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I’m sorry to bore you with the details, but there are some very good lessons to be learned here, especially for young people who may believe that this only happens to them.  To the 420 club who reads this, I’ll be back to the more abstract lessons soon.

This is why it is important to always do your best, and put a positive face to the public.  Yesterday, while still on “in-house suspension”, I was doing my work in the same manner as I always have.  I was friendly with the customers, cordial with the employees, and efficient.  Because of this, I received several compliments that are worth more to me than anything my employer could say.

What many people don’t understand is that most customers won’t bother complimenting someone for doing their job.  They might complain if something is wrong, but they rarely compliment.  I’m not going to pretend to analyze why, but I accept that it is.  So when a customer takes time out of their schedule to say something nice about me and the way I work, it means a lot.  The reason it means less from my employer is that I have come to understand that employers are usually complimenting their employees as a way to coax more work out of them.  There’s nothing wrong with it, and it isn’t true in every case, but again, there it is.

Meanwhile, over at my (hijacked) office, several customers have complained very loudly that they want me back there to serve them the way they have become accustomed to being served.  They have high expectations when it comes to customer service (which I even have a hard time meeting, sometimes), and they will accept nothing less.  Most of the complaints have one of a couple of root causes.

1.  The offending employee (the one who caused all the problem in the first place), is constantly on MySpace, and therefore not ready and willing to help the customer when they walk into the door. 
   • Our company hasn’t blocked MySpace like others.  Personally, I have no problem with an occasional visit as long as it doesn’t affect WORK.
   • Our computers have a glitch where they will freeze out, forcing a complete reboot, if they spend prolonged periods of time on the Internet.
2. The offending employee spends an excessive amount of time on the phone, and customers have heard her talking about me, other customers, and the company in derogatory terms.
   • Nobody likes to hear someone talking about them.  It is even worse to talk about someone else that may be known to others.  It is especially bad if this is the reason you complained about a well-liked employee.
   • Again, I have no problem with talking on the phone, as long as it doesn’t (in this case it certainly did) impact work.
   • These customers are a tightly knit group.  They are around each other for as long as 12 hours at a time.  They get kind of clannish with those that measure up to their expectations.  We also live and work in a small community.
   • One of the stipulations to my punishment was that it wasn’t to be spoken of again (their request because they feared it would make me a martyr and give me leverage with the customer base).  To date, I have been asked, with surprising detail, no less than 6 times what my side of the story is.  When I reply that I can’t talk about it, I am told that someone else is. 

 These complaints are piling up, and unfortunately for the offending person, they cannot be ignored for much longer.  Even worse, when the table is set with all the players, this person is not looking very good right now to management.  They are doing subpar work, they have a history of “issues” within the company, they have a history of doing the same thing that they did to me at other companies (with a lawsuit against another company thown in for fun), and they are getting complaints.  Because they didn’t use the opportunity to change the perception about them, and because they didn’t put out their best work, this person will be sent back to the “minors” until such time as they prove themselves.  Meanwhile, I will be back doing what I was hired to do, and will have vindicated myself against a predator.

It happened.

When I talked about HONESTY I talked about a co-worker who was going to engage in some shameful tactics. Well, she did.

Today, I got called in for a good tounge-lashing from senior management. Things were said that were attributed to me, things that I said were misquoted, and things were taken out of context to maximize the damage. It worked.

The end result was I had to be penitent and beg to keep my job, which I did, but they gave me the most personally humiliating sentence I could have received: I have temporarily lost my office.

Normally, I run on a pretty even keel, but I am bothered by the fact that two people who have received numerous complaints from the customer base will be in my place for the next week. I can already see all the damage control I will have to do to fix this mess, and I’m not even talking about the destruction to a damn good reputation. I will have to earn the loyalty from customers that will be pissed off about the way things go in my absense.

That’s the way it works sometimes.

People might ask why I agreed to the public humiliation. I am good enough at my job to be able to find another. I did so because I don’t plan on working in the industry for a long enough time to make going to another instituion worthwhile. I tend to give a lot of loyalty to the company I work for, even if the company shows me no loyalty in return. This is the game: Temporarily, they (those who would see me fail) have the upper hand. Since I am not willing to leave right now, I have to allow them the upper hand, and play with the one I have.

I feel truly sorry for the person that instigated this. I have no doubt that this person believes they did the right thing. I have no doubt that there was some pressure from on high to allow things to go as far as they did. Had this person approached me directly, I would have more empathy for this person. As it is, I have no anger towards them- as I said, I believe they felt they were doing the right thing. The problem that comes to bear is that this person will inevitably slip up somewhere in the presence of an influential customer, and the customer will bring this slip-up to the attention of those in power. The co-worker will, at that time, realize that they were played by the same game I was. Too bad it will be too late by then.

I mention any of this because this type of office politics is not uncommon. It happens all the time, and usually a young person bears the brunt of whatever happens. I took my lumps, and I will easily go through their gauntlet, emerging as a winner. If you get caught up in this type of thing, try your best to avoid the political repercussions. If you cannot, don’t try to come out swinging. Do what you need to do in order to keep your job. When you leave a company (as you would inevitably do, facing this mess), leave on your feet, through the front door. Understand that karma, fate, or divine intervention will catch up with the bad people. Companies will come and go throughout your life, but you will always be stuck with your own dignity. Some would think there is more dignity in quitting: I believe they are wrong, and that there is more dignity in doing what is needed to keep your job, or at least to not lose your sole source of income.

Welcome to SUPERBIA!

PRIDE is often confused with arrogance, especially in the workplace. Somehow, there is a negative connotation to the idea of appreciating the amount of work that went into achieving a desired outcome, and the overall result is a decrease in quality.

Think of the small things that happen every day:

You are walking through a store, and have a question about a product. Two employees are relatively close (equidistant); one with cleaned and well-tended clothes who is also well groomed. The other gives the appearance of not caring how their clothes look, whether they are clean or even if they are severely wrinkled. Which one do you approach?

