Participants: Cordell Thomas
Series Code: TITTB
Program Code: TITTB000017
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00:01 On Take it to the Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt. 00:09 Solve your credit card problems. 00:14 How to make and stick with the budget? 00:19 Simple ways to save. 00:24 Buying or selling a home 00:26 and many more financial matters 00:29 on Take it to the Bank. 00:32 Hi, my name is Cordell Thomas, 00:34 and I welcome you to another program 00:36 on Take it to the Bank, 00:37 and we're excited that you're here. 00:39 This is a fantastic program that I don't want you to miss. 00:42 So don't change your channel. 00:43 This is one that I think will be beneficial for all 00:46 that are involved. 00:47 We've been talking about the top causes of stress. 00:50 We've asked the questions to people on the beach, 00:52 people everywhere, 00:53 and they've told us that they believe 00:55 one of the common causes of stress, 00:57 one of the top three are finance of course, 01:00 personal relationships, and work, work, 01:02 those are the top three, 01:04 and it seems consistent throughout 01:05 the research we've got, 01:07 as well as the people we've discussed it with. 01:09 So you have issues such as debt, 01:12 we have retirement issues, medical expenses, 01:16 we have things 01:17 that also we're dealing with high gas prices. 01:20 We're paying four dollars and fifty odd cents 01:23 per gallon of gas in California, 01:24 that's transportation, 01:26 and for those with long commutes, 01:27 they're dealing with the additional stress 01:29 of having to pay more for gas to get to work, 01:32 which is another stress, the work environment. 01:34 So, lots of good things to talk about today, 01:37 and what I'd like to do 01:39 is start with a really great conversation 01:41 I had a chance to have with Pastor Michael Kelly, 01:43 who is a senior pastor of the Mount Rubidoux 01:46 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southern California, 01:48 in Riverside, California. 01:50 He had a series called "Life in Debt." 01:53 And I had wonderful chance to get five minutes of his time 01:56 to talk to him about the question 01:58 of what is you consider the highest 02:00 or the biggest stress 02:02 that most people are dealing with today, 02:04 and how he is dealing with that, 02:06 with his parishioners. 02:08 If you can go to the roll. 02:12 Cordell Thomas, with Pastor Kelly. 02:14 You're gonna be our expert here 02:15 because you know you did your-- 02:16 "Life in Debt" series. Yes. 02:18 And I have a couple of questions for you, 02:19 but you know what, what's interesting is 02:20 when most people are talking about debt, 02:22 we don't realize 02:23 what one trillion dollars is of debt, 02:24 you know, the county's in 1.33 trillion dollars in debt, 02:27 and what does that mean? 02:28 Right. 02:29 So I started asking people some questions 02:31 on Venice beach as you... 02:33 if I spend a dollar a second, 02:35 how long would it take to spend a million dollars? 02:38 You know, my guess would, you know, I'm thinking maybe... 02:41 for some people maybe a couple of hours. 02:43 We have to say that for holidays but... 02:44 Yeah, a million dollars? 02:46 But, you know, I have no idea. 02:47 I've never thought about something like this. 02:49 People don't conceptualize those kinds of things. 02:50 Right, right. And that's what's key. 02:51 We don't understand what a dollar actually is? 02:53 Right. 02:54 One million dollars takes 12 days to spend. 02:57 Twelve days. Spending a dollar a second. 02:58 A second? A dollar a second. 03:01 How about one billion dollars? 03:04 Okay, so if a million was about 12 days, 03:06 I'd have to say a billion, 03:09 we'll say about 60 days something like that. 03:11 No, you're talking about 1000 million, right? 03:14 So we're upwards of 32 years. 03:16 Gee! 03:17 Thirty two years you spend a dollar a second, 03:19 and a trillion. 03:21 The United States' deficit is 1.33 trillion dollars. 03:26 Can we put it into... 03:27 I really don't think I could imagine 03:29 'cause I mean the million threw me off already. 03:32 I mean, what is, what is a trillion? 03:34 Thirty one thousand years. Thirty one thousand years. 03:36 That's a trillion, coming to a trillion 03:38 at a dollar second, and it's interesting 03:40 because we're dealing with this issue called debt. 03:42 And the United States' big debt and then obviously 03:45 we see personal lives being changed 03:47 all the time with this debt issue. 