The Journey to Wealth: Who Am I?

The Journey to Wealth: Who Am I?: Who Am I?      I am a nameless, faceless child. I am a statistic. I am lumped together with other children like myself who receive...

Who Am I?

Who Am I?

     I am a nameless, faceless child. I am a statistic. I am lumped together with other children like myself who receive free, or reduced, lunch. I am often referred to as the disadvantaged, the high-risk, the needy, the underprivileged, or simply – the poor. I am given a free turkey at Thanksgiving and a new unwrapped toy at Christmas and then forgotten; once again out of sight, out of mind. Who am I? I am the child who lives below the poverty line and because of this little is expected of me when it comes to academic success. I have learned, however, that when little is expected even less is given.

     Who am I? I am that adult child who never learned that I had the power to build wealth, save for a rainy day, become a homeowner or live without the stress of overwhelming debt. I was set free to make my way through life’s ups and downs without the benefit of basic financial information. I stepped into what I thought was the real world with my tassel turned and my diploma in hand, only to awake and find myself shackled in Plato’s Cave.

    I jumped headfirst into debt without a clue of how the money game is played. I was young and naïve. I exchanged my financial freedom for a “free” t-shirt, and by applying for credit cards at the checkout lines in order to “save” 10%. I was totally unaware of the financial price I would eventually pay for what I thought were harmless acts. I had opened a floodgate and one credit card became two, two became four, and before I knew it, I had more debt than income; I was drowning.

    I could no longer afford the minimum monthly payments and the collection calls began each morning. High interest rates and added fees replaced the free t-shirts and that so called 10% savings. I had been subconsciously seduced into making financial decisions in a matter of seconds that would negatively impact my life for decades.

     Who am I? I am a member of the working poor. I was conditioned to blindly follow the yellow brick road through the tunnel of debt. The “fake it until you make-it, the keeping up with The Joneses and the I’ll worry about the future when it gets here” programming was nothing more than clever marketing tactics. The shop now pay later propaganda fooled me into believing that I was living the American Dream.

     I have learned, the hard way, that it was my lack of basic financial knowledge that put me on the path to debt and a life of paycheck-to-paycheck living. We can no longer wait for our political saver to take office, our employer to give us a life changing pay raise, or our tax refund to get us out of financial chaos. We are smarter than we think. With a little financial information, we can begin to rethink our spending, saving and investing choices.

     Who am I? My name is Lucille Tyler Baldwin. I am the author and publisher of the series Financially Fabulous Divas, which includes Sick and Tired of Being Broke, In the Driver's Seat, Creating Wealth and Women of Color Handling Their Business and Creating Wealth.

     My mission is to educate and empower women, who, like myself, never learned we could create wealth and live without the stress of debt. An African proverb says, “If you educate a woman you educate a nation.” Ladies let’s get educated.

The Journey to Wealth: Great Advice for all of us.http://fin...

The Journey to Wealth:






Great Advice for all of us.




http://fin...: Great Advice for all of us.  http://financialjuneteenth.com/this-101-year-old-man-gives-the-best-financial-advice-youve-ever-he...

Great Advice for all of us.



http://financialjuneteenth.com/this-101-year-old-man-gives-the-best-financial-advice-youve-ever-heard/

Piano stairs - TheFunTheory.com - Rolighetsteorin.se

RETIREMENT:  TO PREPARE OR NOT TO PREPARE

According to the Social Security Administration, if you randomly take 100 people at the start of their working careers and follow them for 40 years, at retirement age:

1 will be WEALTHY,

4 will be FINANCIALLY SECURE,

5 will continue working out of need,

36 will be dead,

 and

 54 will be DEAD BROKE...

depending on their Social Security checks family, and even charity.  The actions that we take today will determine how we live tomorrow. 

LEARN TO MAKE YOUR MONEY WORK FOR YOU.

HOW WILL YOU SPEND YOUR RETIREMENT?


www.amazon.com  Sick and Tired of Being Broke
Have Questions?  Contact Me: Lucille 843 757-4702

GRAPEFRUIT AND DRUGS

I can enjoy the benefits of grapefruit - on the other hand my mother cannot!

Discover the Benefits of GRAPEFRUIT!

http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-of-grapefruits-for-skin-and-health/#

and the Side Effects

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2239520/Grapefruit-warning-Doctors-says-cause-dangerous-reaction-host-common-drugs.html

The Journey to Wealth: The 2018 Money Saving Challenge

The Journey to Wealth: The 2014 Money Saving Challenge:       MONEY - SAVING - CHALLENGE!   How long does it take to form or change a habit?  I have no idea - I just wish that there was...

The 2014 Money Saving Challenge

 MONEY - SAVING - CHALLENGE!
  How long does it take to form or change a habit?  I have no idea - I just wish that there was a magic wand or potion that could make me instantly develop good habits.  I would drink a language cocktail so that I could speak Spanish fluently, and a double exercise cocktail so that I could have a beautiful flat stomach. 

