Would You Leave Home Without Your Pants On?

Today I would like to share with you an article by Dana Corey  https://www.danacorey.com/

after my recent blog discussing the need and importance of mission and vision statements. Where is it that you are wanting to get to? Do you have an action plan to get there? It's not going to happen on it's own.

I will now turn it over to Dana.

Probably not. … and likely chances are if you did, you’d get some undesirable results: awkward glares, head shakes of shame, frightened faces, etc.

That’s what having a vision and jumping into action without having an action plan is like.

Unless you want to end up beating yourself up over all the things you should have done, and feeling frightened about looking into the future because vacations, days off, monthly massages, dinner dates, etc. seem impossible…

You need a plan!

You’ll likely feel like you need to take action right away, probably because you’re so overwhelmed, overworked, and practically running on coffee fumes it’ll seem nearly impossible to find time to do anything other than try to catch up.

Business owners run themselves ragged. 9 times out of 10 it’s because they’re taking tons of haphazard action, trying to feel accomplished. Instead, they’re mostly doing busy-work and it’s digging them into a hole of overwhelm and dry spells.

That’s the exact reason you need to put a S-T-R-A-T-E-G-I-C action plan in place.

One that has your end result in mind. That caters to what you most want and need out of your business while serving your clients in the highest, most authentic & powerful way.

And how do you create a strategic action plan? I thought you’d never ask…

You work backwards, of course! Have the end goal in mind. Know your desired result.

Not just the numbers your working towards, but exactly how you’ll feel when you’ve reached that goal. Don’t just imagine the result for you. Know exactly how you want your potential clients to feel and what they’ll experience from participating with you.

Work Backwards.

Start with the end result and ask yourself “What steps do I need to take to get there?”

Keep asking yourself that until you have an action plan for this week. No matter what you have going on today,  make time to take your goals and create your strategic action plan.

Make sure you set goals that will allow you to win! Winning gives you energy to move onward to your next goals. Don’t set yourself up with goals that beat you down, that you can’t possibly accomplish. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a big pile of unsuccess to add to your already big pile of self-criticism (caused by your laundry list of should-have-done’s).

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You and I both know working long hours away from your loved ones is no good for your relationships and it’s certainly no good for your bank account.

Why Do Companies Have Mission/Vision Statements?

Most established companies develop organizational mission and vision statements, which serve as foundational guides in the establishment of company objectives. The company then develops strategic and tactical plans for objectives.

Read these company mission statements and see how well they resonate with you and their validity. Are these company's operating in such a way that is aligned with their mission. These companies are some of the most successful companies on our planet. I have included a few that have subsequently filed for bankruptcy - Sears and Toys R Us. Can you see how they fell out of sync with their mission statement?

Here we go:

Uber's mission statement reads, “Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.

Alphabet Inc. (Google) mission statement is “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Starbucks mission statement . “Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Airbnb is a hospitality company  - The mission is to live in this world where one day you can feel like you're home anywhere and not in a home, but truly home, where you belong. 2. Be a Host. To live in this world where you can be home, you have to provide hospitality and hosts provide hospitality. 

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.

Twitter Inc. has a perfectly respectable mission statement: Our mission: To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers. ... This is 80 characters over Twitter's previous  140-character limit.

YouTube's mission is to provide fast and easy video access and the ability to share videos frequently.

Amazon's mission statement says: It's our goal to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything at Amazon.com.  Amazon is focused on taking care of their customer for starters.

Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. We operate leading online and mobile marketplaces in retail and wholesale trade, as well as cloud computing and other services. We provide technology and services to enable consumers, merchants, and other participants to conduct commerce in our ecosystem

Walmart's mission statement is “Saving people money so they can live better.” This statement is synonymous to the company's slogan, “Save money. Live better.”

Sears Holdings Mission Statement: "To grow our business by providing quality products and services at great value when and where our customers want them, and by building positive, lasting relationships with our customers.

