working in the fields at 13, coming from a "Lower Middle Class" family, which would be viewed a poverty by todays revised standards. Only a High School Education. Never took a dime from the Government, yet have accumulated wealth that I could only dream of when I was a child. <Most are squeezed by multiple factors, cost of living far outpacing their incomes, a culture of over consumption and addiction to debt plus so many with substance abuse and gambling problems that cost them not only by throwing so much money down the drain that should be invested but dramatically cuts their own productivity. < More like a "cost of desired living standards" far outpacing their incomes. Living a lifestyle that exceeds your income, over consumption, addition to debt, substance abuse, gambling are all items that are "CHOICES" we make. When you make "poor choices", then you should expect an outcome that is lower than desired. But, you are correct when you state that these poor choices dramatically cuts their own productivity and physical well being. <Since the 1980's we've gone on a debt buying binge with spending continuing to exceed incomes. < Well, that may be true for some, but certainly not for people like myself. But, of course, the wealthy are seen as "evil". I explained to one of neighbors many years ago that my wealth was achieved by being frugal in my early years. His response was...." I don't want to live my life like that, my wife would probably divorce me" In the end, he lost his house in the financial meltdown, and his wife divorced him anyway. I purchased the house in foreclosure and now rent it to his wife, who gets her rent money in part from alimony from her ex-husband. And so it goes, PCSTEL