Imagine  traveling down Interstate I-75 towards Orlando. The kids are singing “it’s a small world after all” the most annoying song on the planet.  You’re so excited you even sing along. Your first vacation since the financial world crashed in 2008.

In an instant, your world  has flipped.  You wake up and find you’re upside down, held only by the strap of your seat belt.

This could be you!

Your wife and kids, are dazed but seem OK.  Your legs are at a funny angle, but don’t hurt.

In a couple of days  you awake in a hospital room to find your injuries are more extensive than you could imagine.  Your wife is sobbing at your bedside.  The words after “paralyzed” don’t sink in….

The recent massive vehicular pile up in Florida brought a disability nightmare to many families.  Zero visibility brought on by a roadside fire on one of the busiest stretches of road in the Southeast caused ten deaths and more than twice as many injured. Many of those injured will probably be out of work for months or even years.

For some, their working career may have ended in that brief moment.

You can’t prevent accidents such as this from happening.  Living in a cushioned bubble isn’t an option or even desirable.

You owe it to your family, however, to make prudent plans to protect them in the event you are injured and can’t work.  That’s the goal.

I hate the damn duck, the little smart ass know-it-all, but…..When you’re hurt and can’t work, having income to cover your bills is a god-send.  That ‘s the goal of long term disability insurance.

What is long term disability insurance?

For most people, that goal is best served by a combination of an emergency fund and a long term disability policy. The emergency fund is used to handle the short term bills, a long-term disability policy will cover your families’ needs if you can’t work for a prolonged period.

The longer you can make the waiting period for your disability policy to kick in after your injury or illness, the lower the premium.  That means your waiting period should match your liquid savings.  If you have enough money for 6 months expenses put away, then by all means, get a disability policy with a 6 months waiting period before benefits begin.

If you only have 3 months, then you may need the shorter waiting period, but remember, you will pay for the privilege.

Shopping for a disability policy:

What should you look for when shopping for disability insurance?

• Get a policy that pays when you can’t work at your major source of income.  For instance, if you lost an arm, you might be able to work, but not in your profession.
• Get a policy whose benefits last until you’re eligible for full retirement.
• Use other potential income, such as interest on your investments, to lower your monthly needs, which may allow you to purchase a less expensive policy.
• Check with your employer about possible additional insurance as part of your benefits plan. This may allow you to buy a smaller amount of coverage on your own.
• Remember your spouse’s salary when determining your income needs.
• Your disability replacement income will be adjusted to a figure well below your current salary.  No one will sell you a policy for 80 grand/year pay when you only make 20 grand a year.  It’s usually made on a fixed percentage of your income.
• Group policies are less expensive.  Joining a professional organization in your field may be well worth the annual dues if you become eligible for a group disability policy.

The recent tragedy in Florida should be a wake up call. Your odds of becoming disabled are significantly higher than the chance of an unexpected death.  If you are currently without a long-term disability policy, take the time to start investigating your options.

Your family deserves it.

I hate writing that bi-annual check for my long term disability, but I figure it’s money well spent.

Reader questions:

Do you have long term disability insurance?  If not, why not?

Recent articles on Disability Insurance:

Money QA has this take on disability.

Smart Money worksheet on disability.

Neal at Wealth Pilgrim has advice for disability for the self-employed.

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How do you make a decision?

Are you a worrier or do you make quick decisions?

Examples requiring a decision:

“I can’t decide about taking that new job.  The pay is better, but it’s a start-up, how do I know if they’ ll be in business next year?”

“I can’t make up my mind whether to rent or buy a home?  The prices are great, but it’s such a big decision!”

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

“Do I buy an LED or Plasma TV?  Every  time I buy something, it’s outdated by the next month!”

How we make a decision tells a lot about us as people.

• Procrastinators-either can’t make or put off any decision-making.
• Failures-people who seem to always make poor decisions.
• Lucky-people who seem to always make good decisions.

Then there are the rest of us who’ve won some and lost some.  We just do the best we can.

 Are you impulsive?

“Let’s go to Vegas tonight and get married!”  (is being drunk impulsive???)

“Where do you want to go on our vacation honey, you know we leave tomorrow?”

Or are you a perfectionist?

The other extreme, the planner from hell who never does anything unless it’s perfect, therefore frequently is not doing anything?

“I decided what I want my wedding to look like when I was 14 and have been working on it ever since….”

“When are you getting married?”

“Ohh I have to get a boyfriend first!”

Or “I’ve been planning my trip to Europe for 2 years.  I will be spending 6 hrs at the Louvre on day 5 after doing the Chunnel  the evening of day 4!”

“Sounds great, when are you leaving?”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s the right time-you know, with the exchange rate and stuff….”

