Fabulous Financials

A few weeks ago, a fabulous reader sent me the following message via email and I just wanted to share. It helped me tremendously when I was going through and I have no doubt that this message will help at least one of you. Whether you’re having money problems, marital problems, family problems, work related problems, etc. - facing adversity is life skill that is learned and mastered by successful people.

From the Joel Osteen Ministries “Live Like a Champion Devotionals”…

Anytime God is about to take you to a new level you’re going to face opposition. There will be new battles to fight and new obstacles to overcome. It’s easy to get discouraged and think, “Why is this happening?” But we have to change our thinking and focus on the fact that on the other side of those challenges is a new level of victory—a new level of success.

David would only be known as a shepherd boy if it weren’t for Goliath. David’s enemy became the tool that God used to promote him. And God will do the same in your life today. He’ll use those challenges and difficulties in your life to catapult you towards success!

If you are going through a hard time today, if things look impossible, don’t give up now. Change your perspective and believe that God is working behind the scenes. Put a smile on your face and stand in confidence knowing that you are a child of the Most High God. When all is said and done, you’re not just going to come out of that difficulty, but you’re coming out stronger, wiser, and better than you were before! That problem is going to be the catalyst for God to open supernatural doors of opportunity for you! Stand strong in the Lord today and trust that what the enemy meant for your harm, God will turn around and use to your advantage. He’ll take you places you never dreamed and cause you to rise higher and higher in every area of your life!

Emphasis in bold is mine. As many of you may know, my life hasn’t been a cake walk. But if I tried to tell someone how true those bold statements are by giving personal examples, they probably wouldn’t believe me. By writing this blog, you read my testimony as it occurs. I am a work in progress so I hope you realize the Single Ma of today is not the same Single Ma of yesterday. And with each passing day, I get more fabulous than the last. Now can you imagine what I intend to achieve in the next year? Next 5? 10? 20?

Lawdymercy, y’all aint ready! LOL

Watch/listen to the full “Adversity” video [here].

I was sent the following email from a fabulous reader:

Calling all future lawyers…

Do you know any young people interested in a career in law? The National Bar Association Crump Law Camp will be held July 6 - 19 in Washington, DC . Applications must be postmarked by April 30, 2008. Applicants must be 14 -17 when camp begins and entering the 9th-11th grade in the fall of 2008. Please go to the website to see the brochure and application for more information. Call 301-249-8355 with any questions.

NBA Crump Law Camp

Please pass this on to any aspiring lawyers in the making!

P.S. When is it appropriate to start the count down?  Although there’s over a week left before my last official day on the payroll, I only have 4 physical days left to work in this office.  For some reason, knowing that brings me a ridiculous amount of joy.  But it feels so wrong. LOL

A fabulous reader, Caryn, sent me the following article from the Washington Post written by Jeannine Aversa: High School Seniors Get ‘F’ in Finance

Young people’s financial know-how has gone from bad to worse.

High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. That was even lower than the 52.4 percent in the previous survey in 2006 and marked the worst score out of the six surveys conducted so far.

The article attempted to make a connection between students’ lack of financial savvy and the current housing market, record level foreclosures, and credit worthy borrowers. *blank stare*

So if teenagers understood more about finance, adults wouldn’t buy houses they can’t afford? Or…If teenagers understood more about finance, lenders wouldn’t sell subprime loans to borrowers who they KNOW can’t afford to pay it back? Yea, ok.

And this part really made me scratch my head:

In this year’s survey, only 16.8 percent correctly answered that stocks likely would offer the higher growth over 18 years of saving for a child’s education, while 37.3 percent thought a U.S. savings bond _ one of the most conservative investments _ would offer the highest growth.

Nearly 53 percent said they would have no liability if their credit card was stolen and a thief ran up $1,000 worth of debt. (Liability is limited to $50 after the credit-card issuer is notified.) Only 13 percent knew they might have to be responsible for $50.

“The survey demonstrated that graduating high school seniors continue to struggle with financial literacy basics,”

Guess what Washington Post? 6 of my 8 credit cards have a ZERO liability clause. Now what does that say about 53% of the students who chose “they would have no liability?”

While I understand the point Ms. Aversa is TRYING to make, I think this article (and the survey) was reaching too far. When I was a HIGH SCHOOL senior, I didn’t know very much about stock values either. In fact, I almost failed Econ in undergrad, loved it in grad school and STILL barely understand the complexity of our economic system. Hell, it took a pictorial explanation for me to understand how C.D.O.s drove the subprime market meltdown and the current recession!

My point is…

Personal Finance is NOT rocket science. If you earn $5 and you spend $6, that’s a bad. If you earn $5, spend $2, invest/save $2, and give away $1. That’s good. I hate when “experts” make people think you have to understand complex issues in order to make responsible financial decisions. It’s discouraging for the average person. But if it were true, more than half of the adult population - including the author of this article - would receive an “F” in finance too.

Fabulous reader, N, sent me the following email:

Hey Single Ma -
I know how you feel about Suze Orman, but I thought you may want to mention that she’s giving her book away for FREE on oprah.com until tomorrow 2/14/08 5pm PST. You can’t beat a FREE book right?

You’re right, I won’t deny you all anything FREE. It’s also true, I’m not a Suze fan club member either. She’s a little too snarky and condescending for my taste. But hey, she’s rich and I’m not, so what does that tell ya. Homegirl is making it do what it do and I’m just a hater! LOL!

Anyhoo…

Her book, Women & Money, is a FREE .pdf download on Auntie O’s website. Readers are instructed to “download your free copy of Suze Orman’s book in English* before 8/7c the evening of February 14.” Click [here] then scroll half way the page to get your FREE copy.

Also, Suze warns us, “this book is copyrighted. You may view and download the file, but you may not copy the file or share or forward it to any other person.” Think I’m crazy? Hmph! Single Ma go toe to toe with Suze? Hellz to the naw! That’s why I didn’t give you a direct link to the .pdf file and I’d suggest you take heed as well. LOL Now go click and scroll!

*also available in Spanish