Money For Dummy's is a consultation & educational service. When it comes to money, I can safely say that we have all done dumb things, but now It's Time To Smarten Up!
Are you ....
- Adrift financially, with no clear goals or realistic budget
- Unable to understand or communicate financial matters
- Worried about the amount of debt you are carrying
- Consistently having trouble making ends meet
- Wanting a unbiased opinion
- Feeling your public school financial education was lacking
Then you will benefit from a consultation with Money For Dummy's.
Our training is based on common sense principals, what I call The Foundations (a base set of fundamentals). Our Foundations are in need of constant attention & that is where we start. We teach you to live on less money than you make & invest the difference. We educate you to reduce risk by reducing and eliminating debt. We help you increase your pay or profit (if a business) thru risk control & education. Together we'll build a plan for the future, establishing measurable results, and necessary plan corrections.
Money For Dummy's works on a business, individual or family basis.
All conversations with Money For Dummy's are totally confidential. The process is simple. We start with your current assets and liabilities (your net worth), help you analyze where you are in regards to where you want to be and develop a plan that will start you on your way to a brighter future. As changes occur in your life, we help you reanalyze & adapt your plan. We'll help you set up success measurement tools. So if you are ready to make a better life, to reduce your debt and/or be debt free, we are ready to help. Once you set up your initial consultation, we send you a couple of easy forms so that you can collect and organize the data we will need to develop your personal plan. This can be done in person (in your kitchen or ours) or electronically (internet, etc). Then, as needed, we reanalyze & adapt your plan. You can contact us as needed.
Money For Dummy's works on a business, individual or family basis.
All conversations with Money For Dummy's are totally confidential. The process is simple. We start with your current assets and liabilities (your net worth), help you analyze where you are in regards to where you want to be and develop a plan that will start you on your way to a brighter future. As changes occur in your life, we help you reanalyze & adapt your plan. We'll help you set up success measurement tools. So if you are ready to make a better life, to reduce your debt and/or be debt free, we are ready to help. Once you set up your initial consultation, we send you a couple of easy forms so that you can collect and organize the data we will need to develop your personal plan. This can be done in person (in your kitchen or ours) or electronically (internet, etc). Then, as needed, we reanalyze & adapt your plan. You can contact us as needed.
Ask about our introductory special!
Money For Dummy's is available in the mid-Maine area for face to face consultation and via the internet world wide. Camden, Rockland, Waldoboro, & Augusta are within a 1/2 hour drive.
Contact Dave Bartlett at davebartlett@pivot.net
Contact Dave Bartlett at davebartlett@pivot.net
Legal, financial, marital, family, estate planning, psychological therapy, and behavioral science
Think About It:
Keeping up with the Jones - We are too concerned with what our neighbor does or doesn't have. Somehow we have gotten into the notion that we are in some type of competition with them and that we have to win no matter what. The competition in of itself is not an issue. After all, it is competition that drives us to make a better product or do better work. Ultimately the community gets a better product and we feel accomplished. It's the "no matter what" that gets us into trouble. It's the "no matter what" that may lead us to do something that we will not feel good about. I can borrow $50,000 to buy better landscaping than my neighbor, but will I really feel good about it?
We also have to be conscious of the emotions of jealousy & envy. It's important to make the distinction between desiring something someone else has (jealousy), and desiring to deprive someone of something which they perceive themselves as lacking (envy). Christian teachings label envy as one of the seven deadly (cardinal) sins, because of its disruptive nature on community.
The lesson in all this -- although we must strive hard to better ourselves (within our means), we need not think that we must deprive our neighbor while doing so.
Freedom - On the "foundation" page earlier, I spoke of the fathers of our nation writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the foundations of the freedom that all Americans enjoy. Although many choose to ignore it, our freedom has always been under attack from within. Our elected officials are constantly writing laws (in the belief that they are making life better for Americans). Most all laws now passed are intended to help different segments of America (instead of our nation as a whole) and in so doing weaken the basis the Declaration of Independence and Constitution was written on. They segment America.
