We Found a Wallet

The Wallet

My co-worker George and I, recently on vacation in Barbados, were jogging along the beach behind the Light & Power Company and we found a wallet. Our wives jogged along behind us.

As we ran, it so happened that we chatted about our US economy back home; how it seemed to have affected the entire world; how both of us needed to work on our family budgets; and how we ought to learn investing in the stock market.

We hopped on to the short pier and jogged away from the shore.

Not far from the wooden supports anchored deep in the sea bed, something in the water caught our attention. A small article gradually bobbed and weaved in our direction.

As it sailed closer we noticed it was a black object wrapped in plastic. Closer observation revealed a billfold.

Instantly, George and I glanced at one another. I playfully said

“Money!”

Jokes aside: I wondered why the wallet was floating in the briny. Why was it placed in a sandwich bag? Could it be the property of someone who drowned in the ocean?

George said…

“Let’s not touch that thing, bud. Could spell trouble.”

“Ah, come on” I said. “It’s only a wallet. Not like it is a dead body. Besides, you know I like to help people. We need to do a little detective work here, pal.”

We watched and waited until it came closer.

“How do you suppose to get that wallet out of that water? And don’t ask me to reach down there either. Swine flu is on the grunt, bro.”

“Swine flu, in Barbados? Swine flu or no swine flu: You can’t swim, anyway? You’re too scared to get wet and help someone.”

“It’s not that I’m scared, man. I aint about to fall into no water and get eaten by no shark. I saw a small one over there” he said, pointing.

“I have an idea” I offered.

“What idea?”

“See the man over there fishing?”

“Oh no…”

“We’ll ask him to fish out the wallet for us.”

“What about the money? We’ll have to share it with him, too?”

“Okay. Split it three ways, if necessary.”

“What if it’s only a couple o’ bucks? It won’t be worth it – sixty-six cents apiece, big spender.”

“There could be hundreds in there” I said with mocked elation.

“You’re kidding me? Who in their right mind will wrap a wallet with two hundred dollars in a Ziploc bag and toss it in the Caribbean?”

“Perhaps it was some filthy rich person out there on a cruise ship. Didn’t want to take chances with water spoiling their fun. I don’t know.”

“Excuse, my man… Would you help? We dropped the wallet in the water. Would you fish it out for us?”

“You sure?… What’s in it for me?”

“Beside water, who knows” George humorously said.

“We’ll split it three ways” I suggested.

“Alright, then” said the fisherman. He tossed the line and quickly hauled out the wallet. Up it flew, dangling to and fro.

“True. It is a wallet” the fisherman confirmed. “But who wallet it is, man?”

“Tell the truth, we’ll find out.”

“I know it didn’t belong to you” he said, looking at us. “I was going to swim out and get it, but I cut my foot. The smell of blood might bring in a shark.”

“Let’s see what’s in the wallet. If it’s a couple of hundred we’ll get sixty-six dollars each. How’s that?”

“No-no, man!” fearfully exclaimed the local fisherman. “We should take that wallet to the police, man.”

Cautiously, I unzipped the plastic bag and took out the wallet.

Lo and behold, to our disappointment, there was no money; just a dry piece of paper with a handwritten note. It read…

“This is my only gift for you. Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I’ll share with you.

· Make a budget so you can invest money for the future

· Make a Will so you can save your family heartaches.

“No money in the wallet, man” said the fisherman?

There could not have been a stronger omen for George and I. Only a moment earlier we were speaking about making a budget. Here was definite confirmation. We complied with the message as soon as we returned home.

As for the Will (meaning the Last Will and Testimony) neither of us had a Will in place. And so it goes for millions of people all over the world. Many die without a Will. Some consider it taboo to make a will when they are in good health.

The legal term for dying without a Will is known as "Dying Intestate. Dying Intestate leaves a family to face legal battles that could last for years, and cost thousands of dollars in legal fees. I often wondered if the note in the wallet was a special message sent to us from God Himself.

Let me leave you with this warning. If you don't believe in making a budget to control your spending, sooner or later you will regret that you didn't. Do it today.

Regarding investing in the stock market, there are plenty of books on the market that will show you how to successfully invest.

Lastly, some attorneys charge under one hundred dollars to file a Simple Will. It's a wise idea to get yourself situated. You never know what the future holds. Look at it this way. You didn't have to go on an exotic vacation and find the wallet to tell you how important these things are. You heard it here for free.

www.allanrussell.com

Budgets for Budgeting Days

What is a budget?

