As I was washing dishes this morning a thought came to me. I started to think about the stance that Dave takes on finances and then thought “You know what? He should support Obama”.

Now I don’t know if Dave has come out against one candidate or not but based on what he has said in the past it seems that he is leaning towards the republican candidate.

There are 2 issues that I think he should support Obama on.

1. Tax Policy

I have studied the tax policies of both candidates and I feel that Dave should lean towards Obama on this one and here is why.

One of the biggest things about Dave’s program is that no matter how much income you make you can be “rich”. Yes it might take longer depending on your “shovel” as he calls it (Your income) but regardless if you follow his baby steps and stay away from debt that you will end up “Living like no one else”.

The thing is that about 95% (My statistic) of people that have called in to his show all have incomes below $200,000. They are good people making 50k-80k and yet are able to pay off their house and build wealth. Old men will call in and say “Well I got about a million five in the bank” and Dave always follows up with with “How much did you make a year?” And the answer is usually something like “Oh never more then $35k a year working at the factory”. These are the exact people that will be helped with the Obama tax plan.

Think about it: What kind of jobs make $200k or more? Not many unless you are a Doctor or a Lawyer or some top notch sales man… rarely do you make $40k a year and then all the sudden got a promotion into $250k. Joe the Plumber supports a candidate based on a pipe dream (pun TOTALLY intended) that if he was to buy a business that he all the sudden is going to make $250k a year. Even the boss that owns the business says that it probably would only be a $100k a year job and would require a lot of expansion to make it to $250k.

We need to get off this kick, and Dave would agree with me, that to be rich you have to have a “rich” income. And the true rich are those that have saved and are working the baby steps to build slow wealth with medium shovels.

And on that platform he should support Obama.

2. Health care

One of the leading causes of bankruptcy in America is medical debt according to a Harvard study done in 2001. Dave hates bankruptcy with a passion and discourages it to anyone that suggests it. I think in the 8 years I have been listening I have heard him say once that someone should get a bankruptcy. He didn’t actually say it out right but the guy basically had $500,000 in (oddly enough) medical bills and made like $20k a year. He didn’t say “oh you just need to file bankruptcy” but allude to the fact that he didn’t know of any options and that it would take you years to ever get out from under this.

The health care plan of Obama works to make health insurance not only affordable but also reform the industry so that we don’t have people who have $20k in medical debt even after paying $1000 a month for insurance!

Again, Obama.

The policies of Obama really help the middle class keep more of their money and that seems to be what Dave should be supporting.

In all I guess this is just an idea and I should probably next time think about the Red Sox losing and not on anything intelligent while washing dishes.

Just something to generate discussion on the matter. So please… discuss away! :-)

Howdy from Texas, and good riddance to IKE…

We made it safe and sound… not sure why but our neighborhood looks like a
little piece of paradise in the middle of a war zone… we got power back
here yesterday and very little damage (fence and shed). The house looks like
it was untouched… one of the benefits to buying a new house… totally up
to code for hurricanes… most of the metropolis looks bad and the  Coast
Guard base on Galveston island in almost totally destroyed. It is kinda a
blessing though because K will be working a lot closer to home for the
next 6 months or so… the hurricane came right over our house. Our
neighbors that stayed and rode it out said that at 3:10 on Saturday morning
they walked outside and looked up and could see stars…they were in the eye
(every person that I have talked to that stayed to ride it out says they
will never do it again!) I was just north of Houston and we had power there
till 6 am so I watched on the news as the storm rolled right over my
neighborhood. I totally expected to come back to a partial house under a few
feet of water. We live only a mile from Galveston bay and the destruction
between our house and the bay is catastrophic. A lot of the seafood
restaurants and bars we use to go to are either gone or heavily damaged.
Every gas station that has power and gas to sell has lines that are about 3
hours long… they are saying that some grocery stores will be opening
today, but not sure what food they will have and I am sure the lines will be
horrendous. When I was driving back down here yesterday I saw a couple of
Lowes and Home Depots open but they had lines around the block to get in. It
is mass destruction down here, but yet I am home with power, water,
internet, phone, and once I move my satellite dish back to the correct
directions (Ike moved it, but didn’t rip it off my fence…) I will have all
the comforts of home. K should be able to come home possibly as early as
Wednesday, Lil K and I are going to drive out to visit her today if
possible. So all is well for us. I took lots of before and after pics and
almost an hour of video (its Lil K’s first hurricane) so I will try to get
that stuff out to people who would like to see it. Thank you again. Home
phone works fine but cell coverage is spotty and the networks are slammed.
Thank you for your concern and prayers, they paid off!

