I have heard a couple of reports that there is now an increase in Americans paying off debt for the first time in decades. All of the financial advisors that I have asked have agreed that paying off a debt with an interest rate of X is an equivalent net result of using that money to get an X rate of return from an investment. This rate of return would need to be above about 12% because of investment fees and taxes.

Additionally,what investments are as guaranteed or as safe as paying off a debt or a mortgage? The main risk that I am told is that a person could have to wait longer to be able to sell a house in order to cash out, or home values could drop. But if you are planning on staying in your home, many are paying their 30 year mortgage in as little as 8 years, and are ending up with a preforming asset. Suzie Orman recommends this, and points out how much capital you would have to have tied up in an investment just to pay your mortgage once you are retired. Bases on the better rates of return available a year ago, Suzie says you would have to tie up about $200,000 to make your payments on a $200,000 mortgage.

Besides paying off a debt or a mortgage that is not upside down, I don’t find many safe high yielding investments out there. Paying down a newer 6% mortgage is actually a LOT higher “return” than 6%. Most advisors are not taught about this and would not make a commission if they advocated doing this, although I have met a small minority who do. Also there are no fees or taxes on this kind of “return”. And finally, if the feds put the monitary printing presses into hyper drive and inflation goes rampant, we will have more dollars to pay off the old mortgages as happened starting in the early 70’s. At that time, the averave $18,000 mortgage was almost paid for by inflation, plus the home appreciation rates almost cancelled out the rate of inflation. The main drawback of putting your money into a mortgage is that you can’t get it back out without the fees and or interest charges of selling or refinancing. You can also pull it back out via a low or no fee Home Equity Line, but do have to pay the interest charges, although they are tax deductible on a personal residence.

There is life after Mort-Gage!

Since my wife and I recently sold  a duplex and were wondering where to put the proceeds in this economy,  I have done much research regarding the highest  returning savings and short-term CD accounts.  Besides paying off a debt or a mortgage that is not upside down, I don’t find many safe high yielding investments out there.

When I started looking a few months ago, one could get a 5% return over 6 months. Things have unraveled so fast, and so many that have used these accounts have reported that they are more trouble than they are worth, we are going to keep our money in a money market account at a credit union. The 2.75 return, although still less than the loss from inflation, now looks very attractive. Our money market account is completely accessable. I am told by many that credit unions usually have safer money practices and are less likely to be in trouble. One of our credit unions tol me that they have con had to reduce the credit limit, like many banks are doing, on a single customers existing home equity line. We are glad to have our mortgage with them also, since the money came from them and they have not resold the loan as well.

Please consult a Financial Adviser about what is best for your particular situation,   because I am not a Financial Adviser.

- There is life after Mort-Gage!

Regulations shmegulations. What happens when no one (i.e. the people?) is watching the watchers? More exactly, how can we watch our own (rear Limbic) Lizard brain which, when it comes to finances, will usually lead us wishfully and faithfully, along with everyone else, to act against our own best interests?

Have you seen  the book Mean Markets and Lizard Brains: http://www.amazon.com/Mean-Markets-Lizard-Brains-Irrationality/dp/0471602450

This person has been watch dogging Madoff for 15 years:

http://nihoncassandra.blogspot.com/2008/12/bernie-comes-out-of-closet.html

Well now that the party is over, is the hangover bad enough to consider sustainable ways of managing our personal budgets? I would like to initiate a thread to discuss what we can learn from decades of saner money practices from places like Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Because debt and mortgage interest is bleeding us even more than taxes, I invite you to contribute anything you know of alternative ways of being in the system but not of it. Various consumer advocacy groups have been evolving personal banking strategies made by and for the people for the last six years here in the United States.  Let us discuss if you have checked them out, and your experiences of using them if you have.

There <i>is</i> life after mortgage.

It didn’t seem like we have done much since the 1970s energy crisis until our really started learning more. Thanks to Lester Brown for this information: http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update77.htm

For these numbers to make sense, think that a good size coal powered electric plant generates about 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Now strap on your seat belt:

Texas has 6,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity online and 39,000 megawatts in construction and planning. When completed, Texas will have 45,000 megawatts or 45 coal-fired power plants worth. This will enable Texas to feed electricity to all of their own residents and to Louisiana and Mississippi.

Clipper Windpower and BP are already developing the world’s largest wind farm. The 5,050-megawatt Titan wind farmis in eastern South Dakota. They are also building a transmission line to feed electricity into Illinois and the country’s industrial heartland.

Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, developing a 2,000-megawatt wind farm in south central Wyoming, has secured the rights to build a 900-mile high-voltage transmission line to California. The door is opened to developing scores of huge wind farms in Wyoming, with another north-south transmission line to Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Kansas and Oklahoma are looking to build a transmission line to the U.S. Southeast to export their wealth of cheap wind energy.

California is developing a 4,500-megawatt wind farm, Maine is planning to develop 3,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity, Delaware is planning an offshore wind farm of up to 600 megawatts,  New York State, plans to add another 8,000 megawatts, and soon Oregon will nearly double its wind generating capacity with a 900-megawatt wind farm.

Solar power is also expanding, California, with its Million Solar Roofs plan, is  the leader. New Jersey is also moving fast, followed by Nevada.

The largest U.S. solar cell installation is a 14-megawatt array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, but photovoltaic electricity at the commercial level is about to explode. PG&E has entered into two solar cell power contracts with a combined capacity of 800 megawattswhich will cover 12 square miles of desert and their highest output coincides with the peak demand for air conditioning.

Solar thermal plants that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a vessel containing a fluid—heating it to 750 degrees Fahrenheit to generate steam and produce power. The United States has the world’s only large solar thermal complex, a 350-megawatt project completed in 1991. But as of September 2008 there are 10 large solar thermal power plants under construction or development in the United States.  Over the next three years, the United States will likely go from 420 megawatts of solar thermal generating capacity to close to 3,500 megawatts—an eightfold jump.

Along with wind and solar, geothermal energy is also developing exponentially. As of 2008 the United States has nearly 3,000 megawatts of geothermal generating capacity, 2,500 of which are in California. Now 96 geothermal power plants now under development in twelve western states are expected to double U.S. geothermal generating capacity. With California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah leading the way.

Since Most of what we have is based on electricity this form of seems here to stay. The new energy economy will be powered largely by electricity from renewable sources. It will light, heat, and cool buildings, as well as power plug-in hybrid cars, light rail transit systems in cities, and high-speed electric intercity rail systems like those in Japan and Europe.

Once a power plant is built, the price is stable since there is no fuel cost. The shift also will staunch the outflow of dollars for oil, keeping that capital at home to invest in the new energy economy, developing national renewable energy resources and creating jobs here. These new industries can generate thousands of new jobs each week. This will require huge numbers of electricians, plumbers, and roofers. It will also employ countless numbers of high-tech professionals such as wind meteorologists, geothermal geologists, and solar engineers.

We will be creating the electrical equivalent of President Eisenhower’s interstate highway system, in order to unleash the full potential of renewable energy wealth.

For the first time since the industrial revolution we are investing in energy sources that can last forever. This new energy economy can be our legacy to the next generation.

There is life after oil.

Being both myself a psychotherapist and a victim of violence and a head injury, I have been curious for a while if John McCain’s imprisonment as a POW has affected his cognitive functions.   I know that as it is very easy to get a head injury even when you’re not prisoner.  A friend of mine I was dancing with, has been suffering for years simply by hitting her head with someone else’s.  I invite you to go to the following link, and either read or watch many of the odd things McCain has said during the campaign. I’m not so interested in Keith Obermann’s questioning about what would’ve happened if a Obama would have said these things,  but why they are not being discussed more. I hope to hear from you about what it is like seeing these   Statementsall together in one place, as well as any other related information you may have.   Finally, do you see any difference in either candidate between now and before they undertook the campaign 20 months ago?  To me it’s a great illustration  of how our political process so effectively destroys most candidates humanness. I am completely shocked: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522443/

This link shows what little comes up with a Google search about McCain’s mental status.  However the first  result is a short article by a very concerned MD:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=5VN&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=mccain%27s+mental+cognitive+state&spell=1

There Is Life After Brain Death, Dana Harden

After Xcel Utilities told me a few weeks ago that the electricity will go up 12% this winter, and they don’t know how much gas will go up, I spent some time researching alternative energy and heating. It was disappointing to find that the price will still remain prohibitive for viable alternatives even with upcoming massive rebates. Plus the equipment doesn’t go with you when you move, and in my case it wouldn’t be recouped very much if I sold my house.

I was further discouraged when an Austrian friend told me that Germany has already covered their country in solar panels and is actually paying their citizens for the next 40 years to produce electricity. They are still expecting an energy crisis, but will be in a better position to deal with it. Will you be?

