A lot of stuff going on in the news lately. Some of it has been baked into the pie for years. For example, BofA, not a favorite of mine for several reasons, has decided to add a $5.00 monthly fee for checking accounts with debit card usage. I talked about the probability of this happening almost three years ago to the date, HERE. In a nutshell, Walmart and other large companies were being charged $.44 for the ability to accept card-based payment. This ability benefitted them greatly, but they didn’t like the fee that they had to pay the banks for these benefits. They lobbied a liberal Congress and appealed to the growing hatred of all things banking to make this fee go away. Elizabeth Warren, Senate candidate and populist firebrand also believed that these fees were wrong, and targeted them in her Consumer “Protection” …thing that has less to do with protection of consumers and more to do with screwing business. But this post isn’t about that—totally.
The BofA thing is enough to piss people off all by itself. Maybe enough for some youthful ne’er-do-well to say, “Screw this, I’m gonna make my voice heard and attack the people responsible!” I might be with you on that. I might take a trip with you to Illinois to pound on the office door of Mr. Durbin. I would easily back your play to go to your local Senator and give them a piece of your mind. Hell, I might go to Harvard or wherever Mz. Warren is housing her Senatorial bid from. Any and all of these would be wise choices, as would (obviously) protesting against Walmart, 7-11, and BofA. But you know where it doesn’t make sense to protest? Wall St. Any of the other number of places holding “Occupy _____” protests (every time I see the word “occupy”, I always think of a port-a-potty or other public restroom, but that’s beside the point). The young people are definitely hitting a target, but the target they are hitting isn’t the one that caused the damage.
This is a large-scale version of hitting the wrong target, but people do it in their everyday lives as well. It’s the fat guy who decides to cut out eating green food. Easy target, nobody likes green food, but it won’t help him (as a side note, I eat a decent salad every weekday, and twice on Tuesdays). It’s the young person with the femur sticking through their nose getting pissed off that there aren’t enough good jobs for young people. These are all funny enough, but sometimes it isn’t funny or even that out of the ordinary.
I know people who do the “extreme couponing” thing, and they save money on items they will either genuinely use or are planning on donating for a good cause. I got no problem with them, as long as I’m not sitting behind them in line at the grocery store. If you are doing something healthy and beneficial for you and your family, bless you for it. But some people go overboard. On the show, “Extreme Couponing” there are people who really have a sickness. Many of the people on this show will talk about how they are doing it for financial reasons. Many will talk about past events where they were deep in debt or facing foreclosure or bankruptcy. They found that they were able to significantly reduce their grocery bills. Their stories are no different than many others who aren’t on TV. So what do these people do next? Of course, they join collectives, buy tons of newspapers for the circular inserts, some even resort to dumpster diving or worse, outright theft. They are able to get a lot of groceries for a little money, but at what cost? How much time is spent saving cents instead of making sense?
Whenever you face a problem where you need to find a target to hit, look critically at it.
1. Will hitting this target solve a problem, or will it make me feel better about myself? Both are valid goals. Sometimes we need to take the “W” because we haven’t had one in a while. You need to be honest with yourself if this is the case. Eventually, if you keep aiming for the wrong targets, regardless of whether or not you hit them, your problems start becoming bigger than they were.
2. Is the target that I need to hit within reach? Sometimes problems are too big and too far away to deal with directly. Sometimes, you have to attack them in a progression from other directions.
3. Am I even able to see the target I need to hit? We all do it. Nobody is an expert on all things. We see a problem and we attack it like we are supposed to, but what if we can’t even see a problem? Every once in a while, you need to step back and decide if you are missing a problem that you shouldn’t. Maybe this means having a deep conversation with a loved one. Maybe it means going into a temporary isolation from people who tell you how great you are all the time. I mean, really! If you were as awesome as everybody says you are, you wouldn’t need to read F4Y! And you DO need to read F4Y.
