Jason Hartman Foundation

According to a recent YoungMoney.com poll, 65% of respondents believe that all Americans deserve health care. 13% think we all should have health care but are queasy about the price of Obama’s overhaul plan. 52% are flat our in favor no matter what it costs. Think about that for a second, young adults. More than half of your fellow citizens (and obviously some of you also) believe that a giant leap toward socialism will cure all the system’s ills.

And now comes news that doctors are prepared to leave medicine altogether if Obama’s health plan is actually put into action.

The issue here is one that might make your noggin hurt a little bit. You might have to think, darn it. Here it is: What exactly does a human being deserve? The only thing our Declaration of Independence guarantees is the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By what chain of logic does a group of people come to the conclusion that health care is their right?

Just because you want it doesn’t mean you deserve it. The word deserve, in this instance, indicates there is some innate quality inside each and every one of us that causes us to claim ownership of the fruits of another person’s labor. Where we come from that’s called communism, socialism, or flat out thievery, none of which are tenets our country was based on.

And where does it stop? Do you also deserve a high-paying job, a new car in your garage, and a six-figure salary for doing nothing but picking your nose?

Just wondering where the 52% draw the line at what they deserve.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / Fibonacci Blue

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When it comes to increasing your money education, you’d be well advised to pay no attention to the clowns in Washington D.C., unless, of course, you learn by watching what not to do. The recent Obama stimulus package was so large it almost required the invention of a new number system. To be fair, it was around $787 billion, and what do we have to show for this amazing feat of presidential prowess?

Here are few of the more choice tidbits:

1.$100,000 for socially conscious puppet shows in Minnesota

2.$2 million for a replica railroad tourist attraction in Nevada

3.$700,000 to Oregon fishermen to recover lost crab pots

We’re stopping at this point, not because there are no more glaring examples of wayward stimulus spending but because we’re about to lose our lunch at the lengthy list of political stupidity. But we can’t go without revealing a special little boondoggle to the tune of $3.4 million. Have you heard about the poor little sea turtles down in Florida that get crunched on the road by passing automobile tires every season when they go the wrong way and miss the ocean? Lake Jackson, Florida, is spending the $3.4 million to build an underground turtle crossing.

Didn’t they already try something like this down in the Florida Keys to keep the key deer from getting run over? And the silly things couldn’t figure out how to use it and are STILL getting splattered. Sorry, unless they’re writing the directional signs in “Turtlese” the critters will only be using the new tunnel by accident.

Lesson for today. Do not build your personal financial plan using government logic.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / andryone

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Being laid off from work can send a person into a panic at any age. Older workers (hopefully) have savings to fall back on. Younger ones who haven’t had a chance to accumulate much in the way of savings or investments might feel like they’re out on a limb and someone’s sawing at it.

So you’ve been laid off. Don’t freak. It’s not forever. You will find another job. In the meantime, there are some constructive things you can do rather than mope around the house, watching television, and eating ice cream.

1.File for Unemployment: Do this immediately, before anything else. It’s not hard and you’re just being silly if you don’t take advantage of this benefit. Swallow that silly pride and get real. Being unemployed is just a speed bump in life; don’t let it de-rail you.

2.Start Looking for a New Job: When is the best time to start looking? Today! The day you walk out of your old job. Network. Tell everyone you know you’re looking for work. Get into a routine of searching job sites and sending out letters of interest every single day. Until you are hired, your job is to find a job.

3.Tweak Your Resume: Add your last job to your resume and take advantage of the opportunity to update and revise the whole thing while you’re at it. Be clear and focused with your language. Try to keep it to one page – never more than two, and tell your references they might be getting a call.

4.Get Health Insurance: If you had health insurance at your old job, federal law requires they make it available to you for 18 months after you are laid off. You’ll have to pay the whole monthly premium yourself but it’s still cheaper than buying an individual policy off the street. Without it, one accident and your whatever savings you might have had could be toast.

5.Cut Out Extras: Now would be a good time to learn to go without cable television, your morning Starbucks latte and other frivolities. You can add them back in later but, for now, you need to be clipping coupons and eating Ramen noodles.

The main thing to keep in mind is that being unemployed is not forever. Finding work is simply a numbers game. The more jobs you apply for, the nearer you are to securing your one.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / erix!

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Maybe you’ve been studying stocks for a while now but, as a young investor, find it difficult to pull the trigger and risk real money in the marketplace. Never fear, your friends at Young Wealth have an idea that might help.

The trick is how to get a close approximation to live trading conditions without losing real money. Currency market brokers had this figured out a long time ago and now we’ve begun to notice stock brokers taking the cue – practice accounts are what we’re talking about.

A practice account with an online broker is exactly what it sounds like. You register at no charge, open an account, and are immersed in a real world computer screen with charts, graphs, news, live streaming quotes. There’s money in your account even though but it’s not real. This is how to simulate trading and not lose a penny.

In almost any endeavor, practice makes perfect, or at least a lot better than you were before you started practice. With a simulated trading account you can execute trades, lose or gain money, test strategies, or just find out if you’re ready for the big time of making trades with real money.

We think it’s a great idea for a young investor to use his practice account as long as it takes to prove himself a profitable trader. If you can’t trade profitably on a practice account, why the heck would you want to move on to a real one? Be patient. Sooner or later, you’ll get there.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / YoTuT

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We’ve been hearing the economic and laid-off worker horror stories for a while now, and most of it is true, but what if you happen to be young money, one of those fortunate few twenty-somethings with a great job and nice income. You want to invest it somewhere besides that train wreck of a stock market.

