“Enjoy Youth but Protect the Future”

This one goes out to all the younger readers. Many years ago, in the virginity of our marriage, Deb & I did not dwell on the absence of money or the scarcity of possessions. We had enough to get us through to the next paycheck and that was all we needed. Life was hard but wonderful and exciting. But now that we are, shall we say, on the elderly side of life it seems as if every penny spent has to be examined under a microscope to make sure we get the best bang.

Now I can tell you that like you the 21 year old us really didn’t give a rats behind about which bank had the best interest rate on their CD (no that’s not a music disc) and we could have cared less about 401K’s, compounded interest, or the difference between APR and APY.

But I have a message for all you young’uns’ that might be thinking the same way. I know that tax refund time is close at hand so before you run out and buy a new gun or the latest gaming system or get that 1500 dollar phone…pay attention…It’s never too early to start saving. So set a little aside.

Now mind you, I am no expert by any means. I’m just trying to knock some sense into your hormonally driven though process. I hope you will heed my advice.

Let me show you an example.

Let’s say, at the age of 25, you invested just 200 dollars a year into a 401K and assuming that you will get a 7% return…after 40 years (age 65) your 8000 dollars would be worth $41,434.Thats just $16.67 per month or $7.69 per pay period. Increase that amount to $2000 per year and you would end up with $414,261 for your $80000 investment. Not a bad nest egg to supplement Social Security. I know that the last thing on your mind is what’s going to happen to Social Security, but it is a looming question that you young people will have to get answers to. But that’s another post for a later date.

So with all the technology we have today, there are many ways to invest in your future. I could list them out here for you and profit from the links but then this advice would become more of an advertisement. And does anybody really need another click-bait. Besides, who am I to tell you how to use Google.

Enjoy your youth but protect your future. Start investing today and have a wonderful journey.

“You will witness a miracle.”

 Most of us will read these words and think to ourselves, “Yeah right. Miracles, if they exist at all, only happen once in forever.” I know in the past when I thought about miracles, I believed it had to be some great event. Like aliens landing and bringing us world peace, accidently inventing a cure for cancer or winning the Powerball. We have become so out of tune with what a miracle is that we don’t see them when they happen right in front of us. Just keep your eyes and ears open to the world and watch the hundreds of miracles that occur every day.

For example, around the world 353,000 babies are born each day. Or how about the 1000 people every year that survive being shot in the head. Then there are the smallest of things, a dog finds its way home to its family after traveling hundreds of miles. A cat that has lost both front legs still walks. A flower pushes its way through the tiniest of cracks in a concrete sidewalk somewhere in the heart of the busiest cities in the world. Snow and ice melts from the bottom up. If you only pay attention, miracles are all over the place.

I know what some of you are saying, “But Jerry, all that is science not miracles.”

I say to you my friends that science is just a way of proving how miracles work. So don’t sit around and wait for that great event to happen. Rejoice each little miracle that you witness every day.