In the United Kingdom a budget is an itemized statement that reflects the financial status of the U.K. for the coming fiscal year. It contains proposals for spending, for tax purposes, and is presented to the nation in a speech delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It compares to the State of The Nation speech by a U.S. President.

Another meaning of the word budget as found in the dictionary is: a plan specifying how the resources, especially money, will be allocated or spent during a particular period. It can also mean the total sum of money set aside or that will be needed for a specific purpose.

There are a few more definitions of the word budget and budgeting, but for the purpose of this article we’ll stick with those mentioned above.

Budgeting and having proper budgets can produce less stress. And the absence of stress leads to a healthier more pleasurable life.

Yet, there are hundreds of people in the world today who have never made a budget of any sort. To them the question of budgeting remains a situation of laissez faire; let the coin fall as it may. They prefer to let life’s event take their natural courses without personal intervention.

Whether one sits with pen and paper, or places a laptop on their legs, knowing where you stand financially is of utmost importance.  You need establish a budget in preparation for the rainy day.

The safest way to build a nest egg for the future or build an emergency fund is to establish a budget. Some say you need to set aside 3 months of cash for those unforeseen circumstances.

We spend money like there is no tomorrow

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, old Polonius warns his hard-headed son Laertes about the pitfalls of borrowing and lending; in other words, the dangers of incurring debt. It is from this passage of literature that we find the quote “Neither a borrower nor lender be”. When you lend money to a friend you run the risk of losing both the friendship and the money.

In today’s world, our biggest cancer is not of the physical kind, but of finance – debt.

 Now, almost four hundred and fifty years later, we as a people have all but totally ignored the advice of Polonius. We continue to borrow money left, right, and center. We have become a nation of spend-thrift people. We spend money like there is no tomorrow. Millions of families have no savings for their children’s college fund; no savings for vacations; no savings for general upkeep; and no savings for retirement. The majority exist from one paycheck to the next.

How sad will it be for those who will reach age 90 and still find the need to fill out applications and submit resumes for employment?

With all the great medical advances present today, we continually add years to life, but not life to years. Some have even become cynical to the idea of frequent physical exercise. They rely on medication for their survival.

Maybe it is due to the quality of home entertainment that we have largely become a sedentary nation. The potency of television programming very much outweighs the desire to shed the extra pounds. There is no budgeting for weight loss. So we keep spreading at the hips and elsewhere.

The budget you act upon today could save a life. The life you save could be your own.

Caveat Emptor - Let the Buyer Beware

Caveat Emptor! Let the buyer beware. 

I recently received a phone call from a company supposedly in Las Vegas.

Naturally, I was excited when I got the message. One Mr. Stephen Fisher said he wanted to speak with me regarding my involvement with the Carbon Copy Pro BiB program – Business in a Box.

Thinking that I had received a qualified lead for my business, I quickly returned the phone call. We played phone tag for a short while, and eventually I caught up with Stephen.

To my dismay, he was not interested in joining my business. He wanted to share some information with me; not over the phone, but on my computer.

I returned to my office, and went online to check the leads garnered from my web site landing page. To my surprise, his contact information did not show up.

The next time we spoke on the phone, my first question was…

“How did you acquire my contact information?”

He said he went to my web site and just as he was about to exit, my contact information – including my phone number – popped up.

Fair enough, I thought.

“How can I help you?”

“I want to show you a way to gain top listing on Google without doing the Pay-Per-Click garbage.”

Immediately, a red flag went up. Why was Stephen so keen on offering this exclusive opportunity to me?

I instantly got the gut feeling this was a scam.

My CC Pro sponsor never mentioned anything about a magical new way to beat the Google system. He was in the business longer than me. If it was legal, why would he hide it and continue to webinar the pay-per-click method? And lastly, why should these Nevadan gurus possess these great privileges above all else?

Just for the heck of it, I decided to listen to Stephen’s pitch: more so out of curiosity.

This Mr. Fisher asked me to go to my computer because he wanted to show me a demonstration. Dutifully, I followed his instructions.

For 20 minutes he walked me through several pages that were supposed to show how his company placed other internet marketers in the number one slot with Google search engine.

After he had done his share of jabbering, he tossed me over to the “T.O. Man”: In the Timeshare business, the “T.O. or Turn Over Man” is the fast talker who either closes the sale quickly, or sees you out the door.

Instantly, I smelled a rat. These guys wanted to rip me off!

One tiny bit of information I learned kicked into play.

“He who holds the money wins.”