4. Why am I aiming for THIS target now? Again, we all do it. We know something is wrong, but we don’t want to deal with that PARTICULAR issue right now. So we find something else that IS a problem that needs to be dealt with. Take caution here, because eventually you will run out of other problems to target.
Sometimes just hitting any target takes a lot of talent and skill. When you hit those targets, you deserve for someone to tell you, “Nice shot, man”. I prefer to hear it from Filter. Enjoy!
This week, I was working with a middle school class and I was asked what my opinion was of “The Weiner Thing”. Okay, I’ll admit that my first instinct was to make inappropriate jokes that were at the level of the student asking me. My second instinct was to make another, even worse, joke. I think my exact words were something along the lines of “I love it. I carry it with me all the time.” I told you, these are my first instincts. Eventually, I came around to answering the very serious and encouraging question asked by a student who hasn’t demonstrated (up till now) an engagement with current events. I’m posting a response more for the parents who might have questions to answer from kids who hear or see news (mostly accidentally), or who are force-fed a line by the government school system (it happens way more than you want to believe).
First, let’s get straight what this post isn’t about. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Conservative, based mostly on economic positions. On a personal level, I don’t like Anthony Weiner because I disagree with his politics. I’m not terribly interested in this subject. All that being said, the “Weiner Thing” is really about two separate and wholly unequal issues. One is incidental, and one is very important. Let’s start with the former.
The Facts:
-Congressman Anthony Weiner has, by his own admission, sent what are considered to be inappropriate pictures of himself to Twitter Followers.
-He has done this both before and after his marriage.
-He accidentally broadcast a picture of his junk in underwear through Twitter.
Those are the facts of the issue that are not important. See, Weiner is an adult. If he wants to display his shortcomings to the world via Twitter, FaceBook, or a Billboard in New York, this is his right and prerogative to do so. Weiner would like to leave this post at that, but then there is the little problem of the second issue, which is important.
Some More Facts:
-Congressman Weiner is one of 500+ people who make the rules of the Country. He should be held to a standard of ethical behavior and honesty.
-He repeatedly lied about what isn’t really that big a deal.
-(Pardon the pun) He was a real dick in the way he dealt with the media.
-He didn’t know the people he sent the pictures to.
This is important to young people because aside from the jokes and the overly jaded political ideologues out there, young people are told that they should trust those in authority. They should be able to look up to “officials”, and emulate their behavior. At the very least, they should believe that those in authority are smart enough to know that you shouldn’t send pictures of your junk to strangers, and especially not to people who may be under-aged.
Further, the Weiner debacle serves as a cautionary tale against arrogance. He might be destroying his career because of the way he approached the media, first in his lie, and later in his arrogance.
When further asked if I thought Weiner should be fired or jailed, here are my thoughts on that. I live in California, not New York. I’m never going to be in a position where Anthony Weiner will be on my ballot. His behavior certainly will have repercussions with his wife, the House of Representatives, and with his constituents in New York, my involvement ends at helping young people to learn to avoid the mistakes that Weiner made.
I’m not a Beatles fan. I’ve said that before, and I’ll probably say it again. Sometimes, though– there just isn’t a better way to express what is going on in the world.
Here’s the gist. Cody Alecia flies a flag on his bike when he rides back and forth between school and home. The school district tells him to take off the flag. I wrote about a similar situation back in May, dealing with the students at Live Oak High School. Click HERE to re-read that story. My take back then was that these kids were trying to piss people off, but they were within their rights to do so. My take on young Mr. Alecia is that this is a kid that is doing what he believes is right, and he is doing it in the exact right way.
I’ve told you for years now that you need to stand up for what is right and not allow people (adults) to sit you down and shut you up. This young man may not have ever heard of or read Finance For Youth, but based on all the stories that have been in the news about him, he certainly follows the QUALITIES OF SUCCESS that I’ve been talking about for a few years now.
That’s all well and good, but the surprising thing is that this was in the news. Young people express themselves. Some do it in a positive way. Others do so in a less positive way. The problem is that we adults have forgotten that there is a difference.
