Normal Is Broke...Be Weird

Recently I discovered Dave Ramsey.  Dave has been around for years.  He is a national radio talk show host and New York Times best selling author.  He created Financial Peace University to help people get out of debt, stay out of debt and build wealth.  His course is created to teach you how to follow his 7 baby steps.

1. Establish a $1,000 cash emergency fund.  Stop using credit cards and establish a budget that accounts for every single penny of your income. 

2. Pay off your debt using the debt snowball method.  List your debts smallest to largest.  Make the minimum payment on all of your debts except the first.  That first debt will be aggressively persued until payed off.  Once paid, you roll over the extra payment to the next debt and so on.

3. Fully Fund your emergency fund.  Make the payment you making to your debt to yourself and fully fund your emergency fund with 3-6 months of expenses.  Doing this provides a safety net from layoffs, disability and other 'stuff' that happens to us that we are usually not prepared for.

4. Put 15% of your income away toward your retirement.

5. Fund your children's college. 

6. Pay off your mortgage

7. Give more money away.....

Want to know more about Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University?  Check out my website or go do www.daveramsey.com

Do you have an “I Love You Drawer”?

If you are married, especially if you have kids, you need to consider doing the following. It’s called an I Love You drawer. The ILD is basically the single best thing that you can do today to prepare for the unthinkable. It’s almost a little morbid but so necessary. Here is how it works.

Gather your life insurance information, all of your important passwords to things like financial accounts, important websites, and your will or trust. Either bundle them up, or put them into a single envelope and let your spouse know exactly where it is. Another great touch is to write your spouse a letter. Tell them all those things that you would want them to know in the event that you never had a chance to say goodbye. What about your kids? Write them too. If you have young kids consider writing them letters that they should open at certain milestones in life. How awesome would it be for your kids to open a letter from you when they graduate from high school, college, at their wedding, or the birth of their first child.

Death is something that few people want to talk about. Especially those of us who consider themselves far from having to worry about it. The reality is that our number could be called at any time. Be prepared to leave a legacy of love that will put the ones you love at ease when you are gone.

God Bless,

Alex