If we had a dime for every time someone says the words "You have to be rich to get your money working for you," we'd be millionaires.

The truth is much more simple. You can save money if you have a job. You can put that money to work for you in today's financial environment, and you will be ahead of 60 - 75% of the population if you do.

We get asked at this blog to update the amount of money we've "found" on the ground (from "How To Survive Any Financial Crisis" at www.middleclassmoney.com). Every once in awhile we like to give an update. If you've not read this in the book, we keep a jar in our kitchen. The family participates in this fun exercise together. We simply look for money on the ground at shopping centers, gas stations or anywhere money has been slippery and gotten away from people. We put our "found money" in a jar all year long. At the end of the year, we count it up and we put it in a 12 month CD (certificate of deposit) at ING DIRECT. That way "Other People's Money" is earning interest for US!

This is a perfect example of how people say pennies don't add up - but they do.

So far in 2009 we have collected $34.18. That's just money that was so unimportant that people left it on the ground and walked away. Did you know the money we "found" in 2008 is earning us interest now? It is. Pennies (actually, dollars) earning us pennies without us doing a thing but owning our money.

Makes you wonder how much money is just "out there," doesn't it? How much money are we all wasting? How much money can you save if you develop a plan to start putting even a little each month aside for emergency savings or for other purposes (retirement, safety net, savings, investing).

Go back and look at other blog entries on this site to see how you can develop your own plan to save more, invest wisely and get your money working for you. You really can do it. If you have a job, you have 100% better opportunity to save than if you lose your job. Think about that and get to saving. You can check out "How To Survive Any Financial Crisis" for only $4.95 (there has to be some way for us to pay for the website and blogs) at www.middleclassmoney.com or www.stickyasset.com. It can save you thousands and show you interesting (and profitable) tricks the rich have always used and passed down to their own children to continue to grow wealth. How would you like to have these ready-made secrets to pass to your own children? We thought you'd like that.

If I had a dime for every time someone says they can't save because they don't make that much....

Start working on your plan today. Use us as a resource at this blog, www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and join the FREE Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves."

You deserve a better future, but you better start doing something about it today. The future is coming no matter if you save and invest...or don't.

Get started. You can do this!

Loyd Ford
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

P.S. Share this blog with your friends, family and people you care about by using our "share button" on the right of this blog. You can also put your e-mail address in the e-mail sign up window to get our FREE e-saver (look for it on the right). Thank you for reading our blog and good luck to you and your family!

Everyone wants to know the future. Is the big financial crisis over? When will the economy get back on track? Will American families have a bright future in the turn around?

THE BAD NEWS

More banks will be failing on the way. That does not mean YOUR money is not safe. However, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure YOUR bank is FDIC-insured. Go to www.bankrate.com and check it out.

Think about the crisis we have seen: home foreclosures, unemployment, falling retail. What does that mean about the immediate future ahead? Commercial real-estate trubulance. Think about businesses going out of business, filing for bankruptsy or simply moving to less expensive locations to survive the retail meltdown. How will that impact more banks? Badly.

Current consumer spending is still "off." This has a negative short-term impact on the economy. What I would call "now pain" for the economy.

While consumers are still "down," they are saving at a higher rate than we have seen in decades - and good for us. It's good for our long-term economy (forget about people saying it is patriotic to spend).

Credit appears to be severely tightening again. This will have a more overall negative impact on the economy and we are recommenuding you brace for further impact. Yes, now.

No one knows the future, but continued saving is potentially key to your ability to have at least some control in the near future while all the economic turbulance is taking place.

Predictions are everywhere, but you can expect we will have:

- Higher unemployment (we expect 10 - 12%).
- We expect economic turn around anytime between Spring 2010 and Spring 2016.

What Can You Do?

If you have a job, you should be saving money. There are many ways or tricks to doing just that. Read back across this blog to past entries and you will seem a variety of ways you can carve out savings on a regular basis.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS

How about some additional answers?

Is the financial crisis over? No. When will the economy get back on track? Look for an employment rebound. Look for credit to loosen up. Watch for rising house prices (nothing crazy...just steady upticks). Look for consumer confidence to rise and consumer spending to return.

Finally, will American families have a bright future in the turn around? It depends. Employment is changing. Compensation has hit a large reset. People have to revalue the way we see jobs and income. If you get your financial value from what you bring home in a paycheck, we will say you are "thinkin' wrong." It's not what you make - it's what you save. Truly save. That is where your real value is.