House Ways and Means committee. You know, the group that writes the tax laws? Charles Rangel used to be in charge of that group. Charles Rangel has been a Congressman from New York for 40 some years, and has recently won reelection by a wide margin. Charles Rangel has been found guilty of 11 charges that he broke the House ethics rules by doing things like:
Asking for money for a personal project from people who were asking for things from Congress.
In other words, let’s say you work for Walmart. I come in and ask for an item. The item is in the warehouse, but not yet on the sales floor. While we are walking towards the area where the item should be, you and I start chatting. You mention that you need to buy a new car because you have to take your mother to her dialysis treatments and to get her medicine. I give you money to help you. Right after, you go to the back and get the item I came in for. Is there anything wrong here? Maybe. Wrong enough that there is a rule against it.
Using House of Representative stationary to write letters asking for money for Rangel’s center.
If Charlie Rangel asks for money on a regular piece of paper, then its just a guy asking for money. When he does so using the company stationary, it sounds like the House of Representatives is asking for money. I can say no to some guy. I think twice about saying no to a big group.
I pay Charlie Rangel’s staff. I want them doing Congressional things, not writing letters asking for money for his personal ego center.
Failure to accurately report financial reports.
The guy had a house in the Dominican Republic. He didn’t pay taxes on it.
He had several rent-controlled apartments that he used as campaign headquarters.
Rent control means that there is a limit as to how much rent can be charged. This program is designed to allow people who couldn’t ordinarily live in a neighborhood because of the price to move in. Charlie Rangel has enough money that he shouldn’t even qualify for the program, yet here we are.
You can read all of the charges in their entirety HERE:In addition to violating many of the aforementioned QUALITIES OF SUCCESS, Rangel has acted with great dirtbaggery. He’s one of those that I had in mind when I recently warned you to be careful of who you follow. Here’s the very worst part of it all. Charlie said he never did anything to enrich himself. He said he might be considered stupid, sloppy, or any number of other things, but not corrupt. He was in charge of the group that writes the tax laws! He cheated on his taxes! He is stupid but not corrupt? That is too much.
And though the news was rather sad, I just had to laugh…,
I didn’t set a link for this one because there are so many links with differing points of view that I don’t want to pick one over the other. Let’s just boil it down.
In 2001 and again in 2003, former President George W. Bush cut the amount of federal income taxes. The congress at the time wouldn’t do it unless the cuts were deemed to be temporary, expiring NOW! Nobody knew we’d be in the early stages of the greater depression at the time. Everybody believed that happy times would be here again.
Fast forward to today and the outgoing Democrat Congress wants to make permanent the current tax rates. For everybody except those who do most of the hiring and already pay most of the taxes. They cloak their desires in words like “middle-class tax cuts” and “protect 98% of the tax payers”. Here’s the fact. As I said in an earlier POSTit is your money. What the government employees don’t understand is that it isn’t their money. What they are talking about isn’t resetting the tax rates to the way they were when Clinton was in office. They are talking about raising taxes on people who pay more taxes than anybody else. I’m not rich, and I don’t even want to be rich, but I don’t begrudge those who have put in the hard work to become so the fruits of their labor.
What does it all mean?
There are other huge news stories, but I just couldn’t rehash all of them today. I mean, I could but doing so would only serve to depress me more. I don’t always like being right about this stuff. I really don’t even like being able to sit back and see how all these pieces fit together, but here we are.
For you, there are some things that you should consider doing as well.
Educate yourself. Sure, read F4Y, but then jump online to do some fact-checking. I’m not going to tell you that I am the only answer out there. I’m not even telling you that I’m the best answer. If you read something that you think smells fishy, if you are like my friend here, eat it. If not, verify it.
But don’t stop with F4Y. Go out and learn what’s going on in the world. I generally don’t cover news stories. I don’t do so for a reason. There are a bunch of websites out there that do cover the news. I follow a bunch of them, so should you.
Understand that EVERYBODY has a point of view or bias. I’m admitting mine, but there are many “news companies” out there tat are far less forthcoming.
