Blackberry Apps for Millionaire Nurses

March 9th, 2010

Blackberry Apps, or to you non-tech folks, applications (software programs) that run on your smart-phone, are available by the thousands.  Not as many as are available on the i-phone, but we will discuss that in another post.

I am not a techno-geek myself-the scary thing is- I am the computer go-to guy in my medical office.  That should tell you something about the level of computer expertise available here….

I am also, as all of you know, not  a fan of spending money on new tech gadgets, just because they are new.  There needs to be a reason for spending your money.  You should be able to justify the expense.  And if you are in debt, these purchases definitely need to be productive.

So with all those caveats, I wanted to write today about free apps available for the Blackberry.

Now, as far as I am concerned Epocrates, the prescription app that has been out for years, is reason enough to have a PDA if not a smart phone.  Compared to the time and trouble, and musculo-skeletal injuries sustained from constantly moving, opening,  and  the eye strain involved in looking up meds in the PDR, or Physician Desk Reference, Epocrates is almost a necessity in medicine.  The newer versions also have pretty good diagnostic tools-put in symptoms and you get a differential diagnosis.

Epocrates does have a basic version that is free, but I buy the Pro version myself.

I have compiled a few links below of other sites “best free Blackberry Apps”:

A  list of forty  free Blackberry apps    is available at this site.

Another list of free Blackberry apps.

There are several apps that show up on both lists.  I have enjoyed using the Viigo RSS reader, Poynt, and the Weather Bug on my Blackberry.  For us non-text message plan frugal folks, the basic Blackberry Messenger, allows free texting to fellow Blackberry addicts.

This list of apps  includes mostly free but a few paid for apps specifically for the Blackberry Tour, which I own, but most of the apps are available for all the Blackberry models.  One that I may try is the grocery list app.

Now paying monthly fees for br0adband service/smart phones, is a luxury unless you travel for business.  But if you have one, then the more you can do on it for free, the easier it is to justify that monthly payment.

Another nurse blog, Scrubs, has this list of favorite apps for PDA’s and smart-phones.

Now if you have your favorite Blackberry app, let us know.  If you have one that you paid for, and you think it was worth the money-chime in and share that with your fellow nurses/readers here at The Millionaire Nurse Blog.

Remember, if you want to get on our mailing list for our Newsletter, The Millionaire Nurse Money Letter, and get a great free E-book with tips that can save you money today, then check in at The Millionaire Nurse site. We honor your email address, will not sell it.  We will send you a free mini-course on managing your personal finances with tips on banking, credit card management, in a weekly series in easily digestible amounts.

Thanks so much for reading.

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Do It Yourself-How to Save Money as a Millionaire Nurse

March 7th, 2010

Do it yourself, or DIY.  Companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot, have made billions convincing people, they can save money by doing it themselves…..

So how does that relate to Millionaire Nurses?  Well let me try to explain.

Now, personal finance can be quite simple really!  If you spend less than you earn, then put the difference in an account that can grow.  Overtime, you will grow wealth.  Ta Daaaaaa!

So what the heck does that have to do with DIY????

Well, the part about spending less than you make.  How do you do that?  Well you have to increase your earnings, or decrease your spending.

So DIY addresses the latter-it is one way to decrease your spending.   If your house needs painting, and you can DIY for 50% less than having a professional do it, then you have cut your spending.

The hard part of this is deciding how much your time is worth, and whether you can do the job, and truly save money.

Let me start with a quick story.  A friend of mine, is a wonderful do it yourselfer.  By that I mean, he has skills way beyond most with carpentry, plumbing, yard work, painting……  So putting in a new dishwasher was not really a big worry to him, why pay someone to do it.   So of course, the cut-off valve on the hot water line, broke off in his hand.  A third-degree burn, and a new hardwood floor later, he has a new dishwasher, and a bunch of new bills.

How do you decide if you can handle a DIY project?

Photo by rioncm

  • You have the tools and knowledge, or have a trusted helper with both.  Online video’s and explanations help, but when you get into the trench’s the experience is what will get you through “your projects” differences compared to the average.
  • The project really doesn’t require an expert, just labor.  Raking leaves is in this category-painting would be to some,  but not to me-I mess up everything when I try to paint.
  • It doesn’t involve electricity-this post in the Wall Street journal about DIY discusses the number of injuries from self-installed ceiling fans-supposed to be “easy” for DIYers….. (Imagine how you would feel, watching your house burn, and you were responsible?)
  • It doesn’t involve water.  This one is borderline at times-changing the inside of a toilet, is not too dangerous, even I have done it. (no gynecology jokes please!)  But think about water on your second floor, ceiling damage, rotten walls…….
  • It is worth your time.   If you can work part-time, making twice or more what you could pay someone to do the job for you, hire it out-work a few extra hours to pay for the project.

