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Teaching you to embrace today while making yourself a millionaire!

I wish I would have understood how easy it is to become a millionaire by starting to save small amounts of money when I was younger...

I feel compelled to share the simple concepts you can apply today....

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29 June 2010

The Hidden Costs of Your Car


Did you know that you can save money in the way you drive? Here's some great tips that can help save both your car and your wallet...



  1. Limit your driving.

  2. Car pool when you can.

  3. Map your route...there's no reason to drive all over the city! Consolidate your errands.

  4. Stay up to date on your car's maintenance.

  5. Fill up the tank instead of making frequent trips for smaller gas bills.

  6. Avoid idling...park, and walk inside.

  7. Use a consistent speed and utilize your cruise control on long trips.

  8. Avoid stopping...if you see a red light ahead, slow down. It won't take as much gas to accelerate from a slower speed than to restart.

  9. When you do have to restart, increase your speed slowly.

  10. Avoid using the air conditioner.

  11. When shopping for a car, be realistic. Do you really need a SUV for just one or two people? Think fuel efficiency when you make a new car purchase.

  12. Wash / clean your car yourself.


What other ideas do you have to save money on your car?




24 June 2010

What can you buy for a dollar?


Take a dollar out of your wallet. Money may be tight...we'll wait if you need to count out change. Got a dollar? Okay, now think about what it's worth. What can you buy with a dollar? It's actually harder than you think...there's not much a dollar can do these days. We'll help you out with a few ideas of our own:



  • Anything off the McDonald's Dollar Menu

  • A movie rental from the RedBox

  • A popsicle

  • A soft drink

  • A candy bar

  • A notebook

  • A pen or pencil

  • A pack of gum


Have you made any of these purchases recently? Over time, will your dollar investment in any of these things (or anything on your list) have made a difference to your future? Maybe. Perhaps you will meet your future spouse while sharing a movie you rented together at the RedBox. But chances are great that the fries you ordered off the McDonald's Dollar Menu are going to be quickly forgotten, perhaps even by the end of the day of your purchase!



Generation Millionaire is all about strategizing ways to build your nest egg, ways to cultivate million$ of possiblities for your future. We are certainly not suggesting that you don't deserve that pack of gum, but THINKING things out before a purchase can really make a huge difference to your wallet.



One dollar + time can equal a downpayment on a car, an extraordinary vacation, a new computer, and investments into your future. The possibilities are endless!



What kind of things do you buy that you know you can live without?

14 June 2010

No Net - Make A Choice To Be Prepared

GenM this is what I have been preaching for the past 3 years! You do not have a net underneath you for retirement. Time is your best resource at this point - and saving NOW! This does not have to be a negative for your generation - it all depends on your choices.

What to do when your pension is frozen
BY M.P. Dunleavey,
Money Magazine
™ and © 2010 Cable News Network and Time Inc. and/or their affiliated companies. All Rights Reserved.
Money Magazine — 06/10/10


You've been looking forward to retirement — and the steady income your employer was supposed to provide — only to learn that your company has frozen its pension plan. Now what?

You're joining a well-populated club: Overall, about a fifth of workers in private-sector pension plans — 3.3 million people — have been affected by a "freeze," or suspension of benefits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Kraft, HBSC, TWX, are among the largest employers who have frozen their plans this year, following 190 fortune 100 companies in 2009.


Industries such as aerospace, defense, and natural resources — along with state and local governments — are likely to offer defined-benefit plans for years to come, experts say.

But the firms that have frozen plans aren't likely to thaw them. So if your pension is iced over or at risk, you'll need to adjust your retirement strategy ASAP.

What a 'freeze' means
Unlike 401(k)s, which are funded in large part by employee contributions, a pension is paid entirely by the employer using a formula typically based on your years of service and highest pay.


A company might, for example, multiply 1.5% of your top salary by your tenure, meaning that if you worked 25 years and now earn $100,000, you'd get $37,500 a year.