We see things every day that influence our opinion about a company, the employees, and even the customers. Companies know this, and this is the reason why wait staff in restaurants wear aprons, why there are dress codes in most companies, and one of the reasons why employers have face-to-face interviews.

If you want to be successful in anything, you really have to take pride in yourself. Notice, I’m not saying you need to be arrogant. There is a difference. There are several areas where pride is important, and when you look at all the successful people in any industry, you will see that they all share similar qualities.

Pride in appearance: Your appearance is the first thing that everybody sees, and for many, how they will judge you for the remainder of your contact with them. It seems so simple, but there are things that you need to make sure you are doing to make this interaction positive. Start with staying clean. (I know, this sounds stupid, but believe me when I tell you that there are many people who need to read this blog for JUST this tip!!) Also, make sure you keep well-groomed. I’m a little lazy when it comes to shaving, but the upshot is that I really can’t grow any decent facial hair. Guys, you need to stay clean shaven, or, if you decide to grow a beard or mustache, keep it trimmed and clean as well. Girls, if you wear make-up, try not to look like you are auditioning for the circus. It doesn’t look good.

You need to also make sure your clothes are clean, and in good repair. Your (or your parents’) ability to afford clothes notwithstanding, you need to make sure that your clothes aren’t stained, worn, frayed, torn, or otherwise not in good repair. When I was young, I only had one pair of slacks and two dress shirts (this was before I went to a parochial school where slacks and oxford shirts were part of the uniform) that I could wear to work. I would put these clothes on at the last possible minute before my shift started, and as soon as I was clocked out, I would change out of them. The clothes were cleaned daily, ironed and hung, and my mom would immediately repair any damage done throughout the day (sewing).

I suppose I could also mention that you should work on staying healthy and fit, but I understand that there are some medical issues. The important thing is that you need to carry yourself to the best of your ability no matter your fitness level.

Pride in your performance: This one will be a little shorter. I know there are times when you can do less than your best and everything works out okay. I know that there are days when you just want to slack off a little. You may be a little sick, you may be having a bad day, or you may not really like your job that much. The thing is, when you are young, you are more in competition to keep your job than many young people believe. As a manager, I also have bad days. Some of those bad days mean that I have to get rid of an employee. Now, you could play the odds that our bad days won’t be the same day, but that’s pretty risky. Better that you do your best at all times. If you consistently perform at 100%, I will be a whole lot more likely to overlook the one time you bring me 70%.

Learn as much as you can about doing your job. Become an expert. Be the person that others come to when they need help. Doing this shows your employer that you are also looking out for the best interests of the company. Most importantly, completely internalize all of the QUALITIES OF SUCCESS . By doing this, you will show not only your bosses, but your customers, and the rest of the world that you have what it takes to succeed.

Every employer will ask for references. Especially since you have little or no previous work experience, the references you provide will be important. Initially, many young people don’t even think about references, and when they see the application, they scramble to ask relatives to say nice things about them. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work well because most (all) applications specify that the references cannot be related to you. A smart choice would be to have people who know you from school (teachers, counselors), the community (religious advisers, community officials), or volunteer organizations you help at.

Asking someone to be a reference for you can be touchy. In a very real sense, you are asking someone to put their reputation on the line for you. You are asking this person with very limited knowledge of how you will perform to vouch for the fact that you will perform well. For this reason, I’ve found some people have reservations about being a reference. You need to ask delicately if someone is willing to act as a reference, and you need to make it super clear that they don’t have to, and you won’t be hurt if they don’t. Be very clear that you aren’t asking them to say nice things, but to be honest about your performance in front of them, and the likelihood that your performance will continue to be the same for the employer. Allow them time to think about it if they need it, and never act offended if they hesitate.

One reason why someon might not want to be a reference for you is because they feel that you will be disappointed and will blame them if you don’t get selected. Another is because they don’t feel comfortable enough that you won’t let them down. Either way, if they are willing to do this favor (and that is what it is!!), treat people with respect, dignity, and gratitude.

Loyalty

I’ve talked about it before, but LOYALTY is a biggie.

One of the first questions I ask a possible employee is why they want to leave their current company. The truth is, I most likely have already found out the answer. I like networking, and I love the idea that friends will tell other friends things that they might not tell a stranger asking. I can’t tell you how many people will tell me that they want to leave because they hate their jobs.

They may not use those words, but since I have shared, and therefore, can understand the sentiment, I know what they are saying. But my understanding doesn’t extend so far as to mandate that I employ the griper. In fact, I rarely do.

Loyalty to your company is important while you are working there, but it is crucial when you are trying to get out. Most industries talk to each other within their industry. You might be working for someone’s mentor, and while by law they can’t give you a bad professional reference, sometimes friends understand what is unsaid as clearly as what is said.

That’s an obvious one, but what if you are trying to leave your department to work in another department in the same company? You have heard how the managers of each department don’t get along very well, and how they are constantly at each other’s throat. This can be particularly dangerous. Your instinct will be to say whatever necessary in order to ingratiate yourself with the new manager. You should do your best to avoid this instinct if you like your job, or the concept of being employed. Even if what you have heard is true, and if the managers really hate each other so much, there is the (strong) possibility that your off-hand comment about your current boss will be used as a slap to the face by the new manager. You also may not get the job, and your reputation will become that of the whiner that is gunning for your boss’s job.

Even though I’ve never particularly wanted my supervisors’ jobs, I’ve been accused more times than I can count that I was working to sabotage their department because I wanted them to fail. Because I have always been vocal about the shortcomings of anybody in a company (myself included!), people have taken the logical leap to say that I have no loyalty. I know this happens, and I’ve even become very good at telling WHEN it is happening. The problem here is, reality is infinitely less important than perception. If the perception is that I have no loyalty, then it doesn’t matter that I am the most loyal of employees in reality.