The housing market has crashed and burned in many areas, or so says conventional wisdom. Well, the Young Wealth Team is here to tell you this is the very time you should be looking to invest in real estate. We’re not talking about randomly buying any old house in any old bottomed out market. Chances are you should stay away from those.

What you should be looking for is single family residential real estate that you can rent out. If you haven’t heard it before, let us be the first to tell you, there is no overall “housing market.” Like politics, all housing markets are local and there are plenty of them offering great investments for young money ready to invest right now.

Our sister company, Platinum Properties Investor Network, finds real estate deals every day and shares them at no cost via our free membership services. If you’re interested in learning how to uncover safe, profitable property deals on your own, listen to the latest episode of Jason Hartman’s Creating Wealth Show to learn how we are finding properties right now in places like Indianapolis, projected to earn 23% annually. You’re not going to beat that burying your cash in mayonnaise jars in the back yard.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / thelastminute

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At the start of your working life, it may be hard to imagine where exactly you’re going to pry loose a few dollars to invest when you’re living paycheck to paycheck and barely paying all the bills. True, it’s not easy. Nobody promised that but clever money management skills can go a long ways towards finding extra cash to put to work building wealth for later.

The secret to finding money to invest in a tight budget? Learn to save first. Even if you make a modest salary, say $30,000 and live in an expensive city, you can develop the habit of saving by practice, practice, practice. It’s just like exercise. Get used to doing it and soon it will be second nature. Don’t start with the intention of putting back some crazy amount that equals half your income.

That’s a recipe for failure.

Pick a sane amount and stick to it, even if it’s only $25 a month. Soon you’ll realize that you can create a savings account, and there are all kinds of nifty uses for that extra money. Save for a new car, house, or…INVESTING! See how easy that little bit of money management can be? You may be living paycheck to paycheck now but it doesn’t have to be forever. Change your financial future by learning how to save.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / alancleaver_2000

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Listen in as Jason interviews Jon Swartz about successful teens.

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Podcast: Download

When we say live without debt, we’re talking about the consumer kind. The sort of debt that makes you lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling and wondering if that $400 a month car payment was really worth it. You’re never going to build wealth that lasts if you’re hemorrhaging cash at the same time. It’s like trying to keep a sinking boat afloat bailing with a teacup – a lot of activity and not much progress.

Chances are, if you’re like most recent college graduates, you’ve developed some pretty godawful spending habits as a result of never having cash to spend. Consequently, when you did stumble across a few spare dollars in the laundry hamper it was off to the local bar or fast food franchise.

Hey, it’s college. We won’t crucify you for it but realize this behavior is adamantly opposed to investment success. The problem we see with debt is it eliminates choices; remember, we’re talking about stuff like car, student loan, and credit car payments. These kind of things must be paid or you’ll get into even bigger trouble. Even with a good job, it takes a good portion of your income to cover debt payments, rent, and food.

Whether it be a nice honeymoon or investments, having no debt lets you save for the future. That’s good, right? It’s about quality of life and the sooner you realize how detrimental debt can be for that, the sooner you’ll start living the life you dreamed of.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / AMagill

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At some point in this walk through life we begin to think about the impact our decisions have on the next generation, namely, our kids. If you happen to start a family early, it’s critical to teach the fundamentals of financial literacy from the start. In this culture of buy now and pay later or never, cultivating a sense of financial responsibility in the little ones is one of the most important roles of a parent.

After all, do you want them to grow up and spend money they don’t have, like the government? Or worse, start printing it when they run out, once more, like the government? The obvious answers to these questions are “No!” and “Hell, no!” The temptation for financial irresponsibility is even greater if you happen to have a moderate amount of wealth and can afford to spend on non-essentials.

So what are you going to do about it?

Our first suggestion is set limits. Teach them to understand the difference between needs and wants. Other ideas are:

1.  Discuss how money works in an age-appropriate way. Explain the bills and everyday expenses your money pays for.

2. Get a piggybank and have your child divide the contents into spending and saving. This helps instill the idea of long term planning. Don’t get frustrated if it takes them a while to catch on. Some reach the age of ten before internalizing the idea.

3. Playing is learning. Even pre-schoolers enjoy a game of shop that simulates a retail environment complete with play money and receipts.

Hopefully, by now you get the idea. The goal is to send your kids out into the real world with a solid grasp of how being a good money steward will improve their lives forever.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / mikebaird

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Is your junior or senior year in college a good time to begin investing? At Young Wealth, we’d say “Absolutely!” That assumes your bad debt is paid off first. Yes, we realize we’re beginning to sound like a broken record with this “Pay off your debt!” mantra. We don’t get paid for saying it but we do believe it’s that important. It’s a critical component of your financial education. The part you’re likely NOT to get in school.

Think of it this way. Most of your consumer debt is attached to a high interest rate. What’s the point in making a nice investment return when the new profit is running out the back door to pay for debt? Your profit is already taking a hit from inflation and taxes. Tack on debt payments and it’s the very definition of spinning your wheels.

Be patient, grasshopper. The time for investing will come. Pay off debt first, however long that takes. Throw every spare dime and penny at it until the debt beast is dead, dead, dead. Then it will be time to crank up the investments – stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate – go crazy with it all, though we would seriously suggest you visit http://www.JasonHartman.com to learn how we make money with our investments no matter what the economy or inflation is doing.

Use the time spent eliminating debt to learn how to invest so you’ll be ready to hit the ground running when the time arrives.

The Young Wealth Team

Flickr / alancleaver_2000

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