Showing posts with label getting jobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting jobs. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2009
Ramsey Reflections, Part 5
Continuing reflections on Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope...
Takeaway #6: Three Things to Do If You're Losing Hope
1 - Get up! Take action! Get moving!
Don't wait for Congress or the President to rescue you. There's a great place for you to go when you're broke: to work! If you don't have a job, talk to everyone. Think creatively, be proactive.
2 - Don't participate in loser talk!
One survey found that your income will likely be within 10% of your closest friends. Some have "The Spirit of Eeyore" upon them, because they sit around moping with their loser friends.
Read "Who Moved My Cheese?" Our cheese has been moved. We've got to start thinking different. Be a reader. Keep learning.
3 - Learn to Give Again
Give extra during difficult times. If you don't have money, give of your time. Serve the homeless, serve soup at the union mission. Visit someone in a nursing home. The more you give hope, the more hope you'll receive.
Thanks, Dave, for an inspirational, fun-filled, hope-filled evening!
This post by J. Steve Miller, author of Enjoy Your Money: How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It.
Ramsey Reflections, Part 1
Last night I attended Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope. I figured that since some people are looking to me as some kind of money expert, I should be up on an event of this magnitude.
What's the occasion? Why would Ramsey go to all the trouble to do a free telecast and do enough advertising to attract over 1,000,000 people to personally attend at the 6,000 locations? He wasn't announcing a new product. He wasn't running for office. He seemed to just have a passion to do all in his power to snap America out of despondency over the economy. Over the next several blogs, I'll try to summarize my main reflections and takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Don't Allow Bad News to Immobilize You!
Bad news travels through a lightning fast T2 line; good news through snail mail. I've noticed that, even during good times, the news is quick to print how many jobs were lost in any given month, but fail to report that the new jobs created during that month more than made up for the losses. Bad news sells. As a result, everyone is soaking up reports of dismal job markets, retirement funds disappearing, businesses going under. Ramsey example: the stock market went up 20% in recent weeks. How many saw that in the headlines?
Ramsey's fear is that many are immobilized by bad news. So you lose your job or your hours are cut back. Rather than learning new skills to start a new job or beating the bushes to see who's hiring, you sit at home, watch Oprah, and complain to your friends about the dismal market.
The Ramsey remedy? Choose Tigger over Eeyore. Be an optimist instead of a pessimist. Be proactive rather than reactive. If you've just been thrown off a cliff, you've got a choice: either allow your body to bounce along the cliff, or spread your wings and fly. Perhaps you've been thrown out of the nest for a reason. Don't despair! Move on to the next thing.
(More Next Blog)
This post by J. Steve Miller, author of Enjoy Your Money: How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It.
What's the occasion? Why would Ramsey go to all the trouble to do a free telecast and do enough advertising to attract over 1,000,000 people to personally attend at the 6,000 locations? He wasn't announcing a new product. He wasn't running for office. He seemed to just have a passion to do all in his power to snap America out of despondency over the economy. Over the next several blogs, I'll try to summarize my main reflections and takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Don't Allow Bad News to Immobilize You!
Bad news travels through a lightning fast T2 line; good news through snail mail. I've noticed that, even during good times, the news is quick to print how many jobs were lost in any given month, but fail to report that the new jobs created during that month more than made up for the losses. Bad news sells. As a result, everyone is soaking up reports of dismal job markets, retirement funds disappearing, businesses going under. Ramsey example: the stock market went up 20% in recent weeks. How many saw that in the headlines?
Ramsey's fear is that many are immobilized by bad news. So you lose your job or your hours are cut back. Rather than learning new skills to start a new job or beating the bushes to see who's hiring, you sit at home, watch Oprah, and complain to your friends about the dismal market.
The Ramsey remedy? Choose Tigger over Eeyore. Be an optimist instead of a pessimist. Be proactive rather than reactive. If you've just been thrown off a cliff, you've got a choice: either allow your body to bounce along the cliff, or spread your wings and fly. Perhaps you've been thrown out of the nest for a reason. Don't despair! Move on to the next thing.
(More Next Blog)
This post by J. Steve Miller, author of Enjoy Your Money: How to Make It, Save It, Invest It and Give It.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Recent Interview: 5000 Years of Money Experience
In my ongoing interviews (100 people over 50 years of age), I spoke to a lady in L.A. and a man in Atlanta.
