The James Dicks Blog

Since President Obama started campaigning years ago, he has been talking about some sort of national service; although this sounds like an interesting concept when you first hear it, there are many things to consider.

Do we need another draft?  The reserves are taxed; the National Guard is taxed and more specifically used for operations that may stretch their very scope.

What happens when people stop volunteering? I mean it was only about 10 months ago that the military branches were struggling to meet recruiting goals, then comes a horrible economy and recruiting goes up; but that isn’t the real answer to the problem nor is a draft. I was just discussing this very issue with my uncle and he had some great insight.  Instead of paraphrasing what he told me I decided to just share it with you as he wrote it.

What people probably don’t remember is every time you force someone to do military service you divide the country. History has proven this time and time again. It doesn’t work.

On the other hand for very little additional money you can make service so darn financially and motivationally attractive that few would turn down.  Give full education as it use to be. Give health benefits; give career assistance with actually a job preference and government contract preference to people who serve. People will be standing in line. And if someone argues that this produces a system that attacks the poor, my real argument would be… give me a generation and you will see the greatest distribution of wealth the country has ever seen because the poor who take advantage of jobs, increased wages, health care and post military education will no longer be the ones who are poor. Adults will tell their children in the next generation they better serve or else.

I couldn’t have said this better myself, in fact most of this is supposedly already being done or shall I say it was supposed to be done or offered.  If you are currently serving or have served you know that we are falling short of what should really be offered.  If you are not a veteran think about this and if you are, you know what I am talking about.  Prior to getting out of the service, you have to start planning for your medical journey with the VA and that will be a journey like no other.  Trying to get your benefits through the VA is a long and drawn out process, if it ever does get handled correctly.  I know lots of politicians are trying to make a better system but many of them have never served or tried going through the system; it can literally take years before you get you benefits. 

The horror stories you hear are some of the very reasons that recruiting suffers and that mandatory service is spoken in the halls of Congress among other places; fix what we have and deliver what we already promise we will do.  The military is like a business and there is no better way to attract new customers (new recruits) than to deliver, as promised.

James Dicks

JamesDicks General business, Congress, crisis, draft, economy, expenses, government, james dicks, job, Obama, personal finance, stimulus, unemployed, volunteer

One thing I have noticed as our economy grows weaker is that people, who are unfortunately losing their jobs, have the impression that they need to solve their employment problem right away.

I know what you are thinking; of course you need to solve the problem as fast as possible, especially if you are the one who just lost your job and the one who the family relies upon to bring in the money.  But, what you really need to do is sit back and take a very long look at your finances.  Then examine your goals, short term and long term and adjust these goals now that your financial life has been turned upside down.

It’s definitely not the time to panic; sit down and discuss the issue with the rest of your family, and then begin a plan of action.  You do not have to start tomorrow the same way you have started the days before; meaning working the same job for the same pay and the same benefits.  In fact, this may be the professional and personal change you have been looking for but were too afraid to make the move in the past.

Some people become so complacent in their everyday lives that they can’t make a change and get stuck in a rut.  As my favorite saying goes, if you always do what you have always done then you always get what you have always gotten.

If you own a home then look at that expense first as it is your largest.  Call the lender and let them know you are having difficult times, be proactive.  You can ask them to give you an extension on your mortgage. I personally know of banks that are giving six months extensions, no payments for six months.  Banks are lowering interest rates and modifying loans.  In the end, if they don’t, then they will end up with the house.

I preach financial responsibility and we all should practice it, but what happens when the other side, in this case the government, fails with their financial responsibility?  You are now left on your own to dig out from a nasty situation that was no fault of your own – recent financial events like the housing market crash or the weak job market.

You may want to think about your options and consider refinancing your biggest expenses, such as your house.  What do you do if you are upside down on your house by 50% or more?  Is it something you keep paying for the next 10 years to get back to even?  It just doesn’t seem fair if the person next door stops paying their mortgage only to buy the house across the street for 70 percent less.

These are some of the tough choices you will have to face, but the overall burden of financial responsibility is all of ours. To further help you in this financial crisis, call all of your creditors and ask them to work with you; try to get extensions or reduce your payments and interest.

Many of them will tell you NO.  They’ll tell you they can’t help you or they can’t do it.  But don’t take that lying down; it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and it’s your turn to be the loudest.  You may have to call your bank five times a week, literally, to find someone that will magically help you out and get you to the right place.  Just be sincere, share your story and the solution will come.  I cannot tell you how many times in life I have been denied and turned down only to go to the next step, which seemed liked the last, to finally hear the words, “Sure, I can help you.”

Go the extra mile and believe in yourself and trust in what you are trying to accomplish.  You don’t have to land on your feet the very next day.  At this point, you need to determine what you really need to survive.  How much money will you need to get you through every month?  Will your unemployment get you there?  Will holding off your mortgage get you there? Determine what it will take for you to actually get by each month.  Because this is the real number that you need, this is the number that will take you to the place, financially, where you are supposed to be. 

Once you figure what you need to make it, which will no doubt be lower than you imagine, you’ll sleep better at night and wake up with a better attitude.  Then just start building from that point.  Remember, never give up!  This situation will pass and you will more than likely be better off for this current experience.  I know this is true because I’ve been where you are right now.  Just keep moving forward and things will start changing for the best.

James Dicks

JamesDicks General crisis, economy, financial responsibility, goals, government, housing, interest, james dicks, job, market crash, money, payments, personal finance, refinancing

It’s time to be cautious, during these rough economic times, we are facing, an unemployment rate reaching double digits and people are putting themselves in harm’s way.  When times are tough people can get desperate, especially if they have lost their job and are out of work.  The Internet is allowing predators to prey on these unsuspecting people who are frantically searching for jobs.

The first thing that likely happens when someone loses a job is to hit the Internet and start looking for a new one.  In case you haven’t, just go to Google and search for job openings.  There are lots of them and surprisingly you would think that with all the jobs out there we wouldn’t have a unemployment crisis.  Well the problem lies in the fact the many of these “job postings” are  scams.

Most of the scams on the Internet will often look very official and convincing.  Major Fortune 500 companies are having their identities threatened too.  The thieves are using these companies’ names to make the jobs look official to induce you to send an application to them at their HR email address.  If the email address is not the same as the companies’ that’s an obvious RED FLAG.  Many of these thieves will use Yahoo, AOL, Gmail instead of a corporate email address; so if you see that watch out.  Accomplish your own due diligence.

Be very cautious about trying to find a job completely on line.  Make sure you ask the right questions. Many of these job scams are listed as part time work from home type jobs.  If the job has anything to do with writing checks, doing payroll or processing of any kind – that’s a RED FLAG.  Start asking hard questions, and by the way, don’t just take what the person on the other end of the line has to say as fact.  Do your own home work. 

First thing you want to do is check the IP address of anyone you are communication with on line.  There are lots of places to find out where an IP address comes from, you can try this one; http://www.johnru.com/active-whois/trace-email.html.  I don’t endorse it but it has some good information on how to locate the IP address of a computer from someone’s email header so that you can find out where the IP address originates.  Most of these scams come from Nigeria, so keep your eyes open and if it sounds too good to be true it just may.  Do your home work and never send anyone you don’t know, regardless of the circumstances, any money via wire or Western Union.  Once you send it – it’s gone.

Dateline NBC just did a great story called “Inside the Financial Fiascos,” a special on how to see through these scams.  If you missed it you can probably catch it online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/ .  Just be careful, take your time.  Your new job will come but in the meantime don’t fall prey to these scam artists and make your bad situation even worse.

JamesDicks General business, goals, james dicks, job, nigeria, personal finance, scams