Nike's mission statement is "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world." The legendary University of Oregon track and field coach, and Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman said, "If you have a body, you are an athlete."

The Adidas Group strives to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position.

Tesla – their  Mission  is the same as it is today as when we created Tesla a decade ago: to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible.

Apple's current Mission Statement is: "Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store.

Samsung's mission statement is "Inspire the world, create the future." As one of the leading electronics companies in the world, Samsung Electronics is characterized by new technology, creative solutions and innovative products. we follow a simple business philosophy: to devote our talent and technology to creating superior products and services that contribute to a better global society.”

McDonald's mission statement  is to be our customers' favorite place and way to eat and drink. Our worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy called the Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience – People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion.

KFC the mission of this company is to be an internationally renowned fast food industry in the world and to increase and maintain the quality in fast food in world industry. Their aim is to capture the fast food market

Coca Cola Company  -  Our mission is: To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions.

Pepsi's mission statement states the company's intention of serving as a premier international brand and offering consumers convenient snacks and beverages. Pepsi strives for honesty and fairness in its interactions with consumers and investors, and looks to deliver value and quality.

Toys 'R' Us Mission Statement -  "Our Goal is to be the Worldwide Authority on Kids, Families and Fun."  

Toys 'R' Us Vision Statement: "Our Vision is to put joy in kids' hearts and a smiles on parents' faces."

Playboy Enterprises Inc. brings the iconic Playboy lifestyle to innovative products and experiences for global consumers.

Indigo - to inspire our customers and those they care about with life-enriching products and experiences.

Netflix referred to its brand promise as a "quest": "We promise our customers stellar service, our suppliers a valuable partner, our investors the prospects of sustained profitable growth, and our employees the allure of huge impact."

It is also highly recommended that we apply mission and vision statements to our own personal lives. They will help keep us focused on what it is that we are out to do and accomplish.

Investing Your Money - The Stock Market

Home of the bears and the bulls

We have all heard the stories of the person that picked a stock that turned out to be a winner and it made a lot of money. But we have also heard the stories of so many people that lost their money chasing a stock that did not perform. Stock prices are volatile and very unpredictable. On a given day a stock can soar only to lose that gain and more on the next day.

You should not invest your money in the stock market expecting short term gains. It is not the road to riches. Investors are always looking ahead attempting to predict a company's future performance. For example a company like McDonald's may be devastated if a report came out that their meals cause cancer. Could McDonald's recover from such news and overhaul its product offering. In any event McDonalds has properties all over the world that it could sell off. What about the McDonald's franchisees - what action could they take if any to protect their investments. You can see from this example anything could happen with severe effects on a company and its stock price.

Stocks go up and down - a company can be doing extremely well but investors fear current short term economic news and lose confidence in stock markets overall. Political events can impact the prices of stocks - is there a shortage of a commodity or new sources of supply have been found. You must be able to evaluate the potential of a stock over time. Do you sell your shares and take an immediate loss if your stock holdings lose value. Or is this a temporary setback that you can withstand the decline and hold your stock for a future time period.

Much has been written about how to invest in stocks successfully by many skilled investors. One of the most successful investors over time has been Warren Buffet, who on any given day is one of the Top 5 richest men in the world. Like anything else, success leaves a trail and you should follow those successful investors who have been at it for many years and weathered strong and weak markets.

Let me share with you some of the principles of successful investing. You may be a novice investor that does not understand the complexities of investing in the stock market who is hoping to make some quick gains without the possibility of losing any of your hard earned "sweat money". If you don't have the staying power you can get wiped out quickly and not even realize what happened.

We cannot control market conditions so we must establish some general rules to help us assess the performance of stocks we buy and hold.

1. Buy stocks of quality companies.

Companies with a proven record of success with strong management teams are generally expensive. How many shares of such companies can you afford to buy? Consider buying ETF's (exchange traded funds) or Mutual Funds. This will spread your money over a group of stocks and also spread your risk over several stocks at a more affordable price.

