by Elisabeth Donati | Sep 2, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Media Attention, Uncategorized, What you can do
I got an email today and I’m not sure about its origin BUT it is such great advice that I decided to make it today’s blog post.
We often think that we’re not susceptible to things like muggings, car snatchings and purse pickings but you know what? We are and it’s better to prepare for an event and never have it happen than not prepare and wish we had taken the time to do it. Enjoy…and prepare!
ATTORNEY’S ADVICE – NO CHARGE
Not A Joke!! Even If you dislike attorneys..You will love them for these tips.
Loosing your money the hard way
Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company:
1. There seems to be an urban legend that says, Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put ‘PHOTO ID REQUIRED.’ Please note the information sent to me by an alert reader after I posted this…
The not signing of credit cards sounded like a great idea and I was about to send out to our staff here in the library (I tend to be the “go to” person for all things financial since I’m the library accountant). Then I found this on the web which leads me to believe that signing credit cards is actually required by the large credit card companies:
http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters80.html
So, the question is: is this the correct advice to reduce credit card fraud? Should you — or should you not — sign your credit cards? To answer this question, we called the fraud departments at MasterCard, Visa and American Express
All three advised that you definitely SHOULD sign your card. MasterCard told us that this idea — not to sign your card — is an urban legend that sounds sensible, but is not a good idea. American Express warned us that merchants are not supposed to accept your credit cards if they aren’t signed. Visa agreed — in fact, they said that the merchant is instructed to not finish the transaction until you sign your card!
So, not signing your credit card is an example of a very popular urban legend that is false. And we stand by our original advice – sign your credit cards immediately when you receive them.
Also found this: http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/card_present.html?it=Search#anchor_6
And this: http://www.askmrcreditcard.com/creditcardblog/should-you-sign-the-back-of-your-credit-card/
Thanks Wynette for the great catch! You never know exactly what is right or wrong and I love that you helped me clarify this!
2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the ‘For’ line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.
3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have It printed, anyone can get it.
4. Place the contents of your wallet on aphotocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We’ve all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in stealing a Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards..
Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.
But here’s some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:
5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.
6.. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
But here’s what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.)
7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name.
The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit..
By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves’ purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks..
Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if it has been stolen:
1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3.) Trans Union : 1-800-680 7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):
1-800-269-0271
We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.
If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.
by Elisabeth Donati | Aug 21, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Principles, Latest News, Uncategorized
Where did Piss Poor come from?
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery…….if you had to do this to survive you were “Piss Poor”.
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot……they “didn’t have a pot to piss in” & were the lowest of the low.
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell . ….. .. Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!”
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof… Hence the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, “Dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.
(Getting quite an education, aren’t you?)
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, “bring home the bacon.” They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive… So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
And that’s the truth…..Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !
by Elisabeth Donati | Aug 19, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Uncategorized
Yesterday, I had lunch with my BFF, Peggy, at our favorite little hole-in-the-wall Mexican food joint that we’ve frequented for decades (literally) and I made a choice that affected the remaining part of my day and virtually the entire night.
The choice? Having a diet Coke with lunch. You see…we both LOVE diet coke with tons of lime juice squeezed into it and it goes sooo well with the food. (And yes, I KNOW it’s not good for you which is why I rarely make this choice.)
The consequence? Well, I’m not good with caffeine (if you know me, you understand why…I WAKE up ready to go and have never relied on coffee to jumpstart my being). That drink made me physically shake for the rest of the day AND kept me up most of the night.
The Choice
The result of that choice? I am fuzzy and tired today and certainly not at my best.
Choices and Consequences
Most of us make choices every day that have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are positive, sometimes they are negative and sometimes they are inconsequential…i.e., don’t make much of a difference at all.
We make choices about food, drinks, alcohol, activity (to exercise or not), work, relationships, and yes, we make tons of decisions about money; ours and other people’s (credit card companies).
And often, those financial choices have both short term and long term ramifications in our lives, and the lives of others who may be depending on us for their well-being.
