KevinSauls.com

Let me say at the outset that if you are reading this blog for financial or any other advice, don’t. I am hardly an expert on any of the topics I might choose to discuss here. My purpose is simply to share with the reader my personal experiences, observations and thoughts regarding the various topics covered.

The web is an awesome place. On it you can find any information you seek, though it may take a bit of time to really track it down. The problem, though, is that while there are tons of valid, useful and accurate resources available, there are also many more times that number of sites whose information is of questionable usefulness, accuracy and validity. The simple fact is that when you go to your local bank and sit down with a financial planner, odds are pretty good that the person on the other side of the desk has some legitimate knowledge and experience with financial planning. But, when you turn to the web the person from whom you are getting advice may not have the educational and experiential background to provide you with valid information. You are reading this blog even though you have no clue who I am, what I do for a living (or even if I actually do work for a living!) and what qualifications I might have that back up the information I’m sharing.

While I read many blogs — including quite a number that address financial issues — I take them all with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of knowledge. You can do yourself no greater favor than to actually sit down with books from legitimate publishers and educate yourself on the basics of personal financial management. Then apply that knowledge to what you read online. Some of it you might find quite good and helpful, much of it you might find to be little more than one person’s opinion or generalization of one person’s experiences into “rules”.

When you understand the basics, you’ll be able to evaluate the latest “get rich” scheme, or “hot tip”. if you don’t understand how money works, you’ll be hard pressed to understand whether the scheme is legitimate, or designed to benefit someone other than yourself.

Second, know your writer. What are his or her qualifications? There seem to be quite a few “experts” out there who are self-proclaimed, for they have no formal training in the topics they write about. Now, to give the Devil his due, it is entirely possible for someone to educate himself to the extent that he might well be considered expert — but how would you know?

Finally, recognize that what works for one person may not only not work for another but may, in fact, have exactly the opposite result. There are few hard and fast rules when it comes to money management; you have to adapt your activities to what fits your temperament, talents and values.
Having said my peace now, I invite you to read my observations, thoughts and experiences as I begin my own journey toward retirement.

My students are in the nursing home. For many of them this is the first time they are confronted with the frailties of the human body and mind. Generally they approach this experience with a mix of excitement to be working with real people and fear/worry about what they’ll encounter and how they’ll handle it.

Most of the students, once they overcome their initial trepidation, find that they look past the physical ailments – the contorted limbs, drooling faces and slurred speech – to recognize that in that body lives someone who is worthy of the time and energy put into caring for them.

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I ran into a former high school student a few days ago. Harried with her college school work and working full-time to survive, she still looked happy.

Let me tell you a little about her. Mary had been kicked out of her mother’s house at age 15. she had lived with aunt for  few months – until she got tired of having a teenager hanging around, cramping her own lifestyle. (more…)

Wednesday’s news included an article about 12 insurance company employees winning the $212 Million dollar Mega-Millions Lotto. Somewhere I read that if taken as a lump sum the payout would be something like $171 Million. That works out to about $14.25 Million per person for each of those twelve people before taxes.

Winning the lotto or otherwise coming into a large sum of money is something that I think most of us dream of. And to be honest, I surely wouldn’t mind a little windfall myself. But Not $14 million. I’m not sure I’d want even $1 million.

Money is a double edged sword. We need it to get the things we need to survive and it’s nice to have a little “extra” to enjoy some of the luxuries in life.

On the other hand, though, having lots of money requires a lot of energy to manage. And I’m not qualified to manage it well.

Over on The Simple Dollar Trent relates a story about an interview in which the interviewer asked him if he wanted to be rich.  After thinking about it a few moments, his response was “no.” He went on to say that he only wanted to be financially independent.

Trent saw the realities of wealth. He pointed out the risks and limitations attendant with extreme wealth. Can Bill Gates or Warren Buffett spend an afternoon in the mall? Don’t you know that these men, because of their wealth and notoriety probably maintain a security detail of some type to protect them from the crazies who see opportunity in their wealth. Such are the “benefits” of wealth.

Rather than be freeing, allowing you to enjoy your wealth, the wealth becomes a cage, limiting your options and opportunities for a “normal” life.

