You are not alone...

The lives of millions of people around the world have been affected by this Global Recession. When you look around at the mall, the restaurants seem full, people are carrying bags full of new clothes and driving new cars. Everything looks great, but at the same time we keep hearing in the media about more job losses and foreclosures etc.

How in the world do you stay positive and keep moving forward in such trying times? One key is understanding that you are not alone in your situation, despite appearances to the contrary. One of the best recent articles I have seen is "My Personal Credit Crisis", written by an economic reporter of the New York Times! If anyone should have seen it coming, this would be the guy. Click on the link and read the article.  Notice that many of the financial mistakes he ...<< MORE >>

What should You do to Protect your Interests?

We are in the early middle stages of a 100 year event in the world economy. One of the major root causes of the current economic crisis is the downward spiral of values in Single Family Residential real estate in ours and many other countries. Our situation is far from unique and the real estate bubble in other countries has been even worse than what we are experiencing here and now. World -wide, millions are affected.  Here at home hundreds of thousands of homes are in the foreclosure process as we speak and will go back to various lenders in 2009. This affects values for all of us and ultimately our financial future.

So What?
If you are in the middle of your own crisis, who cares if people in Europe are in even more trouble? People love and cherish ...<< MORE >>

Do we still need to try and "Keep up with the Joneses"?

I recently published an entry entitled "Going Down With the Joneses" on one of my other blogs at http://unsustainabubble.com . After getting some feedback, I wanted to share the link to that entry here on Second Start America, because I believe it is relevant that people take a second look at the desirability of living a phony lifestyle in order to keep up appearances.

I know that this is likely to rile up a spouse or two because in the work I am doing with married people in debt there are only three possible scenarios:

1. Both husband and wife realize that their spending habits are unsustainable and must change
   
2. One spouse is in complete denial that spending habits are unsustainable
   
3. Both spouses are in denial that spending habits are unsustainable and ...<< MORE >>

What to do now?

Many of the calls I am getting in 2009 are from stressed out homeowners that have been hit hard by adjusting house payments. It seems like many are losing jobs or facing reduced hours at the same time that house payments are increasing. Others have stopped paying house payments because of lower incomes and most are fearful about losing their home.

There is no single answer to these problems. Many stay at home spouses are going back into the workforce to supplement dropping incomes and for the first time in 40 years or so, women are the predominant bread winners in America. There are some general strategies for getting finances under control:

• Budget review to cut out non-essential items like premium channels on cable TV
  
• Cost comparisons for cell phone and internet services (packaged with cable TV some areas)
  
• Reducing the number of meals ...<< MORE >>

How to Keep What you Have In 2009

By now almost everyone has felt the affects of the difficult economy we are facing in California and the Nation.  Millions of people have seen the value of their assets, especially homes and pension plans, drop by amounts that were unimaginable in 2005. You cannot turn on a television, listen to a radio or go online without hearing and seeing something about the current crisis and what the politicians are doing to save you.

The focus of Second Start America in 2009 will be on what you can do to keep what you have, rebuild what you have lost and learn to create Sustained Abundance for yourself, your family and how to help those you care about. As individuals, we are facing the reality that the best way to build a personal ...<< MORE >>

Turn Out the Lights, the "Easy Credit" Party isOver!

I think those are similar to the words to a well known Country Western song, but they are also true as they relate to the personal credit bubble so many of us have participated in over the last twenty years or so.

It really was fun to buy things and do things with money that most of us had not yet earned using the easy credit that was available.  Of course we all know people who have consistently paid the full balance due on all credit accounts monthly and they remain in control of their credit. I am speaking to those who bought things because they wanted them and because they had the credit to do it, even if they did not have the money to pay off the card balance each month. I know I had my fun and I am paying for it now.

The ...<< MORE >>

The Dangers of Hardship Distributions from Pension Plans

Recently many couples and individuals have turned to their Company 401(k) plan as the last source of money they have to pay bills. People are taking "Qualified Distributions" if they are over 59 1/2, paying the current taxes on the distributions and then using the money to pay current bills, or if they are not 59 1/2 they take the distribution and pay the taxes plus a 10% IRS Penalty for early distribution.  According to Vanguard Funds, hardship distributions are up 40% since 2003.

This is a very expensive source of money for two reasons:
1. The costs of current taxation and the early distribution penalty if it applies
2. The long term effect on your retirement of using money that can grow tax-deferred or tax free if it stays in your retirement plan.

There were two good articles on the ...<< MORE >>

Kool Aid Memories - or Give me a little less Sugar Baby

It occured to me yesterday that we give very little thought to the simple spending habits that create money leaks daily.  When money is very tight after a job layoff, illness or perhaps a separation or divorce, we tend to continue the same spending patterns unless or until we realize that they are not sustainable in our new financial reality.  This is a very hard lesson, unless you get the kind of Severance Packages offered to Wall Street Executives or the Divorce settlement of a Linda McCartney.

For normal folks, there is a very simple strategy to reduce costs very quickly and that is to look at what you are buying on a daily basis and separate the purchases into one of the "must have", "should have" and "don't really need now" categories.  A simple example of this is ...<< MORE >>

Where does it all go?

Everyone knows about the incredible increases in Gasoline prices in recent years and even though recent prices have dropped with demand it seems obvious that we will see higher energy prices in the future. This is one cost that we are well aware of, but how many of us really think about the other living expenses where we have experienced constant increases?

One area of increased expense is for Cellular phones.  At one time we used a land line in our home and paid for local and long distance calls separately.  With deregulation of the phone carriers rates became more competitive and services began to expand.  Now with the internet we have iPhones, text messaging, full internet access, music downloads and a ton of other options.

In 2006 my average Cellular bill, including an Air Card for mobile internet access on my laptop was about $500.00 per month.  It is ...<< MORE >>

By Lance W. Newton – lance@sustainedabundance.com

Because I’ve spent the last several years working with Real Estate Investors and homeowners and because the market for real estate has changed so dramatically, I am now getting many calls from owners of Single Family real estate that are in real distress. I am often asked "Is it possible for a Homeowner to Negotiate a Mortgage Modification with a Lender?" The answer is yes.

It is possible to "Do It Yourself" and to work directly with a lender or loan servicer/trustee, but before you try this approach, take ...<< MORE >>