2. Make sure you understand the business. 

How can you evaluate a business if you have no clue as to what they do?

3. Make sure they are businesses with long term growth opportunities.

You want to make sure the company is involved with products that are growing. For example look at smart phones and where they are headed. Lots of customers available but prices are getting very expensive. Would you buy shares of newspapers and magazines when most people are getting their news and stories online? 

4. Be prepared to hold your investments.

You need to be able to weather the storm. Is your business going through a temporary or seasonal decline or are they on the verge of bankruptcy.

5. Does the business have strong cash flow?

It's ok for a company to borrow money if it strengthens their ability to expand or acquire new equipment in order to modernize or automate. If a company is borrowing money just to pay their operating costs they are in trouble.

6. Don't chase news headlines.

Unless it is devastating news it will pass in a few days, the stock may suffer a temporary setback but it should recover. Most stocks already have a certain element of expectations built into the current price.

7. Generally do not risk money that you will need within the next 3 years.

If you are planning to retire, get married, move or need a new house or car don't risk losing these savings as the money may not be there when you need it.

8. Stocks trade worldwide.

Do your research thoroughly. What is driving stock prices in America may not be the same as what is happening in Canada or Europe. Economies in Asia may offer better returns and value today.

9. Resist Fads.

Be careful and avoid trendy stocks like social media (Facebook and Twitter) or simply hot technology as they are unproven over time and may not have a sustainable business model that will generate steady and growing revenues. Look at what's happening to a billion dollar company like Facebook in March of 2018. UK and USA governments are ready to pounce and their data harvesting techniques and who they sell the data to. 

Good luck and many happy returns to you.

What To Do With Your Money?

Generally there are 3 things you can do with the money you earn.

1. Spend It 
You have obligations in family and perhaps children.You must provide room, food and clothing before you can even contemplate what else you can use your earned money for.There can be many different commitments you have already made and are obligated to keep those payments met and on a current basis.

2. Save It 
You may be able to retain some of your earnings each month but are afraid to risk using it for more than putting it in your bank savings account. Interest rates are low and you will earn very little interest. You may be averse to taking  risks on how else you might use your money as you don't want to risk losing it. Better to earn some interest than lose your principal.

3. Invest It 
You may be interested in putting your money to work for you. You have studied how the stock market works or you are prepared to use the services of a stock broker. All stock trades must be done through a broker and will incur both buying and selling fees. So right from the "get go" regardless of performance you have fees to pay for.

Investments are not limited to purchasing stocks - you can buy        other assets that have the potential to appreciate in value;                  such as real estate, vacation properties, art and rare items like          coins and stamps - or gold and silver and jewellery.

The basic premise if you want to become wealthy is to spend less than you earn; so that you have the ability to save and invest. If you spend more than you earn you risk going into debt and having to pay interest to your lenders. This is one of the easiest ways people become broke and have no money. They spend their life paying off debts and interest to bank and credit card companies or department stores.

Stock Valuations - What's Going On?

These are the top 10 companies ranked by Current Market Capitalization (U.S.$ millions)

Rank	Company	Market Cap	Country
1	Apple Inc.	$913,221	UNITED STATES
2	Alphabet Inc	$806,532	UNITED STATES
3	Amazon.com, Inc.	$764,352	UNITED STATES
4	Microsoft Corporation	$743,338	UNITED STATES
5	Tencent Holdings Limited	$540,638	CHINA
6	Facebook Incorporation	$538,278	UNITED STATES
7	Berkshire Hathaway Inc.	$525,693	UNITED STATES
8	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$404,322	UNITED STATES
9	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd	$368,448	CHINA
10	Johnson & Johnson	$358,922	UNITED STATES

Review this list of the Top 10 Companies by market capitalization and you will see that five of them are in Technology. If you are not familiar with the Alphabet name above it is the "Google" group.