THE GOOD NEWS

We still say the formula for "ending your personal financial crisis" is:

Regular automatic savings + reduction and elimination of debt (especailly credit card debt) + steady purchasing of dividend producing assets or other cash flow revenue streams = building wealth.

Sign up for your free e-saver at the right of this blog in the e-mail sign up window. We will NOT share your e-mail address with anyone. You will only get an e-saver e-mail from us once a month.

If you want more now, get "How To Survive Any Financial Crisis" at www.middleclassmoney.com. It's only $4.95 and will help save you thousands (or more).

Thank you!


Loyd Ford
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

You know these people. The ones who say they can't. The ones who say they are going to start soon. The ones who are going to get to it. Why do I know that YOU know these people? There are millions of them. I'm not unlike them. I have walked down the road of "I will start later." I am no better.

If you say you can't save, you are locking yourself out of a better future. You may also be locking your own children out of a better future as well. But something can be done.

The simple matter of fact is that if you don't start saving and investing now, you are very likely to live in poverty later. Many millions of Americans think saving regularly is an option or something that can begin next year or in a couple of years.

If you know these people in your life, you must use the "share" button to the right of this blog. Send them this blog post. If they don't start right now, the chances are going to increase that they will be living in poverty later in their lives.

You can change the course of your life and your children's life by making regular automatic savings a serious non-optional part of your life.

Can't afford to do it right now? Please.

Sit down at your kitchen table. Lay out all your bills and all your spending.

Review the last three to six months of spending - everything. Be honest about the difference between what you need and what you want and which things on your spending list belong on each list.

Be honest to look at ways you can reduce spending SO YOU CAN SAVE.

Make a commitment to save based upon that exercise.

But let's not stop there. Let's go further. Stop judging how successful you are financially by what you make. Judge your success by how much of your pay you can remove before you drop your paycheck into your checking account each time you get paid. It is very, very likely you can use direct deposit at you work to drop a specific amount of money into savings.

Checking accounts are money laundering accounts for other people's money. You should have this attitude when thinking about checking. Use any excuse you can to remove money from checking and put it in a high-interest money market savings account at an FDIC-insured bank.

Do all you can to reduce and then eliminate credit card debt. You cannot own credit cards - credit cards own you. Use them at your own HIGH FINANCIAL RISK.

Turn your attention to building assets - even slowly. Low debt + purchasing assets that produce other like assets = wealth over time.

A final word on saving money. You should build an emergency savings fund that includes 15 to 18 months of expenses. The first six months should go into a money market savings account. The balance should go into cascading certificates of deposit.

Take charge and begin.

If you have to begin by taking 1% of your next after tax paycheck, start. Do it. Then, each time you get paid (or once a month if you have to do it slower than this), add an additional 1% to savings from each paycheck until you reach 15% savings.

Saving is not optional unless you want to all but guarantee poverty in your life and in the lives of the your family members. You can turn this around.

If you want additional ways to save more and invest wisely, go to www.middleclassmoney.com for "How To Survive Any Financial Crisis." You can also join our Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves," or go to this blog: www.stickyasset.com/blog and sign up for your FREE e-saver.

Start now. You can do it. Begin. It is not too late.

Good luck.


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth

We usually don’t talk about something as risky as stock investing in our blog, but you know that once you build a proper emergency savings fund (15 to 18 months of expenses in savings - money market savings account for 6 months of the expenses/savings and the rest in certificates of deposit), you will want to look beyond the horizon to true investing. Even at that level, we recommend mutual funds through someone like Vanguard (because we hate fees that suck the life out of your returns). However, there is another option once you have secured your emergency savings fund, maxed out your 401k and started regularly investing in your own Roth or individual IRA. That option is called a DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan). DRIPS are offered as an investment option by companies. They allow the shareholders to take advantage of purchasing additional stock directly thru the company.

Building and maintaining a good stock portfolio can be intimidating at first. However, you can do what we always recommend. You know that all stocks can go up and down, and you know that all stocks can lose money. If you don’t know that, let me say it again “ALL STOCKS CAN LOSE MONEY.”

What do we recommend? Read up on the subject. Educate yourself. Then, be selective about companies that you purchase. Do your own research. You probably don’t want to own a bunch of different companies. Remember – this is buy and hold long-term investing with DRIPS. This is not quick money. This isn’t even money or investment you can count on. That is why we don’t recommend it until you have secured the proper emergency savings fund, regularly max out your 401k and have had a history of regularly investing in your Roth or individual IRA for several years.