We have a Creative Wealth Principle that we teach in our programs that goes like this…
“People aren’t judged by their abilities but by the sum of their choices.”
I do my best to practice being nonjudgmental but, as creatures, the act of judging is inherent in our behavior, and it IS inherent for a very good reason…pure, unadulterated survival.
We must be able to judge healthy from unhealthy, good from bad, safe from dangerous, etc. When we carry those judgments into other aspects of our lives, we suffer.
What Consequences Have To Do With Truth
Consequences point backwards to our choices. Choices point backwards to our thoughts and feelings about situations in our lives; thoughts and feelings ultimately point backwards to our beliefs about everything that life entails. I use the word ‘backwards’ because, in order to evaluate your life, you must ultimately aim to uncover the root of those choices and the root is almost always tied to our deep-seated beliefs.
In the case of money, and the consequences (both good and not so good) of our financial choices, it is invariably our financial beliefs about money that cause us to choose.
Looking back at my choice yesterday to have a diet Coke at lunch with Peggy (and we won’t even talk about why we make poorer choices with others than we’d perhaps do by our lonesome!), the choice came out of my ‘feeling’ to have fun with her and from our history of enjoying the drinks with our food. The ‘feelings’ came from my thoughts that I’d like to really enjoy our lunch together and my ‘thoughts’ came from my belief that often times people have fun when they’re sharing the same sorts of things that might not necessarily be the healthiest for us (I’m NOT alone in this belief by the way! Ice cream anyone? Drink after work?).
The truth in the consequence is that my belief about our friendship can lead to an unhealthy choice on my part. The truth in the consequence of not sleeping well last night tells me that I need to work on that belief. The real truth, though, that I DO know in my heart, is that the enjoyment we have in our lunches together has absolutely nothing to do with what we do or do not drink together or do or do not eat together.
How Consequences Can Help Lead You Home
Let’s go back to the conversation about money choices. We can look at the sum total of consequences essentially as the result that we call ‘our lives.’ If you don’t like the sum of the consequences, it’s going to take a little private investigator work to figure out where the consequences came from.
In other words, this is what you’re going to do…
1) Look at the consequence that occurred from a financial decision you made.
2) Ask yourself what action you took that led you to that consequence.
3) Look at the action and ask yourself what you were feeling right before you made the choice in question.
4) Look at the feeling and remember what you were thinking.
5) Look at the thought and ask yourself what you’d have to believe about money (or whatever it was you made the choice about) in order to have the thoughts you were having.
6) Final CRITICAL step: do the necessary work to change the belief that ultimately led to the consequence you didn’t like.
Final Step is the Most Challenging Step
Realizing that human beings are creatures of habit, you already know that sometimes changing who we are choosing to be can be downright difficult, if not impossible. But you CAN change if you WANT to change badly enough.
I’m going to recommend that you read this book…Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. I’ve mentioned it before and I’m sure I’ll mention it again. It is by far the easiest, simplest, most profoundly life-changing book on financial beliefs that I’ve ever read. Do yourself a favor if you haven’t read it and go get it. If you have read it? Read it again. I read it every year! It’s that important.
OK, it’s your turn. Start looking at your life as consequences to choices and start doing a little inner work. Only when you’re willing to do the inner work will your outer life begin to change.
Let us know how you’re doing and tell us what you think about all of this. We really want to know!
Just something else to think about…
by Elisabeth Donati | Aug 17, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Latest News, Uncategorized
Thanks Alice…(in Wonderland, that is),
Have you ever gotten up in the morning and had 6 impossible thoughts before breakfast, or before getting up, but they weren’t the kinds of thoughts Alice in Wonderland was speaking of?
They were 6 things you thought impossible to fix or 6 situations you thought impossible to get out of. Or even 6 things about life or the world that were impossible to wrap your mind and/or heart around?
I dare say we all have. And I readily admit I do as well…and sometimes often.
Impossible or Just Time For a Change?