Improve your decision making:

We can spend hours researching social science literature trying to find a better way to make decisions, but I’d rather just tell you what has worked for me (or not).

First, though, we need to lay out the background. I’m not a type A detail guy. And I’ve made my share of bad decisions.

I’m a big picture person.  Science has shown us that too many choices get in the way. So, narrow your choices quickly to the top two or three.  Too many details  get in your way.

How do you do that?  Perform mental triage.  In medicine, triage is the winnowing process of treating the worst first.  The chest pain is evaluated before the headache.

That doesn’t mean you will always be right!  What happens if the headache patient has a seizure in the waiting room, and his brain tumor kills him before it’s identified? The chest pain patient you rushed into the exam room turns out just had indigestion from eating 3 hot dogs at the stadium and is fine with a little Maalox.

Yep, you screwed that one up, but over time, the odds favor the triage process for saving lives and you’ll make better decisions.

How do you improve your decision making skills?

Do a self-analysis and practice. Think about your “easy” decisions. What makes them easy?  What is your usual default method of decision making and how have the results been?

If you have been married 4 times, and the new guy you are lusting after looks just like the four you’ve dumped, maybe, just maybe, you need to slow down and try to figure out what makes YOU tick? What makes you chase losers?  There is a reason and maybe you need to figure it out before you get married again.

The same can be said if you make a decent living but are always broke.  Face up to the fact that your financial decision making is poor.  Quit blaming others, and look in the mirror.

Try these decision making tips:

• Lists-Lists can be a big help.  Make a list of the benefits and risks of your top choices.
• Sleep on it.  Give yourself a little time to allow your sub-conscious to have a say.  Don’t let this drag into procrastination.  Just don’t make “spur of the moment”  “knee-jerk” “snap judgments”.  There is a reason there are so many cliches here, ’cause this is such a common problem.  Walk by the shoe store, see a pair of little darlin’s, slap down the credit card, then regret it for the next 6 months paying minimum payments.
• Mentors-Have a sounding board  on your team.  Make sure these are people successful in the area of concern.  Don’t ask your broke uncle for investment advice.  Don’t ask the parents of the juvenile delinquent for child-raising tips.  The process of talking through your problem and your choices with your mentor will help you see holes in your own logic.  If you are laughing at yourself halfway through your presentation….Can you say “breakthrough”?

Make sure your decision making process includes all  stakeholders. Get them on board early.  Marriages often fail because one spouse makes big decisions without the others input.

Gosh I’m glad I decided to write this, are you?

Reader questions:

What have been your big problems with your decision making processes?

What mistakes have you made and what did you learn from it?

How have you improved your decision making prowess as you’ve gotten older?

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Guest Post by FDL BSN

Over Thanksgiving dinner, did you look around at your friends and relatives and wonder what financial risks might be loitering there?

Did you collar Cousin Joe over the apple pie and quiz him on the amount of his life insurance  since starting that new business and now having 3 kids?

Did you slip your arm over new father Phil’s shoulders and discuss the potential disaster of not having a financial plan for his child’s future?

Holiday Dinner Table

Neither did I, but Kelly Green, in an article in the WSJ,  suggested maybe we should’ve.  I began reading this article thinking, “I got my stuff together, this info just doesn’t apply to me.”

After reading only a few sentences, I realized there are many situations where my extended families’ financial decisions could impact mine.  We can be affected significantly by the decisions and actions or inaction’s of those we love.

Avoidable Family Financial Problems

There were the obvious things discussed, usually avoidable, that could lead to problems:

• Co-signing loans with relatives.
• Agreeing to pay for educating relatives’ children.

Unavoidable Family Financial Problems:

There were also less obvious risks you might not have thought of (I hadn’t):

• Long term care insurance for your aging parents.
• As your children become parents, are you prepared to help out financially with grandchildren if something happened to your kids-the new parents?
• Children of relatives you might feel responsible for who might turn to you to cover their college education or even living expenses should they lose a parent.
• Look at your own risks-your toys or hobbies, anything not covered by your existing insurance, that could potentially leave you open to liability.

Family Finances: Why it hit home?

This article caught my eye because of a situation with my sister who was visiting over Thanksgiving.

Sis has cerebral palsy and has difficulty with her speech and hearing but has a job, her own apartment and rides city buses to work.  She wears her independence like armor.

Over the holiday, I discovered that the turtles at  USPS, for some reason, had not delivered mail to her new mail box in three weeks.  Sis’s  speech difficulties and diminished hearing make simple communications not simple at all-so unlike you and me, a phone call to straighten things out just wasn’t possible for her….

To make a long story short, she was extremely agitated over the fact that she could not pay her bills without getting her mail.

