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Saturday, March 2, 2013

The financial planner



While hanging out at the local coffee shop, I ran into an old friend of mine. She was having a meeting with a financial planner. Papers and binders were scattered all over their table.

She asked where I'd been lately and I told her I'd just come back from Florida and talked a little bit about my trip.

“That's what I want to be able to do,” she told the financial planner.

“How do I do it?” He asked.

“Magic,” I said.

“I want some of that pixie dust,” she said.

Then I went on to say that it's cheaper for me to go to Florida than to buy heating oil for my house. I've got free or inexpensive places to stay: at my dad's, on the boat, or camping. The planner quickly ran the numbers in his head (he appeared to be a real numbers guy), mumbled a few figures, and agreed with me.

I then said it's not so much what you have coming in as what you have going out. That statement seemed to catch the planner a bit off guard. He looked somewhat puzzled by the concept. I worry about the quality of the advice my friend is getting. It appears he's all about big returns on investment.

I don't know much about returns on investment. My track record shows I know nothing about increasing income. Way back in 1993 I made about $35,000 as a firefighter. I've never equaled that income since. That's in actual dollars. Adjusted for inflation, my income looks even worse.

The only way I'm able to live the way I live is watch where that money goes. Solar electric power, wood heat, waste veggie powered vehicles, and a whole bunch of other money saving activities add up.


-Sixbears



15 comments:

  1. and most importantly, you don't waste money on financial planners....

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  2. I just love the concept... Cheaper to go to Florida for the winter than to buy heating oil for the house! Haha brilliant!

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  3. I just jumped from my chair and lowered the thermostat. Guilt. You were of course spot on when you mentioned it's the 'going out' that eats into your income...I'll work in the cool.

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    1. People often have money going out without even realizing it. I've seen a house where heaters are going full blast and the AC is also on -at the same time. Then they wondered why their electric bill was so high.

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  4. Seems i read somewhere old Ben Franklin wrote a man is miserable if makes 5.oo$ and spends 5.50 a month to live.A man that makes 5.00$ but only spends 4.50 is content and happy.BE HAPPY MY FRIEND !!!!!!It is funny how many of my family work decent full time jobs and are always broke.I piddle at this and that make much less and but my bills are paid and i always have a few dollars with me.The financal planners that i used were Jim Dankin, Sixbear,and OLd Ben franklin.Its kept me in the black the last 3 years.So THANKYOU!!

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    1. Glad I could help in my own small way.

      Old Ben was a wise man.

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  5. I guess where I live I need to go north in the summer time to save on the high electric bills to cool my 22,000 sq. ft. home.

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    1. That would work too. You've got the rig for it. Maybe this is the excuse you need for a long summer trip. :)

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  6. This is EXACTLY my philosophy as well. I'm careful about what I spend and I believe that everything adds up. Like you, I don't know much about bringing money in but have built up some savings because I don't spend much.

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  7. By the way, I love your blog's tagline. Made me laugh. :)

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    1. Glad you get a kick out of the tagline. Too much truth to it.

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