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The Economic Recession, Are We Making Progress? “The Millionaire Nurses View”

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

This gallup poll  on upper income spending and comparison to middle-lower income spending is fascinating to me.  Maybe that is because I am a personal finance nerd.

Why is it  important to you what upper income people are doing with their money?

  • You may be “upper income.”  The definition was a household income over $90,000 per year.  With two nurses or two school teachers in the family, that level of income is certainly common and reachable for many!
  • If you are not in that group- Those in the upper income group usually have significantly more disposable income-so when they spend, the economy grows, businesses start hiring, and the whole economic engine gets revved up!

So what were the results of the poll?

For upper-income:

  • The daily spending average for the upper-income family dropped 14% since January of this year.
  • Down 19% since a year ago, and down 34%  since 2008.
  • This in the face of the “recession is over” according to the feds and economists.

For middle and lower income:

  • Spending is flat for this year, and over the past year
  • Their spending is down 42% since 2008.

What are economic factors now versus last year?

  • Gas prices are much higher this year than last-and going up steadily-this harms middle and lower income folks more than upper income families.
  • Upper-income families are stressed emotionally about concerns of increased health care costs and higher taxes-resulting in their holding down their spending.
  • Both groups are affected by the housing downturn-making all homeowners feel less wealthy.
  • The high unemployment rate of almost 10% and the under-employment rate of 19% makes everyone nervous-they know they may be next….
  • And for those of us in health-care, the economic uncertainties are multiplied with hospitals, patients, and all the others employed in the field such as pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies worried that the shoe is about to drop.

So what should “Millionaire Nurses” do about this stuff????

  • Stay the course, if you have a job, be the best you can be, to decrease the chance you will be “volunteered to leave”.
  • Keep your financial condition in great shape-ie save  more money, cut back on spending, have an emergency fund.
  • Put off elective purchases until things stabilize further.  This is not the time to “take chances.”
  • Continue to give and help others-that is a great way to make you feel good in any economy. If you can’t give money, give time.
  • Work on your spiritual self.  Costs you nothing, provides immeasurable benefits…

If you have comments or questions about the economy, let us hear from you.    What is happening at your job, regarding hiring freezes, limiting over-time, lay-offs and furloughs????

And if you need “Emergency Money Resuscitation” sign up for my free E-book,  free newsletter, and free mini-course on personal finance at The Millionaire Nurse. Do it today, don’t put it off- it is free!!!!

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Blackberry Apps for Millionaire Nurses

Tuesday, 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

Sunday, 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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Posted in personal finance | 2 Comments »

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

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

Monday, 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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Getting Things Done: The Millionaire Nurse Way!

Friday, February 19th, 2010

I have been in the business of health care since I started medical school in 1977-yes before many of you were born.  I am old.  It is funny to think about, but my first two years of practice, I had several patients, say-”you can’t be my doctor, you are too young!”   Welllll, that hasn’t happened in a while.   No one, has so far, said to my face, “you are too old to be my doctor, but some probably think that….

After spending tens of thousands of hours trying to motivate people to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, eat less, I have now added-”pay attention to your finances” to my to-do list.

Now, I don’t do financial counseling/coaching at my medical practice-but on this site, and in my speaking engagements, my job is to motivate nures to take their finances seriously, and make changes to become more successful managing their money.

And it is funny, the response I get in the office dealing with healthcare issues is the same, when dealing with financial issues.

“I DON’T HAVE TIME!”

TIME-by John Morgan

Of course, I have heard that before.  Those who don’t have time to exercise, focus on their diet, or work on their finances, have plenty of time to watch television.  Or read the latest romance, go to the 3-D Avatar experience, hang out with their friends, go shopping at the mall, play video games, facebook-”farmville- can I get help with my barn???”

I am all for a little down time.  We all need to get away from our responsibilities occasionally, especially in a stressful profession like nursing.  But, sometimes you have to set aside time for what is most important.  You have to act like a GROWN-UP!

How many times have you seen that smoker in the ER with pneumonia, or COPD complications, that you didn’t think, “Why has he not quit?”  “Doesn’t he want to be around to see his grand kids grow up?”  Or the alcoholic, or the diabetic, who can’t seem to quit drinking or eating sweets excessively.