03:49 Can you address, "Life in Debt?" 03:51 I know you had a series. 03:52 Can you tell me some attributes of families 03:54 that may have debt issue? 03:55 Sure, you know, one of the things 03:56 that God laid on our heart as a church 03:58 is we were really concerned with the way 04:01 that the finances of God's people are going. 04:05 We don't want to go to the extent 04:06 where people say, you know, serve God and you get rich. 04:08 We know that's not biblical, that's prosperity gospel. 04:12 But as you really look through the scriptures, 04:13 you'll find that Jesus has a lot to say about money, 04:16 and he doesn't just, 04:18 the scriptures don't only just talk about money itself, 04:20 but in particular they really talk about debt. 04:23 The Bible really teaches us 04:25 and really leads God's children to stay clear of debt. 04:29 Various texts throughout the Bible, 04:30 in Proverbs they say, 04:32 "The one who is the borrower is slave, 04:35 you know, to the lender." 04:36 And so one of the things that we find is 04:38 a lot of our people in church are enslaved to debt. 04:42 You know, we tease in the series 04:44 we say think about it, it's called Master Card, 04:46 you know, it's, it's your master, 04:49 and the thing that we find is that a lot of the families 04:52 are using these credit cards, they're, you know, 04:54 getting different types of cards 04:55 whether it be for department stores, 04:59 maybe just the regular cards to buy things 05:02 that they really can't afford. 05:03 But this got interesting you say that 05:04 because the old way of doing things was, 05:07 save your money go and buy it, 05:10 and that's pretty much it. 05:11 Now, we're dealing with an issue of immediacy. 05:13 We got to... Absolutely. 05:15 Consumer immediacy. 05:16 Yeah, well it's just neat thing I talked to somebody, 05:18 you people say, you ever heard of a lay away, 05:20 and they're like what is that? 05:21 I think you hit on the head. 05:23 The idea of have to having now, 05:25 and I think also especially as, 05:27 you know, I pastor in Southern California. 05:29 People like to keep up with technology 05:32 with what's happening. 05:34 If you know, there's a new TV that's coming out, 05:35 it seems almost every other month, 05:37 and I don't want to wait, I have to get it right now. 05:40 And so people in order to get some type of stuff, 05:42 to get a certain status are getting in debt 05:45 and what they don't understand is getting into debt, 05:48 when it comes to money and financial issues, 05:50 you don't always see 05:51 the immediate consequences of that. 05:55 I mean, you'll get in debt today, 05:56 and you won't get to suffer those consequences for a year, 05:59 two, three years from now, 06:00 and so that's really what's happening 06:02 to a lot of our people. 06:03 So our series is trying to teach people, 06:04 "hey, let's use our money, let's spend our money, 06:08 let's manage our money." 06:09 That's what Jesus talks a lot about managing money, 06:11 the way that God wants us to. 06:13 And being in debt is definitely not one of those things 06:14 that God would like to see. 06:15 Okay, I have something for you, Pastor. 06:17 Okay. 06:18 Let me use this term, pre-nuptial agreement. 06:19 Okay. 06:21 What is the concept that come across to you from that word. 06:22 I've been using it with some of the people 06:24 that have called in about that, but I say, you know, 06:26 we check out our partner's past history 06:29 from a medical standpoint, 06:31 we check out so many different issues, 06:32 but do we check out their financial past 06:34 and what about having a agreement, 06:37 not the typical pre-nuptial issues, 06:39 what are your concepts about that? 06:40 Yeah, well, you know some people tease 06:42 and say Kobe Bryant probably should have, 06:43 you know, got it, got a lot of girls, 06:46 but I think it's very important. 06:47 In our series we did talk about the idea of checking up on 06:52 not just what somebody's 06:54 financial past and histories about, 06:55 but what's their philosophy on money. 06:58 Do they believe in just running up credit? 