I was struck by the fact that we had run into a similar situation when she broke her leg last winter and came to live with me for four months.

After a fall on an icy city bus platform, she was overnight staying three hundred miles from her home and needing help paying her monthly bills.  She lives alone, no one but her had any idea what or where or who she owed money each month.  We worked out the difficulties last winter, and I knew we could again.

As I was reassuring her that we’d figure out this latest problem, a light bulb (I’m sure it was a CFL) went on.

No, I didn’t see Sis as a potential financial burden. She may need to live with me some day but she has health insurance with an affordable COBRA, and no major debts.

What she did need was a little assistance from a personal finance blog reader in the form of a spreadsheet detailing what she owed to whom monthly. PF bloggers talk about this stuff all the time.  Just basic PF skills.  I’ve got skills.

Here’s what I did:

One evening while she was visiting, I hung my patience medallion around my neck, chanted my relaxation mantra a thousand times, had Sis sit down beside me and made a list of who she paid, how, when and where.

I know that sounds simple, but believe me, independent people can be very challenging.  (It’s possible we have some of the same basic personality traits).

We then tackled and set up the internet versions of her bills and developed a database  with all the information she needed to get her bills paid without the stinking USPS, AT&T, Mediacom or any other corporate giant’s help, other than their website.  Passwords and mother’s maiden name and the name of the first family dog were standardized.

Yep, the little guy wins again.

I made each of us a hard copy and emailed her a copy for her to download into her computer-password protected of course..

We fist bumped, hoisted another (OK, she’s a teetotaler, but I made up for that), and both felt better.

Family Financial Obligations

When you are next sitting around the holiday table, quit remembering the time that your brother blew up your favorite doll, or tattled about you getting home late.

Instead, think about your families’ financial situation.  Not in the nosy, I’ve got my stuff together, nanny nanny boo boo, but in the “Hummm, what if something happened to brother Bill, single parent, and the only breadwinner in his family?”

What would you do if his three kids were all alone.  How would it affect your financial planning?

Planning is the key…After all, you’re reading personal finance blogs on the internet. You’ve got skills.

Use your wisdom to assist those around you.

Reader Questions:

Do you have family members whose financial problems you may  “inherit”?  How do you discuss these without getting everyone “wadded” up?

FDL, BSN is a public health nurse and frequent contributor to The Millionaire Nurse Blog.

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Guest Post: FDL BSN

Are you making good, frugal food choices?  It matters to your budget and to your long term health.

The costs of good and bad nutrition choices slammed into me early in my nursing career.  In fact, I remember the day the little light bulb went on in my head-”Diseases are aided and abetted by our eating habits.”

5 Servings of Fruits and Vegetables.

It was at a class with  student nurses.  Only a couple of years out of nursing school, I filled the bill as a clinical instructor for a nearby nursing program.  I had my group of ten students who had just spent the morning taking care of  patients on the medical floor of a large county hospital.  In my memory, the morning had gone well. In other words, our patients had survived, in spite of us….

As is common in such situations, the group meets with their clinical instructor, (me) for a Question and Answer review at the end of the instruction period.  In this case, we were meeting after a morning of changing dressings, emptying urinals, suctioning:  you get the picture.

So, we are sitting in a conference room around a large table.  A student asked “Why are there so many diabetics in the hospital?”  Another one wondered
“Are the obese the only ones with these problems, that’s all I’m seeing here!”

And this is years before this became an everyday topic!

Out of the mouth of the instructor, (me), came an epiphany:

“It really does matter what we eat.  Our bodies do a great job of trying to keep us healthy, but it’s easy to not give it the proper fuel to ward off the bad stuff.” Slam!

Fast forward to the present.  That discussion has stayed with me ever since, nudging me along to make better food choices for me and my family.  Because I’m frugal (the kids always called it cheap) I make my grocery selections based on being both frugal and a nutrition freak.

The facts about fruit and vegetable nutrition:

• We should eat at least five servings from this group daily
• This group of foods is readily available in local grocery stores
• Per serving, this is not an expensive food group
• A half cup is generally the size needed of each item on this list
• Canned is considered as nutritious as fresh-but watch the salt label
• In season items are usually the least expensive
• You’re in charge, not your kids

As you noticed, there is nothing new here.  You know all that same stuff.

So, why is it that you don’t get ‘five a day?’