What To Do, What To Do

First, you must be an actual investor in the company (you must own stock). So, step number one is to purchase a couple of shares of the individual company you want to focus on for your DRIP. If you don’t, the DRIP can help you get stock and establish a pattern of investing in this stock regularly.

Make sure you can dedicate $50 or $100 a month to the purchase of your DRIP (per company). Again – this is money you could lose. It is a long-term investment strategy. You can set up your DRIPs so that the amount is taken directly out of your checking account each month on a specific date by debit.

Choose the company or companies you want to invest in carefully. Remember – a DRIP is a long-term commitment. You can judge by what is hot in the market. Drip investing is for regular investing in companies you really, really believe in. That is why you want to take your time in considering which company or companies to invest in with this strategy.

We recommend you try to focus on companies with strong brands and low debt. Companies that are aggressively expanding over a long-term period can also be a positive (as long as you check their debt against the debt carried by their competition to make sure they are solid players with low debt in their industry).

We also like higher dividends (as long as the company has lower debt vs. others in their industry and higher profit margins. We also recommend that you look for companies that have a history of boosting their dividends over time.

If you do your homework and are secure with your emergency savings and retirement (401k and Roth or individual IRA), you should never look at your DRIP investing as short-term. In fact, we tell people that DRIPs represent an investment opportunity that is best judged over time (like all investments). People who expect quick profit are surely to be disappointed. Invest in DRIPs only if you are ready to go long-term and NOT be discouraged by market short-term fluctuations.

As with all investments, learn. Make sure you know how the dividend is performing. Track performance over time.

Think about what your investing goals are before you decide to invest in anything. Make sure you understand what you are investing in and know that you can lose money investing. Especially in the short-term. We do not recommend DRIPs to people who have not secured the proper emergency savings fund. If you have not read about this go to the top of this blog and read what we are saying. There is a right way to do things and a wrong way. When you invest, you want to be doing the right things or you will BURN YOURSELF. If you don’t feel confident investing in individual stocks, there is NOTHING wrong with talking to Vanguard or one of the mutual fund companies and beginning regular automatic investing that way. The goal here is to regularly purchase assets. If you do that and keep your debt and expenses low, you will grow WEALTH. Period.

You know we believe in long-term investing. Pushing money from checking (*A money laundering account for other people’s money) to savings and from savings to purchasing assets. Assets – by our definition – always produce more assets. Focus on this, keeping debt low, always moving money out of checking and into savings/investing, and steady investment (regular automatic investments), and you will grow wealth.

For more tips on saving, get our FREE monthly e-saver @ www.stickyasset.com/blog. Look for the e-mail sign up window. If you want the e-book “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis,” you can get that in about three (3) minutes and two (2) clicks of your mouse at www.middleclassmoney.com. The e-book is only $4.95 and will save you thousands along with giving you tricks to save and invest regularly.

You also have the option of joining our Facebook group Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™. It’s free and a great way to mingle with people who want to save and invest for the future.

You can do this! Good luck.

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Today we focus on the “Sweet Seventeen” of savings. In 2009, you must focus on boosting savings and moving money from *checking to savings (money market savings accounts and certificates of deposit). Maybe you are already doing some of these. If you have other savings tips, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Facebook group. Just do a search for Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™.

Quick Ways To Save:

1. Save gas by driving the speed limit and making certain that you keep your engine service up-to-date and your tires inflated to the proper pressure.

2. When you purchase life insurance, purchase term insurance. You will save a ton, and this is not an investment. It is life insurance. Invest elsewhere.

3. You can call your state insurance department and get a list of the companies and typical prices charged by companies for auto insurance. Once you’ve done this, you should call three (3) to five (5) of the low priced, licensed insurers to get the best price on your auto insurance.

4. You should compare and shop your insurance at least once a year. If you don’t, you may be allowing your insurance company to get away with charging you more. Whatever you save should be moved from checking to savings (or you’re not actually saving).

5. If you are considering opening a savings account, go to FDIC.gov or Bankrate.com in advance to make sure your bank is insured by the FDIC and offers the best interest rates paid to you on your savings. You will want to focus on money market savings accounts and certificates of deposit for your emergency savings account. We recommend that you build an emergency savings fund with 15 to 18 months of expenses. The first six (6) months should go into a pure money market savings account. The balance should go into certificates of deposit.

6. Do not accept that you have to have a checking account with fees. After all, a checking account is a money laundering account for other people’s money! Choose a bank that requires no minimum balance. Make sure you ask about any fees in advance of opening the account. Be sure this includes any ATM or debit fees that may apply.