There’s another aspect of loyalty that is important to becoming successful. You are only an employee for about 1/3 of a day. The rest of the day, you are just a person. You have values, goals, and morals. So, what do you do when your job asks you to break loyalty with your home life? The answer depends on what is important to you. In most cases, I have always chosen that which was important to Wil, the guy over Wil, the employee. I have often found that betraying loyalty to myself never worked out well. In the short term, I might find small successes, but in the long term, I wind up resenting myself for the betrayal, as well as the company for allowing it to happen.

Another aspect of loyalty is that of blind loyalty. If you are reading this, I assume you have a little more intelligence than most people your age. You have proactively decided to take control of your destiny and your future. That being said, I expect you to think critically at all times. There is nothing disloyal about honest questions to the status quo. I read somewhere that without people questioning the status quo, we would still be living in caves. Personally, I welcome questions, as long as they are asked in the spirit of doing better. When they are just complaints with a raised inflection at the end, I get weary, very quickly.

When the question of loyalty comes up, most people stumble over themselves to prove their loyalty. You should never have to prove your loyalty to any employer. Sadly, you will be called to do so many times in your career. When proving loyalty, you should use actions. Like the used car salesman who claims he’s honest, when you have to shout about your loyalty, you make me think you are not loyal, or that you could easily be swayed to shift loyalties.

DEDICATION in the terms I mean it is a very important concept for success.

Look around at the people you go to school with: You see the straight “A” students, you see the people in the Lettermen’s jackets. You know that these people work very hard at something. You might even be one of these people. You are dedicated to something larger than yourself.

I’ll be honest: I was dedicated to having fun, regardless of the cost. In my old age, I’m sure I’ll look back with regret, but for now, I’m okay with how I went through high school. My wife has always been dedicated to doing the right thing. I’m sure her way works too.

When dealing with personal finance or life in general, you need to be dedicated to success. You won’t succeed if you take a half*** approach. You have to seriously look at the goals you want to achieve, and the steps needed for you to get there.

I see it all the time, where someone has decided to start saving some money so they can afford to go on a summer vacation, but use the money throughout the year instead. When it’s time for their trip, which they may have already paid for (with credit), the cupboard is bare.

For young people, the four-wheeled monster is more often the culprit of this problem. Young person decides they want to buy a car, and saves up thousands of dollars throughout the year, (or they would have, had they not been making small, steady withdrawals periodically) to do so, but winds up having to finance a larger piece than they had planned because there is no money.

Contrast that with the person who drives crappy cars for years, learns how to fix their own, all the while putting away thousands of dollars (without touching them) towards the purchase of their dream car. When the time comes, they are able to afford a lot more car, and have saved enough to pay cash for it, thereby keeping themselves out of debt.

So what’s the difference? Is one person smarter than the others? Maybe. The only real difference is that one person was dedicated to reaching their goal, while the others—weren’t. I know I’m going to get people who will tell me that I’m not giving the whole story, that there may be legitimate reasons for the first two to take the money out, blah, blah, blah. There might be legitimate reasons. I don’t care. If they are taking money out to do something other than what they had planned on doing, they are just less dedicated. Is that bad? I don’t know. What I do know is that without the unswerving dedication to meeting your goals, I can almost guarantee that you won’t.

Think about the things you would consider yourself dedicated to. Now think about the things you aren’t dedicated to. Should you be? Can you be?

Continuing on with my series of Qualities of Success, today we’re talking about SELF-CONTROL.

Let me say honestly, I probably appear to not be the best poster child for this particular quality. I smoke, I’m overweight, I have a gadget fetish that I make very little effort of controlling, and I like taking my wife to nice places once in a while.

All that being said, I consider myself to be in control of myself. The one place where many will try to argue with me is in that I smoke. These people make the argument, “If you REALLY had self-control, you could quit.” My response, (said like a true addict) I don’t wish to quit. I don’t know if I really could, but I know I don’t want to. I think smoking is a disgusting habit, so I’m not going to go into all the reasons why I still do it. The thing is, if I can’t have a cigarette for a period of time, I don’t freak out (usually).

So what does self-control have to do with personal finance and success? Great question! I wish I’d have thought of it.

1. When you let things control you instead of controlling yourself, you show a weakness to anybody who is looking for one. In most everyday situations, this is no big deal, but in some circumstances, this weakness will separate you from your goals. This is obviously not a good thing.

2. Let’s look at my extravagances: I smoke. Currently, the price of a carton of 10 packs of 20 cigarettes each costs me about $36.00. I smoke about half a pack a day. So, I buy about 20 cartons a year. The quicker students will have already figured out that this is $720.00 annually. Could I do something smarter with $2.00 a day? You bet I could. In the 20 years I’ve smoked (or is it smoken…,?), about $14,400.00. Compound interest aside; that could be enough to buy a decent car cash. Of course, when I was younger, I didn’t buy my cigarettes by the carton, but by the pack. I spent about $4.00 a pack for 16 years. So, all in all, I could have spent $14,560.00 on THIS HERE CAR and still had enough money to cover insurance and any other expenses I might have to deal with. For the Hyundai haters out there, I currently drive a Hyundai, and would definitely buy another one when the time comes.

3. Keeping with my personal proclivities, I’m overweight. I’m not going to get down into the numbers on this, but let’s look at what being fat costs me:

- Cost of food (how else could I get this way?),
- Cost of larger clothes
- Healthcare and medicine
- Gym membership so I don’t have to continue being fat.

4. My gadget fetish. I would love to say that this is much worse than it really is. Unfortunately for my fetish, I have what some may call self-control, others might call a conscience, and still others (myself included) call my wife. She doesn’t let me go out and buy all the gadgets that I want. Not that she’s miserly or anything, but she rightly points out that I will not get advantage out of having all the gadgets that I want. That being said, it’s pretty obvious that this can harm my bottom line, and could force many other issues that also hurt my personal finance journey.

I’m not telling anybody not to live here. I’m not even telling people HOW to live. I have repeatedly said that the ONLY value of money is in the things it can purchase for you. THAT is where the real self-control comes in. You can have the things you want, but you need to make sure that you can have the things you need first.

