Archives: 2009 August

Let’s imagine that you’re one of the new age consumers, who fit into the fastest growing segment of the mortgage market today, the interest only mortgage. It is time to you to secure a mortgage, and there are some loan options that can be tied to the features you desire; you’re particularly interested in the interest only feature that seems so appealing to lots of consumers today. But have you stopped to question why the interest only feature has become so widely held with consumers nowadays? Are you aware that it is a re-born feature laid to rest in the great depression of the 20s?

Have you stopped to analyze the purpose of the interest only loan and what purpose it will serve in your specific situation? The original intent of the interest only mortgage was to make home ownership more appealing to young couple; not every potential buyer, however, is a young person looking to buy home. Careful estimate of your situation and the interest only mortgage must be performed in order to secure the best mortgage possible.

Let’s take a look at the original intent of the interest only mortgage, and the greatest benefactor in the interest only mortgage segment: the short term homeowner. The concept behind the interest only mortgage product was to give the short-term homeowner a race in the buy house, with or down payment requirements associated with the standard mortgage. This idea worked so well, that now about every kind of homeowner is exercising their interest only mortgage option. As it was only ever really intended to benefit the short term homeowner, the interest only mortgage product is at present used as a means to purchase “more home for less money”.

The recession is on us. In fact, it has been with us for months now. The job market is always a lagging indicator in a recession meaning job loses are the last phase of a recession before a market recovery. You probably know at least two people who have lost their job. Many people have lost their retirement from the stock market plunge. Try not to lose hope though. Do not think about the problem but instead think about solutions.

You can sit on your hands like most people and complain your life away or eat barbeque beans and complain about not having money for pizza. This is the victim mindset and is not very helpful. You can complain and do nothing, or you can take action to discover new ways to make money.

Do not let negative thinking overcome you. I know it is hard but try hard not to. If you want to make it through this as fast as you can, you need to have a positive mindset.

This is the approach most Americans have when it comes to making money: Finish school (high school, then college) Get a career Let your employer take care of retirement If the economy gets bad get on unemployment Find a new job and repeat

You are probably a career minded individual and want to stay at the company you work for, for many years. But then comes a recession and the company you work for has to lay you off. It seems the company was not on board with your “stay for many years” game plan.

Your company is now adapting to the economy, that is precisely what you need to do, but do not adapt by getting on unemployment then taking any old job and then settling for less in life.

Here is a phrase that you hear quite often the last two years, multiple streams of income. Mr. Robert Allen invented this phrase in the 1990s. He said that the most successful people in this country do not rely on just one source of income. This means money through work, investments, home business and so on. This way you always have something when one goes dry.

All the big news right now is the universal health care reform proposals. Well, here’s the best alliance for health care reform idea so far. Let’s start with a little background information.

You really should take a listen to Anthem by Ayn Rand. She is a 20th century author and philosopher of objectivism. It makes you think, just what are the real healthcare reform proposals? A government run program, or a re-invigoration of the individual?

Earlier this year, I heard Meme Roth of NAAO say that our Surgeon General needs to work harder to set a good example for people. She really hit the nail on the head. The issue of being overweight is the most important thing we must address. Not the lawyers. Our top issue is the problem with obesity.

You really should read Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. It has some great ideas about how we can all improve, evolve if you will, and gain greater control over our personal habits. We control our eating. This is something that must be controlled by the individual. Not the government. Not the doctors. Not your spouse. You.

In his book about mindless eating, Wansink makes a profound statement. It goes something like this: in the 1800’s, the big advance was hygiene. In the 1900’s the big advance was antibiotics and surgery. In the 2000’s, the big advance will be in personal behavior.

Reforming our personal behavior is the greatest health care reform challenge facing the world today. The Clinton health care reform failure was justified, because it put the role of government above the individual. Yes, as a society, we are overweight. But we do it as individuals.

So let’s do something really big!

Let’s do this together. Lets become as fit as we can be, as a nation, and as a world. We all will save TONS of money. Staying healthy until you die simply costs less. Being healthy makes people more positive, and less likely to fight. You can work more when you are healthy.