7. Talk to your insurance company about raising your deductibles to at least $500. You can end up saving hundreds on your car insurance just by doing this. You should put what you save in your savings vehicles (money market savings account) – or you’re not saving at all.

8. Avoid calling 411. Avoid anything that adds on any extra fee. Small numbers add up to be big numbers. You don’t need to spend big numbers, do you?

9. To best avoid being ripped off and paving for yourself the road to poverty, avoid credit cards.

10. If you can’t avoid credit cards, make it a policy to never keep a balance on any credit card. If you can’t afford to pay it off, you shouldn’t purchase it (no matter what it is).

11. Credit cards are evil. There is no easy money (except the easy money the credit card companies will get from you if you fall behind and roll over a balance).

12. You should consider a home energy audit to identify ways to save money every year on heating and/or air conditioning. Take what you save and put it in….wait for it….savings. Otherwise, you are not saving – you’re just moving money around.

13. Of course, convenience stores charge the most. You should use Walmart as your benchmark and do an exercise in comparison shopping once a year. Shop your NORMAL products at Walmart or SAMs and compare with two (2) other grocery stores. Walmart has low prices, but you should judge them against shopping comparison and use of coupons in other locations once a year to make sure you understand the current savings environment. If you get a percentage off using coupons – at Walmart or another retailer – APPLY the savings to (you guessed it) savings. Remember: checking accounts are money laundering accounts for other people’s money.

14. Look at the fees charged by investment brokers. Are you getting the value you deserve? Would you be better served investing yourself with Vanguard or T. Rowe Price? Ask your investment person if they would consider reducing their fees until the economy returns (along with your investments).

15. Consider a complete “check up” on your cell phone once a year. Review the last three (3) months of your bill to see if you are using all your minutes or to see if there are features you really don’t use. It could save you a lot just staying on top of your cell phone bill.

16. Ask your doctor if your medicine is available as generics. This could save you HUNDREDS of dollars. Then, ask if you can get your prescriptions in 90 day portions. This will allow you to save EVEN MORE. *Push the money you save from your checking account to savings. Or you will not be saving anything.

17. Take every bill that you pay each month and call the companies you send payments to as well. Tell them you are having a difficult time and ask for their help in reducing your bill 10 – 15%. Ask them for options to make this happen. Just make sure you take any saved amounts and earmark them for saving each month.

You can still sign up for our FREE monthly e-saver @ www.stickyasset.com/blog. Check out our e-book “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Our goal is to get our friends, family and readers to focus on purchasing assets and boosting personal savings. Avoiding credit cards and debt will be critical in the next ten (10) years. Building the correct emergency savings fund, treating your checking account like a money laundering account for other people's money, pushing money to saving and investing regularly and focusing on automatic savings will help you build wealth over the next ten (10) years. That will give your family options. And that is sweet indeed.

Thanks for spending a few moments with us.

Loyd Ford
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.bostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.stickyasset.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth

Join our Facebook page. Just search for Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™.

There are people in my family who say, "How many lottery tickets did you get?" when we talk about lottery. Yes, we play the lottery. However, we do it out of entertainment and not really out of the possibility of winning. And we only purchase one ticket. That's because the deck is stacked. It's the same if you go to Vegas. The numbers are against you. It is for entertainment only. You might be surprised, but people who save and invest can also do things for entertainment. Just remember that entertainment has it's limits.

If you've been following this blog any time at all, you know that we focus on practical strategies that boost wealth. However, many Americans are hopeful that winning the lottery will "pull them out" of the economic struggle we all find ourselves in these days.

That's entertaining, but it is just not very real. And a lot of people who play to win are sorry every week when they - again - don't win the big payoff.

Still, there are others that say saving is for suckers (even the guy who wrote "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" says that). Let me stop you right there. High-risk investment is not for everyone. Real estate investing is not for everyone. And saving? It's not for suckers.

Credit cards are for suckers.

Overspending instead of negotiating is for suckers.

Giving up on retirement savings is for suckers.

Living without a safety net is for suckers.

STEP ONE IS NOT FOR SUCKERS:

Saving money automatically allows you to build a proper emergency savings fund and push money into retirement savings with a 401k and either a Roth IRA or individual tradional IRA. Reducing and eliminating debt is also NOT for suckers. It's just plain smart.

The next step (and you must work to secure the things you need in step one (emergency savings and reduction/elimination of debt) is seeking out assets that pay a dividend or provide you with a passive additional revenue stream.

