Daily Question July 9th

Read it and weeeeeep

What is your favorite exercise to do??????

Answer and win a prize.

It can be a certain workout routine, sport, outdoor event activity, etc…

Unacceptable answers: getting out of bed, 40oz curls, slapping people.

BTW eat your broccoli

Read more!

Thank you lazy people!!!

Dear Lazy person,

Thank you for not caring. I use to get frustrated with your lack of motivation, but now I have come to realize you are an asset to my financial freedom. It is because of your nonchalant attitude that I am able to succeed in many aspects of my life. I love that you're five minutes late to work everyday, thus making me that much more favorable in my bosses eyes. I appreciate the fact that you pay interest on your credit card balance every month, thus allowing the credit card companies to share their profits and give me cash back at the end of the year. I thank you for being complacent in your crappy 9 to 5 job, thus allowing me the flexibility to change jobs as I wish. Lazy person, you make my life easier and for that I say "Thank you."



BJP

Read more!

Daily Question July 2nd 2008

Today's question...

How much money would you like to be making today? What annual income would allow you to rest easy at night with a sense of security? Are you secure with your current income?




Thanks and be sure to respond

BJP

Read more!

Daily Question July 1st 2008

Today's daily question(s) relate to credit card use.

How many credit cards do you have?

What are their balances?

What do you use them for?

What's the highest interest card?



Thanks and be sure to leave a comment

BJP

Read more!

Discipline or Regret

"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." – Jim Rohn.

Yes, YES, YESSS!!!!

Be DISCIPLINED with your fitness and finance now or REGRET that you weren’t later.

Which do you think is more uncomfortable?

So why should you be disciplined about fitness now?

Well, get ready for this tasty nugget of information


Physically fit individuals experience a greater than 50% reduction in risk of death from any cause!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This includes the leading cause of death in America, cardiovascular disease. Exercise and nutrition fight cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, age-related decline in mental function and memory, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, cardiovascular disease, and even accidental death.

And if you don’t believe me check out the references.

The bottom line is that the lives of those who utilize exercise and nutrition are increased in both quality and quantity.

A short post, I know. But what else do you need to know to motivate your discipline and start exercising. You CAN do it!

Don’t REGRET not reaping the rewards of a healthy lifestyle

References
1. Warburton D, Nicol CW, Bredin S. Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2006 March;174(5):801-809.
2. McDowell I. Alzheimer’s disease: insights from epidemiology. Aging (Milano). 2001 Jun;13(3):143-62.
3. Hu G, Jousilahti P, Nissinen A, et al. Body mass index and the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Neurology. 2006 Dec 12;67(11):1955-9.
4. “Eliminate Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).” CDC.gov. May 11, 2007. Center for Disease Control. October 07, 2007.
5. O'dwyer ST, Burton NW, Pachana NA, et al. Protocol for Fit Bodies, Fine Minds: a randomized controlled trial on the affect of exercise and cognitive training on cognitive functioning in older adults. BMC Geriatric. 2007 Oct 4;7(1):23.
6. Brown DW, Brown DR, Heath GW, et al. Associations between physical activity dose and health-related quality of life. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 May;36(5):890-6.
7. Galper DI, Trivedi MH, Barlow CE, et al. Inverse association between physical inactivity and mental health in men and women. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Jan;38(1):173-8.
8. Strawbridge WJ, Deleger S, Roberts RE, et al. Physical activity reduces the risk of subsequent depression for older adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2002 Aug 15;156(4):328-34.

Read more!

Daily Question June 30th 2008

I think it would be neat to post one question every day. These questions will be from a broad scope, but will more than likely have something to do with finance or health or both. It would be great if you read this and posted a response down in the comments section. That way everyone can see what everyone wrote. It would be neat to see everyone's persepective on rather simple questions. Hopefully you respond, if you don't I guess this will kind of suck....haha

How do you define wealth? Is it a dollar amount? Is it a feeling? Is it unattainable?. What do you think?




I realize that one chance to live is a newer blog and our readership is lacking in comparison to many other financial blogs, but I'm confident that our views will slowly increase. Our goal is to get at least one response :)



Take care,
BJP

Read more!

Options are a good thing (Part 2)

This is is the second part of my "Options are a good thing" series. You can find the first part here . I love having options in every aspect of my life. I like picking what credit card I'm going to use.. I like networking with successful people. I like being able to pick what church I go to. I like options.

I have recently found myself juggling with what I want to be doing with the rest of my life. I like the job I have now, I can definitely make a career out of it, but something inside of me wants to accomplish more. I don't know if it's because I'm 22 and I feel like I can conquer the world or maybe it's just depressing to think I could have the same job for the next 40 years. I have this habit of exploring alternative career paths, but then second guessing myself and wondering if I can find something better than the job I already have. There is only one way to figure out I guess. I'm going to increase my potential career paths.

Option 1) I will be getting my real estate license sometime in the next six months. I don't know if I'm ever actually going to make a career out of selling houses, but it wont hurt to have the possibility.

Option 2) Volunteer at a financial advisors office. I don't come home exhausted from work, mainly because I work from home :) so I have considered exploring jobs in the financial sector. I don't want to get a paid job because then my responsibilities and my commitment to the company both increase. However, if I spend just a couple hours a week (one shift) volunteering in a financial advisors' office I can get a feel for the work he does and probably pick up some pretty valuable tidbits of the financial game. I plan to get this started in the next couple weeks.