My discoveries, or why this frugal person gets ‘five a day’:

• If you eat an apple before you eat your chips, it still counts and you might eat fewer chips, OOPS.
• If you don’t have potato chips around, you might eat an apple. (or a banana-you get it don’t you?)
• There is nothing sweeter, cheaper and more delicious than a plain, cooked sweet potato.
• Half a cup of just about anything is really not much. Don’t whine, just eat it!
• Chips and fries are the scourge of the earth.
• Children love fruit, expose them to it.  The real stuff.
• A serving of fruit juice is really small.  As in a small  (4 oz) glass, not that 16 oz thing you’re drinking. Stop buying the stuff. Eat an orange.  Seed spitting is a lost art. Yes, you can get too much of a good thing.  Too much can become empty calories.
• Few veggies really taste good (to me.)  Suck it up:  it’s only half a cup.
• This is not rocket surgery (I love that saying!)

The frugal part of good nutrition matters more today than ever.

Our well stocked grocery bins are bearing higher price tags.  If you have less money to buy food and the food prices are going up, make better selections from the foods that you need.  We have these great bodies-don’t make them work overtime trying to undo the damage you do by what you eat.

Do your part to make for a healthier life.  If not for you, at least for your kids.

Nothing is sadder to me than a morbidly obese child at a fast food restaurant drinking a mega-soda, with super-sized fries.

Doesn’t stand a chance.

Reader Questions: Do you buy fresh fruit and vegetables?  What about the chips and fries-how guilty are you?

The author: FDL BSN is a public health nurse and frequent guest poster here at The Millionaire Nurse Blog.

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I have just told the dignified southern lady holding her husband’s hand that she has endometrial cancer.  Pain and disbelief are evident in their eyes.

Studies show most folks when hit with such a diagnosis remember almost nothing after the words: “you have cancer.”

I try my hardest to explain  the treatment, and prognosis in a matter of fact direct way.  I try to keep my “Doctor Language” in check.

It is hard enough for anyone hearing those words (you have cancer) to absorb anything.  Laying out a bunch of medi-speak facts and gobbledegook will only make things worse.

Medicine has  it’s own lingo, as do most professional fields.  I tell anyone who listens (and not many do), that you learn to speak “doctor” in Pathology class.

In Pathology class, we had “pot” labs.  Each week your group would have a different pot. In that pot would be formalin up to the rim, and some diseased body part floating in the liquid.  Before class was over, you knew the in’s and out of that disease process.

Pathology was one of those washout classes.  If you couldn’t cut it in pathology, you dropped out and found another way to make a living.  If you survived, you could speak ‘doctor’.

Stock Market Terms

Investing in the stock market has it’s own lingo that’s confusing to most. It’s that ‘broker speak’ that intimidates us.

Imagine brokers crowded around a murky, bubbling pot, chatting about the stock market and diagnosing it’s ills…..  Without a basic understanding of “market-speak”  you would be lost.

You might hear:

“What’s the P/E ratio of that dog-and what’s its Beta?   Is this a  value stock?  “Remember never ever fight the tape“.  What are the Bollinger Bands telling us?

“WTF?” as my bride likes to say with her southern lilt.

The term “bear” market has been bandied around lately because of the stock market’s volatility. With so much bull $hitake around, I thought a few definitions/explanations were in order.

Frankfurt Stock Market's Bull and Bear

Most of the lingo slung around about the stock market has to do with “trends”, using “technical analysis” as the language.

Let’s try to make this muddy water a little clearer:

Rosetta Stone: Stock Market Language Version

Trend analysis-the overall direction of the market. The stock market, just like the mood of a pregnant woman, is volatile. Every day the market talking heads say the market is up or down.  Unless you are a day-trader, buying and selling every day,  those day to day gyrations  should be ignored.

Technical Analysis: is the study of human stock trading behavior using long term statistics to support your decisions or choices.

The overall direction of the market is important. Why? ‘Cause even a great stock will tend to go down in value during market drops.

When you buy, you don’t want to buy as prices are dropping. Who wants to see their new bright idea drop in value as fast as Lady Gaga changes looks?

In general, is the market headed up or down is a question you need to answer.

To help you with that, let’s learn some more stock market jargon.  These terms evolved after years of study to explain  group tendencies to react as a herd.  Yea we like to pretend we are independent thinkers, but we don’t ACT like it when it comes to our investments.

Stock Terminology

Bull market: The general long-term trend  of stock price is upward.

Bear market: The general long-term trend of market prices is down.

A market correction: If the overall trend of the market is upward, a drop at least 10%, but less than 20% from the peak is considered a market correction.

When the price of a stock  or the market as a whole is getting close to a market peak, you meet resistance.  This means the closer to a peak price the harder it is for a stock to continue to rise.  Why? ‘Cause the higher a stock goes and buyers have a profit, the more likely they are to sell as buyers “lock in” their gains.

Market Tops: When a market reaches it’s peak.  Frequently the market will get close to it’s old high, then “sell-off.”  This means the market didn’t make a “new high!”