How do you take these steps? You develop a specific plan for you. That is what this site is designed to do - encourage you to review your expenses, your bills, begin negotiation with EVERYONE and boost your savings by having a specific plan.

We encourage you to read past blog entries on establishing the specific strategy that works for you in terms of saving and retirement and in terms of wealth-building.

Sign up for our FREE monthly e-saver by entering your e-mail address in the sign up box to the right of this blog.

It's never too late to start. Get started now.

You can do this!

Thank you for spending a few moments with us!


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
Join our FREE Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™.

It's never too early to begin talking to your children about money, managing money, saving regularly and investing automatically in assets that provide dividends or generates passive or additional income purely by owning the asset itself.

If you've been around awhile, you know there is no such thing as "get rich quick." However, there is the secret of time + automatic savings + regularly investing in assets that generate more of their own value = wealth-building. It's the real secret in our economy that will be the engine to propel your family to an economically safer place.

People don't always recognize the impact that time has on all things. You certainly hear people say "time heals all wounds." However, time can be your enemy if you don't plan ahead.

If you're on Facebook, check out and join the new Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™. It will be another reminder to you to boost savings, learn about investing and spend time around other people who are interested in the same. Birds of a feather flock together.

Here's our quick read on boosting savings and building wealth the real old fashion way (that always works). No matter your age, you should develop your own plan that should include:

1. Saving automatically (and building an emergency savings fund with 15 to 18 months of expenses in the fund).
2. Automatic investing in assets (specifically, assets create more value thru either dividends or generating more of the core asset).
3. Using any excuse to take money out of your checking account and sending it to your savings (money market accounts for the first six months and certificates of deposit for the rest). **Checking accounts are money laundering accounts for OTHER people's money.
4. Reduce and then eliminate debt because we are going into an economic cycle where debt (especially credit card debt equals DEATH).
5. Learn to negotiate. Remember: you don't have to purchase X at a specific store, car dealer or real estate broker. They have quotas. You probably only need to purchase one. Use this power. Educate yourself before any purchase. Find out what you don't know and use it to keep more of your money.

Set goals for short-term, medium term and long-term goals. Avoid credit card debt at all costs. Use your time away from work to learn more about investing, purchasing assets and growing money. You can make your money work for you and strengthen your family in the future.

If you're on Facebook, join our new Facebook group "Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™. Get your FREE monthly e-saver simply by signing up (for free) on this blog (just look for the e-mail sign up to the right)!

Pass this blog along to those you love by using our "share" button on the right of this blog.

Here's the best advice you've ever heard: Good things and bad things happen to every person on Earth. If you have a plan and save regularly, you can be better prepared for the bad. If the bad does not come, you will grow wealth. If it comes, you will be glad you've saved. If you have a job today, won't you save more now than you would if you lost your job and couldn't replace your income for months and months? That's why you should get started right away.

Remember this: savings builds faster than you think it does. Time can be on your side...if you get started NOW.

Thanks for spending a moment with us.


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
___________________________________
"Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves™ only on Facebook.

Summer. Kids are out of school. Perhaps the family is planning a summer vacation. The economy is driving fears of future financial instability. The job market is unstable (that is putting it kindly).

Maybe this is not a good time.

Well, maybe it is the best time.

Let me explain. There has never been a better time in your life to begin building a safety net around your family. If you already have an emergency savings fund, we recommend you look at it through the eyes of reality. In today's environment, you should have 15 to 18 months of expenses in an emergency savings fund. Why? Because you could lose your job and it could take 15 to 18 months to replace your income in today's economic environment.

Consider first building six (6) months of savings in a money market savings account and then beginning a process of using six (6) month certificates of deposit after that to build out the 15 to 18 months of expenses.

How much better would you feel with this kind of emergency fund? Well, only you can build it. And that means you must get started.

If you don't have an emergency fund at all, there has never been a better time to start saving. Remember - it will build faster than you think.

How do you do it?

Start by looking at your expenses over the last three (3) months. Separate things into categories. Bills. Bills you are obligated to that you cannot cancel. Eating out. Entertainment. Etc.

See where your money is going.

Put yourself on a money diet. That's right. Treat yourself like a corporation would. Set a path to reduce expenses by 10 - 15%. Look for ways to do this. Cut expenses altogether where you can. Call your insurance company and tell them your concerns about economy and that you need to cut your insurance bill by 10 - 15%. Tell them you need their help.