L.A. Lady: "Understand Your Investments"
She looked to be about 70 years (I never ask women their age), and she was distraught about her retirement. She normally goes to Mammoth Mountain every year to enjoy the wilderness, but she couldn't go this year. Due to the fall in the stock market, things were too tight.
I asked what she would advise the younger generation about the money and she responded, "Don't fall in love with your investments. I should have sold my stocks earlier this year, but my financial adviser kept telling me to 'stay on course.' As a result, I lost 2/3 of the value of my stock funds. When my son studied my situation, he told me I should sell my stocks to avoid losing more. After all, I could live several years on that money. So I sold."
She was so distraught at her huge loss that she didn't want to think about it. So I refrained from asking her any more questions. But here are my thoughts:
#1 - Since she was so close to retirement, why did she have such a large proportion of her retirement in stocks, seeing that she thought she would need the money soon? My mother's investments (she's well over 70) weren't really affected by the current crash, since she's not invested heavily in stocks.
#2 - She did what "the herd" always seems to do: sell low. When the stock market's this low, Warren Buffett's on a buying frenzy. In general, I don't want to be selling when Buffett's buying.
#3 - People simply must understand their investments. I feel really badly for her. People need to understand that stock funds can go down 2/3 and not bounce back for some time. If you don't want that kind of volatility, don't be in stocks.
Atlanta Man: Just Walk In and Ask People for Jobs
He's 72 years old and driving the shuttle from the Atlanta Airport. His advice to the younger generations:
#1 - Working is better than not working, even if it's at a low-paying job. You can't get ahead while you're not working. Sometimes he worked more than one job, just to see which one turned out better before dumping the worse job.
#2 - If you need a job, just walk up to people and ask them for a job, whether they say they're hiring or not. Employers seem to respect that kind of initiative. If they don't have a job, ask if they know anyone else who's hiring. (This advice jives with studies of those looking for jobs. Advertised job openings are flooded with applicants, making your odds on getting the job slim. Instead, decide what kind of job you want and approach those companies for a job, whether they are hiring or not. Maybe they just lost someone and you're the answer to their prayers. The last thing many companies want to do is to take time off from profitable work to start interviewing scores of people.)
L.A. Lady: "Understand Your Investments"
She looked to be about 70 years (I never ask women their age), and she was distraught about her retirement. She normally goes to Mammoth Mountain every year to enjoy the wilderness, but she couldn't go this year. Due to the fall in the stock market, things were too tight.
I asked what she would advise the younger generation about the money and she responded, "Don't fall in love with your investments. I should have sold my stocks earlier this year, but my financial adviser kept telling me to 'stay on course.' As a result, I lost 2/3 of the value of my stock funds. When my son studied my situation, he told me I should sell my stocks to avoid losing more. After all, I could live several years on that money. So I sold."
She was so distraught at her huge loss that she didn't want to think about it. So I refrained from asking her any more questions. But here are my thoughts:
#1 - Since she was so close to retirement, why did she have such a large proportion of her retirement in stocks, seeing that she thought she would need the money soon? My mother's investments (she's well over 70) weren't really affected by the current crash, since she's not invested heavily in stocks.
#2 - She did what "the herd" always seems to do: sell low. When the stock market's this low, Warren Buffett's on a buying frenzy. In general, I don't want to be selling when Buffett's buying.
#3 - People simply must understand their investments. I feel really badly for her. People need to understand that stock funds can go down 2/3 and not bounce back for some time. If you don't want that kind of volatility, don't be in stocks.
Atlanta Man: Just Walk In and Ask People for Jobs
He's 72 years old and driving the shuttle from the Atlanta Airport. His advice to the younger generations:
#1 - Working is better than not working, even if it's at a low-paying job. You can't get ahead while you're not working. Sometimes he worked more than one job, just to see which one turned out better before dumping the worse job.
#2 - If you need a job, just walk up to people and ask them for a job, whether they say they're hiring or not. Employers seem to respect that kind of initiative. If they don't have a job, ask if they know anyone else who's hiring. (This advice jives with studies of those looking for jobs. Advertised job openings are flooded with applicants, making your odds on getting the job slim. Instead, decide what kind of job you want and approach those companies for a job, whether they are hiring or not. Maybe they just lost someone and you're the answer to their prayers. The last thing many companies want to do is to take time off from profitable work to start interviewing scores of people.)
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