Charter Schools

One idea that I really like is the idea of Charter Schools.  Charter schools are schools that have been granted a charter exempting it from selected state and local rules. 

At first glance this may sound bad but in actuallity most charter schools have higher test averages than public schools.  What I really like is that I have seen some charter schools that teach "other" topics. 

By "other" I mean ethics, morals, finances, philosophy, business and a variety of other skills that are essential for living and working in the world. 

What I would love to see is a hybrid Christian-Charter school. A school that is based on biblical Christian teachings as well as incorporating teachings in morals, ethics, finances and social skills. 

Hmm.  Maybe a Legacy Christian School?

Financial Basics Part III: Automatic Wealth

I realized looking through the site that I have neglected to finish some of the basics so I am going to work on populating the rest of the Start Here: Read First topics.

One of the key things I learned as a financial planner for the wealthy was automating investing and savings.  Most people tend to spend all the have and then try to save money or invest and what happens 99% of the time is there is no money left for it. 

So the key to easy investing and savings is through Automatic Wealth or the "Pay Yourself First Principle".  This simply means that all savings and investing is automatically withdrawn from your income sources before you ever see it.  This way the money is already saved or invested and you are forced to live within your budget. 

For example:  Every pay check I have money deducted for my ING savings account, my 401(k) and my Roth IRA.  I never even see the money.   Therefore their is no temptation to spend it on other things. 

Another benefit of Automatic Wealth is that you learn to live on less.  I here the same excuses all the time:

"I don't have any extra money to save"
"We'll start investing when we get out of debt"
"When I start making more money, we'll start saving." 

But the truth is these people are usually overspending.  One of the first things I did with clients just starting out was to have them write down every single penny the spent for one month.  The results were amazing.

$100 per month on premium cable
$250 per month on Starbucks Coffee
$300 per month on lunches and snacks at work
$100 per month in extra fees (Movie rentals, extra insurance on credit cards and checking accounts)

With most people I could find $300 per month of extra income that was being wasted.  By simply taking a sack lunch and coffee from home, we could add almost $400 per month of income. 

When I first started, I thought there was no way to save 10%.  Then after a year, we found it easy and began saving 15%, then 20% and every time I got a raise instead of buying bigger toys, we increased our savings and investments. 

A great new program that we are using is called Mvelopes, click on the Quick Tour link for a demo video.  Mvelopes is a a fully integrated financial management system that breaks your income down into spending "envelopes" and keeps you on budget.  It also offers a free full service bill payment system "you can pay any company or individual, schedule automatic or recurringpayments or transfers and receive, view and pay your bills all online" 

It also allows you bi-monthly billing that will help you automatically pay off your mortgage and loans quicker.  And throw in an anytime mobile access that you can use your cell or PDA to make transactions with.

All this for about $11 per month. 

On average, Mvelopes users save an additional 10% per month.

Why do I support this product so much? 

It establishes the "pay yourself first" principle, it ensures your bills are always paid on time, it allows bi-monthly payments and it keeps you on budget. 

I've used Quicken and Microsoft Money and they simply do not compare. 

The whole point here is to automate all your savings and investing, as well as bill paying and then keep careful track of your budget. 

Along with Mvelopes there are two great books that explain the power of this concept further:

Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperity
and
Automatic Millionaire

Kid Nation

I don't have time to watch much television but I did catch a trailer for CBS's new series Kid Nation.  This show is based on 40 kids in their own town with no adults.  They cook, clean, run the services and have a working town counsel to air grievances.   

This show  looks very intriguing and sometimes very emotional but child development experts are already attacking the show and trying to have it blocked from being aired.  They argue that putting children into this situation too young can have psychological effects later in life.   

I'm no expert but the trailer looks exciting and I love this idea.  Children are still innocent and have not yet been polluted by many of life's pressures and expectations.  They still dream and still believe in making a difference. 

Watch this trailer:

Wordless Wednesday: Potala Palace, Tibet

Remembering

Remember Why

When Bad Parents Happen to Good Sports

It happens every year and by now it shouldn't upset me but it always does.  When parents think that a child's success in sports is the end all be all. 

I sat at the season opener for my son's Under 10 Soccer League, lots of parents cheering, the kids were excited in their new uniforms.  I was standing (I can never sit down when my kids play) next to an older lady who said her granddaughter was playing on my sons team. 

The game started and the kids were having fun while the parents cheered. 

Then the guy enters. 

He is the father of the older ladies granddaughter.  From the second he gets here, he has this look of disgust on his face and begins screaming at his daughter to run faster, try harder, help her teammates out. 

By the second half, the girl is winded and holding her stomach from cramps, still not a positive word or comment from dad.  Only the comments on her performance which was not up to dad's MLS standards. 

I began to ponder if this idiot knew the effect he would have on his daughter. A lot of men I talk to can relate to this type of "encouragement"  The have fond memories of their fathers yelling at them or berating them for a sports performance. 