Some of those needs (my list—yours might be different) in no particular order:

- Housing (rent or mortgage)
- Utilities
- Insurance
- Savings
- Car(s)
- Food

Once I have all of those things taken care of, I can look at all the rest.

Friends, allow me some time on a soap box about the proper way to act as an employee.

I’ve never said, nor have I ever been so naive to believe that I am an ideal employee. I have several fatal flaws:

- I take the time to know every aspect of my job.
- I work harder than most to make sure that I am the most qualified, competent employee around.
- Many employees will ask me technical questions because they value getting the correct answer over having to sort through the corporate double-speak they are used to.
- I have no problems with calling somebody on their stupidity, regardless of title or position.
- I am well liked by my subordinates and the consumer.

I’m sure there are others, but this is a good enough list. When I am a manager, I am only slightly less demanding of my staff than I am of myself. This explains why they like me. They know they will get a square deal with me if one is to be had.

This brings me to my problem, as well as a new feature that will be coming soon. There are several qualities that I strive to achieve. I originally learned them as qualities of a Black Belt when I used to teach Martial Arts, but I have also learned them in other circles. Stephen Covey writes about something similar. I will be adding all of the qualities that I think are important as time goes on.

HONESTY

Here’s the situation that has prompted this. I am currently not in a Management position, even though I do run my own office. I have one slot for an employee that has been vacant since February. Right now, the company is testing two different employees to fill the position. After working with the first (I haven’t started with the second yet), I don’t want them. Why you may ask? The answer: Because they lied.

Not a colossal lie, not a job-saving lie, but a stupid, inconsequential lie that in and of itself wouldn’t have justified me not wanting this person to work here. Those other kinds of lies I can understand; this type of lie is just stupid.

But here’s the rub: If this person is willing to lie about the inconsequential, what would stop them from lying about something that is truly important?

To make matters more complicated, and in the interest of full-disclosure, I have it on good authority that this person is scheming, along with members of Management and other employees who represent the grand mediocrity, to blast me for comments I’ve made, things I’ve done, or whatever.

I’m not surprised by this: quite the opposite. I told this person on the first day that when they decided to do this, the only request I had was that they were accurate in their accusations. How’s that for nice?

When you are an employee, or even just in everyday life, you need to be honest. My dad used to say that a lie is just as good as the truth, as long as you could get someone to believe it. I never subscribed to that belief.

I’ve believed that it is so much easier to tell the truth than to lie (I admit this has not always been my belief, but it is now, and has been for some time), simply because you don’t have to work as hard to remember the truth than to remember which lie you told to whom.

If you choose to lie, understand you WILL BE CAUGHT. There is no two ways about it. You might get away for a while, but you eventually will screw up and get caught. If, like my mystery friend, you lie over the minutia, you will have destroyed your credibility forever.

If the mystery person is reading, I understand that there may be some reasons out there that I’m not aware of. I don’t care. Once you have lied, I treat everything else you say as suspect. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is.

I’ve given up.

I used to be a young, energetic, fire-ball who rebelled against mediocrity, stupidity, and ambivalence (I like big words; they make me feel like I know stuff). I remember fighting the system, and getting a charge out of every small victory. I remember scaring old people that I worked with because I could easily do their jobs better than they could. I remember being a stickler for perfection. I got a lot of crap about it from older people.

Now, I just don’t care anymore. I’ve allowed myself to become part of the establishment. I subscribe to philosophies like “C’s get degrees”, and “Eh—Whatcha gonna do?”. I find myself at work, trying to help younger employees “fit in” and “not make waves”. I’m not talking about people in their first jobs, but people younger than myself. People who look to me for guidance, because I’ve created a reputation of being the best.

I believe reading SOMEWHERE that we have the right to a pursuit of happiness. Of course, the guy who wrote that was kind of old, so I think he meant that old(er) people have a right to a pursuit of happiness. Age discrimination laws don’t even affect people under 40. For people your age, it’s okay to discriminate against you.

I’ve asked peers about this, and the responses I get are comments like, “That’s the way it is. You remember what it was like.” Sadly, I do.

So, if you aren’t able to pursue happiness, I say F- them! Pursue anger! Pursue doing better than those who actually take time out of their life to put you down for the temporary condition of youth.

Work:

You have the advantage here. All they have is the past, while you have the ability to think outside the norm, towards the future. You will hear, throughout your career, “That’s the way it’s always been done”. Those words used to burn through my soul like oil. Now, I’ve found that they just make me die a little inside.

- Use your youth and ability to work harder and longer than the others to your advantage. Be the first person at work, work your full schedule at full speed. Be the last person out.

- Ask if there is more that you can do to help the company do better.

- Do not be afraid of the bitter old person who keeps telling you that your ideas don’t work. They will tell you that they have tried everything. They will tell you about how they failed. That was a different set of circumstances at a different time. Now it’s your turn.

- Pay attention to the little things. If your job is flipping burgers, make sure that all of your burgers are cooked to perfection, the fries are evenly and well seasoned, and the napkin holders never go empty.

- Understand that it is okay to make mistakes, but don’t allow yourself to make the same mistake twice. Make new mistakes. There are few things in the first few jobs that are irreparable. Just make sure you don’t make those mistakes.

- Take notes on EVERYTHING! Review those notes, and keep them within easy access. These notes are important to you.

- If there is a better way to do something, learn it then do it. If you thought of a better way, ask permission to implement the better way.

- Pay attention to the way you appear to those that matter. Keep appropriately groomed and dressed.

- Run harder, faster, and longer than the others. When you walk out of work, be sweating because of the effort you put in. Believe me when I tell you that we, as management notice such things, and look favorably towards those that do.

- Don’t give the old people ammunition against you. AS WE SAW YESTERDAY , the older people out there take glee in arresting the success of young people. It’s not surprising that BILL O’REILLY thinks Amy should have known better than to take ‘sleazy’ pictures, but I have yet to hear any of the major pundits say that Amy did nothing wrong, and was a victim. Take whatever measures necessary to keep your private life private.