07:00 Do they believe that a good financial plan 07:02 is paying the minimum 07:04 on all their credit cards and debt? 07:06 Because that's gonna have an affect on your future 07:08 and not only your future, but our children's future, 07:11 and so I think it's very important. 07:14 I want to see what kind of spender are you, 07:15 what kind of saver are you. 07:17 What kind of philosophy do you have 07:18 when it comes to the way you're gonna manage money, 07:21 because one thing that 07:22 we really drive home in that series 07:24 is the money is not ours. 07:26 We're stewards of it, it belongs to God. 07:28 And one day we're gonna be asked to give an account. 07:30 "What did you do?" 07:31 God's gonna ask us, 07:32 "What did you do with the money 07:34 I entrusted you with?" 07:35 Fantastic. 07:36 Pastor Kelly, thank you for your time. 07:38 I really appreciate you being here 07:39 and discussing this with us 07:41 and as we discuss even this next few weeks 07:43 about credit, about saving, about doing a variety of things 07:46 that can benefit you, 07:48 I ask you just to take it to the bank, 07:51 save, spend some time with us, 07:52 and I think you'll learn something interesting. 07:54 Pastor Kelly, thank so much. 07:55 Thank you so much. Thank you. 08:00 Life in Debt was an interesting series, 08:02 and it was an interesting conversation I had, 08:04 it even extended beyond the actual video. 08:07 It was kind of interesting 08:09 to talk to a pastor and to talk to, 08:10 and get different perspectives 08:12 of what they have to deal with. 08:17 There are many things 08:18 that we talked about with Pastor Kelly, 08:21 and we've had a chance to talk 08:22 with many different organizational leaders 08:25 that take on financial literacy concerns. 08:30 And one organization that we talked to 08:33 had to deal with advising people about credit. 08:37 And one of their board members is a senior pastor. 08:40 It was quite interesting in finding out that, 08:43 you know, several of his parishioners 08:44 during the time that we had this foreclosure crisis 08:47 between 2006 and 2008 began to disappear. 08:51 Some of them began to disappear. 08:53 Why? 08:54 He had no idea until he started asking, 08:56 you know, I'm missing this member, 08:57 why isn't he or she here? 08:59 And what they found out was some of these parishioners 09:02 were more embarrassed to talk about financial concerns 09:05 that they had in reference to foreclosure 09:07 and decided to just quietly go away, 09:09 relocate and go through this crisis by themselves. 09:12 Many people consider this an embarrassment 09:14 and it really isn't. 09:16 The story is told of a gentleman and his wife 09:17 that saved their money, he worked in Silicon Valley, 09:20 a stressful type of job so after... 09:23 They wanted to move to something more peaceful 09:24 and they took their savings, 09:26 and took their, took their investments 09:29 and they moved to a different state, 09:31 and where they built their dream home. 09:32 Their dream home was a 2.3 million dollar 09:35 beautiful facility that was built 09:38 in a community of Colorado. 09:43 It's quite interesting as they took the time 09:45 two years, two plus years to build the house, 09:48 and they leveraged the house that they build 09:51 as collateral to build a couple of businesses 09:54 in that community to live a retirement life, 09:57 a lifestyle, live a little more peaceably, 09:59 and not have to worry about the stress of everyday life. 10:03 Well, of course what happened in 2004 10:05 and beyond was, the strife that we had with the economy, 10:09 and of course the lack of business 10:11 coming to their new businesses cost them tremendously, 10:16 and it slowly got to the point 10:17 that they couldn't make their mortgage payments, 10:19 they tried to modify their loan, 10:21 and the bank wouldn't work with them, 10:22 the bank wouldn't work with them, 10:24 and that's quite interesting to say. 10:26 So they finally stopped paying to get attention of the bank, 10:30 and went into arrears of about what 30 months. 10:34 What is a mortgage payment for $2.2 million home? 10:39 Well, theirs happened to be $7,000 per month. 10:42 They didn't pay for 30 months 10:43 so they were $210,000 behind on their payments, 10:47 and they're now looking at foreclosure. 10:50 Something that was not in their scope of planning. 10:55 And what I want to get from this story is this, 10:59 that there are many things that are out of our control. 