The Top Company in the world  by revenue some $550 billion for 2016 was Wal*Mart Stores Inc. which happens to be in 24th place with an estimated market capitalization of some $220 billion.

I'm not a stock analyst but i don't understand the logic here unless the expectation is that Wal*Mart will fail in the short term while Apple will continue to soar. The reality is that there is more risk to Apple being "knocked-off" by a competitor or a new entrant into the market with superior technology. There is already a known risk that  cell-phones can lead to cancer. Also, Samsung is a formidable competitor that challenges Apple and may surpass the American company. Do your remember the Blackberry from Research in Motion that was once the leader in the market-place.

Wal*Mart is also under extreme challenge by Amazon and is suffering some hits in the e-commerce division but you can be sure that Wal*Mart has the muscle and ability to "fix" it's internet business and take the game to Amazon. I don't think i would bet against Wal*Mart long term. Wal*Mart needs leadership to take out Amazon - pay the big money and recruit as necessary from Amazon.

          What does surprise or should i say shock me is to see a fairly useless company like Facebook on the list of Top 10 Companies. They have no product or content to sell to consumers. They can only survive by remaining a free service provider to the world. Yes the have over a billion members but think about what would happen if them implemented a small charge for their service. People would leave in droves.There is no way you could convince me to invest any of my money in their stock. Think about it - what is their offering to the market place.

Another surprising name to see on the list of the Top 20 is AliBaba. What they do can easily be replicated and probably will be in the near future. Alibaba has no inventory. They have created a specialty service that plays to the Chinese market. How long before the Chinese government takes it over.


Invest your money wisely and due your due diligence to make sure you want to risk your money on some of these technology companies that may not have the staying power for the long term. We saw what happened to all the dot com companies in the past - they were obliterated. 


Two other technology companies worth keeping an eye on are Airbnb and Uber. 

 Airbnb has become the world's largest accommodation provider, which owns on real estate. I would expect that the Hotel and Travel industry will find a way to compete more effectively with consumers. Why not become an affiliate of a well know brand and compete against Airbnb.

Uber has become the world's largest taxi company and food delivery service, but owns no vehicles. Popular competitors like "Skip the Dishes" and "Lyft" have already emerged. Just like Uber can deliver meals it's working on delivering packages.


What i do know is that concepts that were only dreams have become billion dollar  businesses and they did not require any hard assets other than technology to do so. Interestingly, high tech companies like Apple and Microsoft have understood that you need more than technology to survive for the long term. You need both software and products to capture both personal and business customers. 

Do You Suffer Fom Cracked Heels?

                  byAviva Patz

Ultimately, the best way to avoid cracked heels is to prevent them, and that means weekly upkeep. "We have to tweeze our eyebrowsand shave our legs, so pumicing and moisturizing is just one more thing to add to the routine," Sutera says. (Read about how the latest beauty product on the market called baby foot is helping women smooth their heels.)

If your cracks are very deep, bleeding, or seem infected—you'll see redness and swelling, it might feel warm, and it will probably hurt—see your primary care doc or a podiatrist. If not, here's how to start treating painful cracks at home.

1. Soften callouses the right way. 
It's true that buildup is bad, but so is exfoliating incorrectly. Scrubbing too aggressively can split the skin even further. "You may have temporary smoothing action from the foot filing, but you won't help the cracking underneath," Sutera says. Instead, after a shower or a soak, when skin is clean and softened, use your foot filer of choice—a pumice stone or an electric tool like Amopé Pedi Perfect Foot File—and file heels very gently, in only one direction. "Don't file back and forth and don't go too deep," Sutera says. The goal is to slough off the just the top layers of dead skin without pulling the skin apart at the micro cracks. Exfoliate at least once a week or up to once a day.  