So, turn that around.  Are you spending quality time thinking about how to improve your finances, get out of debt, maximize your retirement, automate your savings account, make sure your will, insurance, and college savings are all set up?????

What are you waiting for?  Catastrophe, bankruptcy.  You know you need to.  Don’t put it off.  Get into the habit of spending an hour or two a week, planning and thinking about your future.  It will be a great investment-then go build your barn!

And if you want to join our team, at “The Millionaire Nurse” please sign up for our newsletter-by hitting the beautiful E-B00k on the left side “Emergency Money Resuscitation”.  We will send you the free E-Book and sign you up for our mini-course on personal finance.  We also will deliver out monthly newsletter-full of money saving tips and suggestions.

Make Time!

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Tax Refunds for Some Millionaire Nurses!

Friday, February 12th, 2010

It is tax refund time for those early filers.  The amount refunded this year is expected to be greater than last because so many people are earning less, and are taking advantage of increased tax credits for low wage earners.

Hopefully, none of you nurses fall into that category, although with spouses losing their job, furloughs, and work week cutbacks, income for a lot of families has dropped.

There is a great chart at Turbo-Tax with details about early filers of their tax return. The article also mentions that early filers are much more likely to get a refund-DUHHH!  Why else would you file early-just to get the chance to pay the IRS earlier?????? I hold my check till the last minute when I have to pay.

One area I want to caution you about, is the proliferation of tax refund loans.  This article discusses the hazards of these tax refund  loans in detail.

Is this what you look like, after the IRS has finished?

In summary, the main disadvantage of tax refund loans are the high fees and costs associated with these loans.  This makes the interest rate for small loans, sometimes an effective 200% or even much higher.  Even larger loans, can have an effective interest rate of 50%.  Millionaire Nurses do not borrow money at 200%!!!!!

So don’t do this.  File your taxes, and be patient.

Now what are you going to do with your refund, if you get one?

Millionaire Nurses have a plan for any money coming into the household.  It will be directed towards a savings, or debt reducing goal-or both.   If you have no debt, and you want to blow some of it, then no problem, as long as:

So if you have your basics covered, spend away, save it for a vacation.

But HAVE A PLAN!

If you know someone getting a tax refund-hit the share button below-Thanks!

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Life Insurance, What do Millionaire Nurses Need?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Life Insurance-what kind do you need?  How much do you need?  What company do you go through?

Keep in mind the purpose of life insurance:

  • To replace your income, if you die-allowing your family to live without a significant change in life-style.
  • To pay the costs of burying you.
  • To help pay any bills or debts you may have.

Now your family is not responsible to pay debts that are just in your name.  After the estate is settled if their is still money you owe, they are not legally required to pay them.  But many families are bothered by that-and why not, if you owe the money-why should someone get stiffed-just because you are… (Sorry, couldn’t help it.)  So having enough money to pay those bills is a good thing to do.

What type of insurance do you need?

  • Term Life Insurance
  • Term Life Insurance
  • Term Life Insurance

Now, there are a lot of variations now, with whole life, universal life, universal variable life and other new versions, but they all have a savings plan, that has a low interest rate or growth rate.  There are also high sales commissions associated with the policies, adding to your costs, but not to your benefits.

Salespeople argue that whole life type policies are the only way to get people to save money-not for “Millionaire Nurses”.  The Millionaire Nurse understands the importance of setting up savings, and retirement plans, and don’t have to use overpriced and under-performing vehicles like a “life insurance” policy to do that for them.

How much do you need?

  • If you are still in deep in debt, see if you have insurance at work, with your bank or credit union to pay for burial expenses-usually less than $15,000 worth of coverage-that is frequently free, or very inexpensive.
  • When you debts are under control-then buy enough coverage so that your income can be replaced.  If you need$40,000/year in income then at 4% payout per year, that would be close to a million bucks of insurance, if you didn’t want to touch the principle.  Now, obviously if you draw down some of the principle over time, and increase your rate of return-you can get by with much less coverage.
  • To simplify, many experts just say, buy 10-20 times your income in coverage.
  • Once you are out of debt, have retirement savings in place, and have paid for your home, you can decrease or eliminate your insurance coverage.