Time to cocoon
This morning is a bit contemplative for me, and I know it’s a little different to write contemplative thoughts here instead of classic financial literacy thoughts, but I suppose at 52 I can write about whatever it is I want to write about in my own blog. Isn’t that the whole point of having a blog or three?
I’m at a cross-roads with this financial literacy thing. I know in my heart it’s a good thing. I know that the information that I’ve been honored to create and disseminate has helped you because so often you tell me so. I thank you for that. It has kept me going.
But I’m reaching the end of my journey here in financial education land and I am looking for the right someone to hand it off to.
But before you shake your head in disbelief, let me share myself for a few moments.
First, I have come to realize that I am not in love with business. The business part of business bores me and this is not a good thing. Even my best friend understood this about me when she told my second husband (now my ex-husband), “Just don’t ever let her get bored!”
I am in love with creating and teaching and writing and coming up with ideas. I’m the classic E-Myth Entrepreneur who has more ideas before breakfast than she could ever accomplish in 6 lifetimes, let alone one. I would prefer to spend my days coming up with ideas and teaching than figuring out the budget or the cash flow statement or developing strategies for this and systems for that.
Second, much of what I have done for the past couple of decades has involved sitting in front of this computer. Although I exercise regularly, eat well and stay moderately fit, it is hurting my body to sit now. I must begin to move again and I must begin to move soon.
Third, I realize that turning my financial education programs, products and services into a profit making venture in the ways I envisioned it is going to take a whole lot more time, energy and money than I am willing, wanting, or able, to invest right now. The potential for my financial education creations to make a tremendous, revolutionary impact on the world is huge but it isn’t matched by my desire or ability to make it so anymore.
Lastly, I am in love with empowering others to be responsible for themselves and I love helping others make a name for themselves and get what they want.
For example, in the past year I have helped my boyfriend launch a national business, my ex create a home fitness flooring website, a friend get a product online and a whole lot more. Though I haven’t been paid in dollars, I have been overpaid in the joy it brings me to help others move forward with their projects and to see them succeed.
Empowering Oneself is Often The Most Impossible Thought
I have started asking myself questions as if I were my own coach right now. Questions like…
• What would you like to do now?
• What would give you the most joy?
• What do you need to do to take better care of yourself?
• What would make you want to get up in the morning again?
I’m not getting clear answers yet about what I DO want to do but I AM getting clear answers about what I do NOT want to be doing. Running a financial education empire is creeping over to that NOT want to be doing side of the coaching scorecard.
Quitting vs. Choosing To Stop
In my adult workshops, I teach a section I call, Life’s Cafeteria Line that I learned from Keith Cunningham, an amazingly powerful businessman and coach. The cafeteria line is where we all start out in life (and with our projects) and gradually, as time goes by, action is taken, skills are learned, etc. we make it up to the actual stuff of life that we want: money, traveling, time to play and explore, etc.
The thing about the line is that if you get out of line, you end up going back to the beginning of the line. Some people think this is a bad thing. I think it’s just a thing and though I agree with it in theory, sometimes getting out of line is the best decision for you at the time. Sometimes the best things in life aren’t even IN the cafeteria!
Now, let’s explore this famous, but easily misunderstood quote, “Quitters never win and Winners next quit.” I don’t believe that this is exactly right. Why? Because I know a lot of successful people who (and remember that everyone has their own definition of success for themselves) have made a conscious choice to stop doing something because it either wasn’t working, wasn’t serving them or they just didn’t want to do it anymore. My belief is that this is just fine. After all, it IS your life and if you don’t want to be doing something, by all means, STOP DOING IT!
The Metamorphosis
Where does all of this leave us? You and me and the rest of the people whose challenge it seems to be to empower kids, teens and adults with financial skills and information to thrive in this interesting world we’re born into?
Well, I’m not going anywhere until I find the exact right person or company who can take The Money Game® and Camp Millionaire® on with the passion it needs to cause the paradigm shift I, and many others, believe it’s meant to have in the world.