Get out! Get out and meet with others. Talk with them. Argue and disagree with them.
Disagree without being a dick. Some of the most fun I have on Facebook comes from heated debates I have with people. We disagree on almost every issue, but we can still find humor in life.
As much as I hate to admit it, I want you to turn off your computer and go meet real people.
We have compartmentalized ourselves, separating ourselves from each other by using “social” media (Facebook, MySpace, et al), iPods with ear buds, Nintendo DSi, or anything else designed for individual usage. I’ve already mentioned one way that I use social media to be, you know- social.
Given the tenor of this post, I’m afraid there is only one song I can end this post with. The problem is that dislike of the Beatles won’t allow me to post one of their videos. I’d like to thank the band Phish for allowing me to keep to my personal morals.
In the near corner, wearing green trunks with a white stripe, weighing in at $158 million dollars is DOWNEY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION. DFCU was founded in 1957 and serves 13000 of the people who live, work, worship, or go to school in Downey, California; and immediate relations of current members.
In the far corner, wearing a Superman shirt and black cargo shorts, weighing in at $.16, the Willer from Manilla (envelopes), the Fighter for Finance education, both the Wil and the way– WIL STANTON of FINANCE FOR YOUTH.
We wanted Editor Eric Pierce of the Downey Patriot to act as an impartial referee, but Mr. Pierce is apparently too busy working the city desk of said newspapers to even respond to calls. So, given that I’m a fair guy and this is my website, I’ll be acting as referee. Don’t worry, I’ll be fair.
Friends, you all remember when I finally completed FINANCE FOR YOUTH: THE BOOK (which you can get from LULU.COMfor 25% off retail price for the month of October in celebration of my birthday). Well, I put out a press release that was slightly edited and printed in the aforementioned Downey Patriot. This is the text as it appears on the Downey Patriot:
DOWNEY – Wil Stanton, a Downey resident and substitute teacher in Orange County, used to work in finance, helping young people learn the basics that weren’t being taught in schools.
After years of trying to manage the unrealistic expectations of young people who didn’t have the resources to help them become financially literate, Stanton gave up. Leaving banking, he became a teacher in order to verify that his worst fear was true: teens are not given adequate tools to help them learn about financial basics.
Stanton’s new book, “Finance For Youth: The Book,” brings important topics like finding a job and buying a car to young people “in their own language.”
“The government regulates interest rates, loan eligibility and almost every other facet of personal finance, but when it comes to teaching future generations – they get some cheerleader from the local bank,” Stanton said. “It’s no surprise that all of their answers start and end with people having to go into the branch for more information.”
Stanton’s book is available on Lulu.com.
**********
Published: September 2, 2010 – Volume 9 – Issue 20
That’s all of it. so far, not much of a fight. In fact, nothing here can be debated as untrue as far as I know. However, sitting in a darkened office, apparently lacking anything else better to do, management of DFCU reads this minor piece and panics. There is no way that someone can write a book that helps families deal with financial issues because it interferes with our seminars. (I’ll be honest here, I don’t know this is the case. I’m just trying to figure out any scenario where this press release warrants personal attention from a credit union. If I’m getting it wrong, someone correct me.) and besides, didn’t Wil used to work here? How dare he get out and beome successful? Release the machine (well, the marketing machine of DFCU which boils down to Ms. Marianne Noss)!
The machine (Ms. Noss) quickly fires back a response in the form of a letter to the editor (well, when I say quickly, I mean like over a month later) to defend the honor of the besmirched credit union (how they were besmirched when nobody has even heard of Downey Federal Credit Union and there never was any mention of Downey Federal Credit Union in the story baffles me, but there you have it). Here is her response.
Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to Wil Stanton’s financial literacy activities and new book “Finance for Youth: the Book” appearing in the Sep. 2, 2010 issue of The Downey Patriot.