Which company do you use?

Millionaire Nurses get the best price.  How do you do this? By comparing prices with highly rated companies.  (Don’t buy insurance from a company that is not rated highly with AM Best, Standard and Poors, or Moody. Get several quotes, and of course those who don’t smoke, and are taking care of themselves frequently get discounts-so stay healthy…

Another thing to remember is that “term” insurance means you are insuring yourself for a certain length of time.  Some policies guarantee renewal at the end of the term-the rate will be higher but they will write you  a policy. This can be important if you develop a chronic illness.

So, “Millionaire Nurses”, don’t have paralysis by analysis.  Make an appointment with yourself soon- to study, and execute on buying your life insurance coverage, it is something “Millionaire Nurses” Do!

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Uninformed, Clueless, or Frightened-The Three States Preventing You-From Being the Millionaire Nurse!

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Seth Godin, the internet marketing guru’s blog post today, is asking, “Are you uninformed, clueless, or frightened?”  And, bang, I thought, that is what many of my readers are.

Uninformed-you know you need to learn how to manage your money better, but just aren’t sure how to get started.  The first step, is just- Take the first step.  Read my blog, read the other personal finance blogs listed on the right, download the free e-book, Emergency Money Resuscitation.   Read my book, The Millionaire Nurse. Out soon I promise!  Go to the library, an investment in learning about your finances is a bargain!

Clueless: This is not judgmental.  This just means there are many folks, who need help with money management, that just haven’t realized it yet.  They have been living paycheck to paycheck for so long they think it is normal.  They have always had a car payment- so what?  They don’t understand the freedom it can bring to your life to have a financial cushion called savings and the Super-Duper Emergency Fund. All their friends are broke, so why should they be different.

Frightened- These are the people desperate for help, but are frozen.  The recently divorced single mom, trying to keep the lights on and food on the table.  The couple who just got their first collection call ever-”I have never been late paying my bills, but my husband just got laid off!”  Or, ” I don’t know why I bought that, I didn’t need it, but I have been working so hard-I deserved it!” Then you get home, and wonder, “Why in the hell did I do THAT?????

So where are you?  Let us know how we can help.  Let us know what your questions, fears, concerns, and needs are.

And thanks Seth!  And by the way, Linchpin-great read!

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Posted in Quality of Life, personal finance | 2 Comments »

Students and Graduates-Send In Your Books!

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

You know, we frequently have real money, just sitting on a shelf.  We just don’t always think about it.

Imagine those two eyes on the stack of bills, on your shelf right now, staring at your back!!!!

Yes that commercial creeps me out too!!!

My Money Blog, had this post about Bigwords.

Bigwords is a textbook buying aggregator. You fill in the info about your books-ISBN number and condition, and it let’s you know which textbook buying site is offering the best price for that item.

Now, even if you don’t have textbooks to sell, you should go look at the website-it has to be eligible for the top-ten ugliest websites on the planet!  Maybe that is on purpose-not looking corporate when you are dealing with college students may be a plus.

Now a lot of you, are like me.  You spend all that time reading and studying text books. So you  think-”maybe I will need to look something up in it one day”.  So up it goes on the shelf,  never to be looked at again.

I don’t know about you, but when I need to look something up now, I go to the computer and google it or look at medical websites.

I had an old huge Pathology text from second year-it was used for years as a booster for my kids to sit on at dinner when they grew out of the high-chair-I thought that was an appropriate use-right under the diaper!!!

I did plug in an old Williams Obstetrics, 2001 edition that was on  my shelf to see what Bigwords would say about it.  I figured there would be no market for a book this old.  Textbook sites were willing to pay between two and four dollars for it, with free shipping.  The same books were priced on Amazon and other places for about $14 bucks on average.

So maybe I will clean off some of my shelf-space too!

So go sell those books, before they get too old to be worth anything.  Remember to decide what you will do with your new wad of cash before you get it.  Plan Your Spending-That is what Millionaire Nurses do!

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