Ever wonder what happened to Ed McMahon? You know the one who was Johnny Carson’s side kick, Or the one who promised to visit you with a million dollar check. You know “You may have already won.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) - For years, Ed McMahon promised wealth, comfort and happiness as a pitchman for the American Family Publishers’ sweepstakes. Now, he could use some of that cash himself.
So what happened? Like I tell me students all the time: You have to know how to read the numbers. Ed McMahon could not read the numbers.
Read the article and you will see that he had a 4.8 Million Dollar Mortgage. 4.8 Million dollars? How can that happen from this man? Did he not make enough to put down a larger down payment? Clearly he did not know or understand the situation. He took out the 4.8 Million loan and took out a $300,000 home equity line of credit. This was after he received a $7.2 Million Dollar settlement for problems related to mold.
My favorite quote from the whole article is this
Bragman said there was “a certain irony” in the fact that McMahon has always tried to connect with average Americans, and now he’s experiencing some of their same problems.
Well it is true and it is sad. So many people, including me, put too much emphasis on your home growing in value. It is OK to roll all your debt into your home because it is always going to go up right? Well not always.
It may make sense to invest in a piece of property for capital gains in a long term investment. Or in other words if you want to buy a house to get more money out of it is to do it in the long term. Too many people see this and take money out almost yearly. And for what? To make more investments, to increase their financial portfolio? Or is it to buy a new flat screen TV. It is to put in a pool to increase the “value” of the house. But if you are taking out a loan for this it really is not increasing the value is it. It is counter productive. The value may go up, but your equity. You used it up with the loan.
So this gets back to financial education. When you don’t understand completely how things work you get taken advantage of. We are in America having problems with house lending. Ed McMahon proves that it is happening to everyone. Everyone is in jeopardy. But, are the banks in jeopardy. No they are still making money. They still have properties to foreclose on. They will get paid in the end. They may not get as much as they hoped, but they will still get paid.
I have found a great system online called Mint.com. It is a free personal finance site. Anyone who has used quicken in the past this may be your next system.
I have used quicken for over 10 years, but the last few years it has been very cumbersome and difficult to update. Not that the program is bad, I just have not had the time, nor have I wanted to. So I was reading in FastCompany magazine and I came across an article about the founder of Mint.com. I logged on and tried it and it is great.
It will download all your bank statements, categorize them for you to analyze, and keep track of all your accounts. The best part it that it will analyze your money for you automatically and give you offers to save money. This is clearly where they make their income but it is not intrusive or over bearing.
This is not an add, nor am I getting paid for this, it is just a great service. Check it out
While trying to develop my other sites I have been looking for opportunities to monetize my site. Of course I do have some banner ads, I have some text ads. I have tried a few other programs but I don’t seem to be able to earn more than a few cents a day. It has been a slow go. Clearly not enough to get to my goal. In the mean time I have been doing a lot of other work to earn an income that will sustain me for a long time. I guess my biggest lesson that I have learned is that, just like anything else, a true income is slow going. There does exist get rich quick schemes, but for the most part it is a long sustained effort that will make a true income.
I have found a few good steady sources of income that will get you through a few days or a few weeks until you can get a true steady income source.
PayPerPost is always a great place to go to get some income. There are many opportunities there that have income possibilities that range in income from a few bucks to several hundred dollars. You get to pick and chose what to blog about and accept only those that you feel are appropriate for you. Simply find a site or a product that fits your personality and your blog and then write about it. As long as you meet a few simple criteria you will get paid.
It is a simple and fair system. One that works really well. I certainly prefer this to trying to do affiliate marketing. I think that some will see it as the same, and to some maybe that is true. To me it is more like seeing a good movie. You go tell your friends about that movie right? You say “Hey you really got to see this movie, it is great” then you go on to tell them all the good things about the movie without giving anything away. It is the same with PayPerPost. Find something you like. Tell people about it, and you get a little kickback. I wish the movie theaters would give me a kickback every time I told someone about a movie I liked. I would be a thousandaire by now.
Of course when your blog reaches certain levels you can begin to set your own price. At this level you can make a nearly unlimited amount of income. Now instead of you having to sift through all the different opportunities you can sit back and wait for them to come to you. Ahhh the joy of a steady income and the ability to hold the power.
There are a lot of income possibilities out there. I think that one of the problems that a lot of bloggers have, including me, is that they try to hard to make their site profitable. It is my belief and experience that if you simply write about what you enjoy and what you like then the monetization will come. Simply be you. People like it when you are not fake or transparent. They like real. They like you. The money will come from you being you.
Lorenzo Neal is a 15 year NFL veteran. Not many people have heard of him. He plays Fullback, an old position that is quickly being done away with. Our football team for the last two years didn’t have one, and had no need for one.
Lorenzo is currently on the San Diego Chargers. His role on the team. Block for All-Pro running back Ladanian Tomlinson. And he loves it. He is greatfull everyday, he respects the fact that he was given an opportunity that not many people ever get. He loves the fact that he plays a kids game, and gets paid for it.