His new book details financial information for teens who want to buy a new car or look for a new job. Wil claims that the government regulates facets of personal finance, such as interest rates and loan eligibility, but does not teach future generations. He states, “…they get some cheerleader from the local bank. And that is why all of their answers start with people having to go into the branch for more information.”
First, the basic principle of credit unions is that they exist for the well being of the members and potential members they serve. One activity that credit unions do very well is to educate members about financial matters to help them become more financially literate.
Serving Downey for over 50 years, Downey Federal Credit Union is no exception to the distribution of financial information. In addition to providing free financial workshops on a variety of topics such as identity theft, credit scores, and budgeting, DFCU has created a position at the credit union dedicated to educating school-aged children in the Downey schools, and community members at large. This is NOT a “cheerleader” position. The person who teaches the classes is our Community Education and Development Representative, Kari Johnson, an employee who is knowledgeable and who provides financial education on a practical level. She has made well over 100 presentations to classes and community groups over the last two years.
Elementary school children learn about saving, spending, and sharing their money. Middle school children learn about the true cost of spending habits and basic budgeting skills. From interactive assemblies and films, the students learn realistic money habits. For teens, Ms. Johnson has taught many classes at Downey and Warren High Schools, going over basic financial facts such as the difference between a debit and a credit card, how to obtain credit, how to write a check, and how to reconcile a checkbook. Students have learned basic financial literacy in these interactive workshops.
Downey Federal Credit Union also sponsors a program entitled: “Making the Right Money Moves” for teachers. The teaching materials, the instructor’s guide, and the student workbook are all provided by DFCU. Teachers can use the guided curriculum in their classrooms to teach high school students how to manage their money, whether they are working or not. This knowledge will enable any teen to manage their finances once they finish school, go on to college or enter the workforce. As an added bonus, the character traits of Responsibility and Citizenship from the “Character Counts!” program can be incorporated into financial literacy education.
At Downey Federal Credit Union, we encourage people to come into the branch to find out more about our products and services. Our tag line, “Count On Us Through All Stages Of Life,” promotes the openness we have towards community members of all ages to grow with the credit union. We want people to become more financially literate whether they are an elementary school, middle school, or teen student; an adult, or a senior citizen. And, credit unions, such as DFCU, do indeed teach future generations.
Furthermore, teaching future generations is an ongoing process, with people starting at a young age, and moving towards senior citizens. At DFCU, we take pride in providing financial education of all types to improve financial literacy. Although we provide financial education to students and community members at large, we realize that people learn at their own pace over time. One book may not have the ability to provide a competent level of financial literacy in our environment today.
In summary, DFCU is doing its part in Downey to provide the much-needed financial education teens and all age groups need to be financially educated. Financial education is one of our initiatives, and we will continue to carry it forward.
— Marianne Noss,
Marketing Manager
Downey Federal Credit Union
**********
Published: October 7, 2010 – Volume 9 – Issue 25
Ding! Wow! A knock-out blow from Downey Federal. Wil’s still standing, but what a round! But wait a minute. They didn’t seem to disagree with Wil. They seem to be saying, “Well, yes, he’s right about everything he is saying, but we are doing something completely unrelated.” But then they do something interesting. For some reason, they mention Kari Johnson. For those who don’t remember who Kari Johnson is, Finance For Youth was one of several sponsors for Ms. Johnson’s run for Miss California back in 2007. Ms. Johnson is a friend of mine. Why she was ever brought into this fray, I will never understand.
Round One Recap: Downey Federal Credit Union came out swinging, but the only one hit was one of their own. They attacked before the bell rang and hit one of their best assets. Round One goes to FINANCE FOR YOUTH:
This time it’s my turn. First, several friends and friends I haven’t met yet have commented on the online version of the Downey Patriot. Their comments all mention that DFCU is acting in a manner that is self-serving and petty. I appreciate their work.
I submitted a letter in rebuttal to the Downey Patriot. I feel that it is only fair that given the tone and tenor of the attack from Downey Federal Credit Union, and given that they are a multi million dollar company while I am teacher who doesn’t know what classroom I’ll be working in from day-to-day, that I have the opportunity to respond in kind. My letter was not printed in this week’s edition.