C, K, and Lil K

http://gfcfandme.wordpress.com/

Coolest thing is that lots of people have recorded there including Ray Charles when he was doing his Nashville sessions. Though not the same piano, the Steinway was retired a few years back for this Yamaha, it was still awesome to be what felt like the presence of royalty.

Here is the vid…

Please take a moment in your day today and keep them in your prayers.

[Source]

I have been a music lover all my life. I started playing piano when I was 6 and have not looked back since. I love all aspects of music and haven’t met a genre I can’t at least appreciate. I am not a huge country fan but living in Nashville it is kind of hard not to keep up.

I have a beef with the 3 of you and I need to ask you to stop this immediately.

You are fooling nobody with your Guitar “playing”.

Yes I said it. I know that you are holding that big nice Taylor or Takamine and the sound guy doesn’t even have you turned on. We all know that you hit about once or twice a song and you look like an idiot just holding it up there. You are all great singers and songwriters… well at least Alan is… and you need to leave the real guitar playing up to your very capable backing band. You all look like goofs up there just holding the things and not even attempting to play them.

So the gig is up! Stop with the guitar hold’n.

Leave the guitar playing up to real guitar players like Brad Paisley and Keith Urban… At least they actually know how to play!

Sincerely,

J.J. Merrick

edit: At least Garth on the ACMA’s didn’t plug his guitar in. That way they didn’t have to worry about strapping a wireless pack to him.. saves time and money!

The guy over at FreeMoneyFinance posted this question from one of his readers and asked for comments. I decided to answer it here for my Financial Fridays post.

my husband passed away dec 2007 i’ve just gotten 500k from life insurance the insurance agent wants to invest all of it and give me an allowance a month. I’m 40 two children who have their own 85k each when they hit maturity. I owe 230k on my house I have a job and ss for the kids untill they are 18 ( 9 & 11 now) I want to pay off my mortgage invest 150k for retirement and have the balance for emergency also smaller investments. I feel like he’s pushing me he also wants control of the childrens UTMA accounts once I have guardianship. What sounds right. I’m picking up the check today.

OK first things first… Never EVER take financial advice from an insurance salesmen. They are SALESMEN and are not looking out for your best interest. He wants to sell you products that are going to have horrible rates of return and anyone getting a commission on the advice they are giving you are not a true advisor.

Second thing is that you just went through a fairly tough emotional crisis in the losing of your husband I don’t care how sudden or not it is still hard. You need to put the money into a money market account and sit on it for 6 months. This will allow you to get your head on straight and figure out where you need to go next.

After that I would go ahead and write a check to pay off your house. You will be debt free at this point and then I would put about $15k in a money market as an emergency fund and then the remaining $255k in an investment account. I would suggest good growth stock mutual funds that have a 5 year or more track record and yield 10% or more on average. This will give you a good income of about 30k a year and with no house payment and your own income it will give you steady money for the future.

Oh and did I mention NEVER TAKE ADVISE FROM A SALESMAN!?!?!?!

Did I make myself clear? :-)

Now we know!

Can you spy Blakeley?

In talking with friends and co-workers I have been asked a few questions about the Economic Stimulus Package money that American tax payers are suppose to receive over the next couple of months. Here are a couple that I thought I would highlight:

I just graduated College in December and my father claimed me as a dependent in 2007. This is the last year he will be doing it but is there anyway for me to get a check?

The money that we are all receiving is actually an advance of a tax credit that we all will receive on our 2008 tax return. Since the IRS can’t look into the future to know they are going on the information for 2007 for your advance. Since life situations change often in a year you might be eligible on your 2008 return to claim any or more then what you are receiving.

So to answer your question if you are Single and filing on your own for 2008 you can claim a $300 credit on your 2008 taxes. Also if you have a child in 2008 you can claim the extra amount you would have received. There will be a second chance worksheet that will help you determine that in 2009 when you do your 2008 taxes.

So when are we getting them!?

The direct deposits are already starting to go out and here is the chart from the IRS.gov website.

Got a question you want me to answer for Financial Fridays just hit the contact me link in the top menu.