- If there is a job you really want to do, but someone else is already doing it within your company, ask them to work with you to teach you. Everybody likes to feel important enough to teach someone else, and you may be able to do the job in the future, either with your company or another.

This is the first in an occasional series about bucking the system in as many aspects of life you can. You will rule this world at some point, but that doesn’t diminish your contributions today. Stop letting those that are older destroy that fire inside you.

I apologize for this break in what is ordinarily a strictly finance-related topic, but the news about Miss New Jersey is important enough to break in.

For those who live in a cave and haven’t heard about the story, Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo is being blackmailed by one or more pathetic losers. Correction, she was being blackmailed. Polumbo has decided to release the “racy” pictures that are at the center of this scandal. Okay people, this should not be news. Whoever was blackmailing Miss Polumbo about this should be returned to whatever high school they dropped out of.

What should be news, is that the news outlets are calling these photos “racy”. Some headlines tout “Breast biting, crotch shots revealed”. This is pathetic as well as dishonest. The pictures show a normal young person having some fun. The other newsworthy part of this is that according to the stories, only two of the five pageant officials that hold Miss Polumbo’s future in their hands have expressed confidence that she will be able to retain her title. Not to say the others won’t come around, but there should be no question.

There were no pictures of anything illegal, there were no naked pictures, in short, nothing that should cause any concern on Miss Polumbo’s part. This is nothing more than an attempt by a contemptuous loser to deprive a normal young person from something she worked very hard for, and earned. Any negative consequences to Miss Polumbo is nothing more than a big “F-You!!” to young people.

We now return to scheduled discussion about finance for young people.

I left off YESTERDAY with a little information about people sending you checks that all you need to do is sign to ‘reap the benefits’ of whatever they want you to do. I thought this deserved more of a discussion.

When you are sent a check from some companies for money you never asked for, this is usually a sneaky way to get you to sign up for a loan. You have probably guessed that the interest rate on this loan is going to be way higher than anything you want to pay. I get these periodically from a credit union I belong to. The amount ranges from $2,000.00 to 10,000.00, and the teeny tiny paragraph on the back of the check tells me that I’m going to be paying for 12-24 months. I almost took advantage of these loans one time, but I was working for another credit union at the time, and my people explained how I would be better off getting money in some other fashion.

Another place that originates these kinds of checks is the tax preparer that many of your parents probably go to. You will probably wind up going to the same place. When they give you your “instant refund”, what you are actually getting is a loan on what you are assuming your refund to be. When your ACTUAL refund comes in, they take it and apply it to the proceeds of your loan. In many cases this is transparent to you, but you have to pay a fee for this type of service. Let me say that a different way: Not only are you paying somebody to do something that isn’t really that hard (while you are in the early stages of your career, anyways), you are also paying a fee to get the money that is yours by right.

The other type of check you will get a lot of are small checks that, by signing, you will enroll in some sort of service. I’ve already mentioned the credit monitoring service, but there are other types of services that you can get roped into.

Credit card cash advance: Every month, I get a supply of credit card “convenience” checks. The first one is written out payable to me. If I just deposit the check, I can use my available credit line to pay a bill. What they don’t tell you is there is–
NO GRACE PERIOD FOR CASH (OR CONVENIENCE CHECK) ADVANCES!!!

What this means to you is that you will pay interest from the day your check clears. There is no trying to get out of paying finance charges.

I’ve also seen these types of checks used for insurance or some other service that I just don’t want.

As for getting rid of these checks, the reason I’m so paranoid about them is because they are negotiable checks. I don’t want some yahoo to go dumpster diving and get a check payable to me. If they cash it, sure I’ll get my money back but it’s a hassle in the mean time.

I personally, would tear them in several pieces, and throw them away at different times, shred them in different machines, or burn the whole thing. You guys should appreciate the legitimate opportunity to light something on fire.

I hope this clarifies my previous post a little, and I would like to hear what y’all think.

I’m so lucky.  My credit card company has sent me a letter advising me that they can monitor my account for all sorts of things, and just to show how good they are at this, they are going to pay me $20.00 to try it out.

All I have to do is deposit the check they gave me.  No really, that’s it!

And this comes on the same day that some company I’ve never dealt with sends me a check for $8,000.00!  All I have to do is cash it.  No really, that’s it!

I am so lucky, I wonder what I did to deserve all this good and unexpected luck?

Raise your hand, if you were going nuts trying to slap me through the computer, and couldn’t.  No, I haven’t taken leave of my senses.  I know that neither of these are good deals for me.  Of course I destroyed the checks beyond recognition.  But I see people going into banks and credit unions every day with these checks in hand.

On the back of these checks is a long paragraph in teeny tiny type.  Each type of check locks you into something for some period of time.  The first locks you into a contract for some service that you really don’t need.  The second locks you into a loan that you really don’t need, and should be a little offended that you received and offer for.

The first thing you need to know, if you haven’t requested a check from somebody, and it’s not a family member that is giving the check, you need to not try to attempt to negotiate the check.  The second thing you need to know, if you do receive a check of this type, don’t throw it away.  Accuse me of being paranoid, but I would suggest tearing it in half, shredding it at different times, and in different trash cans if possible.

My dad had a pretty interesting way of teaching us kids right from wrong. He used to say that we could do anything we wanted, as long as we were willing to pay the price. Usually, he was talking about things like staying up past curfew, getting drunk and making the mistake of coming home either drunk or hung-over, or getting bad grades. As far as the price, it was usually, but not always, more than we were willing to pay. Now that I am an adult, and something of a role-model to young people, I kind of take his approach to morality. I think that there are circumstances when one will want to do something so badly that they are willing to face any consequences to accomplish their goal.

I can hear it now, “But Wil, what does this have to do with personal finance?” Actually, I think it has a lot to deal with finance.