For the lotto winners the problem is compounded by their lack of familiarity with handing wealth. Bill Gates, though he came from a fairly wealthy family as I recall, still had never encountered the kind of wealth he has amassed. But it didn’t happen over night. He was able to adjust and learn how to manage his wealth as he grew into it.

The same can be said for Warren Buffett and others. They weren’t suddenly blessed with lots of money, it came to them slowly. That gradual growth allowed them to learn how to manage and plan for it.

But, when you wake up one day with $14 million in your bank account, do you know what to do to manage it? Do you even know who you need to talk to for guidance? Can you trust them?

I like to think I’m a fairly knowledgeable guy, but I’ll tell you I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with that much dough.

And apparently neither do most lottery winners. that’s why so many are bankrupt in a few years; they don’t know how to manage it and don’t really comprehend how much money they have. It seems inexhaustible.

A couple of years ago Oprah did a show in which a homeless man was given $100,000. The question was: What would he do with it?

The answer: Blow it.

The lucky recipient bought cars and other things for others. Now that’s not a bad thing, giving to others, but he did it because he really didn’t have good understanding of the amount he had available. He said he was surprised when it ran out!

My girlfriend and I talked about it. She’s well educated and makes a decent living. When we started talking about what we’d do with $100,000 she starts off paying off her parents’ house and her house and so on. I reminded her that $100,000 was only a little more than twice her salary. She got a funny look in her eyes and said, “You’re right. I didn’t think about it that way.” Even those of us with a little bit of money believe that it will go farther than it really will!

I’ve said all this to say that these lotto winners have come into a lot of money. I hope that they are wise enough to squirrel some of it away and not on a buying binge or invest in some questionable enterprise. I hope that they seek good guidance and make smart decisions and really learn to understand the amount of money at their disposal.

Sadly, I expect they’ll be back in a few years working once again in their little cubicles to pay the bills they amassed during their time of wealth.

Telephones can be aggravating critters. To manage them, I have two basic rules:

1. I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize because they are usually either wrong numbers or telemarketers, neither of which do I want to be bothered with.
2. I don’t answer when I’m busy doing other things. I keep in mind always that I control the interruptions in my life and I generally don’t like being interrupted when I’m working. So the phone rings.

Time management gurus all encourage you to manage your interruptions rather than letting them manage you. That’s what I try to do with the phone.

Sometimes these rules create even more aggravation because some people just don’t seem to get the message.

Which part of “I’m not who you’re looking for” did you not understand?

Several days ago while at work my cellphone rang. I didn’t recognize the number and since I was busy, I silenced the phone and went about my business.

Several minutes later, it rang again. Same number. I did the same thing.

Now, I have to point out here that I have voice mail that clearly states my name. If the caller had the wrong number they’d know that simply by listening. But, then again, maybe not.

After the fourth time in a span of less than four minutes, it was clear that the caller wasn’t getting the message so I answered. Now, I still don’t know who they were looking for, their responses were unintelligible. But it was clearly not me. I told them they had the wrong number and hung up.

Now this was apparently a really not-so-bright individual. A few minutes later the phone rang again. Same area code, different number. I guess the caller figured their phone was the problem so they’d try again from another.

I answered with “This is Kevin. If you’re not trying to get Kevin, then you have the wrong number. That will be true no matter how many times you call or what phone you call from".” Yeah, I know it was a bit rude, but then so, too, is repeatedly calling a wrong number.

They finally got the message:  They didn’t call back.

Dr. Phil likes to you the phrase: “How’s that working for ya?” This is, of course, rooted in the idea that if you keep doing the same thing the same way, you’ll always get the same result.

On another day we’ll talk about why this can be a good thing, but if what you’re doing isn’t getting the result you want, maybe your need to try something different.

And, maybe that’s what this caller thought they were doing by calling from a different phone; they were  doing something different. I guess I’ll never know.

This caller, of course, isn’t the only one to not get the message. Too often people will call and when the phone rolls over to voice mail will hang up and call again.

Why?

Clearly, if I didn’t answer I’m either not at home, or choose not to answer the phone right then. Calling right back doesn’t change anything. (well, it really does. It makes me very aggravated.)

I’m not going to answer.

It’s my choice; leave a message.

What interruptions fall into your pet-peeves list?