You can do this with everyone on your list of bills. Some will help you - others won't. In those cases, you either look for alternative sources for their products at reduced costs or eliminate it altogether.

Take the money you save in this exercise and push it to savings.

Start saving automatically "off-the-top" on each paycheck you get from now on. If you have difficulty seeing how you can do that, start by taking only 1% off the TOP of your paycheck (before you pay any bills). Put that money in a money market savings account (that is FDIC-insured).

Then increase the savings (off the top - before you pay even one bill) each paycheck or at least once a month until you reach 15% savings. That way, you won't notice the adjustment all at once. It will happen over time. And you will begin to build savings.

Look for ways to trick yourself into savings. If you have any excuse to remove money from your checking account (a money laundering account for other people's money), DO IT. Any excuse. Push that money to savings.

While summer is here and we are thinking about the family, make this effort to "fill er up with your emergency savings and you'll be glad you did.

You can do this!

Thanks for spending a moment with us!


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Most people love the weekend. If you get some time to do things you like to do (non-work related), you probably count yourself in this group of people. Weekends offer "free time." Ahhhhhh.

Most people think they have all of their lives to live without having to get down to planning for the future. After all, you have your whole life, right? Ahhhhhh.

What percentage of those people who put off personal finance planning end up in poverty? It's more than you think.

Poverty??????

Time is on your side. If you use it....

This is your wakeup call. This is your PERSONAL FINANCIAL WARNING. It's not about the stock market. This warning isn't about the financial meltdown. It isn't about the Chinese buying our debt. It's about YOU.

Time is running out. If you don't take a moment to plan out your future now, you will look back in a few years and your opportunities will be.....gone.

I know - you're asking, "But what can I do to really have impact NOW with all the financial mess around us?"

Automatic savings withdrawals that come out of your checking account (something we say is "a money laundering account for other people's money") is the #1 way to build:

1. Emergency savings.
2. Short-term savings (for a down payment on a house or car or other short-term goal).
3. Investments.
4. Retirement (401k and either Roth IRA or individual IRA).

You can set this up directly with your bank.

You can also set up a payroll withdrawal each paycheck with your employer. Then, you will be forcing yourself to save. That will build faster than you think.

But, be warned again.....

We can recommend it all day long - save money, invest regularly....but if you don't start, time won't be the only thing that will pass. Your opportunity to secure your future and help your family will pass away.

You don't want that. Do you?

START. The future will be here sooner than YOU think.

So, take a good look at the warning sign. Time is on your side....if you use it. If you don't, time will turn against you. You can build your own path to savings. That path will eventually lead to investing if you use automatic savings and build your emergency fund. It's all about gaining access to the power of money working FOR YOU.

If you want to receive our FREE monthly e-saver, just fill in the e-mail box to the right.

Thanks for spending a moment with us (and hearing the warning: now get moving!)!!!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

We have made the big mistakes when it comes to not saving and not investing. So much of the marketing you see in the U.S. is dominated by lifestyle desire. You start out after high school and college and are "free" to spend and establish your lifestyle. However, the danger is that most people see savings as something they can do later.

As life continues, you get involved in work and career. Children come. Expenses get larger. You get lost. It happens to everyone.

Right now you can begin to fight back against this "previous lifestyle." All it takes is to determine that you will commit to saving money no-matter-what. That's right - push back.

While the society we live in is hyper-focused on credit score, you must break from the pack and establish a new goal to reach for yourself. Start with saving the FIRST one (1) percent of your next after-tax paycheck before you pay bill number one. Then, each paycheck (or month if you have to) increase the savings by another 1% until you reach 15%.

Savings will build a lot faster than you think. Give yourself six months to see the results. You can go to bankrate.com and look for an FDIC-insured bank paying the highest interest rates for money market.

If you see the reward in the first six (6) months, see what you can do to reduce expenses by 10 - 15%. Look at all your bills and spending, and then use what you've "saved" to establish an automatic savings plan that comes out of your paycheck before you get it or out of your checking account (we say a checking account is a money laundering account for other people's money).

Get started because there has never been a better time to begin automatically saving. There has never been a better time to say "Yes, I can do this!" There has never been a better time to fire back and the world and get fired up with moving the needle and building your own emergency fund, savings and retirement savings.

You can share this blog by using our share button to the right of this blog. Thank you for spending a minute with us. If you want to receive our FREE monthly e-saver, sign up in the e-mail box to the right!


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Aesop is credited with the story of "The Tortoise & The Hare." Do you know the story?

