I’d like to begin this post with a little allegory:
Two boys had been wading in a creek in the nearby woods. They started walking home barefooted along a train track. Their feet were tender because of the gravel along the side. All of sudden both boys noticed a bear coming out of the trees running straight for them. The first boy screamed, “Let’s run!” and he took off the best he could, limping along over the railroad ties. The second boy sat down and put on his tennis shoes. As the first boy was wondering what was taking his friend so long, he looked back to see his friend putting on his shoes. After his shoes were on, he stood up and began running, rapidly catching up to his friend and passing him up. Which boy do you think the bear is going to eat?
What does this story have to do with you? Will you take the time today, to put on your “financial shoes” so to speak and get prepared for tough times ahead? Our Congress keeps spending more money than it takes in. The U.S. debt load is immense, colossal, gigantic, huge, and unmanageable! There is no end in sight to the disgusting way in which government leaders have mismanaged tax dollars paid out by you. Despite all the good intentions with government-sponsored healthcare, the cost of health care is predicted to continue rising until it exceeds what people pay in taxes! (See the graph to the left that 
compares health care costs with workers’ income and inflation).
When times get even tougher will you be prepared to out run your neighbor? Will you be able to help your family? To me, the bear has come out of the woods and is running straight for me. The only way I can be prepared to defend myself against the bear is to be out of debt — that means ALL bad debt, which of course includes my mortgage. I can only defend myself if I have a cash surplus for emergencies and have learned how to spend and save so I won’t get in debt again. I need adequate insurance to protect against crisis. I want to be the person who can take my family to safety, not the person who must rely on the government for help, the same government that has sent the bear out to chase and kill me!
What are you going to do? Now is the time to decide, while you still have a chance. Let’s suppose the bear doesn’t eat you, but he knocks you over, mauls you, bites you a bit, and beats you up pretty good? Okay, so you’re not totally destroyed but you are badly wounded. Wouldn’t you rather outrun the bear financially speaking than risk being harmed in any way? Now is the time to do things differently from those around you. You must learn to…
- Live on less than you make (Money Mastery Principle 2)
- Get out of ALL bad debt (Money Mastery Principle 4)
- Create a cash surplus (Money Mastery Principles 3 and 10)
- Always look at the big picture and get organized financially (Money Mastery Principles 7 and 8)
- Do all of these things at the same time so everything can work together for your good!
The Money Mastery Principles are the best for learning how to do all thisDon’t be the kid who is running in bare feet — be the kid who has stopped to put on his shoes and can run with confidence!
