you got first

YOU GOT FIRST
i read this article the other day about the teachers in another
state where the funding for their teacher retirement
was only funded at 35+-%
what that means is that there is not enough money stashed away
in that state to fund all the teachers retired or soon to retire
so they rely on the state legislators to fill in the gaps each year
the problem is that the gap is getting bigger and bigger
you know whats going to happen right
yep
the teachers will get screwed again
there will im sure be eventually a reduction in pensions for all
or
worse the whole thing will end all together
there is a push to do that for many public pensions

yes the writing is on the wall if you are working where there is
a pension
feel sorry for those 20 and 30 yr olds who are just starting out
many companies have already drawn a line  a date line
start working after this date there will be no pension
only
a 401k or 403b

so
we all need to start paying ourselves first
to be ready for whats coming

do you have $1000 cash that you can grab today if you needed it
many folks dont even those making what i would call good money

do you have 6 months expenses sitting in a cash account
like a money market or savings account
most people dont

do you have credit card debt that requires half your monthly income
to make the payments
if so you are in big trouble
you need credit counseling services like right now

do you know who dave ramsey is
if not you should start reading about his approach to money management

we all need to be prepared to take care of ourselves in retirement
we need to be investing in your retirement plans at a rate of 15-20%
of our income over our careers

you can start at 5% and increase it a percentage point a year
or
if that 5% is too much start at 1% then go up a point a year

the odds are that social security will be there
but if you are young you will almost have to be 70 before
you can get full retirement

be wary of any pensions that you are promised
they can easily and are being jerked away from folks now

do a budget a strict budget
dont know how
dave ramsey has the answer
if you follow his recommendations you will be financially set as you
get older

now i dont follow his plan since i follow the country n or the ogd plan
that was already in place before i discovered dave ramsey

its not much different

as a physician i have social security and my 401k money that i invested
over the years
always getting maximum matching and usually more
had i like many physicians not done this
and
had i not did a b u d g e t downsizing our lifestyle
we would be in financial trouble

as we are
we are able to live modestly comfortably doing all the things we like
to do
travel to the places we enjoy
no we dont go to cancun or do oceanliner tours
we dont enjoy those things
we like more outdoor things hiking seeing national parks etc
weve seen new york washington new orleans etc
so were satisfied there
there is no desire to go overseas like europe or china

so here is my advice to you
if you cant figure out how to do this
do the dave ramsey method

do a budget and stick to it
save $1000 in cash-here is an easy way save $1 a week then $2 a week
then $3 a week etc until you have it saved
then save 6 months of living expenses like food gas electricity etc
start saving 1-5% of you income increasing it 1% a year until you reach
15%
yes do that even if you are promised a pension
cut up your credit cards or freeze them in a bag of water
i did that once and my wife she threw that frozen bag of water away
start paying off you debt doing the smallest debt first then the next smallest
debt until they are all paid off

live on a cash only basis

if you and all of us dont do this
there is going to be a lot of real poor old people in our country

now my wife she and i live on less than what a full time teacher
late in her career makes
we have no debt
we have monies in our retirement plans to help us if we need it
we live simply for our past income levels but do all we like doing
we should have enough to last us into our late 90s
we operate on a cash basis rarely using our credit cards except for
online purchases airline reservations etc
they are paid as soon as we use them

hopefully all of you will step back and look at your financial
situations
then
start fixing them for the better

you have to take care of yourself
pay your yourself first

remember
you got first

the organicgreen doctor