2. Slick up strategically. 

shutterstock_406908553-foot-cream-boyblackcat.jpg

boyblackcat/shutterstock

Moisturize immediately with a foot cream—make sure it's a cream and not a lotion, which is too thin. Choose a formula with lactic acid, salicylic acid, or uric acid, which are exfoliating ingredients that will help gently eat away at thickened areas and prevent callouses from coming back too quickly, Sutera says. She recommends AmLactin Triple Action Alpha-Hydroxy Therapy Foot Cream and Kerasal One Step Exfoliating Moisturizer Foot Therapy, both of which are gentle and inexpensive. Massage the cream onto your feet twice a day, whether you've exfoliated or not. 

3. Put a sock on it. 

shutterstock_365057132-sock-saquizeta.jpg

saquizeta/shutterstock

Improve the healing power of your foot cream by locking it in for the night with a pair of socks lined with silicone, like Silipos Silicone Gel Therapy Socks, or Bliss Softening Socks. Or just wrap your heels in plastic wrap and don regular socks on top before hitting the sheets.

4. Choose the right shoes. 

Wearing shoes with proper backs—not flip-flops or slides—can also help keep heels from cracking. If you must wear flip-flops, Sutera advises choosing a pair with a thicker sole, some shock absorption, and arch support, like the ones made by Vionic Innovation Lab. "Choose a shoe that keeps your foot a bit off the ground—so dirt doesn't get into any cracks, and that doesn't allow a lot of slipping around or friction," she adds.

7 Habits of Highly Successful People

 Tim Rue - Bloomberg -  Getty Images - Elon Musk

What sets highly successful people like Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg apart from the rest of us? One man interviewed hundreds of self-made millionaires to find out.

Tom Corley, an accountant and financial planner, surveyed 233 wealthy individuals, mostly self-made millionaires, on their daily habits. He compared those answers to responses from 128 poorer individuals, or those with less than $35,000 in annual gross income.

 Here are only 7 of the habits they have in common.

1. Reading

A whopping 88 percent of rich people in Corley's research say they devote thirty minutes or more each day to education or self-improvement through reading.

Most do not read for entertainment; they prefer biographies, history, and self-help books.

If you enjoy a good novel, that can help you too. Reading for pleasure can also boost your career. And Corley's point holds for many kinds of narratives. "There are important life lessons to be learned in biographies of people with rags-to-riches stories," he writes. "Biographies expose the thinking habits, challenges, and ups-and-downs of the subject."

2. Exercise

Working out regularly clears your head and makes you feel more motivated. According to Corley, 76 percent of the rich carve out 30 minutes or more for aerobic exercise like jogging, biking, or walking each day.

3. Building positive relationships

"You are only as successful as those you frequently associate with," Corley says. If you don't have highly-motivated people in your personal network yet, fear not. Self-made millionaires volunteer, which is a great way to meet other positive, motivated individuals. You could also join groups for people who share your same career or personal interests, Corley suggests. Then develop the relationship by keeping in touch. And be choosy about who you spend your time with. "[Successful people] also make a point to limit their exposure to toxic, negative people," says Corley.

4. Pursuing goals

Most self-made millionaires don't end up rich accidentally, Corley's research finds. They make plans.

Eighty percent of the wealthy are "obsessed with pursuing goals," he writes. They refer to both daily and long-term goals regularly.

"I'm here to tell you to avoid putting your ladder on someone else's wall and then spending the best years of your life climbing it," Corley says. "Find your own wall, your own dreams, and your own goals, and pursue them."

5. Sleeping well

Albert Einstein reportedly preferred to get at least 10 hours of sleep a night. If you too function best well-rested, Corley has some good news.

An overwhelming 89 percent of self made millionaires sleep seven or eight hours each night, or more.

"Sleep is critical to success," he writes, citing its effects on memory function and creative thinking.

6. Developing multiple incomes

"Self-made millionaires do not rely on one singular source of income," Corley says. "They develop multiple streams."

So how many sources of income do they have?

"Sixty-five percent had at least three streams of income that they created prior to making their first million dollars," Corley says.

Having a side-business or income generating investments like REITs or real estate are a few common additional sources of income.