 Getting down to the real nitty-gritty: Stephen and gang wanted me to pay well over two thousand ($2K+) by credit card to place my company on top listing with all high ranking search engines, with a six month guaranty. Bang-bang went the bell.

Poppycock! Hogwash! No way Hosea! Caveat emptor! Let the buyer beware! I’m outta here!

www.allanrussell.com

The Googlebot Crawls When Ready

A few weeks ago, my friend Michael was feeling overwhelmed with all the information and training he was receiving on the internet. His money was running out and very little was coming in. In his frustration he had forgotten all about the Googlebot. 

The Googlebot is search bot software used by Google to retrieve information as it crawls the web. It looks for keywords, tags, and meta tags to index web sites for its search engine.

Learning internet marketing was not an easy thing for Mike. There is a lot to sift through when you are new to the web. Many a sleepless night was spent trying to imbibe the essence of what he had come up against during the day. Meanwhile the Googlebot crawls.

Without further hesitation, one day Michael decided to call his sponsor and give his final decision. He had become frustrated beyond the point of no return. His site was up and nothing was happening: no hits.

As it happened, his sponsor was not available when Michael made the call. So he decided to drop a two-word email instead.

“I Quit!”

The message would’ve brought good news to his wife! But Michael knew it wasn’t the time to discuss this with her. In his heart of hearts he could almost hear the lecture. Having spent these many hours on the World Wide Web with nothing to show for it, she was way-way past the feelings of being neglected.

However, you guessed it!  

Just as Michael opened up his internet browser to send the email message to his sponsor – for crying out loud! You already have a hunch at what he saw.

Michael’s heart almost leapt through his mouth when he discovered a string of brand new qualified leads and a few converts in his inbox. The autoresponder had done it work.

Later during the day, when Michael clicked on Google search engine, he found that the Googlebot had given his site placement at the top section of the first page; a very coveted position for all internet marketers.

“Why did it take so long” he wondered?

And then Michael realized it was due to Google’s Googlebot software.

The Googlebot Crawls When it’s Ready.

http://allanrussell.com

No Purchase Necessary

Generally speaking, when you read or hear of “no purchase necessary” you think of entering sweepstakes and contests. You expect to win something for nothing: no matter how small.

People love free gifts, free information, and free money. Best of all they crave to enter sweepstakes and win without a financial commitment on their part. It’s referred to as “good luck”. By the same token, when success is not accomplished here, we call it “bad luck”. To the diehard we say “better luck next time”.

In the late 1960, among the numerous love songs of the day, The Beatles had a hit entitled Money Can’t Buy me Love. Forty years later the situation remains the same. There’re lots of thing you can buy with money, but money won’t buy you love.

But love is not often taken into consideration when we think of no purchase necessary. The focus remains on material things.

Material things are good to a certain extent. Too much can be dangerous. The Bible says “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”

Let us put a different spin on our topic – no purchase necessary.  How does the subject fit into things spiritual – things pertaining to the soul of man?  What is there to be won with no purchase necessary? I dare say at this point the total impact is not quite as intriguing.

There is no purchase necessary to win the love of God. It’s there for the taking. Even though you might think you don’t want it, the offer still stands: free and clear. There’re no strings attached. No need to give up an email address or a phone number to get it. For the saint and the sinner alike; there’re no prejudices, no limits, and no bars. 

It won’t be necessary to enter a contest and win a free trip to heaven. God’s love is always there: around you, above you, beside you, and beneath you. There’s a chance for everyone to experience an instant win.

Reach out and take it: No Purchase Necessary.

www.allanrussell.com

Looking Glass Future

Wouldn’t you like to look into the future and see what it holds for you? Where could you obtain a Looking Glass that reveals these future secrets?

There’s a small test to try on your friends. Not a pop quiz: Just a simple correctly worded sentence.

“Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?”

Do you know what?

90 ~ 95 percent will give the same answer.

“I don’t know.”

Likewise for the cousin question: “What do you want out of life?”

Does this ring a bell?

People plan vacations quicker than they plan their lives. Couples plan weddings to the oomph degree, and then leave the marriage up to chance.

Statistics might show after the wedding is over, many marriages take the downhill trail; like runaway horses. If the relationship turns sour, it could be compared to Rambo mania.

The last time I checked with Albert Einstein there was no formula to accurately predict the future. But there is a way to find out what you want out of life without stressing over a Looking Glass Future.

We’ll get to that soon.