Situation:

Bob wants to buy a new car. Not just any new car, but a new Honda Ridgeline RTL (MSRP $33,090) . Bob can afford the payment, if he extends the term to 84 months, and if he clears out his ‘emergency’ fund to use as a down payment. PF bloggers everywhere are screaming at Bob to not do this. Should Bob do it?

Pros:

1. Bob gets a new car
2. Bob gets the satisfaction of driving a really cool truck
3. Bob gets the advantages of a warranty
4. Bob can stop taking the bus to work, allowing more time for Bob to spend with his family.
5. I’m sure there are others, but you get the point.

Cons:

1. Bob has a HUGE payment for the next seven years of his life.
2. Bob’s insurance is going to skyrocket.
3. Bob will be spending a lot more on gas (since he has been used to taking the bus) than he’s used to.
4. Bob’s girlfriend is afraid of trucks.
5. See #5 above.

The responsible answer for someone to give Bob is, “It depends.” This is where I depart from many ‘professionals’. Too many of them will tell Bob that he’s fallen out of his tree if he thinks this is a good idea. They won’t even get to the point of listing pros or cons. The answer is black or white, and that’s the end of it. What’s worse, is that is exactly what many people who seek the advice of a professional believe they want. They want to be told what to do, and how to do it. Unfortunately, personal finance just doesn’t work that way. Sure, there are many instances where the answer is exactly that cut-and-dried, but more often than not, there are a lot more variables that need to be discussed, and even after that, the answer rests on the shoulders of the person seeking advice. The most important part of personal finance is the PERSON. The most important thing to remember about advice is that it’s only advice, not the law.

In my parochial high school, there was a portion of one of the religion classes where the teacher would try to structure your thought to match the church’s teachings on a subject. I used to get in a lot of trouble back then. It would go a little something like this:

Teacher: “It is wrong to kill someone.”

Me: “What if that’s the only way to stop them from hurting someone in your family?”

Teacher: “Okay, it’s less wrong if you are defending your life, or the life of your family. But other than that, it’s wrong.”

Me: “What if that’s the only way to stop them from killing an innocent?”

Teacher: “Go to the office, you’re being disruptive.”

I never understood how asking questions was disruptive, but my wife has since confirmed that I can be disruptive for no reason. Okay, whatever.

In all seriousness, young people are so conditioned to being told what to do, what to think, and when that it becomes disruptive when they ask questions. The problem with this in personal finance is that nobody cares about your personal finance as much as you do. When somebody tells you something is absolute, question it. Even if you agree, question it. There are few things out there that are absolute, and those things will easily stand up to being questioned. When a salesperson tells you something is absolute, challenge it. Try to find times when absolute won’t cut it. Even if you think the possibility is remote, and even if the only alternatives to make something not absolute are outlandish, question it. One thing that is absolute is that you will absolutely run into the ONE instance when absolute just doesn’t make it.

Buying a Car Sucks!

I remember the last time that I went to buy a new car. The whole process really sucked. The salesman totally disregarded me, because I was young. My dad, bless his heart, didn’t have any clue as to what was important to me in the buying of a car, so I looked at a lot of cars that I had no interest in buying. I know he meant well, but a young man rarely wants a car that an old man would enjoy driving. Luckily, things worked themselves out, and I wound up buying a car that I really love. I still have the same car, and when it comes time for me to buy a new one, I will buy the same make.

When my wife went to buy her car, it sucked as well. I was sick, they wouldn’t pay attention to her needs or expressed desires, and because we were both young, we had to work way harder than we really needed to.

All of this has led me to the conclusion that buying new cars sucks in general. Considering that this will be my biggest purchase outside of my home, I really wish I could enjoy it more than I do. It seems to me that the common denominator in the suck factor of buying a car is the salesperson.

Look, I know that they are doing their job, and I shouldn’t rail against them, but because they are paid based on the sale, and not based on the hour, they work hard to push what will make them the most money. This annoys me. They are pushy, they try to screw young people over, and I’ve found that many of them don’t know as much about cars AS I DO!!!!! This scares me, since I admittedly know only what I need to know to be able to help someone with financing of a car. Luckily, for those smart enough to be able to get financing from their bank or credit union, there are a couple of options.

If you are a member of credit unions, AUTOLAND is a great way to get a NEW car. They are essentially a fleet dealer, but they have lots. Check with your credit union to make sure they work with this service before you decide to go with them. Finding a credit union local to you is easy too. CO-OP Network will get you to any credit union ATM’s (which is usually where credit unions are also located), and CU SWIRL will get you to a listing of credit unions that are part of a service center network. This is a network that allows members of certain credit unions to do transactions with other credit unions. This is a neat little feature.

If you aren’t or can’t be a member of a credit union AAA offers many of the same services, BUT, you have to be a member of AAA. AAA is a good investment, because of all the other services they offer. I’ve been a member for years, and even though I’ve paid more than I’ve ever collected, I wouldn’t cancel my membership. The way my life works, I know I would screw myself over as soon as I did.

Some dealers also offer the convenience of dealing with a fleet sales desk. If you are looking for a new car, and the other two options haven’t panned out for you, check with the dealership to speak with someone at this desk.

Okay, the 4th of July is past, and I have all my fingers still. Most people are out of school right now, and aside from all the tanning, partying, and sleeping in, some of you are probably wondering what you should be doing with your summer.

The answer is, of course, you should enjoy your summer. There are so few of them that you will be able to enjoy. But enjoying your summer doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish anything. Especially in high school, you should be looking ahead, towards college and to your future life after college. There are a lot of things for you to think about, but my goal isn’t to make life so difficult that you just don’t want to do what’s needed. My goal is to make life easier for you.

Do Something that makes the world a better place.- Many adults believe that you are self-centered, egotistic, and spoiled. I don’t believe this is true, but I’m not the guy hiring you. You need to prove that you are concerned with things outside yourself. When I talk about doing something to make the world a better place, I’m not talking about pie-in-the-sky altruism. I’m talking about something concrete. Join a group that is dedicated to cleaning the environment, saving an endangered animal, or something else that leaves a mark on the world. Avoid groups that are overly controversial, because you want to put your membership on your resume. So, whatever you decide to do, make it something that you will be proud of.