If you are that person, or know of that person, please send them my way. And yes, I am serious.
The Unwritten Next Chapter
You know that question motivational speakers ask in their seminars often? The one that goes like this…
“What would you do right now if you knew you couldn’t fail?”
Well, the idea of failing has never caused me much angst. Failing has never been a bad thing to me, and that’s a good thing I have found over the decades. This has allowed me to take on things that, as Jacob Glass says, ‘don’t work out on paper’. Jacob ‘gives himself a good talking to’ every month in Santa Barbara and many of us pay to listen to his profound and funny take on life.
So, it is time for my own personification of Absalom. I’m starting to climb into my own cocoon and discover what’s next for myself. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
As always, just something to think about…
by Elisabeth Donati | Aug 16, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Media Attention, Uncategorized
You know how one person can make your day? Well, this morning at Creative Wealth we got a great letter from Steve. Steve purchased The Money Game® a while back and just used it to teach 21 kids and teens this past weekend and he took the time to send us this great email on how it went (it went GREAT!).
I thought you might enjoy reading his letter…we sure did!
——————————-
We had a great time playing the game the week before last week Thursday and Friday and there were 21 young people (9-17) and 4 adults who attended. 11 boys and 10 girls. All the adults were women.
I had them preregister at church the week before, and when they signed in they got a t-shirt with a logo. It was a surprise (I had my two daughters estimate the t-shirt sizes for the participants). White for small and goldenrod for the other sizes. Attached is a picture. Everyone got an around the neck name tag and we decorated it with small motivational stickers and had the recipient write their own name.
The icebreaker you sent came just at the right time and they had a blast with it. I chose a piano piece by George Gershwin as the music and it was fine. I think the title is Maple Rag.
It appears that the younger boys have a shorter attention span than the girls so I adjusted to address it the next evening (gave a little more attention and assigned older kids to assist).
We closed out the money game and the next day presented them with their “Diploma’s”. They were so excited. We will do it over more days next year.
Thanks for all your help we all had a blast. The adults got the report and are eager for their turn. The adult money school is scheduled for September 19.
I really appreciate all your help and for creating the game. I want to attend the Train the Trainer later in the year.
Regards, Steve
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Looking for the best way to teach financial education to kids, teens and adults?
Check out The Money Game®
by Elisabeth Donati | Aug 12, 2010 | Financial Literacy, Uncategorized
When it comes right down to basics, life at it’s core it simply about survival. Oh, we want it to mean so much more, but it really isn’t any more complicated that eating, drinking, breathing and staying alive.
So, why is it that the basic life skills we need to survive, and I might add ‘thrive’, are rarely taught in schools?
Why does it take a pack of legislators or silly committees to mandate that financial literacy programs be taught in schools? It seems so obvious to everyone I talk to!
Why are our children required to memorize information that they: 1) don’t have a clue why they are learning, and 2) will rarely have need for when they are off on life’s big adventure all on their own?
This is one of life’s biggest conundrums to me…why the very things we need to survive are mostly left up to us to learn by accident, trial and error, or being passed on from parents or guardians if we’re luck.
THE NEW MATH PARADIGM – Learn Math through Money instead of the other way around?
Teaching Math Through Money
In other words, what if we taught adding and subtracting and dividing and percentages and all the rest of the math functions that are related to money by talking about the money first and the math simply becomes the way we handle our money. This way the math is relevant to the students…they understand WHY they are learning the math!
Once you get past the basics, you introduce spread sheets and stock earning evaluations and the myriad of mathematical equations that are required to look at money in business.
One of the most effective ways to teach math to young children is through money because money provides manipulatives that enable children to visualize quantities associated with the abstract representation of numbers. Needless to say, learning math through counting money has practical application and can be highly motivating as well.
NOW we’re talking MATH!
So, the next time your son or daughter comes to you with a math problem, turn it into a money problem instead and see how quickly they ‘get it’ once it’s relevant to their lives.
Just something to think about…