Bottoms: No, this is not a term for scrub pants.  A Stock Market Bottom is the low point of a correction or market trend.  Those who get this right consistently are  considered “guru’s” until they miss one, then they are “also-rans” like the rest of us.

Dead Cat Bounce-Not a serial killer’s dead cat- you’ve been watching too much Criminal Minds…This is a term for the stock market going up for a few days when the over-all trend is down-a Dead Cat Bounce is for suckers….

If you buy into this head fake, you will “lose your drawers” as we used to call it when playing street ball. (losing your drawers is not a stock market term, though it has been very descriptive of my retirement account lately…)

Reader Questions:

Just like my discussion with the cancer patient, learning new terms should be done in small digestible bites….

I’m sure by now your head is spinning, so we’ll leave a little on the table for the intermediate class. If you are wondering about a specific term, let me know.  If there is a market term you hate to hear, shout it out!

Does your specialty have it’s own lingo to keep out the great unwashed among us?

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Speakin’ of Google + I’m there as  Dean Burke….they wouldn’t let me use Dr Dean…  Put me in one of your circles, I’ll feel so special….

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @DrDeanBurke- quick links on the side of the blog!  And let’s not miss a post-sign up for email special delivery or the RSS feed!

Friends, I love friends-check out my Facebook page, and I’m definitely Linked-In-use the shortcuts on the side-that’s why I paid my Web Master of the Universe-Ben-the big bucks to put ‘em there-saves you time!

Kim over at Emergiblog wrote me the nicest note recently.

At my suggestion, she began adding the employee Federal Tax forgiveness of 2% into her 403b.  She coulda’ spent that money on a needless trinket or an extra cup of coffee, or a poster of her favorite Nascar driver, Kasey Kahne!

She said in her email that the money  had grown into a little nest egg she was proud of.  Part of her additional money was even matched by her employer-THAT’S FREE MONEY!

The great thing about this technique is it doesn’t require any change in lifestyle.

No suffering involved. No giving up your daily Latte,  lemonade,  or lunch out.

It looks as if the feds are going to repeat that experiment by continuing to wave the 2% this year.  If you aren’t currently putting away the maximum on your 403b/401k then take advantage of this painless way to improve your retirement savings.

(For a sexy review of retirement savings-see this post.)

No 403b? IRA it!

And if you don’t have a 401k or other work related retirement account, set up an IRA and have a direct deposit of the money.  Outta sight, outta mind!

An article in the WSJ this week highlighted the number of US elders continuing to work due to the level of debt they were carrying and their lack of adequate retirement savings.

• Almost 40% of those between 60-64 were still carrying a mortgage, with up to 20% carrying a second mortgage or line of credit.
• The average American approaching retirement has less than 25% of the savings needed to maintain current lifestyle in retirement.

Why is the continual siren call to living the so-called “high-life” prevent us from realizing the need to live a little under our means in order to put away cash for our future?

We would rather have short-term pleasure over long-term gain.

• We want a new car smell over a paid off home.
• We want a vacation today, rather than a 20 year comfortable retirement.
• We want an iPad now over being able to give freely to our causes, our children,  and grand-children after our working years are over.
• We want the latest smart-phone over a cruise around the world after the kids are grown with our mutually sacrificing life partner.

Take these opportunities of found money- whether it’s the governments gracious giving back of your own money, or your next raise- to increase your retirement savings.

When you are in your sixties or seventies and your peers are struggling, you’ll be able to say I told you so “how can I help you?”

Reader comments:

What say you?  Are you making the necessary sacrifices to be able to retire without a change in your lifestyle?  Or will you be hobbling to the mailbox paying your mortgage on your 100th birthday?

Shout out:

Thanks to Len from LenPenzo.com for his guest post Friday Follies last week, if you missed his attempt at gynecology, better check it out.

And thanks to the Nerdy Nurse for stepping up with a guest post on nursing salarys, and hosting the “Best In Nurse Blogs” series.

Friends, even cyber-friends, make life beautiful!

You guys are the best!

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Speakin’ of Google + I’m there as  Dean Burke….they wouldn’t let me use Dr Dean…  Put me in one of your circles, I’ll feel so special….

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @DrDeanBurke- quick links on the side of the blog!  And let’s not miss a post-sign up for email special delivery or the RSS feed!

Friends, I love friends-check out my Facebook page, and I’m definitely Linked-In-use the shortcuts on the side-that’s why I paid my Web Master of the Universe-Ben-the big bucks to put ‘em there-saves you time!

The usual story.

My wife was headed out of town.  Turn the key on my truck she was borrowing for the trip.  Nothing.