Thanks to the great King Solomon and his unmatchable wisdom. “It’s all vanity and a vexation of the Spirit.”

However we can’t rest on our laurels and expect great things to happen for us. The Holy Word says “one plants, another waters, but the Almighty gives the increase”.

How can you get an increase if you don’t know what to plant? How can you water when there is nothing to water?

There’s a method that has been used by several successful people; to discover what they want out of life. Perhaps you too can try it and realize similar success.

Before we get started, find yourself a nice quite spot. Some people are so efficient at concentrating; they can sit in a busy airport and do this.

Get a clean sheet of writing paper. Draw a line down the center of the page. Label the left column “Don’t Wants” and the right “Wants”.

Starting on the left of the page list the thing you don’t want. Keep writing for 20 minutes. Don’t erase anything. No one is going to grade you, okay? The ideas don’t need to follow a sequential order. Write them as they come.
Do it quickly.

After you have exhausted your idea, go to the right side and list the corresponding positive ideas. For each thing you don’t want there is something you do want.

For instance…

· “I don’t want to be poor.” Means I want to have lots of money.”
· “I don’t want to be sick.” Means I want to be in good health.
· “I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life.” Means I want to be married.

By the end of the task you should have a personal discovery of who you are and what you want out of life. You don’t need a Genie in a Bottle or a Looking Glass.

http://www.allanrussell.com/

allan.russell0@gmail.com

Ugly 2 Words

Two words that usually rank high for stress levels (like the plague) in the English language are “Retirement Income”. I called these the ‘ugly 2 words’. At the mere mention of the ‘ugly 2 words’ in the same sentence, we often begin to pale.

Perhaps to the primitive tribes somewhere deep in the jungles of Borneo, the ‘ugly 2 words’ might be perceived as a relatively new phenomenon; maybe even a taboo. But for the majority of us in the new world the ‘ugly 2 words’ often bring on the he-be-gee-bees; no matter at what age we are.

Taken separately, the ‘ugly 2 words’ register no negative psychological impact. The word ‘retirement’ – for example – is generally linked to old age; those far off years we might never live to see. Even if we are blessed to make it to the fifties, sixty-what-not still seems like a millennium away.

As for the partnered word ‘income’, we the people are normally satisfied with the feelings of entitlement during the working years. We work for paychecks, and the paychecks take just barely care of our current needs; and maybe some of our wants. By the end of our working years, we believe we are entitled to receive a paycheck from the government – a monthly Social Security Check.

Oops!

Did I say Social Security Check?

Well pardon me. Sweet dreams!

You might be hit by an airplane on a disused runway quicker than you will receive a good size Social Security Check from the government in the future.

Experts often say the realization of a dream- come-true is greater than the dream itself. I say the reality of a Social Security Check is a Nightmare on Your Street.

But it’s a nightmare that can be avoided by using proper prior planning.

As the deadline for retirement approaches, adults will quite often shake a pill bottle. The impending headaches are too much to bare cold-turkey.

Like the ostrich in the desert, they will bury their heads in the sand, seeking to soothe their nerves with the instant gratification of home entertainment. They will grab the remote control and flip through the expensive 200 television channels.

Others will tip the bottle of alcohol, or light-up a joint. Naturally, such actions will briefly dull the pain, but won’t solve the problems.

Over all, the decision to make financial preparation to meet the twilight years is a personal choice. No one will ever walk behind you cracking a whip. By and large the days of slavery are gone. No one can make you spend your money on their choices. That is entirely up to the individual.

But for a percentage of people who are honest with themselves, the closer they get to D-day, the more they wish that someone did take a whip to their backsides: Force them to stash away a few dollars. Then they wouldn’t have to face the ‘ugly 2 words’.

I know what you are thinking. “What’s the use of investing? My 401K is steadily losing money. What sense does it make to set money aside for the future when the market is eating up your money? Is it really worth it after all?”

The answer is YES. It is worth it.

The economy is just like the tide. One day the tide is full, the next day you can practically walk a good 500 feet before you get your feet wet. One season there is plenty, the next season there is a drought. Of such is life. The key is being able to stick it out.

It’s the same with most everything in life. Keep on keeping on is the answer. Investing in the stock market is not only for the rich. There are time-tested methods of growing that nest-egg for the future.

Take a hop skip and a jump over to your local bookstore and invest in a book authored by Ken Little. It’s called Alpha Teach Yourself Investing – In 24 Hours. It will probably open up your vision for your future. The ‘ugly 2 words’ will not be ugly any more.

www.allanrussell.com