  Since there are no magic potions it will be necessary for us to take a leap of faith and depend on ourselves.  I need volunteers to participate in the challenge (I am looking for my Miller Homes family from New Jersey to participate!) 

     If you are interested in forming a habit of saving money - then take the challenge.  Leave a message in the comment section.  If we share DNA I am also looking for you to take the savings challenge.  If we are of the same gender "ladies" then I am looking for you to take the challenge. I am calling all men - I challenge you to take the savings challenge.       

     What will we have to show for our lives if we never keep a portion of what we earn?   Are you content with the state of your finances?  Do you have money set aside for emergencies?  Have you started saving for retirement?  How about the children that you love - have you started a college fund?

   We are never too young or too old to get started.  No amount is too small.  At the end of each day I need EVERYONE - this means YOU! - to start cleaning out your pockets, handbags, purses, book bags, and find all your loose change.  Did you know that if you save an average of $1.37 a day at the end of the year you will have $500.00? 

     I need EVERYONE - YES YOU - AND YOUR KIDS -AND YOUR SISTERS - AND YOUR BROTHERS - AND YOUR BFF - to find a mason jar, a box, a bag, or a bank and start saving your loose change.  We have the remainder of 2014 to develop the habit of saving a portion of what we

earn. 

MONEY-MONEY-MONEY-MONEY-MONEY-MONEY-MONEY-MONEY

  

THE FUTURE IS COMING - IT WILL REQUIRE MONEY TO LIVE IN IT!



To Create Readers - We Must Become Readers!

33% of high school graduates will never read a book again!

42% of college graduates will never read a book again!

80% of American households did not buy a book last year!

70% of adults have not been in a bookstore in the past five years!

It you read just 15 minutes a day you will read 1 million words a year!!

A story can take a child to another land.

Words have the power to educate, encourage, heal, and empower children.

It is 10:06 pm have YOU read a book lately?

http://www.rif.org/us/about/literacy-issues.htm

We Are The People: Register and Vote!

United We Rule - Use Your Power and Vote!

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtm/ 

Happy Valentine's Day!

"To love one's self is the beginning of a lifelong romance".  Oscar Wilde

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

Oscar Wilde

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_love2.html#B7qKMvATB03xS5Ai.99

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

Oscar Wilde

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_love2.html#B7qKMvATB03xS5Ai.99

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

Oscar Wilde

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_love2.html#B7qKMvATB03xS5Ai.99

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day#Historical_facts

Retirement is for Old People.

    

     We will die young or eventually reach the age of retirement.  Young people believe that retirement is something that only happens to old people.  Guess what?  At the end of each day you are one day closer to "old age" and one day closer to reaching the age where people start to retire.


     No worries old age is for "old people."  No need to think about growing older or how you will eat, live or pay your way - those concerns are for "old people."   NO WORRIES - The money will come from somewhere!

The Reality

       According to the Social Security Administration, if you randomly take 100 people at the start of their working careers and follow them for 40 years, at retirement age:

1 will be wealthy,

  4 people will be financially secure,

 5 people will continue working out of need,

36 will be dead, and

 54 will be dead broke depending on their Social Security checks, family, and even charity.

   

         Because of a lack of knowledge and naïve assumptions, Social Security has unfortunately become the main source of income for almost 50% of retirees.  In reality, a monthly social security check will only replace about 40% of a worker’s earnings, and alone may not even provide a standard of living above the poverty line.  Nevertheless, according to the US Department of Health & Human Services, 96% of all Americans will retire financially dependent on the government, family or charity.  






     http://finance.yahoo.com/news/retired-and-broke--social-security-can-t-support-seniors-forever-212744627.html

James Brown & Luciano Pavarotti - It's a Man's World

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS!  I LOVE IT!

TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR MONEY

in 2018

The wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots in this country continues to widen. We are fast approaching a new year. Do we continue using the same kind of thinking and actions in the new year that has prevented us from living debt-free and creating wealth?

Do we continue feeding our minds with chaos such as reality television shows that teach us that behaving badly is okay, movies that teach our children how to become the next jack a** stars, or shows that teach our daughters that being a bad girl is cool? Do we continue spending billions of dollars on violent video games that seem to sap our children of creativity, respect and patients?

Do we continue to stand in long lines on Black Friday to spend borrowed money? Do we continue creating debt that will take us years to repay? Do we continue putting on a happy face pretending that life is great? Will we spend another year thinking of reasons not to take charge of our financial situation? Will we spend another year helping to create additional wealth for the haves?

It is time for us to take charge of our money, reduce our debt and start paying ourselves.



Lucille Tyler Baldwin

I AM WOMAN

When circumstances knock us down, we have three choices: 1. we can stay down, 2. we can get up a victim and continue to struggle, or 3. we can get up wiser with a new determination never to be down again.