11:02 There are medical expenses that can drive 11:04 our expenses way up. 11:06 There are issues that are, 11:07 that we're dealing with right now 11:08 in reference to transportation issues 11:10 that can drive our expenses out of control 11:12 in reference to our budgets. 11:14 And in this case, they didn't plan 11:17 for a downturn in the economy. 11:19 That was a wealthy family. 11:21 And did you know that wealthier families or homes 11:24 of $1 million and up and higher 11:27 are likely to go into foreclosure, 11:29 36,000 of them are going into foreclosure as we speak. 11:34 There is a home that was built in Laguna Beach, 11:37 a $28 million home, beautiful home 11:41 that has never been occupied 11:43 because the initial buyers couldn't come through 11:45 with the final paper work, and that home is sitting there 11:48 overlooking Catalina Island. 11:50 And if you look at these places, 11:52 these facilities, these facades that people are buying into 11:56 and are losing at a tremendous rate. 11:58 Foreclosures on those type of homes 12:01 have increased 273 percent since 2006. 12:05 A lot of people are dealing with crisis, 12:08 not just middle class, 12:09 but the wealthy are also dealing with it also. 12:12 So let's put a little cap on things that finances, 12:15 finances that we deal with. 12:17 It's not just limited to our families, 12:19 it's not just us, 12:20 it's we, everyone deal with, deals with the crisis, 12:24 and we have to plan 12:28 and plan accordingly to what we can afford. 12:32 The caveat in the story is that after the foreclosure 12:36 is taken care of, this family is planning to move 12:39 to a small rental property that they can better afford, 12:42 and of course try to rebuild their credit, 12:46 and rebuild the lives they had in the past. 12:50 Okay, so where are we going with this? 12:53 There are couple of issues 12:55 that we should be talking about. 12:57 One has to deal with the bank, the bank. 13:01 We were just having a conversation 13:03 about banks in general. 13:05 We have a good relationship with our bank and banks are... 13:08 There's an article that just came out 13:09 as a matter of fact about banks, 13:11 and that they are now looking to make, 13:13 the larger banks are looking to make 13:14 their banking a profit center. 13:16 The customers that they have, they're gonna look at them 13:20 more from a profitably standpoint. 13:22 So they have come up with a number, 13:25 $100,000 of assets or investments 13:28 is considered a successful consumer. 13:31 Those others that may not be able to carry 13:33 that type of minimum balance necessary, 13:36 they may start using additional fees 13:38 to charge these customers. 13:40 I happened to have a really good relationship 13:42 with my bank, and my bank, 13:45 we have our mortgage with them, 13:47 and we have, I have my non profit with them, 13:50 and so they have a lot of our assets with them. 13:53 So we're considered a premier customer. 13:55 They treat us well, they give us free services, 13:58 typically that most people would have to pay for. 14:01 So when you're looking at a bank, 14:03 there are many different attributes to a bank 14:04 that you should consider 14:06 when opening up a bank account 14:07 because it could save you 14:09 a lot of money in the future as you, 14:12 as you continue that relationship 14:15 and move forward with... 14:16 There're many different elements of banking 14:18 that we require. 14:20 Okay, but understand one thing. 14:23 Banks are in it because they are businesses, 14:26 and they are businesses so they want to make money. 14:30 So those are the basic concerns you need to look at 14:34 as you begin to address this issue 14:38 of how do I choose a bank, what type of bank do I choose. 14:42 And in the future we'll probably talk 14:44 a little bit more about some of these online banks, 14:47 and some of the more virtual banks 14:48 that might be of interest to you, 14:51 and can save you something substantively. 14:54 Okay, so, what we're talking about 14:56 is common financial problems. 