I’ve made several calls to Mr. Eric Pierce the editor of the Downey Patriot, as well as Jennifer DeKay-Givens, the publisher. These calls have inexplicably been unanswered and no response to the simple question of why has been provided. One can only assume that Downey FCU pays more in advertising than I do so they get the bully pulpit of the Downey Patriot.
I have made a response on their online version:
SAVE THE CHEERLEADER…,
Apparently it is the policy of the Downey Patriot to allow local businesses to make personal attacks against citizens without allowing a fair opportunity for rebuttal. I called Editor Eric Pierce for clarification on this policy, but received no response. This is troubling, but not enough to stop me from responding to the irresponsible letter from October 7, 2010.
I feel the need to respond to the blindside attack from Marianne and her financial institution. I mean, wow! Reaching much? Way to snatch an event from the jaws of nothingness. For the record, I know Marianne and I know Kari. In fact, I believed we were all friends during the two years that we worked together. Also for the record, when I’m talking about cheerleaders, I don’t think of Kari. I think of Kari like a little sister, and I am appalled that her company would throw her under the bus and try to garner a little free publicity as they have done. Either Marianne acted alone or under direction of her executive management. I don’t know for a fact which is correct, and frankly I don’t care. I think the membership of this financial institution and the community should demand that CEO Barbara Lamberth publicly apologize to Kari for making her the focus of this distasteful swipe.
Now, as to the “substance” to Marianne’s letter, I can see that it is obvious that she hasn’t read FINANCE FOR YOUTH: THE BOOK (available from Amazon.com, on sale for a limited time from Lulu.com, or at WWW.FINANCE4YOUTH.COM). If she had, she would know that I don’t attack credit unions or banks. I present both options as viable for young peoples’ financial needs. It is equally obvious that my criticism struck a nerve that the institution felt a need to address. I’m glad that they do seminars. Seminars serve as one more tool to help people gain financial literacy. But to say that a seminar sponsored by a financial institution is equivalent to financial education is like saying that playing Grand Theft Auto is equivalent to Driver’s Education.
The real issue is that even today, only four states require at least one semester of financial education for high school students, and California isn’t on that list. The real issue is that as much as 75% of young adults lack the skills to make beneficial financial decisions according to the Jump$tart Coalition, a leading financial education advocacy group. Instead of gunning for a teacher about what is and what isn’t education, they should join me in advocating that California makes age-appropriate financial education throughout the K-12 system mandatory.
Finally, Marianne says her company has been in existence for over 50 years and cares that the membership grows with the credit union. I’m glad they want the members to do well. So do I. Of course I want people to do well no matter where they bank.
Sincerely,
William J. Stanton
Finance For Youth
Next, I want to bring FINANCE FOR YOUTH: THE BOOK to financial institutions. Unlike the management team of Downey’s Credit Union, I don’t feel like I’m in competition with them. I believe we all have an important job to do and I welcome any help that gets families talking about finance and learning.
I don’t know how this round will end yet, nor do I know who will end up being the winner of the whole match. I’m just a referee, you are the judges.
Because this whole situation is strange to me, and because of the whole fight thing, I can think of only one video worthy of closing this post. Please enjoy!
Okay, before we get started I would like you to watch this commercial and pay attention to what the actors say.
Got that? Need to watch it again? Good.
When I saw that commercial, I had some thoughts. My first thought was, “Those are some nice looking cars.” See, I drive a Hyundai Sonata. Before that, I drove a Hyundai Elantra. I bought the first one because it was the most car I could get for what I could afford. I bought the second one because I believe that Hyundais are the absolute best car in their category.
In my experience, my car drives better than Toyotas or Hondas (this will piss Consumer Reports off because they are bought and paid for by Toyota, and have been for years). For less money than either of the other cars, I was able to get more car. What’s not to love?
