The Kitchen Sink: LIMITING THE AMERICAN DREAM

The argument that people only work for rewards is a popular one with several of my friends, two of whom are millionaires. They explain to me that, if you take away the rewards (by which they mean monetary rewards), people won't work. Wealthy, middle income, or poor, they define and limit the American Dream to capitalistic ideals and that limited edition has become the political religion of our times. But I think that belief in capitalism as the one and only motivator and guide says more about those particular friends and folks like them than about the human spirit in general and actually short-changes their own humanity.

These friends have bought the simplistic myth of capitalism as a raison d'etre - I work, therefore I am. This misunderstanding or simplistic focus leads many of them to labor long and arduously at jobs they don't enjoy, and more of them fail than succeed. Hence the1%, the10%, and the 89% we see today.

By defining the American Dream as a narrow, a-moral economic system, they are liable to miss out on the true riches of the broader American Dream and the lifestyle it offers.  A good many of us define the American Dream more broadly and deeply as the freedom to be yourself and exercise your gifts for the good of yourself and your community - which includes the planet on which that community rests and by which it is supported.

The Kitchen Sink: A RICH FINANCIAL DIET, Part I

I am a retired social worker who loves to travel. Two thirds of the IRA that I funded at $600/month while working was wiped out by Wall Street back in 2000 something. I now live on Social Security, a small pension and the annuitization of what was left of my IRA. Fifteen percent (15%) of my modest monthly income goes for health care. I am better off than many of my fellow sliders on the slippery end of the well-under-$50K slope because I spend every dollar twice.

I love to travel and I have several tips on how to live a champagne lifestyle on a soda-pop budget. These tips require some steady income, maturity, intelligence, discipline and vigilance, but these are traits we all need to develop.

The Kitchen Sink: A RICH FINANCIAL DIET, Part II

How did you do with Part I? Those suggestions really take more thought than time, once you get to know your spending needs and put a rhythm to your finances. Now we move to my favorite part - gaming banks and airlines. Spend Every Dollar Twice.

I repeat: 19. Take advantage of credit card offers, sign-up rewards, and benefits. 

This is actually the secret that turns my soda-pop into champagne. But it takes good impulse control, planning and vigilance. As you know, the credit card industry counts on you to overuse the convenience of deferred payment that they offer in hopes that you will carry debt that earns them exorbitant interest and makes them lots of money. If you fall prey to their ploy, you can pay way more than double what your purchases cost over time. I get a kick out of exploiting the banks' and airlines' eagerness to have my business.  And they thank me for it.

Politics: CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

I want to believe that my vote counts and that my legislative representatives work for me. I offer here a campaign finance reform idea that could do away with the pervasive corruption and dominance of special interests. I propose a private enterprise that would result in lots of entry-level white-collar jobs.

All but retiring legislators are perpetual candidates. What if all donations to every candidate for national public office were recorded - confidentially - by a sequestered “Bonded Treasurers Unit” assigned by, and accountable to, the FEC? A record of individual and business donors would be supplied to the candidates and legislators but without any information about size or number of donations associated with those names. Recording that identifying information would be the sole bonded purview of the "Bonded Treasurers Unit" Here's how it could work.