Turn again…Nothing.  One more time, nnnnnnhhhhhnnnnnhhhhh vroom, vroom!!!!

The truck was running.  The small-minded among you who use stereotypes would say my bride would then head off into the sunset and not think a thing about it.

My wife fits few stereotypes.

Battery Cemetary

She headed to O’Reilly Auto parts-the closest auto-parts store on her way.

The battery tester showed one core was as dead as a 90 year old without his Viagra….

She heard  the spiel, bought the  battery the sales guy recommended, and was on her way with only about 45 minutes lost. Cost be damned!

Ripped Off?

This personal finance guy was ready to pounce when he heard this story.

Buying a battery.  No research. No price comparison.  Emergency purchase.

All the ingredients were there for a foolish waste of our hard-earned cash.

I did what I had to do….  Research auto batteries and prove her wrong!

What did I find out?

Auto Battery Facts:

• 90% of the batteries are made by three manufacturers-Exide, Johnson Controls, and East Penn.
• Batteries have to be matched to your vehicle-most online sites have a battery matching algorithm to go through.  There are top post and side post batteries.
• Batteries now come with a 3 year free replacement and up to 84 months pro-rated warranty.
• Many online reviews highly recommended Costco who sell Kirkland Batteries, manufactured by Exide, or East Penn, depending on who you read.
• Batteries are rated on their cold starting ability (CCA)and their time to die when the alternator quits or you leave the radio or lights on.
• FastStart made by East Penn is the O’Reilly battery we bought. Don’t be confused with EverStart made by Johnson Control sold at Wal Mart.
• Bill Darden has a serious battery website/FAQ page for those of you who want to get to the science of batteries.  Sailors take batteries very seriously.  I used to be a sailor.
• Try to find batteries that have not been on the shelf long-as they do have a shelf life- Just like beer. Manufacturers dates are usually on the battery.  Don’t buy from the local shop that sells two batteries a year as it may already be partially discharged.
• You folks that live in extreme cold weather, your batteries have it a lot rougher.  We don’t deal with re-chargers or heaters in the south.
• High temps  shortens  battery life- as does that extreme cold.

The Results? Best Battery Buy:

• My wife’s  105 bucks for a 3 yr free replacement,  84 month pro-rated battery warranty beat the prices at Auto-Zone and  NAPA, although it is hard to compare apples to apples when it comes to batteries.  Their stats and warranties are all just a little different.
• Online reviews consistently touted Costco and even Wal-Mart for great battery replacement prices.  Wal-Mart and Costco’s websites were much more difficult to search and would not quote a battery price. So how can I compare?  If you need a battery and live near Costco or Wal-Mart, and are not in a hurry, check ‘em out.

As it turns out, my wife’s emergency battery purchase was at a competitive price and quality.  Whoo Hoo!

I sure wasn’t looking forward to telling her she made a bad purchase.  I think, rather I know, I would have just kept it to myself-you learn something after 30 years together.

Battery Comments:

You bought a new battery lately? Where did you buy it and what did it cost?

{Photo Credit: Spatulated c.c.}

Speakin’ of Google + I’m there as  Dean Burke….they wouldn’t let me use Dr Dean…  Put me in one of your circles, I’ll feel so special….

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @DrDeanBurke- quick links on the side of the blog!  And let’s not miss a post-sign up for email special delivery or the RSS feed!

Friends, I love friends-check out my Facebook page, and I’m definitely Linked-In-use the shortcuts on the side-that’s why I paid my Web Master of the Universe-Ben-the big bucks to put ‘em there-saves you time!

Fear is paralyzing, it’s gut wrenching. It can make your toes curl like a dew claw….

But life must go on.  Even with all the economic turmoil we have jobs  or school to deal with.  We have a living to earn, families to feed.

As it has been famously said, “The show must go on!”

Reading at The Nerdy Nurse reminded me that even in this time of “the worse housing recession since  the Grapes of Wrath” there remain families who are buying houses.

They have grown out of their current living arrangement.  Maybe it’s a new job, or a new baby.  Maybe the fears about job losses and the world ending have faded enough to end your paralysis by analysis.  It’s time to pull the trigger, baby! 

Best Home Buying Time

Many are being drawn by the siren song of cheap housing prices and low interest rates.  It truly is the best time in the last 40 years to buy a home…….IF……IF……IF!

Why the 3 ifs??? Cause they are important and I wanted your attention:

1. If:  You have a down payment-this lowers your risk.  Having to move due to job transfer, divorce, or other event is a real risk!  You need to have wiggle room to sell in a hurry when life happens.
2. If:  You have a good credit history/score-otherwise you just can’t buy in this market-unless you are paying cash…..
3. If:  You will be living there at least 5 years-this gives time for the market to recover and equity to build.   There aren’t many buyers  meeting the first two criteria.  So don’t put yourself in a bind by buying a home you know you’ll be selling soon.