Now there are times when it is difficult to measure these projects.  Sometimes even though you could pay someone to do it for you, it is like therapy-raking leaves, or washing the car are like this for me.  It is mindless, and relaxing. (Don’t tell my wife!)

So share your Do It Yourself project gone bad!  You can stay anonymous.

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Change of Shift is up at Mamatruama

March 5th, 2010

Change of Shift, that long running gathering of the best in Nurse Bloggers is up at Mamatrauma.  Just in time for your weekend reading pleasure.

Check it out.

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Scam, Spam, Phishing/Thank you Ma’m:How Millionaire Nurses Protect Themselves

March 4th, 2010

Spam, and Phishing scams.  They are becoming harder to spot, and cost our country billions in lost cash, and no telling how many hours of lost time trying to undo the damage done by identity theft.

My wife got a notice recently about a purchase of an I-Pod in London.  Of course, we hadn’t been to London, or bought an I-Pod.  So, we get to  spend an hour online with paypal straightening that out.  Not how you want to spend an evening…..  Coulda been a lot worse, than an I-pod though, huh.

The Money Ning site has a great post on 9 ways to protect yourself.

So what are Millionaire Nurses doing to protect themselves.  Well let’s think about birth control for  a minute. We will compare birth control and identity theft prevention:

Abstinence: While abstinence always works for birth control, never having sex just doesn’t sound like a great option to most people.  Not participating in cyber-space may seem like a good option too.  Until you remember identity theft occurred well before the Internet.  Credit card numbers can be ripped off at the gas station, restaurants, or any retail establishment.  So unless you never venture from your home, have no credit cards, or telephone then abstinence ain’t the answer…..

Barrier protection:  Condoms, diaphragms work better than nothing.  So how do you set up barriers to ID theft-by paying attention.   Use common sense about not giving away personal information except to trusted sources.

Birth control thru modern chemistry: Oral contraceptives, Depo-provera, and Mirena IUD all depend on hormone chemicals to prevent pregnancy.  So do I have a chemical ID theft agent-well nooooo.   But I can buy protection such as Zander’s product, that is recommended by Dave Ramsey. Lifelock is another highly advertised identity theft prevention/detection agent.

So what would be my top seven recommendations to prevent ID theft:

  1. Never give personal information when asked by email or phone, except by going directly to the source-do not click a link on an email.  And when you get calls, you hang up and call your known agent/banker/credit card company-don’t assume the person calling you is legit-if they are, they will understand your efforts at protecting yourself.
  2. Put a no credit offer lock on the credit agencies-see this post for the how to’s.

    photo by Zevotron

  3. Use a shredder on all documents that you throw away.
  4. Change your passwords periodically, and keep them hidden.
  5. Limit your potential damage-if you have one credit card, one call stops the damage-if you have 20, well, good luck with that!
  6. Use one of the ID theft agencies above, for peace of mind.
  7. Don’t go to websites that are shaky-don’t be tempted by the free gift offers, the soft-porn/titillating ads,  the ‘I have to get money out of the country” scams that must work as they show up daily.  Use a scam/spam/phishing  protector on your email program, and delete, delete, delete…..If it sounds too good to be true, it is…

So go forth and be careful out there.  And if you have been the victim of phishing, or have Identity Theft questions, let us hear from you.

Housekeeping:

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“The Millionaire Nurse” Book Launch

March 3rd, 2010

"The Millionaire Nurse" book signing

I had a great visit with the nursing students, faculty and staff of Bainbridge College as the launching pad for my book,     The Millionaire Nurse.

The students were enthusiastic, especially during our “Financial Disaster Drill” which featured Academy Award winning performances by a few of the ADN students.

Financial Disaster Drill in Action

I was especially proud to announce  a nursing school scholarship at Bainbridge College in honor of my late parents, DL and Pat Burke.  This with the financial support from my extended family, as well as from a portion of book proceeds and earnings from The Millionaire Nurse.

So when you consider whether to buy the book:

  • It is filled with personal finance information written directly to  nurses.
  • You will also be helping other future nurses receive their education.
  • You can save bunches of money!

So what are you waiting for-GO BUY THE BOOK by clicking this link-then hit “Buy the Book button-it is soooo simple…..

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Roth IRA’s: The Millionaire Nurse Way!

March 2nd, 2010

Everyone knows what a Roth IRA is, don’t they?  No, even if you think you do, you probably  don’t-so let’s have a little ROTH IRA school.

Roth IRA’s got their name from  the late Senator Roth from Delaware.

