Paul Ferraresi

Over the past year as the economic meltdown hit, it forced many people to change their economic priorities. Too many individuals were programmed to “spend” money in order to “buy happiness.”

Now with their income levels down because of a layoff, or due to a psychological shift in spending patterns promoted by the media … people are spending less. They are feeling “deprived” since they can not “buy their happiness” anymore. This is wrong!

How many times in your life have you visited a foreign country, or even here in the United States, where people live in abject poverty, but have a happy attitude toward life?

So, we find most Americans overspending to “buy happiness.” At the same time, those unable to “buy happiness” – are happy.

I need your help … here is a list of activities anyone, or any family can do that will be frugal, yet provide a fulfilling time. When done reading this list, please send me what you or your family have been doing to “enjoy” life so I can add it to this list …

• Walk a dog … even if you have to borrow one.
• Write someone an “old fashioned” letter.
• Watch a thunderstorm.
• Donate blood.
• Hug someone.
• Call a senior citizen neighbor to say hello.
• Start a gratitude journal–every morning or evening, write down five things for which you are grateful.
• Read all those books you’ve been collecting while drinking all that tea that has accumulated in your cupboard.
• Get Skype and call friends all over the world.
• Write a poem, or at least read one.
• Continue to make charitable contributions.
• Watch It’s A Wonderful Life or Love Actually or some other super feel-good movie.
• Make a game out of cooking dinner for a week using only ingredients found in your pantry or freezer (adding fresh vegetables).
• Have a book swap party.
• Write a letter to a soldier.
• Exercise.
• Join Netflix and watch hundreds of movies.
• Teach a teenager how to balance a checkbook.
• Listen to music.
• Make a hobby out of finding free weekend activities and planning outings with family friends.
• Feed someone’s parking meter.
• Pay a true compliment to someone who annoys you.
• Visit monuments and museums in your area.
• Discover a new park. Go for a hike.
• Teach a young child how to hit a baseball.
• Your ideas??

Motivation books are filled with definitions of what makes up success in a person’s life.

Individuals often pick a specific dollar amount of income or funds accumulated that determines one being “successful.”

Something that hit home with me as a child on the concept of success was when a reporter interviewed a prominent restaurateur. The reporter asked …”When did you become successful?” The response by the restaurateur was…”I was successful when I was sleeping on park benches because I knew what I wanted to do.” So, my definition of success was setting goals, having a definite purpose in life and doing the most for others.

More recently, I have adopted the following statement of success and blended it into what my childhood definition was.

…When morning arrives and you want to jump out of bed to start each day. When you go down to your office, or wherever you spend your day, and, by going there it gives you a great sense of joy and gratitude. In fact, you get so much enjoyment out of what you do that you feel like you are walking on air. What you do not only energizes you, but in some way contributes to a greater good. Actually, what you do brings a greater good to a greater community.

There are even times when you feel like going down on your knees in voluntary gratitude for the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you.

And, if this is true for you, then you are a success…

In summary, it does not have to be a paying job that defines success. It can be anything you love doing. So from this day forward…”climb every mountain” until you find your dream.

Wishing you “success” in the new year and for your lifetime.

I love finding other financial advisors that have great information to help build your wealth. You know, if you go to a major bookstore to the personal finance section, you will find thousands of books to help you become financially independent.

If you could skim each book, you would find the same basic principles in each one. It would take you hours to assemble all your notes. While reading the May 2009 issue of Success Magazine, I was introduced to 3 sites that will help you as they have numerous personal wealth building tidbits for you. I encourage you to visit:

Thesimpledollar.com
Moneyinstructor.com
Billeater.com

You may find one idea that will catapult you into financial independence.

The segment of the American public that has been oversold and underserved can be defined as the mass affluent. This group has unique characteristics. Do you fit the profile of this group?

The mass affluent are people who:
• Save more than they spend.
• Seek to invest for the future.
• Worry about funding their children’s college education, but in most cases won’t impoverish themselves because they can cover costs through savings strategies, loans or personal income. In addition, many are not opposed to their children paying some part of their education costs.
• Worry about how they will replace their paychecks when retirement approaches, but in most cases will need to be encouraged to spend more money in retirement.
• Desire to leave a legacy to their children, not to charity.
• In retirement, seek to spend between $4,000 and $10,000 per month.
• Will have between $500,000 and $1.5 million in investable assets upon retirement.
• Would never consider calling themselves high-net-worth investors or millionaires.

Consider the following research: Russ Allen Prince and Associates just published a book entitled The Middle Class Millionaire, based on surveying middle-class Americans with investable assets between $1 and $10 million.

The mass-affluent community seeks advice on a wide array of planning issues. While they generally have investable dollars, they also want to explore how their money will affect their lives. However, many of the financial relationships they maintain are built on investment strategies, performance comparisons, technical analyses and tactical repositioning. These people feel the planning element of the relationship is missing, yet they struggle to articulate it, since their current advisor calls the existing narrow relationship financial planning.

Too many of these people visit our office with stories of how they felt like small fish in a big pond. They felt an initial sense of security aligning with a big-name firm, but when it came to having their financial planning needs addressed, the relationship would fall short.

The mass affluent seem to be stuck in a world where they want financial planning advice, yet what they buy is primarily investment advice.

Reprinted with permission from Oversold and Underserved: A Financial Planner’s Guidebok for Effectively Serving the Mass Affluent, by Marc Freedman. 2008. Denver: FPA Press

Many people were given savings bonds from family members many years ago and may have lost track of them. They may not even remember receiving them, or, they bought some on their own.

There are more than $16 billion worth of matured bonds that have not been redeemed. This is the final year Series E bonds earn interest. Thus, a $100 bond from 1960 is now with 700.

You can visit a website to see if you have an unclaimed bond. You could have substantial cash that will stop earning interest. I found a few that I had previously bought. Check out the website: www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/tools/tools_treasuryhunt.htm.

Good luck and good hunting.