Wheww…. OK, You got past that gauntlet.

Yo, you like…. got monee in yo pocket, yo credit is sick, an like, yo life plans are smooooth. (I’ve been getting a lot of hip hop spam comments-so I figured I’d play along, Yo!)

11 House Buying Tips:

Then what’s next?

• You make money on real estate WHEN YOU BUY, not when you sell.  So get that one special bargain. Price per heated/cooled sq foot is a useful comp. tool.
• The right neighborhood.  McMansions are out, mixed development is in.  People want to get to work and to play without spending hours in traffic. They want to spend money on iPads not gas…
• School districts remain important-but not in some areas with vouchers, homeschooling, and online schools being more prevalent. Ask a lot of questions.
• Don’t buy a Hummer in a neighborhood filled with Camrys.   Unless you have money to burn, don’t buy a statement….Save your individualism for paint, art work, or maybe just a tattoo hidden only you know where.
• Many urban area neighborhoods or new suburban developments have dirt cheap foreclosed homes by the dozens…  But many of those will become rentals.  Don’t let a bad purchase decision make looking at your home be like a mobster looking at a concrete block….  If you want to buy a foreclosure or short sale, buy  that one foreclosure in a vibrant neighborhood.
• Get several loan quotes.  Don’t just let your cousin give you a “great deal” .  Make him prove it by getting at least 3 quotes.  Don’t forget credit unions and online banks.
• Get pre-approved so if you spot a great buy, you’re ready.
• Read your paperwork.  All these new regulations have made it much harder for you to get bamboozled (old fashion word for screwed) at the closing.  But it can still happen.  I know it’s boring.  I know it’s still hard to understand.  Make your Realtor, closing attorney, CPA or your Uncle Vinnie explain it in a language you understand.
• Don’t depend on a home inspection-get one, but do your own due diligence.  Poke around in the attic, basement, crawl space.  Turn on all the lights in the house, and then turn on the heat, microwave, and oven.  See if the lights dim or fuses fuse….If you’re buying a fixer-upper, make sure you’re a fixer upper.  It’s unlikely you’ll turn into Tim the Toolman or Polly Plumber as a new homeowner-more likely you’re like me, Dean the Checkwriter…..Know thyself!
• Don’t forget to put taxes, condo or neighborhood fees, escrow, and upkeep expenses  into your planned spending (overestimate these costs) before you pull the trigger.
• Experienced Realtor and Attorney: if you are buying a foreclosure-use experts- as that row can be tough to hoe….

Many folks out their have been soured on The American Dream of Homeownership…thinking it’s more like Friday the 13th on steroids. Or as my aging hippy friends like to say, “That was one baaaad trip, man!”

Buying the right home at the right price increases your chances of having a home that truly houses a happy heart.  Where great memories can be made!

{photo credit: respres c.c.}

Carnivals this week:

Best of Money is at Funny About Money-Thanks for putting me in the top ten!

Totally Money Carnival is at Not Made Of Money

Festival of Frugality at Mom’s Plan

Speakin of Google + I’m there as Dr Dean.  Put me in one of your circles, I’ll feel so special….

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @DrDeanBurke- quick links on the side of the blog!  And let’s not miss a post-sign up for email special delivery or the RSS feed!

Friends, I love friends-check out my Facebook page, and I’m definitely Linked-In-use the shortcuts on the side-that’s why I paid my Web Master of the Universe-Ben-the big bucks to put ‘em there-saves you time!

The word “Investing” sends chills down the spine of many women.

This article on women and investing-Girls Just Want To Have Funds- (love the title Ms Blumenthal!) in the Wall Street Journal raises a few of the issues why women are not investing in the same proportion  as men.

Are you women thinking of those stock salesmen on the trading floors seen in movies like Wall Street with testosterone driven competition to make billions off the little people (us)?  The cigar chomping Gordon Gekko’s of the world squashing all on the other side of his deals?  None of that win/win crap.  It’s win for him and death for the rest……

If a child can tame the bull, so can you!

Invest: the definition.

Invest.…it means to commit (money)  to earn a financial return.  It also means to make use of something  for future benefits or advantage-such as investing in an education.

To emotionally engage is yet another definition.  As in: Investing your time in raising a child.

Let’s just get over the fear that comes with the word.  Don’t confuse investing with speculating.

On the other hand, respect the word invest.  If you invest inappropriately you increase your risk.  Risk is all around us.  Driving to work, eating food, even breathing can be risky if you live in the wrong part of the world.