"Diversifying sources of income allows you to weather the economic downturns that inevitably occur," he writes.

7. Avoiding wastes of time

Money isn't the only important resource for wealthy people. Time is another one.

"When we invest our time in anything it's lost forever," Corley writes. Be choosy about the apps you spend your time with too, instead of spending hours on end watching Netflix or scrolling through Instagram.

"When you see time as the greatest risk of all, it will force you to become more aware of exactly how to invest your time," says Corley.

You can read more and see his lenthier list of 16 habits in his best-selling book Change Your Habits, Change Your Life, Corley explains that wealthy people set themselves up for success in a few specific ways.

This article is written by Marguerite Ward | @forwardist November 2016

Vitamins - from A to Z and Everythng in Between

So how do you know which vitamins you should consider taking. Most of the containers don't help in telling you what they are best used for - they only tell you how many to take a day. Most doctors do not recommend vitamins as they are not trained in their usage. There are so many vitamins available and it's impossible that you need to use them all. Generally, vitamins are used to compensate for what you are not getting from your daily diet. 

It's become a multi billion dollar business,          magic bullets. Your vitamins will make up for your poor eating habits. There is a vitamin for ever condition imaginable.

How do you learn what you need to know before you start taking vitamins. Once you begin using them how do you know if the are doing anything for you. They are not like medicines order by your doctor that are specifically targeted to help you with specific pains or ailments that you may be suffering from.

The best thing to do is to study and learn about vitamins that are recommended for any particular condition you are dealing with. You can learn by doing research online. There are many health blogs available free of charge to you on the internet.

Also keep in mind that vitamins can cost you lots of money - do you need basic generic or brand names. Are brand names any better than house brands carried by your drug store? Every pharmacy sells vitamins - both house and name brands. What's great for the pharmacies is that no doctor prescriptions are required. An adult can buy whatever they want and both the user and supplier are covered by the safety instructions and directions specified on the containers. 

It's an easy sideline business you can get into. There are many MLM (multi-level-marketing) programs available that are promoting vitamins, supplements, lotions and potions. You probably have been approached by family and friends to join up with a Plan and make supplemental income. Investigate these plans carefully before you get involved. Every plan requires that you buy a demo kit or samples. 

We Learn From Our Mistakes or Those of Others

We are not taught in primary school how to handle our money. We learn as we earn. We are taught to get an education, find a job, earn money and life will take care of itself. Some people will never learn about saving and investing or sticking to a financial budget.

Many people will work very hard for many years and end up money poor. Where did the money go? Why don't I have any savings? I don't know about investing money in the stock market and I sure don't want to lose all of my money. A friend called me recently and asked me "what can I do with the $10,000 I have sitting in the bank. I'm earning next to nothing in interest on my money." My friend was working 2 jobs and saving their money. But they did not use their money to make money.  You make 1% or 2% interest on a savings account. You work hard to accumulate your savings and are afraid to lose it on investments you know very little about.

Some people will learn to save money along the way and use it to acquire assets that generate money, for example a rental or vacation property. These people set financial goals and take action to achieve those goals. You can buy a house for only you and your family. You will pay the mortgage and all the bills with the salary you earn. Or you can rent out space in your home to tenants and use the rental income to help you pay the mortgage. Some people rent out rooms or even the basement to tenants.

It's impossible for the average person to know all about money. You can hire a financial planner to help you manage investments or learn about the stock market. You can use a real estate agent to help you find a home suitable for earning rental income. An insurance agent can help you make sure you have appropriate life insurance coverage. An accountant or tax expert can help you save money and minimize your income taxes. Use a lawyer before you sign contracts to make sure you understand the terms of a deal. Fees paid to professionals is money wisely spent. These professionals have studied and learned these areas of money. You can't expect to know it all. Get help early.

You don't want to find out after many years of hard work that you have no savings or assets and are too money poor to retire. 

Your Health is More Important Than Your Wealth.