Option 3) Continue to passively browse craigslist and monster for different job postings. I have found it is much nicer to be looking for jobs when I don't actually NEED a job. There is no pressure when I send my resume in. If i don't get invited for an interview it's no sweat off my back. It allows me to apply for jobs that I really want and not just any 9-5 position. I have my resume on monster and occasionally get solicited to apply for jobs, sometimes I do, most of the time I don't. I LOVE being able to casually look for jobs, it's one of my favorite things to do.

Have you explored all your options? Are you aware of what the rental or housing market is like in your area? Go browse craigslist right now and see if you can find some better places for cheaper rent. Call the cable company and see if they can give you any discounts on service. Casually browse jobs that you would love to do and send in your resume. Having options never hurts. Don't find yourself applying for jobs after you've been fired or you've quit, that's when things get stressful. Formulate back up plans. Do something.

Be proactive in bettering your life,
BJP

Read more!

Health Question Challenge

Health Question Challenge

Here’s the deal. I like helping people. I want to help you learn more about health. I want you to ask me a question so I can answer it and hopefully help some of you out there.

Thus begins the health question challenge, week 1.

Ask away.
And here is the rest of it.

Read more!

Personal Training

Brandon’s last post (which is a great one) inspired me to talk about my job as a personal trainer – the benefits and detriments. Personal training is a great job! The hours are flexible, the pay is generous, and the “miscellaneous perks” are rewarding. As always, I am happy to answer any questions you may have!!!!

I can set almost any hours I choose, which is good for me, because I have two other jobs. Fortunately, one of the other jobs is located within the gym - this is my job at the physical therapy clinic. My other job, playing classical/Spanish guitar at weddings, usually takes up my time on the weekend.

The pay is phenomenal. At my location, trainers are paid 35-50/hr depending on the package that the client has purchased. This is really unbelievable when you think about it. This is equivalent to the hourly rate of someone who makes 70,000 - 100,000 dollars a year!!!! We’re talking physical therapists, physicians’ assistants, and accountants – jobs that require much more education.

As a trainer, you also have a great opportunity for networking!! People who purchase training packages are usually paying between 60-100/hr for personal training. It is safe to say these folks are somewhat successful. I train at least two multimillionaires (one may be a billionaire – no exaggeration) both of whom also happen to be great individuals who are willing to give me little tips and advice. Some even help network my guitar performance career – I was fortunate enough to play at a Nancy Pelosi event just a couple weeks ago. Regardless of your political standing, you can’t deny that that was a great networking opportunity – several people took my card!

But what about the detriments?

There is some job insecurity. For example, my gym has had a drop in membership due to the recent economic lull. Trying to train full time would come with some anxiety because you never know how many clients you will have. It is possible you could go through times without having any clients.

Also, the people you work with – your fellow trainers – can tend to have a little attitude. Many trainers, I think, get by on their genetic predisposition for looking good – not on having a firm grasp of physiology. A lot of times this is ok, especially if their clients are resilient without previous injury. Sometimes, it is horrible, especially if they have an older client with an undiagnosed disk bulge! Or an unconditioned rotator cuff! This situation has BAD NEWS written all over it.

Don’t get me wrong – there are some great trainers out there!! In fact my boss, our head trainer, is phenomenal, but there are some bad apples to watch out for.

If you are interested in a career as a personal trainer, I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, I am very interested in any experiences you may have had with your own trainer, good or bad!

-Will

Read more!

Options are a good thing (Part 1)

I'm a firm believer that options are a GREAT thing. I'm completely satisfied with my current job. I don't make a ton of money, but I never work over 40hrs/wk, and have a bunch of other awesome benefits (company paid internet bill, company car, work from home, etc). Just to be clear I really enjoy my job and am completely satisfied with my career, especially for being one year out of college. But, and there is always a but, I'm always networking and expanding my potential career paths.

I have mentioned in my previous posts that I tutor high school students for a little extra income each month. Tutoring for me has two HUGE benefits...extra money and networking with some extremely successful people. Every family I tutor is worth millions of dollars, all the dads own successful companies, and almost all the moms are stay at home moms. Needless to say, the are all very well off financially. After one of my tutoring sessions I was chatting with the mom about her real estate business.

Let me give you a little insight about this family. The dad owns a construction company and designs/builds homes. The mom is a passive real estate agent that sells when she wants or when it's convenient for her. They own 15 homes in a VERY nice part of San Diego and are amazing people with great hearts. Anyways, after tutoring the mom told me she is pretty busy because her real estate business is booming. She went on to make subtle comments like "My husband and I need to hire someone to help us out, but I'm just too much of a control freak." She told me I should get my real estate license so I can sell houses with her. I have flirted with the idea of getting my license before, so when she said this my eyes lit up. I told her I would definitely look in to getting my license.

Here's my thought process. I love interacting with people, the idea of selling homes is very appealing, possibility of big income, and getting to work side-by-side with a super successful realtor all make this potential career path very exciting to me. I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket. I'm not going to quit my job assuming I'll get my license and sell a million homes. I know real estate is a shaky industry. BUT, like the title of this blog, I believe options are a good thing. I begin my real estate classes in a month and will begin to open more doors for my future.

Wish me luck,
BJP


Read on for part 2 here

Read more!