In the story, the very fast running hare gives the tortoise a very difficult time because he's so slow. However, the tortoise actually challenges the hare to a race in response to this taunting. The hare laughs and agrees to race the much slower tortoise. Of course, the hare swiftly zooms so far and away ahead of the tortoise in the actual race that he became overly confident of easy victory. In fact, the hare even decided he could take a good nap. When he woke up after his nap, he found that his competitor - the ultra-slow but steady-as-he-goes tortoise - had already won the race.

The moral of this story is "Slow and steady wins the race." The same is true in today's saving and investing. We see examples of people who come into money quickly through a gamble or some unusual circumstance. However, the slow and steady tactics are the ones the rich have been using forever because they work best. That's really why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Time + steady (automatic savings) + avoiding debt + investing in assets that produce additional assets = long-term wealth creation.

Can you get rich quick? Of course. Betting and living on the edge will always produce some winners - but it's not the way to place your bet. While the marketing and advertising celebrates these winners, ususally you don't see the many who lost everything being hopeful their greed would pay off.

While it is easy to become overwhelmed with the financial crisis or even trying to figure out how you can make the best of your financial situation and plan successfully for a good retirement, you would do well to remember how the story of the tortoise and the hare turned out in the end.

If you ever think "The Tortoise & The Hare" is just a story, think about Bernie Madolf. Then think about the people we often called "The Greatest Generation." Believing in yourself and using the slow and steady methods that have always worked will pay more dividends to us that you realize.

Use the formula above that has been known to produce more and more wealth forever. You'll be glad you did.


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

We all know that family is most important. Even the A-types that work all the time have a soft spot dead center in their heart for family. Most of us do a lot to try to protect our children and our families.

If you've followed either of our blogs, you know that we are pretty wild about pointing out that a college education is critical for our children in the United States, but many American families don't educate their children in the one area that could impact their lives more than even that college education: managing money, saving and investing wisely.

Our chant is: No matter who you are, you can save money. No matter who you are, you can use time and automatic savings to build emergency savings, investment and a great retirement. More than anyone, children have the opportunity of time.

If you have children, you should begin now teaching them that saving is NOT optional. In fact, by saving automatically, your children can set a course for wealth building that will secure their own future no matter their traditional education or chosen employment.

Spend time talking with your children about the mythical "paying yourself first." Yes, tell them it is hard to do....unless you commit from the first dollar and look for ways to invest in assets that create dividmends or additional assets.

Focusing your children on this level will make them aware of how to create more balance in their lives by having more options. The old adage goes like this: Harder early means easier later.

The key is this:

Automatic savings is critical.

Don't accept that Social Security and a 401k is enough - it isn't.

Buy assets that generate more assets - not liabilities (cars, stuff).

Think of your checking account as a MONEY LAUNDERING ACCOUNT for OTHER people's money.

Use any excuse to push money out of your checking account and into money market savings accounts and certificates of deposit.

Get subscriptions to Money magazine, Kiplinger's. Learn all you can about mutual funds and focus on keeping your fees low. There are ways to generate more money for yourself and your family by focusing on low fees (no load mutual funds) and automatic contributions to those assets.

Of course, everyone wants to get rich quick. However, if you teach your children to concentrate on saving automatically and investing for long-term value, that always works to generate wealth.

Give your children this gift. Give them this education. You'll be glad you did.



Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Have you ever been compelled to do something? I have. Watching my children start to form their own ideas and learn as they go has given me a lot to think about as they grow up. More recently adding the personal blogging has given me a lot to think about in terms of my own family, the feedback I get about saving and investing wisely from some of those who read this blog and www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and the overall responsibility I feel trying to get people to think about their best ways to save money, avoid being taken advantage of and building wealth for the future of their own family.

Currently I am reading the Chris Gardner book "Start Where You Are" and I am compelled again. If you don't know who Chris Gardner is, let me frame it up for you. Will Smith starred in a movie about this man in 2007. The movie was "The Pursuit Of Happyness." It gives a snapshot picture of how Chris and his son became homeless for a period of time because they didn't have enough money for food and a hotel.

Imagine making that choice with your child in your hands.

Maybe the message in all of this for you and me is this: If Chris Gardner had waited until the conditions were right to get his personal mission moving forward, all might have become lost and they may have stayed homeless. He gives some gripping reasons to move forward by starting where you are right now in his new book "Start Where You Are" and we believe the same advice is true for personal finance.

No matter where you are....if you have a job, you should be saving money. We have spent about thirty plus years preaching in all kinds of American marketing that credit is king. Well, it's not. We have come to believe that saving is optional. Well, it's not.