14:59 Now we talk about several of them. 15:01 Let's look at the top six. 15:04 Number one would be debt. 15:07 Debt is number one as a financial problem, 15:11 that is the number one financial problem 15:12 people are dealing with, 15:13 and we're gonna talk about that. 15:15 Foreclosure, we just had a story about foreclosure 15:17 and as you begin to understand the steps 15:23 that happened in the foreclosure process, 15:25 it makes you better aware of how to deal with it. 15:28 College costs, that's a major issue, 15:31 preparation for college 15:32 and the type of college you go to. 15:35 Medical costs, medical emergencies are, 15:37 is the fourth most relevant or common financial problem. 15:43 Transportation, we're all dealing with that right now, 15:46 as we're dealing with the global concern 15:49 of how we get our oil and fuel, 15:52 and then of course the charge 15:53 that we're having to pay at the pump. 15:55 In California we're paying about 15:57 four dollars and fifty cents to get our gas. 16:00 And then of course, retirement, 16:02 retirement as a common financial issue. 16:05 Now, when you're looking at 16:06 these specific financial issues there are a couple of... 16:10 I'm gonna choose to talk to them 16:13 from a random perspective. 16:15 When you're looking at retirement, 16:17 people are less apt 16:19 to put money away for retirement 16:21 if they're in debt. 16:23 Most of the money that they're dealing with, 16:24 they're struggling with on a monthly basis 16:26 to pay this debt, to pay the insurance, 16:28 to pay the mortgage, to pay the rent, 16:30 to pay the expenses that go out 16:32 because they are dealing with more money going out 16:36 than it's coming in. 16:37 Indebtedness is something that spirals out of control 16:40 if you're not prepared to actually deal with it. 16:42 And then of course interest rates go up 16:45 with those things that you have on credit 16:48 and all of these things 16:49 cost you more over the long haul. 16:51 So retirement is something we have to put aside, 16:53 although it's something that should be relevant right now. 16:56 So we'll come back 16:57 and talk about the retirement issue 17:00 because you need, you need that 17:03 buffer between your income and those expenses 17:07 to put away for emergency savings, 17:09 and as well put some of that away to investments 17:12 or long term for your retirement. 17:15 You can't do it if you're in debt. 17:18 Okay, let's look at foreclosure. 17:21 Foreclosure happens, what do you do to deal with it? 17:24 I believe that the best way to deal with it is, 17:30 is going to talk to an expert and get as much assistance 17:32 as you possibly can. 17:34 If you are, have your banking with that bank, talk to them, 17:38 see if you can work something out, 17:40 find out some of the other concerns you probably have. 17:44 Now, if you can't make your payment 17:47 and you're falling behind in your payments, 17:49 there are other things that you can do, 17:51 and in the future program 17:52 we'll begin to get into that in depth. 17:55 Now, there are other things that can be discussed 18:00 in reference to foreclosure, 18:01 and I really want to tap into this. 18:04 So we'll choose a program to talk about the details 18:06 of the foreclosure crisis 18:08 as another wave is headed our way, 18:11 and it's something that we should really think about. 18:13 Another type of financial problem, 18:16 common financial problem is college cost. 18:18 College students are going away to school, 18:20 are they prepared for the costs of school? 18:23 Is Ivy League School the type of school 18:27 you should be going to? 18:28 Or are community college is better off? 18:30 Is it the information you're gaining, 18:32 should you go to school that costs $50,000 a year, 18:36 and get into debt from the standpoint 18:38 of student loans or can you go 18:40 to a community college to start the process 18:42 and find out exactly what you want to do, 18:44 and spend substantively less. 18:47 Those are conversations you should have 18:49 with your children, young people with your parents 18:51 because it has to do with coming out 18:55 with a quality of life 18:56 and have, not having that level of indebtedness. 18:59 We're talking about young people graduating 19:03 under, coming out of graduates, undergraduate school 19:05 with almost $40,000 with a debt, 19:08 $40,000 to start that repayment process. 19:10 You have people coming out of graduate school 19:12 with almost 80 to $100,000 worth of debt. 19:15 You have medical students coming out 19:16 of 150, $175,000 worth of debt 19:19 and those type of things create problems. 19:22 Indebtedness creates major problems in relationships. 19:26 It creates a lot of stress in your life, 19:28 and stress can kill you if you're not careful with it. 19:32 So understanding that we want to alleviate 19:35 the pressures and concerns of the problem called 19:40 these common financial problems, 19:42 and college can be one of those, 19:44 because college is not supposed to put you in debt, 19:47 it's supposed to create an avenue, 19:49 an avenue for you to be successful, 19:51 and to do something that God has led you to do in your life. 19:55 So I would consider a couple of things. 19:58 One is community college to start out 20:00 to get an idea of what you want to do, 20:02 and then begin the process of, 20:04 of deciding on, okay, I know what I want to do, 20:07 and I need to go to this type of college 20:09 to get the expertise or the right type of training, 20:11 and then decide on where you want to go 20:12 from that standpoint. 20:14 Planning can also... 20:16 And working during the summer, which is what I did, 20:20 also helps to defray 20:22 a lot of the costs of going to school. 20:26 Okay, we've talked about retirement, 20:29 we've talked about college, 20:31 we've talked about transportation, 20:33 gas prices in your area, what are they? 20:36 And how much is it impacting you 20:37 at this point in time or is it significant? 20:40 But we haven't talked about medical. 20:41 Medical is a major issue that comes to play as a crisis. 20:45 Many of us don't want to go to the hospital. 20:47 I know I don't, 20:49 and sometimes it comes as a form of an experience 20:53 that happens suddenly on a highway 20:55 where you get in the car accident, 20:56 in a parking lot where you have a stroke, 20:59 or your health is not where it needs to be, 21:00 or you need to lose weight, you have to see a doctor, 21:03 all of these things around medical 21:04 can be very stressful. 21:06 And we know that it is the most relevant cost 21:09 for long term indebtedness, 21:11 when you have that type of emergency, 21:13 and you don't have the insurance 21:15 to cover the cost or, or the like. 21:17 So those are the type of things 21:19 you need to start thinking about in the future 21:21 when you're talking about an emergency fund. 21:24 Now we talk about the emergency fund, 21:26 and we talk about the indebtedness issue, 21:28 and we realize that's the same as retirement. 21:31 We can't put money away 21:32 'cause we're trying too much to pay our bills, 21:35 and there in is the major reason 21:40 for planning and cutting our expenses. 21:45 We talked about foreclosure, college, 21:47 medical, transportation and then of course retirement. 21:50 What is the biggest common financial problem? 21:54 That is debt. 21:57 Debt, and when you look at debt, 22:02 you can also see the warning sign. 22:05 So if and your spouse, or you're single individual, 22:08 whatever the case may be, 22:09 take a look at some of those warning signs. 22:12 One, are you overspending? 22:14 Are you spending more than you bring in? 22:16 Two, your credit cards are, are you getting rising 22:19 interest rates on your credit cards? 22:21 Three, have you mismanaged your budget? 22:24 Do you even have a budget? 22:26 This, the issue that you should be thinking about now is, 22:29 I need a budget, I need to know where I'm at, 22:32 I need to know where I'm going. 22:33 It's a roadmap. 22:35 I believe that the case is well proven 22:39 when you take a look at getting in a car 22:42 and knowing what your destination is. 22:44 I would, you know, flew into St. Louis 22:47 and I'm driving up to the studios, 22:49 I knew what my destination was, 22:51 so I knew how to get there. 22:53 The same is the budget. 22:54 My destination for this next 12 months is to save $10,000. 22:58 How am I gonna get to that $10,000 number. 23:03 It's easy if you have a plan. 23:06 If you make $40,000 a year 23:09 and you're spending $45,000 a year, 23:12 you're not gonna get there. 23:14 But if you're spending $40,000, 23:16 if you're making $40,000 a year 23:18 and you're able to cut your expenses 23:21 down to $28,000 a year. 23:23 Now you see that there are things 23:25 you can do to maybe get to that number of $10,000 23:29 for that year of savings. 23:31 It's a roadmap. 23:33 You won't know how to get there 23:34 unless you begin to plan. 23:35 Now, increased cost of living, we're seeing that, 23:39 increased gas prices, energy costs. 