We do the best we can to take care of our physical mind and body but sometimes we fall to common illnesses which may require medical treatment and possibly hospitalization. We work out regularly, we eat a balanced diet and we avoid drugs and alcohol. We are not guaranteed good health as some issues are hereditary and are in our DNA. We all know of people that have encountered unexpected illnesses and diseases without explanation; in some instances leading to premature death.

Do you have coverage for your prescription drugs? Some sicknesses require you to take medicine forever - things like diabetes, and high blood pressure. Who pays for your drugs.

Do you have coverage for your teeth. Dental costs can be so expensive. Who pays for your dental procedures?

Do you have coverage for your eyes? You may require eyeglasses or contact lenses and perhaps some laser surgery to repair your eye damage. Who pays for your eyecare?

What about if you are suffering from hearing loss. We have some fantastic hearing aides but do you have any idea what they cost - thousands of dollars. Do you have any coverage?

Some employers are now providing their employees with reimbursements to cover gym and yoga memberships. The money invested today in the welfare of their employees can least to more healthy  and productive employees.

Most employment contracts have a shared benefits plan between the employer and employee and both share in the cost of the premiums. The premiums are usually determined by the amount of coverage you receive.

. When you compare jobs in the market-place you need to take medical costs for you and your family into consideration. Depending on your family history these benefits or lack thereof make a huge difference in what your compensation really amounts to.

Additionally, costs and services vary by country as some countries provide limited health insurance like in Canada and Europe whereas as countries like the USA  do not.

The point here is that if you can't afford state of the art medicine what are you to do? When you are looking at employment opportunities do not overlook the importance of health benefits. What benefits are available and what is the cost to you as the employee.

So perhaps you are healthy, single without family and health benefits are not important to you. In that case it is much easier to change jobs because benefits are not part of the consideration for you. However, always remember that Health is more important than Wealth and things can unexpected change in a flash. Witness the woman on her return from Easter Mass who was run over by a bus. A person may slip and fall during vacation in a foreign country and suffer bleeding of the brain. What of the 11 year old child that is dropped off by the school bus only to be run over by an oncoming vehicle and dies at the hospital emergency room. We never know when we may suffer an irreversible illness and we are without medical coverage.

You can lose your job but you can recover, that may not be the case with your health. An illness or a disease may have negative implications on your life forever. Take good care of your health you only have one life to live!!!

Broke and Living With His Parents - $2.26 in the Bank

Story by Jonelle Marte

The Washington Post

This is Grant Sabatier who has a blog  named Millenial Money. By age 30 he turned the $2.26 he had in the bank to  $1 million. Read his story and enjoy it.

A few years after graduating from college, Grant Sabatier was unemployed, broke and living with his parents. Hungry for a burrito one afternoon, the twenty-something checked his account balance and learned that he had $2.26 in the bank.

The low point served as a wake-up call for Sabatier, who took an image of his balance and set a goal of saving so much money that he could retire early if he wanted to. “I remember having this intense feeling of honestly just . . . lack of control,” says Sabatier, who is now 32 and writes about his financial habits and mistakes on his blog, Millennial Money. “I never wanted to feel that way again.”

Sabatier found a job at a marketing agency, took on side gigs to make extra cash and managed to stash away as much as half of his paycheck. He perused more than 300 personal finance books. And he reached his goal of saving $1 million by age 30.

Now Sabatier, who lives with his wife in Chicago, runs multiple businesses. But his savings give him the leeway to be selective about the projects he takes on — and he can afford a lot more than that burrito he was craving all those years ago.

Here are some of his tips for boosting your savings, based on what worked for him — and the mistakes he’s made along the way.

1) Find a side hustle

Sabatier “quickly realized” the $50,000 he was earning at the marketing agency wasn’t going to be enough for him to meet his saving goal. He started multiple side gigs to bring in extra money, such as launching a consulting company, selling concert tickets and building websites for businesses.