Yesterday I heard an interview with him on Nashville radio. The Chargers are headed to town to play the Titans this Sunday. During the interview it was clear that this was not just another football player. This was a guy who gets it. This was a guy who knows a thing or two about life. This is a guy who anyone can look up to with respect and admiration. He left the interview with this quote
“Love Everyone,
Trust Few,
And Power your Own Canoe.”
A somewhat silly quote but one that will stick with me for a long time.
Love Everyone – We all can take a little from this quote. We as a Nation seem too stressed, to tense, to quick to get in each others faces. I have said it before and I will not be debated out of it. We live in the greatest Country with the greatest opportunity. We can do everything and anything but we have to remember to work together. Love your competitors, love your countrymen, love those less fortunate. Love everyone.
Trust Few – It may seem cynical at first but it helps you tremendously. People will take advantage of you. People will try to do things that will take advantage of you. But the statement is much more deep than that. It means take care of yourself. Take care of your belongings. Take care of your future. If you look for someone else to do so it is unlikely to happen. You have to take care of yourself.
Power Your Own Canoe – You are the only one who is going to make it for yourself. You are the only one who is going to create your future. You are the only one who controls your destiny. So do so. If you don’t get out the paddle, who knows where you will end up. Take out your paddle and start going somewhere.
If you have the time this afternoon go online to 106.7 the Fan in Nashville. At 3pm central time they will be replaying the interview. It does not last long, but it can make a big impression.
MIT is now completely online and free. Download any course, any lecture, even practice problems from MIT. Of course you don’t get the support of professors, and you don’t get the question and answer sessions, but what an opportunity.
I have come across the full video about the boy who can see without eys, actually five parts to the video on YouTube.
I just find this kid incredible and inspirational. When I was learning and I was discovering what it meant to be a true leader and just finding me I learned some things. It was incredible once I learned them. The message, the examples, the results, the teaching, the learning, it was all around me. Now I find beauty, inspiration, and people to learn from everyday.
I know that there is a lot of skepticism around the secret, and there is some mysticism about the “new age” of thinking, but what I have found is that it is everywhere. It is incredible to me. It is fun to discover more all the time.
What I am trying to say is this. It is not new, it is not mystical, it is not a secret. It is real. It has always been there, and it really is hard to describe. So how do you get to know what I have found? Contact me and we can talk. Skype me, Email me, or leave a comment.
I am having a really hard time with all the US bashing going on. This is a great country. I just saw an article on Digg that the headline really bothered me.
Well fortunately the headline was not true. What really it was about was the fact that they were not happy with the leaders of this country. I agree.
I don’t want to sound like an old man, but what happened to the good old days. The days where it was ok for The President to get up and say this is a great country. We are the best country. This country was meant for great things, for prosperity, and for wealth.
We again need a strong leader. We do many good things. The press does not like to report this, but it happens every day. What would happen if we simply pulled our support for causes around the world? Many countries would fall quickly into civil war and unrest. Many countries would starve through famine and drought.
To me the United States has always been a place where people could prosper through hard work and perseverance. It still is, but we now have people who want to destroy that. I have to sit in my classroom and watch good kid after good kid be destroyed by gangs. And they don’t even know why they get involved anymore.
Times are changing, but we still are a good nation. We are still a caring and giving nation. We still are the greatest society ever built. We need good leaders. We need better leaders. Please someone step forward and bring us back up. Put us back in front of the world.
I don’t like to write articles about other products just to try to sell you something, so how about writing about something that is FREE? I like free.
A resource that has helped me tremendously is the free ebook by Yaro Starak entitled Blog Profit Blueprints. If you are a blogger either just beginning or have been blogging for a while this is helpful. The best part is that he includes for free an MP3 version of the book. I have included many links inside this article, and an icon over there on the top of the right column. Again it is free to take advantage of it. I am not part of his Blog Mastermind Group, but from what I hear it is very successful.
MP3 books are the best thing that I use in my daily personal development. Putting the right information in is a key to getting what you want out of yourself. There is a lot of negative information going around, especially on TV. I know I am a TV junkie. It is just too easy to turn on the idiots lantern and not think of much else. Getting the right information from books, MP3 audio files, or even ebooks from Audible.com.
Be proactive in your development, be the one in control of your input, and your output will be much greater.
I turned on my computer this morning and found a great article about Social Networking on MSN.com. Social Networking for people 30 and up. I never thought that I would become old when I turned 30. Heck I am about to turn 34. I guess it is time for the retirement home for me. Wait! Thats not a bad idea. Hummmmm I think that I will get a boat and just sail around the US for my retirement.
OK I am already getting off topic. Check this article out and get a better understanding of Social Networking for the masses.
So what happened? Like I tell me students all the time: You have to know how to read the numbers. Ed McMahon could not read the numbers.