23:41 Looking at unemployment, 23:42 that can take a tremendous wind out of your sales 23:46 if you lose your job 23:47 so, you know, try to keep the job 23:49 but understand that there... 23:51 It's vastly important right now 23:53 that you develop a savings so you can tap into it 23:56 if you need to while you find the new position. 23:59 Illness or disability, we talk about medical costs 24:01 and of course emergencies that come up. 24:03 If you cannot pay your bills, 24:05 you need to contact your creditors, 24:07 that's the first step you should do. 24:08 They will work with you. 24:10 They will work with you if you've lost your job, 24:12 emergency comes up, 24:13 contact them and work with them. 24:15 And then of course understand the 20-10 rule 24:19 which basically says, 24:21 don't exceed 20 percent of your monthly income 24:23 on spending money on repayment of debt. 24:27 And then of course the 10 rule basically says, 24:30 don't exceed 10 percent of your annualize income 24:33 in repayment of debt. 24:35 That's pretty much what the 20-10 rule means, 24:37 so keep that as a caveat 24:39 and as a mile marker in understanding 24:41 of how you need to address 24:43 and maintain a major of your budget. 24:46 Okay, I want you to remember this ACCSA, A-C-C-S-A, 24:51 what did I say? 24:53 You sound good guys, ACCSA. 24:55 One, it means to assess your debt, 24:57 A, assess your debt. 24:59 C, to create a budget, 25:01 that is the most important thing you can do, 25:03 assessing where you're at from a debt standpoint. 25:05 C, find out and create a budget, 25:09 create that type of budget. 25:10 The next one is C, cut your spending. 25:13 So the first one is assess debt, 25:15 create a budget, cut your spending, 25:18 those are the first three you need to do 25:20 and take a look at. 25:21 Then of course, start saving. 25:24 If you are able to cut your spending to the time 25:26 where you can now say that I make more than I spend, 25:30 you're in a good position to start saving, 25:32 so start saving. 25:34 And the last one is A, is attack. 25:39 Attack your debt, attack the debt. 25:41 Go after it with every type of energy you can. 25:44 Talk to your spouse, talk to your, 25:46 talk to those that are in your family 25:48 and say this is what our objective 25:50 is over the next 12 months. 25:51 We want to get out of debt. 25:54 So again the acronym ACCSA, A-C-C-S-A, 25:59 basically to asses your, 26:01 where you're at cut your spending, 26:03 create a budget, of course, start saving 26:07 and then attack that debt. 26:09 It is fundamentally important to understand 26:13 that creating a budget, 26:14 understanding those mile markers, 26:16 and understanding how you get there will help prevent 26:19 a lot of other issues in your life. 26:21 It will tell you how to prepare for retirement. 26:26 You can put money into an account. 26:29 And then of course, 26:30 you can begin the process of planning 26:32 for those major emergencies. 26:34 You can begin the process of allocating 26:37 a little bit of those savings 26:38 back into your specific checking account 26:41 to pay for the increased gas prices, 26:44 so it won't cost as much stress 26:47 as it would for people who are not prepared. 26:50 If you're already spending more than you make, 26:52 then an increased amount of gas price, 26:54 I can tell you what's gonna happen. 26:56 You're gonna go to the pump, and you're gonna use 26:58 your credit card to alleviate that debt... 27:02 To create more of a debt actually, 27:03 but to alleviate the concern of getting gas in your car, 27:06 so you can get to work. 27:08 That's what happens, and that's why 27:09 it's so important to begin to think 27:12 about these common financial problems, 27:14 and how you can mitigate or minimize 27:18 the impact on your life, your family's life. 27:22 The ability to prepare so you don't have to deal 27:25 with these crises that come up 27:27 on an ongoing basis such as foreclosures. 27:31 So we're talking about ACCSA, asses, create a budget, 27:36 cut your spending, start a savings account, 27:39 and attack your debt. 27:41 These are all things that can help you prepare 27:44 for these common financial issues 27:45 that come across all of our lives, 27:48 and can help you better prepare for taking your money, 27:52 more of your money to the bank and saving it. 27:56 God bless you. Take care. |
Revised 2016-06-23