Sabatier later quit his 9-to-5 at the agency so that he could dedicate more time to growing his website business, which was then earning him more money than his traditional day job. Still, he kept up some of his other side hustles so that he could continue to save as much as possible. “If you just view your full time job as the way you’re going to get ahead, it’s just going to take a lot longer,” he says.

In his mission to make as much money as possible, Sabatier sacrificed a lot of time away from friends and family since he was spending the majority of his nights and weekends at work.

2) Make saving a daily habit

One of the most important habits Sabatier developed was to make his goal feel attainable. When Sabatier first decided to save more than $1 million for retirement, the number was so large it felt beyond reach. So he focused on the near-term and calculated that he could meet that goal in about 30 years if he saved at least $50 a day and earned roughly 5 per cent a year. “It’s difficult for us to think about the future,” he says. “So how do we bring the future into the present and use that to your advantage?”

He started off investing just $5 a day through a brokerage app and increasing his contributions over time. But because he wanted to reach his savings goal as soon as possible, he didn’t stop when he topped $50 a day. He stashed away any extra money that came in, such as a bonus or income from freelance work. And he reached the point where he was saving hundreds or thousands of dollars on some days.

3) Invest your extra cash

Sabatier says that he was only able to meet his goal because he invested the majority of his long-term savings in stocks and bonds, giving him a much higher return than he would have earned through a savings account. This may seem obvious, but Sabatier’s story is a reminder of how much money can be left on the table when people are too afraid to invest.

Part of his success comes from good timing: stocks have risen sharply since he doubled down on his savings goals during the financial crisis. For example, savings invested in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index when the market bottomed out in March 2009 would have tripled over the next eight years as the stock market recovered.

Meanwhile, cash put into a savings account over that same period would be virtually unchanged. (That said, financial advisers typically recommend that any money you’ll need in the next couple of years should be kept in cash.)

4) Keep boosting your savings rate

As he earned more money from side gigs and reduced his living expenses, Sabatier moved from saving 15 per cent of his pay, to stashing 25 per cent and eventually saving more than 40 per cent of his paycheque.

The idea of saving so aggressively may feel intimidating to some people, but even boosting your savings rate by a small amount can make a big difference over time, he says. “Save $20 more this week than you did last week,” he says.

Sabatier at times reached the point where he felt like he was “saving too much,” he wrote in his blog. For a while, he stopped travelling, going out or even buying books. The sacrifices helped him build his nest egg. But the experience was a reminder that people should balance the expenses that are important to them, such as travelling to see family, with their saving goals.

5) Reduce your monthly expenses

As he became more serious about meeting his goals, Sabatier scaled back his monthly housing costs so that he could save even more. He moved from a “really swanky apartment” in Chicago that cost about $1,500 a month to an apartment half the size that cost $800 a month. “That’s $700 more that went straight into my investment account,” he says, adding that people should target the bills taking up the biggest share of their paycheques.

Some people may find big savings from selling their car and eliminating monthly car payments, insurance bills and gas costs, he says. Others may benefit from finding a roommate or renting out their apartments through websites such as Airbnb when they aren’t home, Sabatier says.

6) Remember your goals

Years of living frugally and finding ways to make extra cash helped Sabatier meet his savings goal. But then last year he made a costly mistake: He got comfortable. On the verge of splurging on a $350 laptop bag, Sabatier realized that his spending was getting out of hand.

He took a look at his transactions and calculated that he spent $200,000 last year, more than twice as much as he had the year before. It became easy to spot some of the culprits: $12,000 on a weekend in Napa Valley. Seventy-five dollars for takeout on a Wednesday night. Fifty dollars for a bottle of wine.

Sabatier knew that he could technically afford these things, but the “lifestyle inflation” he was experiencing could threaten the financial independence he had been working for. “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should,” he says.

So far this year, he has tightened the reins on his spending. He is cooking more, buying $12 bottles of wine and looking for cheaper accommodations when he travels.

As for the laptop bag, he found one for $40 on eBay.