Saving is as essential as your rent or house note.

If you have concerns about paying bills and saving, start removing 1% of your next after tax paycheck to savings. Then, each paycheck (or month if you like), you can increase the savings (up-front) by another 1% until you reach 15%. It will add up faster than you think and it will build a safety net for your family in a future crisis.

We know that good things and bad things happen to all people. When times are good, people seem to let their guard down. They spend more. They save less (or not at all).

We began this blog as a signpost that no matter who you are you can begin. Begin to save. Begin to put your money where it will do you the most good. Begin to get interested in how to overcome the greedy corporate players that silently are after skimming our money month after month.

Our message is very much like the book I am reading by Mr. Gardner. START WHERE YOU ARE! You can do it.

Use the share button on the right-hand side of this page.

Thank you for spending a few moments with us. We hope it helps you further develop your plan to get ahead for you and your family.



Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Every generation wants to know how to get ahead. We all start out young and know very little. That is one of the most important reasons we began this blog and the e-book The Sticky Asset: How To Survive Any Financial Crisis (www.stickyasset.com). We think more effort should be put into teaching children the best and most productive strategies of personal finance. So much effort is put into the public and private schools in the United States, but very little effort is made to educate children specifically on saving and building wealth.

A lot of people who have tuned in (which can happen to most after the age of 40) have found characters like Warren Buffett. He's rich, and many people want to be like him. The truth is that you cannot be like Warren Buffett, but you can take his advice and apply it to who you are today.

Warren Buffett says we have the greatest economic machine ever invented. The population continues to grow. We will see the demand for homes rise again. I believe we will see "message" from the president turn in this more positive direction in the hopefully near future. However, the question remains: What do WE do?

Warren Buffett says the best advice is to stay away from credit cards. Stay away from debt as much as possible - especially now. Build savings. When you have enough to pay a substantial down payment on a home, make sure you can afford to stay in that home and balance your life. Then, if you have solid emergency savings, purchase the most appropriate home for your family that you can afford.

Sounds easy coming from one of the richest men on Earth, right?

Try this on for size.

It is so easy for any of us to get "off track." Credit cards are very tempting. People are scrambling to survive. The most serious detour you can take is to try to survive with credit cards. The biggest thing you can do to help yourself and your family is to save automatically.

No matter who you are and no matter how little you begin to save, beginning to save automatically is critically important. It does matter. You can build the right size emergency fund (we say this is in 2009 numbers 15 to 18 months of expenses; that means six (6) months in high-interest money market accounts and the rest in six (6) month only certificates of deposit. Go to Bankrate.com to find out where you can get the best interest rates (make sure your bank is FDIC-insured).

We've all heard it: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Add to that this: Savings does matter if you do it automatically. Time is what you have.

If you have a job, you should be saving every time you get a paycheck. The years when we thought saving was optional are over. In fact, the years when we thought we would need a 401k in addition to Social Security are over. Now, you have to pay Social Security. Don't depend on it to be there when YOU retire. Make sure you are in a 401k. However, expect to need more savings - so make sure you open and automatically save in a Roth IRA (if you qualify) or Traditional IRA.

You can do it. If you start today, soon you will be glad you did.

Keep up to date on the latest in personal finance and get our FREE e-saver by signing up on this page. Look for the e-mail sign up. You can also use the "share button" on this page to share on Facebook, MySpace or any other way you choose.

Thank you for checking in with us. Good luck.


Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog

Earlier I was sent an e-mail that included some of the following. While all of these will not relate directly to personal finance, I thought they were good advice "together."

When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Pay off your credit cards every month.

Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. If you didn't start with your first paycheck, pretend the next one is your first paycheck and begin (with the next payday).

Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for
an answer. This sooooo applies to NEGOTIATION. If you don't negotiate over everything, you are giving away money. If you don't actually put the money you save negotiating into savings from your checking, you are NOT saving anything.

Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' A lot of bad things happen to good people. Frame it right and you can learn to create a positive-based personal environment.

Time heals almost everything. Give time time. Also: use time to save automatically. It adds up faster than you think.

However good or bad a situation is it will change.

If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Things don't always turn out the way YOU think they should.

2. Good things and bad things happen to everyone. Try to constantly minimize the bad (is this going to kill me?) and celebrate the positive until someone tells you to cut it out.

If you want more info on saving and getting ahead in personal finance, check out www.stickyasset.com/blog.

Thank you for reading.

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog