Need some motivation to keep on the right financial track? Read some of these articles that will help keep you focussed on being smart with your money.
As I was sitting at my computer, brainstorming ways to write a Thanksgiving article, I went back and reread every Thanksgiving article from my website. I really enjoy this time of year and believe it is good to look back and be thankful for a multitude of reasons. You may be having the worse year of your life, but you can still find something that gives you great meaning and thankfulness.
I can imagine driving on that mountain road. I can imagine the sound of the gravel under my tires. I can imagine crawling up the incline. Despite the slow speed, we still make that climb. We are more than happy to make that slow climb, because we know that an amazing view awaits us at the top.
Growing up and still today, I am intrigued by the civil war era. I have books upon books on the civil war and 5 or 6 on Abraham Lincoln alone. Because of my love of this time period, Abraham Lincoln has always been my favorite President. There is something amazing about a guy who never gave up on his bid for public office, despite so much failure early in his career. There is something amazing about a President whose plan was to still unify the country after the war had ended. Most people wanted him to punish the south.
Earlier this week, I was listening to one of my podcasts and an article was discussed. This article followed a young intern in New York City around. The young woman makes $25 an hour, receives a $1,100 allowance from her parents/grandfather and her parents pay her rent.
Ever since I understood the meaning of Thanksgiving, it has become one of my favorite holidays. There is something special about spending time with family and remembering to be thankful for everything that the Lord has given us. One problem, I don't believe that we should keep our Thankfulness to just one day of the year.
Greetings from a rain soaked Houston, Texas. As most of you may have heard, a hurricane rocked the cities of Rockport, Corpus Christi and Victoria in Texas. While the hurricane barelled down on those cities, the outer bands of the storm have wreaked havoc on the city of Houston and the surrounding areas.
When preparing for this article, I was reminded of something that the superintendent of my school district loves to state. He has even gone so far to make this statement a motto of our district. The motto states:
Last week, I was listening to the Tim Ferris podcast. He was interviewing Kyle Maynard. I had never heard of Kyle Maynard before this podcast. I don't know how I had never heard of Kyle before last week, but he has an amazing story. Kyle is a quadruple amputee, who has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, won awards in mixed martial arts, wrote a book and travels around the world inspiring people. He never shied away from anything and sought out wrestling in high school and sought out mixed martial arts as an adult. He was successful in both endeavors.
Earlier this year, It got an e-mail from Bankrate. This e-mail was part of their newsletter series called Power Up. These newsletters send out articles on content you might be interested in reading. This Power Up in particular had a topic that peaked my interest, with an article titled "The Post-Election Money Divide."Of course, I clicked the link and read the article. The portion of the article that I was interested in was short, but had some interesting information. Ever since that day, I have been planning on writing an article about the money divide in America.
The title of this article may surprise you. You may be thinking in your head, "Of course rich people have fun! They have lots of money! They can do whatever they want. They can drop thousands of dollars on vacations and not even blink an eye."
Lately, I haven't been watching the news, because it can get so dang negative. Political parties fighting over their points of view. People angry because the political landscape is not what they want. People complaining about Trump did this, and Trump did that.
I was listening to a podcast the other day (like most days) and the host was interviewing Aaron Watson. Some of you may not know Aaron Watson, but he is an independent country artist. While being interviewed, he was asked to play a song. He played the song, "Fence Post," which gave me the idea for this article. Some of you may not be country music fans, but the message of overcoming underdog status is very motivating. I have quoted a few of the lyrics from this song below.
I tend to be a wanderer. What does that mean? Well, I like to go and see things and not worry about time constraints. I like to not be stressed about rushing places and I can get distracted by new things or new experiences. My wife and I are very different in this regard, because she likes to get things done as fast as possible and I like lolly gag.
Integrity. A simple word that has so much meaning and high expectations. Leaders want to hire people that they can trust and integrity is the essence of your moral character. I had always thought that high integrity deals with telling the truth and being an overall good person.
There is just something about the galaxy far, far away that peaks my interest. I love the characters, the story, the force and the lightsabers. I would even re-enact lightsaber battles using yardsticks with my sister as kids. I have been mesmerized with everything Star Wars and Rogue One was no different. Rogue One was made and developed in a way to honor the original Star Wars movies and I am a big fan of how it showed us a story leading up to Episode IV: A New Hope.
Sure there are some wealthy people that inherited their wealth, but a majority of wealthy people built their wealth over long periods of time. They had to take some risks. They had to sacrifice a little. They had to make changes in their lives. Some self-made millionaires realized that they had a problem and did something about it. They didn't just sit around waiting on things to get better, but instead they did something to change their lives.
Back in the beginning of this great nation, there were great leaders that imagined a different kind of country. A country built on the freedom of all men. A country where anybody can pursue their own happiness. A country where people can make something out of nothing in their own lives. This country was built on the imagination of our forefathers.
The other day, I was listening to the "Retire Inspired Podcast" hosted by Chris Hogan. During this particular podcast, he listed off characteristics of highly successful people. I jotted down notes and wanted to dive more in depth into each topic. One particular characteristic stuck out to me.
As you may of heard, today is election day. The day where the end of one of the craziest election cycles finally occurs. The day where many people will run to polls to vote against Trump or vote against Hillary. A lot of people don't like either candidate, and that's why this election cycle has been so disappointing. The two major parties in America today, selected probably the two worst candidates for president.
One thing that I continue to hear are complaints about the fact that this country has developed a bunch of entitled brats. People who think everything in life should be easy. People who think that they are owed a specific job or that they are owed a promotion. People who think that they can show up to work and push their jobs onto other people. People who complain when things don't go their way. People who want to get rich quick. People who waste all of their money, but hope the lottery will bring them riches.
I found this picture and knew it just fit this time of the year. Fall is my favorite season of the year, because it involves some of my favorite things to do. With Football season and the build up to the holidays, what is there not to love? I love at how the weather changes from summer to fall. Living in Texas, the summers can be pretty hot, but the fall weather in Texas is beautiful. I have enjoyed many fall days outside in the cooler temperatures this year. Along with the cooler temperatures, comes a change in the color of the trees. The leaves fall and the vibrant reds, yellows and oranges fill the horizons. This is probably one of the things that I miss the most about living in Nebraska. We don't get the full seasons in south Texas, and my only opportunities to see the weather change is to visit the Northern States.
The idea and reason for the name of this website is the goal of reaching the financial summit. This idea came about from thinking about hiking in the mountains. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do, but does not happen very often, because Houston doesn't have much of an elevation change. Therefore, I have to go on trips to visit and hike different regions across the United States. There is something about being in nature that calms your soul. There is something about trudging through the country side to eventually reach the top of the mountain. This can take hours and sometimes days, but it is worth the reward of the view from the top of the mountain. You might even get to sit down and enjoy a snack or a sandwich as you relish the view from the top.
Becoming a millionaire has always seemed like an impossible feat for someone growing up in middle america striving to become a teacher. I had never thought about even reaching one million dollars. I didn't even know it was possible. Most people in this boat, (maybe you are one of them) don't believe that becoming a millionaire is possible. If this is you, then let me be the first (or the tenth or the thirtieth person whichever it is) to tell you:
I am sure that we all remember the children's story called the "The Tortoise and the Hair." This story has always been one of my favorites, because it is the true underdog story. That's like Coastal Carolina winning the College Baseball Championship. Coastal Carolina has never won a Championship in any sport prior to winning this one. The school's first National Championship in any sport was earned in 2016.
This past week I was reading an article by Milllennial Money Man (M$M) about Patience. He used a great personal story about how some months there is lots of growth with his blog and some months, there is no growth. He also says that he has some articles that are a hit and some articles that are a flop. He used a great example of how people can get bogged down on trying to make a quick buck. They try those late night infomercials and all they get is run into the mud. So based on this article, I want to pose a question. How can we continue to strive for something, if we don't see the reward?
With Easter weekend upon us, I thought that humility and kindness is the best message that I could send this weekend. Jesus Christ our Savior came from humble roots. He was a carpenter and humbly took his crucification without fighting back. He knew what his life was for and he humbly lived out his father's wishes.
Over the weekend, I was checking my Personal Capital dashboard to see how bad the down market has hurt our net worth. As you would imagine, our net worth took a hit, just like everyone else. This does not mean that I am running to the hills and selling everything. We have to remember that retirement investing is an investment for the long haul and we can't get scared by a dip in the market. It is always important to remember this fact whenever the nightly news scares you into thinking that this is the crash to end all mankind. Don't worry, the market will recover and we will be better off than we were before.
Every holiday season, specifically Thanksgiving, we reflect back on the things that we are thankful for in our life. I sometimes wonder why we as a culture only take one day to reflect and be thankful. This is something that we should change. Being thankful year round is a great way to humble yourself. Instead of thinking of everything you don't have, you begin to be grateful for what you do have.
My prior article mentioned that there are multiple benefits to being outside. The benefits are many, but I mentioned low cost, great for health and very calming. Many cities of parks that are free to use. Why not use them? Look at how much money you could save by going and enjoying nature instead of paying for entertainment. The best type of entertainment is nature anyway.
I have always been a big fan of hard work and I believe there is no greater thing than hard work. I was brought up in a household that required me to do chores on a daily basis and I learned a lot from these chores. I learned that I needed to do them or I would get in trouble. I learned about how much time it takes to keep a house clean. I learned how much sweat is involved in weeding the garden and mowing the lawn. These were all things that were taught to me by my parents. I sometimes feel that our society is losing the hard work gene.