Be responsible for ourselves - Social Security and myriad of social programs all have one thing in common. They try to assist people who cannot or will not help themselves. First of all we need to clarify what help is. To some help is giving a hungry man a fish to eat, to others it is teaching the man to fish. Many of our social programs are just giving a man a fish to eat. It's help, but not the best help.
Social Security was created in 1935. The initial tax rate was 2.0% of the first $3,000 of the employee's earnings, shared equally between the employee and the employer. The employee contributed 1% and the employer 1%. It started paying out money immediately (even to those who contributed nothing). Although initially set up to spur a stagnant 1930's economy, it has since been the primary retirement of many retirees. Why should I set aside money for retirement if the government is going to give it to me? became the thinking of many Americans.
The same thinking permeates most of our social programs, many of which have gone on for so long that they have become generational (passing from generation to generation). How many have heard the expression "I can't afford to get off food stamps"? We need to get back to taking responsibility for ourselves.
Taxes (the MANY taxes) - Well the 2% (initial) Social Security tax has gone to 15.3% (congress added a Medicare tax in the meantime). State Income Tax & Sales Taxes 14% (avg here in Maine). Property Taxes. Excise Taxes. Is Exxon the real gas crook? 47.5 cents of tax are included in every gallon we pump (Maine again). At least the Exxon portion is for something real. I'm not done yet. Of course, we have the federal income tax (based on your income), but how about all the taxes we never see that are passed on to us. Any company that sell us products (necessary everyday goods & services) pay many taxes that must be passed on to consumers if the companies are to survive. Did I mention earlier that our freedom is under attack. Ok .. got that off my chest.
In spite of all this we are the greatest country in the world. But we had better watch what we are doing. And we had better watch what our politicians are doing. Are all those new laws really necessary? Are they what we really want our congressmen doing? Please vote whenever possible & vote with your freedom in mind.
The lesson in all this -- although we must strive hard to better ourselves (within our means), we need not think that we must deprive our neighbor while doing so.
Freedom - On the "foundation" page earlier, I spoke of the fathers of our nation writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the foundations of the freedom that all Americans enjoy. Although many choose to ignore it, our freedom has always been under attack from within. Our elected officials are constantly writing laws (in the belief that they are making life better for Americans). Most all laws now passed are intended to help different segments of America (instead of our nation as a whole) and in so doing weaken the basis the Declaration of Independence and Constitution was written on. They segment America.
Be responsible for ourselves - Social Security and myriad of social programs all have one thing in common. They try to assist people who cannot or will not help themselves. First of all we need to clarify what help is. To some help is giving a hungry man a fish to eat, to others it is teaching the man to fish. Many of our social programs are just giving a man a fish to eat. It's help, but not the best help.
Social Security was created in 1935. The initial tax rate was 2.0% of the first $3,000 of the employee's earnings, shared equally between the employee and the employer. The employee contributed 1% and the employer 1%. It started paying out money immediately (even to those who contributed nothing). Although initially set up to spur a stagnant 1930's economy, it has since been the primary retirement of many retirees. Why should I set aside money for retirement if the government is going to give it to me? became the thinking of many Americans.
The same thinking permeates most of our social programs, many of which have gone on for so long that they have become generational (passing from generation to generation). How many have heard the expression "I can't afford to get off food stamps"? We need to get back to taking responsibility for ourselves.
Taxes (the MANY taxes) - Well the 2% (initial) Social Security tax has gone to 15.3% (congress added a Medicare tax in the meantime). State Income Tax & Sales Taxes 14% (avg here in Maine). Property Taxes. Excise Taxes. Is Exxon the real gas crook? 47.5 cents of tax are included in every gallon we pump (Maine again). At least the Exxon portion is for something real. I'm not done yet. Of course, we have the federal income tax (based on your income), but how about all the taxes we never see that are passed on to us. Any company that sell us products (necessary everyday goods & services) pay many taxes that must be passed on to consumers if the companies are to survive. Did I mention earlier that our freedom is under attack. Ok .. got that off my chest.
In spite of all this we are the greatest country in the world. But we had better watch what we are doing. And we had better watch what our politicians are doing. Are all those new laws really necessary? Are they what we really want our congressmen doing? Please vote whenever possible & vote with your freedom in mind.
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