You make decisions everyday at work that have risk, and don’t even think about it.  You make educated decisions because you understand what you’re doing.

Can NOT investing be RISKY?

Just as investing can be risky, not investing may be even more risky…

Consider those people scared to death by the onset of recession 3 years ago. The stock market was crashing and it seemed our financial world was upside down.

If you had panicked and stopped investing after the initial market fall and transferred your savings that were invested in stocks/stock mutual funds and moved into “safe” investments like cash or money market funds where would you be now?

For every thousand in your cash/money market account three years ago-you would have about $1,010 at most.  Cash earning and money market accounts have earned less than 1%.  With inflation running at least 2-3%, and some think it may be as high as 5%-you are going backwards in a hurry!

If you had left your money in your scary  stock investments……chicken little…. where would you be?

Don’t miss market re-bounds!

If you are like me, I put in additional investments during the recession years.  I invested just like I did before the crash.  But I was buying more shares for each dollar of investing compared to before the crash as prices were lower…..I bought Caterpillar, Home Depot, and others when they were bargains-now they are up nicely.

My retirement accounts are now back to pre-crash levels, and some accounts are actually ahead.  I’m up over 30% overall from the bottom.

If I had switched to cash I would have missed all those gains.   Statistics show most of the stock market gains occur in less than 10% of the days in the year.  The market shoots up like a rocket-then settles in a narrow range for a while, then does it again…..  You cannot time these moves-you just have to always be in the game to take advantage.

Women not investing for their future are risking:

• Poverty in their old age.
• Not being able to care for themselves.
• Lower lifestyle after retirement than before.
• Their husband/SO dying before them, and being more lost trying to play catch-up learning what to do with their savings/investments.

What should non-investing women be doing now?

• Learning-you invested in your education for your career.  You need to invest in your post-career needs-learn about your retirement fund management.
• Respect your limitations. If you don’t want to become an expert, at least become competent/knowledgeable enough to know a load of crap when you hear it from your so-called adviser….
• Study your adviser’s recommendations/purchases-make sure you understand both where your money is going and why.  Are you buying a certain fund to diversify your portfolio, or is it a high commission purchase and is helping your brokers retirement fund more than your own.
• Know what the fees and commissions are. My son says “Google” if you get stuck.  Check resources for comparable fees.  If 1-3% is the norm for your size account, and your guy is costing 5%-what does that mean?  If he is beating the market by more than 2% year in/year out-he/she may be worth it.  If not you are being ripped.
• Experience is the best teacher!
• Get Your Head Out Your A….If your spouse does all the investing decisions-make sure you talk about it every quarter or so.  You need to understand where your money is and why it’s there.  If your spouse can’t tell you how much you are making/losing in your retirement account each year-maybe you need to fire him and take over.  If you are behind the overall market consistently ask questions.   Men frequently trade/speculate more-and therefore suffer more losses than women investors as the article above describes.  You may balance the decisions perfectly.

Get out there and learn about investing.  It can be a lot more fun than watching reality show re-runs this summer.  Take a book on investing to the beach with you.  Your friends,  husband and children will be impressed.  If they make fun of you, make ‘em read this article.  (it will help my numbers too!)  Win/Win…..

Reader Questions:

If you aren’t helping manage your own retirement account why not?  What do you think you need to do to learn the ropes?  Anything I can do to help?

{Photo Credit: Aranha c.c.}

Carnivals featuring my posts…

Best of Money Carnival-top ten pick at How We Prevent Wealth

Carnival of Wealth at Personal Dividends

Totally Money Blog Carnival is at Outlaw Money

Integrated Finance Carnival is at Integrated Loans

Make sure you follow me on Twitter @DrDeanBurke- quick links on the side of the blog!  And let’s not miss a post-sign up for email special delivery or the RSS feed!

Friends, I love friends-check out my Facebook page, and I’m definitely Linked-In-use the shortcuts on the side-that’s why I paid my Web Master of the Universe-Ben-the big bucks to put ‘em there-saves you time!

That word brings out the emotions in so many people.

Ask anyone on the street, “Would you like to be a millionaire?” I’m sure 99% would say yes. But a majority think it won’t happen without the lottery.

Free Money Finance wrote a commentary on an article from CNN Money about the:

Three Easy Steps To Become A Millionaire.

1. Save money regularly-Automatic savings before you see your check.
2. For enough time-Early in your working life.
3. At a decent rate of return-using Index or growth mutual funds with proven track record!

Time’s passing,  Start Now!

One step, every day!

Million in Ones!

(Thanks to Len Penzo for the idea of the 100 word format!-and no these words of acknowledgment don’t count in the word count! It’s my blog and I make the rules!)

{photo credit: suburbandollar c.c.}

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