However, when studying Boulder  County ballot issues, I was thrilled to discover an initiative that will address these obstacles. If you don’t live in Boulder County, I hope this gives you an inspiring solution to propose in your own area.  For those of you voting here, I encourage you to check out and vote YES on Boulder County ballot issue 1A. It’s a crowded, confusing and at times  intentionallymisleading ballot, so I want to make sure you know that 1A will increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Boulder County without taxation.

Issue 1A makes low interest loans available to help homeowners or businesses afford solar energy installations, add energy efficient windows, increase insulation, or make other energy improvements without the upfront cost. It does this without raising taxes.

The bond program is  repaid by the participants who make the energy upgrades. As their utility bills go down, they can use the savings to help repay the low interest loans through a special assessment on their property taxes, but only for the period they own the dwelling. This way we can increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency (without raising taxes), and we all benefit through the creation of green jobs, less pollution and reduced carbon emissions. And finally,  if you move out of your dwelling before the loan is paid off, you only pay for that portion of the loan during the time that you lived there.

So I hope you’ll vote YES on 1A. You can learn more at http://www.yes1a.org/

Please forward this to your friends in Boulder County to let more people know about 1A? Thanks!

To volunteer to promote this, contact:

Bill Jirsa

________________

Campaign Manager

Yes On 1A

yes1a.org

303.885.8756

billjirsa@yahoo.com

Dana Harden, There Is Life After Next Winter

I was surprised to hear from Bobby Kennedy Jr that Colorado has been a leader in already throwing out over 80,000 votes plus 6,500 new votes (2/3rds democratic). Then I read in our wonderful local paper the Boulder Weekly, that the Kennedy assertions are not accurate. The only votes thrown out are the duplicates from when people move and the deceased. If this isn’t confusing enough, our Governor Ritter now says there were 30,000  registered voters thrown out in  this election that are now reinstated. then he went on to say that  they might still  be contested.  We’re off to a great start.   The good news is, there are quite a lot of early voters.

However, there are some good suggestions to ensure your that your vote is counted. For instance, he recommended early voting and hand delivering mail in ballots: http://www.stealbackyourvote.org/

He also has an article in the current issue of Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23638322/block_the_vote

Dana Harden

I have been enjoying the emergence of fact checking in the news, but have been waiting for the candidates in the American election process to address economic issues. It seems that, with Nature’s force of hand, might be starting now. I hope they are going to talk about any possible plan they might have regarding the economy.

May I suggest a subject that may elevate your curiosity:

Keating Five

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alan Cranston (D-CA)	Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ)
John Glenn (D-OH)	John McCain (R-AZ)
Donald W. Riegle (D-MI)

The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle (D-MI), were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB).

After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised “poor judgment”.

All five of the senators involved served out their terms. Only Glenn and McCain ran for re-election, and they were both re-elected.

“We become what we behold.” ~ William Blake

What we perceive is largely our interpretation. Our interpretation of our world comes from the system of conventional thinking we are born into.  Also the culture we live in influences us more than we know.  I am here to show you, that if you are like most people, you may not be using all of your financial accounts in the most optimal way.  Common money practices are a continual steady drain on our futures that no longer need to be. Better ways of handling checking, savings, and mortgage accounts designed for the borrowers benefit require little change in banking behaviors.  For example, just putting your income into a certain type account and paying your bills out of that account can easily be re-optimized to create a $1 million advantage for the client.
And no, we are not talking about any method you have seen before. Having a personally designed elegant and sophisticated money management system is a service that has hitherto never been available to you.  Ponder the implications of that. Wouldn’t it be great to have a powerful designer banking system cancelling interest and creating wealth with the money you already have?
These are proven methods that Americans have not been privy to, until now. Even when informed of this possibility, many even tend to think it will not help them before they even evaluate it.  This is why even at the grassroots level much of this validatable information is slow to get passed along.  I’m very interested in technology, and a good analogy to our banking is how our cell phone technology is restricted in America.  For example, in some other countries people have much more access on their cell phones to the Internet, to video broadcasting, and to music and shows from cable companies. Each cell phone company here “dumbs down” their phone so they can charge more for current services. Some people even need 3 phones to get several basic services.
We are in an even more detrimental situation with our banking system. We have for a very long time been in the dark about important strategies to create equity that we can help ourselves with right now.

If that intrigues you, contact me to find out more.

Dana Harden - There Is Life After Mort-Gage