Priorities

I feel compelled to write about this subject. It is my intention this blog can be used as an educational tool as well as a "looking glass" into myself.

First a little history for perspective. I am now 50 years old. Growing up I had a good, middle-class childhood. My parents, though eventually divorced, stayed together until after I was out of the house and I believe both did the best they could at raising us kids during the time I was there. Respectfully, my two brothers and one sister may feel differently and they'd have good reason. I am only giving my opinion for the reader's understanding that I blame no one else for the choices I've made.

I have served honorably in both the Maryland Army National Guard and the United States Navy. I have held many jobs, my first being a newspaper deilvery boy at the age of 10. Amongst my various jobs, I've moved from front line employee to manager (both mid and upper level) and have owned my own business as an owner-operator and as a corporation with paid employees.

My annual personal income has never approached the $100k mark, though it has been adequate for a good lifestyle.

I have two children, widely separated in age and both are outstanding individuals in their own right.

Now onto the Priorities.

Choices

When we're young, we believe ourselves to be invincible, able to conquer all and more knowledgeable than our peers and certainly our parents. As someone once said to me; the older we get, the smarter our parents appear to us. Agreed.

As we grow older, we have times in our lives where we're able to make choices that will have long-lasting benefits/ramifications. The choices we make are directly related to the importance we place on the matters affected by those decisions; i.e. our priorities.

Many of the choices we make when we're young are driven by a desire to have material things. And of course, we want those material things to be new, the best, the coolest and most-desired by those around us. Once we start down this path, change is increasingly difficult and often impossible.

Time Factor

In making our choices, if we go after the newest, coolest and most-desired, it is likely that we'll pay top dollar and/or finance those choices over time. Don't believe me? Read The Millionaire Next Door. Proof is there. Check the price difference between a brand new car and the same make/model, but three years old. The reason time and financing make a difference is that the longer you're paying for whatever the item is, that is time and money lost that could either be saved or going to something else. Many financial books are written on this and the bottom line is this; you want to be debt-free. I have lived both indebted and debt-free. There is less stress and more happiness in being debt-free.

Jealous/Selfish Choices (keeping up with The Joneses)

I bring this up because this mentality has caused our personal spending to spiral out of control and put us in the poor house.

We watch TV and think we should all live in a picture-perfect house. Our gardens/yards should be straight out of a home-improvement show. Our kids should play sports, take dance/music lessons and be involved in just about everything we can sign them up for. Funny how those things usually come before church attendance too...but I digress.

I'm telling you to give those up or tone them down. What?!! Now if you have a child that shows promise and/or you can afford all those things without going broke, fine. Give the kid a chance, but your kids will love you even if they don't get everything they want.

When considering all the lawn/garden projects, remember the golf course has an entire staff to make it look that way, you're one person. The home improvement shows are using skilled, experienced people with the right tools. Again, if you can swing it, great. If you can rent a tool and do the job, great. I once rented a plug aerator and did fine. The $65 sure beat buying a lawn mower attachment for $200 or hiring someone to do if for more.

McMansions

If you haven't heard of them, they are basically houses bigger than most of us can afford. Remember, you might be able to qualify for the 30 year mortgage, but do you want your mortgage payment to hold you hostage while you can't afford a vacation? Will you remember that you need money to buy that new furniture that looks nicer than the beat up sofa from your parent's basement? Remember that during the 30 years in that house, you might need a new roof once or twice. We've all been through neighborhoods that might not hold our dream house, but there are people living there who've taken great care with their yards/gardens and homes.

The Job

Ah yes, the job. We all want high pay, great benefits and status. Here's the reality; do what you're good at. If it pays well, great. If it doesn't, work on increasing your knowledge to move you into something you'll enjoy, but also pays well. If you love your job and it doesn't pay well, decide whether you're love of job is more important than the paycheck. The world will always need people to clean rooms, run errands, cook food, pick up trash, etc. You can have one of these jobs and still be a great person. In fact, I remember when people would say; I might sweep/mop floors for a living, but they'll be the best damned floors you've ever layed eyes on.

We're not all going to be financially "rich." However, many people enjoy taking their campers on vacations and weekends, riding bikes and tending to their own little piece of paradise in their back yards.

In the end, you don't have to live in a big fancy house. You don't have to be pulling down big money in a high-profile job. You just have to be you. Choose your friends wisely. They'll respect you for not giving in to whatever the latest craze is. Love your family, they're all you get.

Different Take on Gas Prices

High gasoline prices are causing lots of talk, political and otherwise. Today our local paper ran two Associated Press (AP) stories regarding the same. My point here is to raise some questions that don't seem to make it into the news stories much.

