Marin Family Action

Wealth Building Rule: Debt is a Disease

With a few notable exceptions, debt is a form of bondage; a disease that enslaves the borrower. If ever there was a time of year when we tend to charge and run up serious debt, this is it.

Love is the greatest gift of all. Honor your family and friends and you do not need to spent hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to tell them just that. When we were children and our family was tight on funds, we got together with neighbors, cousins, aunts and uncles to bake cookies and make holidays cards and tree ornaments. It was great fun. That was more than 30 years ago and all of us still have ornaments that we made. We will never forget those days.

Family gatherings are also a great gift. Consider pooling your money and renting an exquisite beach-front suite in a warm climate instead of shivering through the season. There are many travel specials geared for families during the holidays. Absolutely everyone will remember, say, New Year’s in Hawaii! Maybe it is not in your budget this year, but if you start a plan now for the holidays in 2012, you will definitely be able to travel — perhaps to visit family in Europe, the Orient, Central or South America . . . or perhaps everyone will want to meet in Florida, the Caribbean or Hawaii. Think how wonderful that will be for everyone!

Money can have a dreadful power over peoples’ lives. Imagine your life without owing anyone anything; your car, your house, your education, all paid for in full. Like what you see?

When you want it badly enough, you will make extinguishing your debt your number one priority.

It is possible; people stay debt free in many countries around the world because, in part, they do not have access to credit cards. Lucky them!

Cutting your household expenses doesn’t have to be painful. Start with simple but slow changes rather than trying to implement everything at once. After a while, it will become a natural habit and you’ll be happy as you watch your savings grow!

Registered nurses are projected to experience the largest numeric increase, 587,000 new jobs. The number of retail salespersons is projected to increase by 557,000. Employment of customer service representatives is projected to grow by 545,000 jobs.

Scaring members of our community who are trying to make a living is not acceptable behaviour. It is cruel. It is an abuse of personal power.

The main subject of contention was the banks’ request to be broadly released from potential future legal claims, particularly those surrounding potential misconduct in the packaging and selling of mortgage-backed securities.

Following is an overview of our responses regarding a “private mortgage investigator” in Phoenix who has at least five Web sites for his various incarnations, has a partner in Florida, and who charges a LOT for a “REAP.”

“I do not speak Serbo-Croat but what the hell! Have I got anything to lose?”