Companies can freeze plans in one of two ways. Under a "hard" freeze, the pension is literally frozen. The benefit you've accrued as of today is what you'll get at retirement. "You don't accrue further years of credit, and your benefits are based on your salary at, say, 50 instead of 65," explains Alicia Munnell of the Center for Retirement Research (CRR).

A "soft" freeze is less severe — your benefit still grows, but based on a new formula. The company generally doesn't allow you to accrue more years of service, and it may cap the salary it uses (taking a five-year average, say). Either way, your pension is worth much less.

Who it affects the most
If you're under 35, or have been with the company a short while, you probably haven't amassed much of a benefit. Also, firms that freeze pensions generally offer a new or enhanced 401(k)-type plan, and younger people have time to make the most of such offerings. Folks within five years of retirement are also not so bad off: You'll have accumulated close-to-peak benefits, says Munnell.
It's those in the middle who "get the worst of both worlds," says David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. You lose the guaranteed income and "you don't have time to recoup your losses by joining the 401(k)."


Absent a freeze, if you'd been hired at 35 and stayed on until retirement, you could expect about 43% of your final salary at age 62, according to a CRR study. But if your company instead froze the plan when you were 50, and you immediately started contributing 6% of salary to a 401(k) plan with a standard 3% match, you'd be likely to get only 28% of your final earnings at retirement.

How to make up for it
First, contact the pension specialist in HR to find out exactly how much you're entitled to at retirement, says Falmouth, Mass., financial planner David McPherson. "Make sure you understand the rules," he says. Get details on any new or improved 401(k) match too.


Next, use the program at basic.esplanner.com to reassess your retirement picture, weighing projected income and savings against expenses. If there's a shortfall, you'll need to save more to cover it.

Even with only, say, 12 years to save, a sweetened 401(k) can help you make up time. In the standard plan noted earlier, if you contributed up to the match, starting at age 50 with a salary of $100,000 that rises 2.5% a year, you'd have $184,000 by age 62, given a 7% average annual return, says McPherson. With an enhanced dollar-for-dollar match up to 6%, you'd have $245,000.

Though it may not sound appealing, postponing retirement can also help you bridge the gap, says Newtown, Pa., financial planner Michael Garry. You generate more savings and reduce the number of years you need to rely on those savings. Besides, as with Social Security, delaying your pension until full retirement age (as set by your company) results in a bigger benefit.

Overwhelmed? You can find pension assistance locally via pension help.org. But don't delay dealing with the issue. The sooner you take the reins, the more you stand to gain.

Stay tuned......

08 June 2010

The Younger You Start Saving - The Better


It has been a while since I talked about the original mission of Generation Millionaire. To teach and encourage you to use the time you have to make your retirement more secure. So what is one of the pieces of the puzzle?


"Time + Regular Investing" into a diversified portfolio = Long term success. The sooner you start investing in a 401k or IRA the more $$ you have for retirement. If you invest $60 a week starting at age 18 for 50 years with an 8% return = $1.9 Million. If you invest $60 a week starting at age 25 for 42 years with an 8% return = $1 Million. By waiting 7 years to invest a mere $60 a week - you give up almost one million dollars.


Where am I going to get $60 a week or $8.50 a day ?? It is so easy with simple changes you won"t notice in the long run.....Pack your lunch instead of eating out - Go to the library for movies, cds, books and games - Plan your route to avoid extra driving - Go to a matinee, Drink water vs ordering soda, coffee, tea etc. Buy used books for classes, Don't use your charge card.


Little changes that will not affect your quality of life TODAY will pay off big TOMORROW. This information can change your entire generation - WILL YOU BE A MILLIONAIRE? Save any amount you can - less is better than none.


I challenge you to write down every time you spend a penny - you will be amazed at the way money trickles out of our wallets. Always check with a financial expert prior to making any investment decisions. Play with the financial calculator under the calculator link tab at the top of the page.


Stay tuned.......

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