This is really a problem….

In 2013 the United States personal savings rate was 4.20%.  That means that a little over 4% of a household’s income is saved over a period of time. 

4%

The median household income is about $51,017 ₁  with an average household size of 4.16 people ₂………………

That means that about $2,000 is saved a year (yeah right) and that is to be used for retirement, emergencies, hospital bills, and child expenses…………

With the new policies for the Healthcare Exchanges rolling out, it will not be odd to see a deductible of $4,000 for the Silver plans (the “benchmark” plan offering the federal savings subsidy).  In general, before Obamacare arose, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible was $2,086₃ for a single person.  That number is already outside of the bounds of the average American’s savings.  Now double that………….

Imagine one doctor visit eating up years of savings for you and you have health insurance………..

The funny thing is that the deductibles for most Silver plans is $4,000, but the maximum annual out of pocket is $6,350.  So the Affordable Care Act does greatly help with preventive care, which all human beings need to improve their quality of life, but for the emergencies it only pays out about $2,000 which is what “we” save on average! 

The creation of national healthcare is a novel idea, but we all now need to intelligently plan our income and expenses so that we protect our futures. 

It’s great to have fire and pet insurance, but now you should look into income insurance, because if something disables you will you have the ability to pay your bills?

Have a plan not a plea.

_{1. Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html2. The demographic evolution of U.S. households  http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/02/18/the-demographic-evolution-of-u-s-households/3 . High-deductible health plans are a growing trend for employers  http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/09/28/5200346/high-deductible-health-plans-are.html}

Read More

Disney Drive

Hello all! 



I normally don’t get on a soap box, but I was feeling especially dirty and in need of cleansing............

I was watching some Christmas Disney movies with my son the other day when something struck me.  The spirit of Disney is the entrepreneurial spirit. 

Every Disney movie has the you can do it drive.  The impossible is possible notion. 

The movie that brought me to this idea depicted Mickey Mouse as a poor Christmas tree laborer (yeah right!  Mickey poor!) trying to do whatever he had to in order to get Minnie a gold necklace for Christmas. 
He had a horrible job with low pay, but he had a goal and a dream.

How many of you say that something is a must like Nemo finding his way home or like Simba reclaiming his throne?

Whether your 4 or 40, every single Disney movie is the life of an entrepreneur.  The world against you.  Odds so high you can’t see over them.  People doubting your every step from rise to rest. 

It was in that moment that I really saw the genius and soul of Walt Disney.  Although he is long passed, he was just a man that wouldn't quit.  Decades after his passing his movies still show that tenacity.  Just when days seem their bleakest and darkest, the hero pushes through a breakthrough. 

How close are you to getting your Princess Jasmine even though you’re a beggar?
How much more passion do you have to show to get a beauty if you’re a beast?
How many people have to tell you that you can’t be “real” before you change your wooden reality?

Whenever your situation gets you down you may not have to pop in an inspirational CD.  Just go through a child’s movie collection!  Think of it.  We teach children to dream from the moment they can see, but somewhere around puberty we forget to do that. 

Be a child.  Be foolish.  Be a dreamer.
Be that person who pulls the sword out of the stone when hundreds before you said it can’t be done.

Be Disney.

Read More

It won’t happen to me,……..right?

The world we live in today is riddled with ways to die…………With that being said, we have more technological advances in medicine now to survive these things.

Daily I deal with people and their future.  It’s amazing the things I hear from them though.
For some reason, all people think they are impervious to cancer or a heart attack won’t happen to them. 

Some will even say “if I die I die” or they will pray so it doesn't happen to them. 
Sadly enough, a lot of these people either have family members that have had major diseases or they themselves have the warning signs of them.

61% of people say they would rather die of a crippling disease than live with it because of the money…………..

1 in 2 men will develop cancer in their lifetime……….

1 in 3 women will develop cancer in their lifetime………..

Over 1,900 people a year die of heart related issues…………

These stats come from the American Cancer Society and CDC, not my logic.

With all of this evidence around, why are we in more denial than ever?

Quite simply, it’s the money.  People hope that nothing happens to them because they can’t afford it.  It therefore creates a culture of “I don’t want to jinx myself” or “if I don’t talk about it or think about it, it won’t happen to me.”  If only that were true.

This post is a cry for help.  Not for me, but for America.  It goes back to the old saying, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. 

People work too hard to get where they are and it’s a shame they can lose everything in an instant just because they weren't prepared for an event.

If saving money is extremely hard for your situation or your staff’s you really need to look at some new strategies to help deal with some of life’s inevitable tragedies.

 I don’t mean to be a downer, but it’s better to be a little uncomfortable thinking about this now than when something happens and you have no- way to deal with it…………..

Read More