The difference between Roth IRA’s and Traditional IRA’s:

  • You pay taxes on the money as it is deposited into a Roth IRA-with a traditional IRA, you take an income tax deduction at your current federal rate on the deposit.
  • The government  taxes withdrawals, and also tells you when you start to take money out of the traditional IRA.  Money taken out of a Roth is not taxed, and you can remove it when you want to-after 59 1/2.  (With some restrictions.)

Similarities:

  • They both allow investment in many different types of securities, stocks, bonds, and even real estate.
  • They both are limited in the amount you can deposit, based on age and income requirements.

So how do you decide what retirement vehicle to use? 401-K, Roth, or traditional IRA….

If you company matches- deposit up to the matching amount in your 401-K.  For most middle income folks, the next decision is the hardest-if you can afford to pay the taxes, I would deposit the next part of retirement savings in a Roth IRA.  When that was maxed, I would  save the rest in a traditional IRA.  (Until you reach at least 15% of your income.)

So what does this mean in the real world-lets say you are a married nurse, and your spouse makes the same 40,000bucks/ year for a gross income of $80,000 for you as a couple.  If your company matches 3% of your income in their 401-K then,  put $1200 in that account-(3%).   Now you can put up to $5,0000 in your Roth, if you are under 45-so let’s put your remaining $4800 in your Roth-which gets you to 15%.  With the company match, that gives you $7,200 in your retirement savings for the year.

Now remember, you have to pay taxes on the $4,800 you put in your Roth, at whatever your income tax rate is, both state and local.  However, when you remove that money, the balance and the growth from your investments can then be withdrawn tax free. WHEN YOU WANT TO-after retirement-not on the governments schedule, as a traditional IRA requires.

Now keep in mind, the example above includes estimates and generalizations, so to make your own decision you need to have your tax information handy.  And if you really want to dig into this further for all the exceptions/explanations, then check out Wikipedia’s Roth IRA section here.

“Dr Dean, Now that my head is spinning, what do I do?”  Well if you want to open a Roth IRA, then you need to talk to a discount, or  full-service broker and open an account. The brokers usually require a minimum investment,.  Many savers are successful having the money electronically deposited into the IRA, so they aren’t tempted to spend it.

So go get started on having a secure retirement.  You want to be eating steak, or asparagus during your retirement, not canned soup.  You want to travel the world, not your one bedroom apartment……

Let me know if you have questions.  That is what I am here for.

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New Marriage/New Financial Plan:The Millionaire Nurse Way!

March 1st, 2010

You married the love of your life.  Everything is colored by the “rose colored glasses” of bliss in your new post-honeymoon phase.  Getting to really know a new person.

A few months later, many couples find crumbs in their bed…

What do I mean?   Well, the credit card bills start to come in, and they are way more than one spouse is expecting.

How bout this scenario:   “What is this bill to John’s Sporting Goods?”

“Oh, they had a new 300 magnum with walnut stock, been looking for that rifle for several years for my collection.”  “Let  me show it to you, it’s a beaut ain’t it…”

“But is was 500 bucks, and we hadn’t talked about a new gun, you already have 25 stuffed  in various closets-I don’t hardly have room for all my shoes!!!!”  Or you can tell the story the other way around, substituting shoes for the gun….

So what do most couples do when they get married, when it comes to money?  Nothing.

So how do you keep from making these mistakes?  Mistakes  that over time, become resentments, that keep the divorce lawyers in gravy.

First-and sometimes most difficult, is having discussion about finances going into the marriage.  Financial counseling should be  a big part of pre-marital counseling.

What do you talk about?

  • amount of debt being brought into the marriage, if you have an old uncollected debt that will catch up to you when you are trying to buy your first home-get it all out on the table.
  • your money habits-do you normally pay your bills on time, how organized are you, how often do you pay over-draft or late fees?
  • Do you have life insurance, health insurance, what benefits are available in your company vs the new spouses?
  • Do you have hobbies that require ongoing investments-and how flexible are you about changing if that hobby doesn’t match the budget.
  • If you have an ex, have all the financial ties been settled.  Does your ex still have access to any of you accounts-is your name still on any of her cards, or vice versa…..
  • Make sure you talk about common goals, and how you will reach them-such as buying a home, saving for college, amount of savings for retirement.

The secret here for financial compatibility, is to get on the same page if possible-or at least in the same chapter.  If one of you is reading a financial fantasy novel, and the other a non-fiction spreadsheet-then trouble looms ahead, unless you talk it out.

Being married can provide you with money savings, tax benefits-so make sure you check on things like changing your car insurance, health insurance, beneficiaries on life, health and disability policies.

I think most couples need to jointly participate in planning their monthly spending-take an hour each month to decide what is coming in, and where its going.  I think joint accounts are better-so there is less chance for surprises when it comes to money problems.

So don’t let money mess with your marriage.  Talk about it, plan about it, make your money work for you.

And if you need help-that is what we are here for.  Get started on your financial marital counseling service today-by signing up for our newsletter-”The Millionaire Nurse Money Letter” . You will get a free e-Book on “Emergency Money Resuscitation” and a mini-course on financial management.

And if you have any marital money stories you can share, let us hear from you.  We all need to keep learning.

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Student Loans: Income Based Repayment-Is it For You?

February 27th, 2010

Student loans have become almost the norm in our society.  I have blogged about it several times-so this is not another rant about the dangers of going overboard on student loans…..

Last year the government began a new program called Income Based Repayment-to assist those whose student loan repayment plans were taking up so much of their income each month-that they couldn’t afford them.

I have identified a few helpful links to assist you in determining if you are eligible.

I have been told by several readers that my investing blog posts are difficult to understand-(even though I try hard to make them easy/simple)  Not your fault, I just need to get better at   ’splaining.

But the student loan world is so complex, dark, and difficult-that I keep thinking Darth Vader is going to come at me with his light saber!!!!  For you young people, who don’t remember Star Wars-Let’s see……-maybe the villain from Twilight-”James”…..(yes, I had to google that, no I haven’t seen the movie, or read the books…..)

So anyway-the student loan universe is difficult to maneuver through-because there are so many different programs, options, acronyms-oh my!

But in short, the Income Based Repayment calculator is available to help you determine if you qualify for this plan.

The second part is that if you do qualify for Income Based Repayment, then you may also qualify for loan forgiveness after ten years of paying back your loan-if you work for the government, or certain 503-C based organizations.   Public health nurses would certainly fit here, along with school nurses-again if you meet the income guidelines.  So any money remaining after 10 years on the program are forgiven….

Again check this resource developed by the Feds, to help determine whether you may qualify-remember even if you work for a loan forgiveness eligible job, if you haven’t  been placed on the IBR (income based repayment) program-you are out of luck.

This link will help to direct you to the bank, Sallie Mae or whichever place you got your loan’s website for info…..

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Can I Make You: A Millionaire Nurse?

February 23rd, 2010

Can I make you a Millionaire Nurse?   NO!

Do I think you should become   A Millionaire Nurse ?  If YOU want to!

Here I have a blog, a website, a book, and speaking engagements…..

“What is Dr Dean talking about, if his blog isn’t to make nurses millionaires, then what is it?”

Well, I can’t make any of you millionaires.  What can I do?

  • Give you permission to be Millionaires-convince you it is worthwhile to think it is possible.
  • Teach you the tools to learn to manage your money.
  • Teach you the basics of investing.
  • Teach you the difference between “bad” debt and “neutral” debt- I don’t believe there is “good”debt.
  • Teach you the differences between investing and gambling.
  • Teach you to think on your own, and understand why you do something, not just because I, or anyone else says you should.
  • Teach you to think and plan  before you spend.
  • Teach you the importance of insurance, wills, retirement accounts, emergency funds, college funds, and personal savings.

How do you learn the skills and mindset of Millionaire Nurses?

  • Be teachable.
  • Want to learn-no they are not the same….
  • Study, read, and absorb.
  • Look deep into your sub-conscious and try to understand why you are unsuccessful with managing your money. This may sound like psycho-babble, but I strongly believe it is true-if you don’t think you are worthy, wealth will not happen.
  • Be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day-your personal finance Armageddon will not be repaired overnight.
  • Be consistent-again similar to above, but not the same, that drip, drip, drip of good financial decisions, will soon result in a reservoir full of M-O-N-E-Y.  Just like a stroke victim at physical therapy-progress is slow, but steady…

I heard a million times in medical school and residency-You see one, do one, then  teach one.

Nursing 1959

I will show you the operation, but you have to pick up the scalpel, and perform YOUR own  wealth building procedure.  Then my hope will be, you will remember to teach others-( or at least tell them about this blog!)

Housekeeping:Remember to get email delivery of my posts-sign up at the email delivery option on the right-saves you time-which is money!!

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Contest at Free Money Finance

February 22nd, 2010

I know I shouldn’t gamble.  Actually I didn’t gamble. Although this looks like the office “March Madness” pool-there is no money involved-just pride.

Free Money Finance has a contest going on, a competition of sorts between blog posts.   Yes it may be kinda juvenile-but I still like to win.

So go to the site, and in the comment section vote for “thumb”-That is me.  Of course only do it because you think my post is better.  Or that you like me.  Or, just cause….

Thanks,

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