

Life
How Much You Keep, Not How Much You Earn
Rich people who die with money issues tells us that spending more than you earn is risky for individuals, and for entire countries
The tragic death of Robin Williams in 2014, who took his own life while suffering from severe depression as well as facing money problems among other things, reminds us of a truism of personal finances: it doesn’t matter how much you make in any given year, or in the span of your career.
If you spend more than you make, and do it in a hurry, you can end up as bankrupt as anyone. This last year has been particularly tough for many people and so prudent finances are more important than ever before.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Yesteryear, we often read about professional athletes or entertainers who annually earned multimillions of dollars, but then, a few years out of the sport, or out of the celebrity limelight, fell into financial ruin.
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How could someone raking in several million dollars a year, we thought, end up penniless? How foolish, how reckless, how wanton could people be with their money?
Today, at least among pro athletes, money managers ensure that said individual will have regular annual income for life. In pro contracts, clauses stipulate how much of an athlete’s earnings will actually be dispensed in any given year.
Hence, 15 to 20 years out of professional sports, an athlete who had been earning, say, $10 million a year will be assured of income for life as a result of effective money management. Celebrities who are wise enough to choose effective professional financial counsel are similarly aided.
Low Debt = Breathing Space
No matter how much you make, if you don’t effectively manage your money, it can all go to pot. Studies show that an inheritance, of any size, is dissipated on average within seven years. So, whether someone receives $5,000 or $500,000, on average, far too soon all that money is gone.
Being in debt is not conducive to having breathing space. In fact, it’s the antithesis. When you’re in debt, that reality has a way of dominating your day. When the next bill arrives, you think about your finances. When the next mortgage or rent payment becomes due, the issue arises again.
Every time you write a check, or surrender your credit card to a vendor, or even take money out of your wallet, you are reminded of your tenuous financial condition.
When you’re in debt and seek to re-pay it, you tend to work longer and harder. You want to make extra money to pay down credit card balances. Living beyond your means, however exhilarating in the short run, is insidious in the long run, for people and for entire nations.
The constant drum beat in the back of your mind, “I’m not making it,” “I owe others,” and “What if people find out?’ can wear down an individual in ways that we don’t even fully understand.
Construct a Cash Flow
The fastest and easiest way to understand the state of your current as well as future personal finances is to construct a 12-month cash flow spreadsheet.
A well-constructed cash flow plots all of the incoming cash and revenue from all sources, and to the best of your ability projects all of the expenses you will be incurring. A 36-month cash flow is more ambitious and more revealing.
It’s too easy to get caught up in thinking, “I’m making a big bucks annually, and my goodness, what do I have to worry about?” The fate of rich people who die with money issues tells us that you have plenty to worry about if you spend more than you earn.
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Family
Student Drinking and Drug Abuse on Campus is Over the Top
What kind of society, de facto, condones such reckless behavior?
The senseless loss of five university students in a house fire has stung my community. These were top students, accomplished individuals, and potential leaders.
Someone has got to ask the tough questions right now, while the pain of their loss is intense. In what kind of society do presumably the best and brightest engage in highly questionable activities? An all-night party? Started at what hour? Preceded by what? To end when?
How much alcohol flows? How many drugs are dispensed? Obtained from and by whom? Ingested by whom? How many cigarettes are lit? How many butts wantonly burn down to nothing? What else is lit and smoked?
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Foolish Behavior Condoned
The largest and toughest question of all behind these is what kind of society, de facto, condones such foolish and, in too many tragic instances, reckless behavior? Drunk students falling out of windows to their death, engaged in chugging contests until they vomit, on weeknights no less, walking the campus in a state of high lethargy? Being rushed to emergency wards?
Sure, install the proper sprinkler and alarm systems, but acknowledge the ruthless reality that confronts us. Colleges today are the stomping grounds for legions of students who drink and take drugs with abandon. They sit like zombies in morning classes if they can make it out of bed at all. Professors pretend that it is not happening. University administrators accept such behavior as ‘part of the times.’