Read the newspaper every day, cover-to-cover.- The world is a big place, and a lot of things happen there every day. You only know what happens in your corner of the world. When you get into college, and when you get into the real world, knowing more about what is going on will help you. In college, you will most likely have to take a class dealing with current events, and you will need to train yourself to read a newspaper critically. In the real world, there will be many opportunities for you to talk about what’s going on. If you don’t participate, cliques being what they are, you will be left out.

Never give anonymously.- I kind of stole this one from a sales training class from my wife’s work, but it holds just as true. When you do something, make sure people know that you did it. I’m not talking about making big announcements, but I am talking about being proud of your ability to do things. Depending on what you do, you may be able to put it on a resume, your deed may help you get into a preferred program at school, or it may even open up networking opportunities for you.

Go Shopping.- Don’t get too excited here, I’m not talking about going to the mall and maxing out your credit cards. Go shopping. Whether you want to be an entrepreneur, or whether you want to be a good employee somewhere, your personal brand is important. Decide what you want to be, who you want to be perceived as (notice the difference), and see how other people and companies are demonstrating their brand. Do you see a lot of successful lawyers or doctors walking around the mall with a faux-hawk? Decide whether you really want to portray yourself the way you have been, and if necessary, change it.

Take Inventory.- Decide what is important to you. Not just about yourself, but about your career, your school, and all the other parts of your life. I’ll give you an example. I have always wanted to be a teacher. I have always been against unions. To be a teacher, especially in California, you have to join a very large and powerful union. I have had to look at my options to decide how important my anti-union beliefs are vs. my desire to be a teacher. Life isn’t black or white. There are a lot of gray areas. It is up to you to determine your willingness to live within the gray.

Prepare a Resume.- Almost all companies require this from applicants, and increasingly, so do a lot of school programs. A resume is your one-page opportunity to make someone interested in you. There are a number of places to get tips on creating a resume, so I won’t reprint them here. Some tips that I think are very important however: Invest in some decent paper stock to print your resume on, have two or three people that would know about resumes proofread it for you, and never ever lie on your resume—the chances are too great that you will be caught, and that will destroy your chances of getting anywhere.

Some of the things on this list are really one-shots. You shouldn’t have to take too much time out of enjoying summer. Some of them can be done while you are doing something else. Some require a small time investment, but the payoff far outweighs your expenditure. Enjoy your summer, but keep in mind that it will eventually end, and your real life will be back. You can minimize some of the shock by being prepared. Your preparation will put you far ahead of the rest of the pack!

Today, celebrate the fact that we live in a country where we have ultimate freedom.

Today, remember that there are those who wish to destroy that ultimate freedom, and do what you can to stop them.

Today, enjoy all the freedom you have, in every possible way.

Today, shed a tear for all of those who have gone before who died to make sure you could celebrate your freedom.

This isn’t one of those chain letters, this is simply advice from one human to another.  Don’t forward it.  Just read it, and follow it.

Happy Independence Day!

I love summer. The oppressive heat, the long days inside a room with no windows, all the kids running around my neighborhood unchecked—no wait, I hate summer. I haven’t really liked it since I was in school and could count on getting three months of not having to go to school and when I could run around that old guy’s neighborhood. Now, summer has lost a lot of the magic it used to have for me.

Of course, I don’t want to sour anybody else on the fun of summer. It’s not a bad season. In fact, it is probably in my top four seasons.

I know a lot of people like to have summer weddings. For some reason, girls (mostly) think it is romantic to have a summer ceremony, and all the trimmings. June is the most popular month to get married, but the whole corridor from May to September encompasses the most popular 5 months of getting married. July is number 4, but right in the middle.

Those who were reading the feed, or who have stopped reading by now probably thought this was going to be a post about frugal weddings. I thought of doing that, and I probably will, but this is about the concept of getting married, especially for young people. I’m going to leave my comfort zone and give wedding advice. After all, money isn’t the most important thing in the world. These life events will be with you long after you stop caring about money.

I’m not going to try to talk you out of getting engaged, or getting married. My views on this are very clearly listed HERE, so today I’m talking to those who are on the verge of making this leap and who don’t want to be talked out of it.

Having been married, I can say it is one of the greatest things to be. When I got married, I honestly felt like I was beginning the best part of my life. I still do. But I remember when I was planning to propose to my wife: I made a few mistakes that happened to work out okay in the end.

First—The ring. The ring should cost no more than 2 months salary. Going with the Federal minimum wage, working full time, that comes out to just under $1,800.00. When I bought my wife’s engagement ring, I wasn’t working full time. I spent a lot more than I could afford (at the time), and the polite term for her engagement ring is petite. I made the mistake of financing her ring at a mall jewelry store, and it was—petite. To her credit, she never made a big deal about it, and when I wanted to get a bigger stone (after I could afford more), she wouldn’t let me.

Second—The plan. Guys, this is also for you. This is her wedding, not yours. Little girls wear pillowcases over their heads, pretending to be brides. Guys rarely wear suits pretending to be grooms. So don’t think your opinion really matters when it comes to the plan. She will ask, and the correct answer is always, “Well, honey, what do you think? Oohh, I like that idea!”. Now to translate that into what is probably going through your head, “I don’t care. This is your deal; I’d just as soon go to the courthouse.” You don’t have to say it.

Girls, let me make this easy for you. Your man doesn’t care about the plan. And to be honest, you really don’t care about his opinion here. That’s okay. You don’t have to have his input on things. Give him simple things. My job was the flowers. The flowers rocked!