And for what? 

So dad could feel better about his own personal shortcomings in his life.
To exercise his past demons from his youth?

Many things are important and critical in life. 

The outcome of a child's sporting event is not.

Luckily, grandma had enough and finally gave her son some parental wisdom stating something to the effect of "All you are doing is tearing your daughter down and looking like a bad father."

The father stopped and the next time I saw him, he was much better and more encouraging.

As parents we have to look at everything we do and ask ourselves

"Is this better equipping my children for the future?"
"Does this really matter in the big picture?"
"Am I helping or hurting my child by my actions and words?"

Until next time...

Brickianity: Part II

We continue are discussion on rigid beliefs and Rob Bells definition of Brickianity in his book Velvet Elvis.  We left off in Part I talking about having Jesus as our foundation and having flexible doctrine to follow...

A good example is the scriptures, the scriptures are man's divinelyinspired accounts of the Christian faith. Yet many cannot agree on some of thetranslations.  For instance, the word "Virgin" in the scriptures, according to scholars, could have meant an unmarried girl, a girl who  conceived her first time with a man, or simply a young girl. 

Many of the pagan religions at the time of Christ, also have stories similar to Christianity, including a savior being born of a virgin and dying and raising again after 3 days. 

What if early Christian writers added some of the pagan traditions in their writings to make the teachings more acceptable and familiar to their current beliefs? 

For those who believe in Brickianity, these questions  are heresy and anyone who asks them are surely not "True Believers."  However, I find many young Christians today asking these questions and asking about the Theory of Evolution and the church has to have answers to these questions, not simply shun those questioning their faith. 

I personally believe that questioning and challenging ones faith leads to great growth.  The times in my life when I have searched or challenged my faith have lead me to find even more solid proof of my faith and why Jesus is the example we all need to follow. 

I once argued with a group of women that having fights and stress in your marriage only strengthens your marriage and prepares you for greater adversity.  They argued that they knew they had a strong marriage and didn't need any tests to prove it.  However, Dr. John Gottman of the Unviersity of Washington , has proven with 91% accuracy that how we handle fights and stress in our marriage is the real factor in a successful marriage or divorce.  Brickimarriage?

These are my final thoughts, God is divine and man is human.  So anytime man enters faith, you have to leave a margin of error.  Translations can be wrong, history can be wrong.  But if we base our faith on Jesus and let all the dogma and doctrine be flexible, we can grown stronger in our faith and not feel threatened by the worlds challenges. 

      

Brickianity: Part I

I just finished reading Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis", which was probably one of the most controversial Christian books of 2006.  Part of the controversy lies in Bells theory that challenging and questioning faith is the way to growth and greater spiritual happiness.  Many Christian however follow the belief of "Don't rock the boat." 

They believe Christianity should be Brickianity.

In Brickianity, people have a rigid set of beliefs that are essential to their faith - a system with no compromise.   Read Bell's definition:

"Each of the core doctrines for him is like an individual brick thatstacks on top of the others.  If you pull one out, the whole wallstarts to crumble.  It appears quite strong and rigid, but if you beginto rethink or discuss even one brick, the whole thing is in danger.

Godis bigger than any wall.  God is bigger than any religion.  God isbigger than any world view.  God is bigger than the Christian faith.

...oneof the things that happens in a brickworld: you spend a lot of timetalking about how right you are.  Which of course leads to how wrongeverybody else is.  Which then leads to defending the wall. 

You rarely defend the things you love.  You enjoy them and tell others about them and invite others to enjoy them with you.

Theproblem with brickianity is that walls inevitably keep people out.Often it appears as though you have to agree with all of the bricksexactly as they are or you can't join."

I run into a lot of people who believe in Brickianity but it is not the system for me.  For some reason, I also meet a lot of Catholics who have left the faith never to return.  Most say it is because of the guilt and rigid dogma that surrounds Catholicism.  Although I am not Catholic, I went to a Catholic School and I found myself also questioning some of these "truths" later on in life.

For instance, did you know the word "Holy Trinity" is not found anywhere in the Bible?  It is a phrase that was inserted somewhere in Christianities history and now is believed to be core doctrine.  This is an example of a Brick. 

A lot of people grow up in Brickianity Churches then go off into the world or college and have some of their bricks challenged or even proved historically inaccurate and all of a sudden their wall of faith comes tumbling down. 

But Bell goes on to explain another type of faith as well.  A faith he compares to a trampoline.  In this faith, Jesus is the foundation or mat and the mat is held up by flexible springs or different sets of doctrine and belief.  If your doctrine is flexible and you don't always see yourself as being right, you are not threatened when others challenge your doctrine. 

In Part II we will look at some of these challenges and why basing your faith on Jesus as the foundation will actually help answer questions and help you grow in your walk with the Lord.