Then, I saw what happened at the 23 second mark. My jaw hit the floor! Of course, seeing that my face is kind of all one piece, the rest of me his the floor as well. I don’t know if it shows in this picture, but I was dumbfounded.
The part that offends me so much is where the one couple says something to the effect of ,
“I feel so lame for paying the money on a Mercedes.”
Really, Hyundai? You’re going to compare your cars to fricken Mercedes-Benz?!?!?! Once again, let me state: I love Hyundai. I will most likely buy another one when I’m done with this one. But really?
The problem is, Hyundai has sucked in the past. When it first came to America, it was a crappy, crappy car. It got better. They are great for what they are. Compared with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, even some American models out there, Hyundai holds its own and surpasses most IMHO.
By using that quote, Hyundai is way over-hyping their situation.
President Obama does this as well. He’s about to sign a bill that will make it materially more difficult to fix the problems that got us into the current economic situation. He has repeatedly said that we are either out or coming out of one of the “worst financial collapse in modern memory”. Again, he’s over-hyping here. First, we’re not coming out of it yet. We won’t come out of it until we change and stop engaging in behavior that got us into it in the first place. Second, if the past administration and the current one hadn’t gone spend-crazy, this would have turned out to be a lot less devastating than it has so far.
Right now, some people have made adjustments to their own lives that have allowed them to do better, by degrees, that they might have been last year. That’s great! But your struggle isn’t over yet. Sadly, there is a lot of hurt still to come before this ends. I caution those people against letting their guard down and thinking that the worst is behind them.
Of course, I can’t fault you for wanting to do something that takes your mind off all the struggle you’ve gone through so far. I’m planning a short vacation with some of my wife’s family. Last time I went on vacation, was a family vacation with my wife’s family to Disney World in Florida. Not a big deal, except we live closer to Disneyland in California (as in I can sometimes hear fireworks). That was about 3 or 4 years ago (I think– it’s been a while!), and I know my wife and I are ready for some time off. We’re still being cautious. We aren’t making any major purchases for a while, but we feel we can handle something small. It will remind us of what we are saving and sacrificing for.
Let’s face it, we are fighting for a decent life. We are fighting for our rights as Americans.
example, BofA, not a favorite of mine for several reasons, has decided to add a $5.00 monthly fee for checking accounts with debit card usage. I talked about the probability of this happening almost three years ago to the date, HERE. In a nutshell, Walmart and other large companies were being charged $.44 for the ability to accept card-based payment. 
This ability benefitted them greatly, but they didn’t like the fee that they had to pay the banks for these benefits. They lobbied a liberal Congress and appealed to the growing hatred of all things banking to make this fee go away. Elizabeth Warren, Senate candidate and populist firebrand also believed that these fees were wrong, and targeted them in her Consumer “Protection” …thing that has less to do with protection of consumers and more to do with screwing business. But this post isn’t about that—totally.
The BofA thing is enough to piss people off all by itself. Maybe enough for some youthful ne’er-do-well to say, “Screw this, I’m gonna make my voice heard and attack the people responsible!” I might be with you on that. I might take a trip with you to Illinois to pound on the office door of Mr. Durbin. I would easily back your play to go to your local Senator and give them a piece of your mind. Hell, I might go to Harvard or wherever Mz. Warren is housing her Senatorial bid from. Any and all of these would be wise choices, as would (obviously) protesting against Walmart, 7-11, and BofA. But you know where it doesn’t make sense to protest? Wall St. Any of the other number of places holding “Occupy _____” protests (every time I see the word “occupy”, I always think of a port-a-potty or other public restroom, but that’s beside the point). The young people are definitely hitting a target, but the target they are hitting isn’t the one that caused the damage.
district tells him to take off the flag. I wrote about a similar situation back in May, dealing with the students at 
bias. I’m admitting mine, but there are many “news companies” out there tat are far less forthcoming.
dollars is 
Of course, seeing that my face is kind of all one piece, the rest of me his the floor as well. I don’t know if it shows in this picture, but I was dumbfounded.
Finance For Youth: The Blog 