The AP stories focused on causes of high gasoline prices and made a distinct point in both stories, to say that politicians, Congress and the President can't do much about the price of gas. In fact the AP's position is that the ONLY things Congress or the President can do about gasoline prices is to reduce gasoline taxes or force more efficient cars into the new car showrooms, via higher miles per gallon (mpg) requirements.

One of the AP stories said that a 36 year study showed no correlation between increased US oil production and reduced gasoline prices. The point they were trying to make is that increasing oil production in the US would have no impact on gasoline prices. They further pointed out that there's more of a global consumption of oil products and therefore the US has a diluted impact on gasoline prices.

Okay, now you know the basis for my post. Time to call BS and talk about my point of view.

1. Why aren't we less dependent on foreign oil today than in the late 1970's? I'm 50 years old and I remember there were legitimate gasoline supply issues in the early to mid-1970's. Although the federal government imposed fuel economy standards that were meant to reduce fuel consumption and thus, our dependence on foreign oil, we remain at the mercy of other countries for a majority of our oil.

2. Why don't we have oil companies drilling for oil in more accessible places? For reasons (mostly tied to the environmental movement) United States oil exploration has been pushed to places that are very remote (e.g. the frozen tundra of Northern Alaska) and very dangerous (e.g. 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and more than 100 miles off the Florida coast).

3. Our cars are more fuel efficient (overall) and safer than ever before. Why hasn't the move to smaller, more efficient cars resulted in lower long-term gasoline prices? I know, global demand. But still, doesn't it seem that if we have adequate supply and more efficient vehicles, the prices should be more stable?

I am all for having our motor vehicles be as efficient as possible. However, we've seen our federal government throw hundreds of millions of dollars at "green energy" companies that then go belly-up. Chevrolet had to suspend manufacturing of the Volt, a hybrid vehicle that was flopping in sales because (in part) it could only travel 40 miles per electric charge and the federal government had to offer incentives just to get the price affordable.

Suspicious Study?

I find the 36-year study very interesting because the study would've started about the time the United States started to really ramp up the environmental protections against many development operations, including oil exploration. The federal government was increasing regulations during the same time the study was going on.

My Dream...Good Luck With That!

What I would love to see is the federal government easing many regulations and restrictions to encourage increased exploration, allowing that exploration to take place in less dangerous areas, but while keeping safety as the number one priority. I believe this can be done and I believe the oil companies are willing to do that. Most importantly, I believe this would have multiple benefits, the primary benefit being lower gasoline prices in the United States.

Would We Control Our Own Future?

Even if the world demand for oil remains high and results in countries outside the United States being able to put a higher price on their oil, at least we'd have some control over our own gasoline prices. It might even result in a lower oil price which impacts the production costs of many other products and services.

Government Forced Giveaways

This post is in reference to a recently debated/argued part of the "healthcare reform act," commonly called "Obamacare."

In the past few days there's been an uproar over a requirement in the act that forces employers to offer health insurance that will cover birth control pills (including the controversial "morning after" pill). The big argument recently has been that while churches were exempt from providing this, religious-based employers still had to provide it.

Today, the President announced that the religious-based employers wouldn't have to provide contraception drugs free of charge, but that the insurance companies would have to provide them instead.

People are so caught up in the religious aspect of this they miss the real issue which is; if the United States Government can tell an insurance company they must provide goods or services free to the recipient, they can do it in other areas as well. As silly as it may sound to some, what is to stop the Federal Government from telling a bicycle helmet manufacturer they must provide homeless people with a helmet free of charge? Wearing the helmet may lessen the possibility of serious injury (thus saving taxpayer dollars). Ergo, we are looking out for the safety of the homeless person and the possible high medical costs the taxpayers would bear.

Even if you buy the notion that the government is doing good, somebody WILL pay for the items being provided "free" to the recipient. Who will pay?

If you are okay with what the government is doing, how would you like it if someone came along and said you must start providing your services free? Let's say you're a nurse, or a school teacher or policeman. You've been trained, receive a paycheck and benefits for your services, but healthcare, education and public safety are basic human rights. Therefore, the government has decided that to help provide those services, you must work 8 hours per week for free in, say a home health service organization. Or if you're a teacher, you must provide 8 hours per week of free tutoring to at-risk kids, or if you're the police officer, you must do 8 hours of work in a troubled neighborhood. This is not voluntary. You must do this or be fined by the government. How would you like that?

Bottom line; the United States Constitution does not give the President, nor the Federal Government, the authority to force companies to give goods or services away. If we don't recognize this now, we willingly give over to the government the power to dictate anything and everything. It IS that important.