Third—The honeymoon. This can get dicey. A honeymoon isn’t like a regular vacation. Don’t treat it like one. This is about you two going out in the world as one. Think of somewhere you want to be that you will always remember as the first place you went as a married couple. This is where you want to go. For guys, this is usually less important, because, lets face it, if we had it our way, the only requirements would be good room-service, fluffy pillows, and thick walls. ‘nuff said. While I’m talking about it, don’t expect “anything” to happen on your wedding night. You will both be exhausted, hungry, and possibly a little drunk. You’ll have the rest of your lives.

All of this hinges on the fact that you have been planning, budgeting, and saving for a wedding and being married. If you haven’t done that yet, and you want to get married, start now. Make a plan, do some research, and try to make sure you don’t go into debt. Start your marriage off without owing money. Revise this budget as often as it takes to make sure you have everything the way you want it. Once you’ve laid out the framework, have a good savings, and are truly ready to be married, congratulations! While a lot of people talk about how much being married sucks, I’m not a big fan of that. I think Billy Crystal once said something to the effect of; there is nothing like true love except for a nice BMT, bacon, mutton, tomato, where the mutton is sliced really thin.

To recap:

1. Save longer to buy a better ring, even though she will
probably love whatever ring you give her, because it
symbolizes your love for her at the time. When she
looks back, you want her to still be able to see the
diamond.
2. The woman is way more interested in the wedding
planning. Guys who want to have a happy marriage will
let the women have the wedding they want. Women
need to understand that he’s more interested in you
than any ceremony.
3. Make the first place where you sign Mr. and Mrs. be
memorable.
4. This one is new. Your wedding is the celebration of
what should be one of the happiest days of your life.
Make it a party that you will both enjoy. Don’t worry
about the family so much. Either they have had their
wedding (and the memories that will be with them
forever), or their time will come. Right now, it should
be all about you.
5. While money is infinitely less important than your
wedding and life together, it still has a place at the
table. Be realistic with your expectations. If there is
something you really want to do, but you can’t afford
it, you have two choices: either wait till you can
afford it, or reassess what you want to do. Either way,
do yourself a favor and don’t put yourselves into debt
to get married.

Last week, I wrote about some downsides to using debit cards. This week, I see a bunch of (completely unrelated) posts from other bloggers who are jumping on the “Debit Cards suck” bandwagon. Some of their reasoning makes sense, some of it is a little inaccurate, and some is just funny. I’m not going to name names here, some of these people have earned my respect on many topics, and I don’t see that my disagreement with their analysis of debit cards is worth blasting them publicly. So, if you wrote a post about the downside of debit cards in the last week, I’m probably not talking about you specifically.

Debit cards aren’t all bad. As I said before, I live off my debit card. I prefer cash as a method of making me decide what is really important to me. I like the fact that I can’t go wild and destroy years of hard work.

Some of the arguments I’ve heard include the notion of “double charging” that some PF’ers swear happens to them, the lack of a rewards program with debit cards, and the perceived lack of security that they believe debit cards have vs. traditional credit cards.

Let’s start with the “double charging”. This is just BS. What happens is this: You go to a gas station, for example, and swipe your card to get gas. The machine doesn’t know how much gas you are going to get, the attendant doesn’t know, and in most cases, you don’t know. So the gas station submits an authorization hold on the card. For most places, it’s only a dollar, but depending on the place you go, it may be higher. I’ve heard that some places hold $100.00. The hold is good for a couple days (the time needed to process the correct transaction), and then it goes away. My advice there is to not go to the places that hold $100.00, and to make sure you have enough money in your account before you go spending. Incidentally, the same thing occurs with credit cards, but instead of a debit hold, a credit hold goes on your card.

Some people love them their rewards. They believe that it’s better to use a credit card that offers rewards points, feeling that credit card companies do this for “free”. They think they are getting something over on the credit card companies if they pay off their balance in full when the bill comes in. We all know better. Companies just don’t do things for free. These people are really gambling that everything happens just right. All it takes is one time for a payment to get lost in the mail, and their “free” points wind up costing a lot of money in interest cards.

The most laughable point I’ve heard yet is the issue of security. People cling to this hope of $50.00 liability like that’s some sort of good thing. I have credit cards that say I’m only liable for $50.00 in transactions if my card is lost or stolen. My question is, why should I have to pay $50.00? My banks have an answer: You don’t. Every institution I deal with has a zero liability. My information gets compromised in any way, and I get my money back. Usually, all I have to do is make a phone call, but in the worst case scenario, all I have to do is get a police report (not hard), and sign a form saying I’m disputing the transaction. It’s easier to do this as long as I’m dealing with my money. With a credit card, it’s not my money. It’s the credit card company’s money. So, as a gesture of “good will”, they “limit” my liability to $50.00. When I get the bill, I’m pretty pissed at having to pay $50.00 in charges that aren’t mine, so I don’t make the payment while I appeal to their management. Their management takes their time to respond, meanwhile my $50.00 is generating interest that I’ll eventually have to pay. There’s more to the story. If my debit card is lost or stolen, my banks have hard-coded limits on the amount that can be authorized. I’m limited to the amount they can take from me. I’ll get all the money back, but this way I still have money left over. With a credit card, someone can max out my card. I keep a couple of credit cards for emergency situations, but they don’t do any good if they are maxed out pending an investigation by a credit card company.

Some people also talk about the advantage of paying off their credit card balances each month, and keeping what would be available in a checking account in a high-yield savings account. In their minds, they are not only not paying interest, but they are making a higher rate of return for the 20 or so days that they aren’t using their money. Okay, I guess this works, but it is a pain in the butt. I also don’t like the gamble of that ONE screwed up payment.

Look, we all know there are more important things in life than money. When you play these games with money, you are spending a lot of time and effort on something that really doesn’t matter. Sure, if everything goes right I might make a few dollars, but is it worth it? At the end of the day, it’s your call what currency to use. Make your decision based on personal preferences. Don’t look to me or anybody else to make your decisions for you. Obviously, for me, the ranking is cash, debit, and then credit. For others, it’s cash or nothing, and for others it may be something else. It all boils down to personal responsibility, and a tolerance for risk. How sure are you that nothing will go wrong?