Such phenomena are more wide sweeping than anyone cares to admit. They are testament to the abandonment of standards, the ‘everything is allowed’ overly permissive culture in which no student is safe.
Break the Silence
If the students who died were among the finest people that communities engender, what does their loss portend for others? And when will responsible adults break the silence about the utter absurdity with which too many students live their lives?
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Thanksgiving: that joyous time of the year when families get together, have a wonderful dinner, catch up on what everyone other is doing, give thanks for all that they have, and perhaps watch some football.
Up for the Challenge?
This Thanksgiving might prove to be a challenge for many people. For one, the cost of the turkey, the bird traditionally served, in some locals cost between 50% to 80% more than last year, and turkey was already expensive.
Among your relatives a few might be vegans or vegetarians. If you have a vegan enforcer in the family, this person will rail on and on against eating meat, and about how turkeys have lives just like we do.
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One of your vegan or vegetarian relatives might offer a discourse on how cranberries should be harvested a different way, the dangers of turkey stuffing, and the problem with vegetables that you might be serving, the risk of having too many starches – potatoes or rice – and the evils of wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks.
Topics Worth Avoiding
The politics to consider abound. Since roughly half of the country votes Democrat and half votes Republican, the odds are overwhelming that you’re going to have somebody with opposing politics at the table. During Trump’s years as president, many families had to navigate around the topic of the presidency, prevailing policies. and so on.
Today, while there’s no question that Joe Biden is completely inane as leader, the same delicate navigation needs to occur. As miraculous as this might seem, some on the left actually approve of what Biden has been doing. Note: don’t be concerned about the Bidens going hungry. With all those under-the-table payment from Ukraine and China, they can EASILY afford a huge, expensive turkey with all of the trimmings.
If you can avoid discussing the eight million invaders illegally crossing our borders, rampant inflation, the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal, the crisis in Israel and potential for World War III, drag time story hour for children, transgenderism, the bogus lawsuits against Donald Trump, the unending crimes of Hunter Biden, the payola to Joe Biden, FBI corruption, the historic unpopularity and ineptness of Kamala Harris, and about 30 or so other topics, your dinner should go smoothly. Enjoy!
A huge current wrinkle on the political scene is that recent surveys reveal at least one-quarter of Democrats actually approve of Hamas, atrocities and all, and side with Palestine on all issues large and small. They believe that Israel is an apartheid state and that Jews are today’s Nazis. Apparently they’ve never visited Israel and have no Jewish friends.
Depending on how many Democrats attend your Thanksgiving gathering, if it’s four or more, mathematically speaking you have a decent chance that one is a pro-Hamas Democrat. Wooo… Now, you really have to stay clear of current issues or your dinner table might be as inflamed verbally as the Middle East is with armaments.
Insufferable Stuffing
After everyone is stuffed with turkey, vegeburgers, or whatever the people who like rabbit food eat, you might sit in the den and turn on a football game. Quickly, you’ll have a stark reminder of how far political correctness has infected society.
If the Washington Commanders are playing, it’s hard to forget that they used to be called the Washington Redskins until the wokesters among us demanded that the name must be changed. Not so ironically, 90% of native Americans actually want the name Washington Redskins reinstalled, and currently are petitioning for it.
In baseball, the Cleveland Indians “had” to be renamed to the Cleveland Guardians. Potentially, there’s no end of this malarkey. Should the Minnesota Vikings change their name? After all, people from Scandinavia might object to the term “Vikings.” While we’re at it, consider college basketball. The Wake Forest University Demon Deacons are due for a name change, if you’re on the Left. So, too, the Duke University Blue Devils, the Arizona University Aztecs, and on and on.
Landmines to Side Step
With all these potential land mines to side step, and all the ways that otherwise pleasant conversations on a pleasant day could occur, you have to be on guard.
Nevertheless, I wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. May you survive the day, fully intact, and ready to have a decent Black Friday.
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