Ms. Morrison Speaks Money

This year’s theme was “A Passport to your Future” and over 1400 of NJ’s finest women attended the one day extravaganza at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Break out sessions were tailored around 5 basic themes: Travel toward a healthier life, Voyage to Achievement, Sailing to the Top, Tour Your Path to Success and Journey to Victory. Sound similar? Yes, all of them empowering women to seek out mentors and to seek out women to mentor towards mutual success. I was delighted to speak as a panelist on the Battle of the Bulge-How to Create a Household Budget. My message was one of behavior significance, since if we can view budgeting as informational, and an exercise that gives us choices, we will be more inclined to dedicate time and devotion towards establishing a budget and then tweaking it. My challenge was to envision future happy occasions and then strategize how to fund those that cost money. (Many of life’s richest pleasures, of course, DON’T cost money…they require an investment of our time and our souls, which are FAR more important than money.)
I suggested carrying around small post-it notes in our purse or wallet and recording EVERY cash expenditure for 30-consecutive days. YES, 30 consecutive days will give you a clear picture of where cash may be slipping through your fingers, yet more importantly, if you are spending money OTHER than for what you value most. So, with a little commitment to writing down our goals and our ultimate values and then recording how we are spending our money, we can instantly detect and correct incongruencies and re-chart our course towards future joy and fulfilled memories and carefree retirement, before we’ve lost too much time. Remember women: It’s Never Too Late! Time and health are our only assets when you get right down to it. We Can Do It Women!

Posted by Debra in Miscellaneous | No Comments

Well I was informed this Christmas that last year’s Cocoa Beach reunion of my aunts and my cousin would definitely be an annual affair! No problem, we had a blast together, so why not create and cherish great memories while we can? We slept in the 3 beds in my small condo, & also on blow-up beds, yet no one complained about there only being 2 bathrooms. Yes, some of you will remember my 88-year old aunt Janet riding the waves last year, and at 89 she did go swimming in the ocean with me this year, yet for the most part, we just relaxed on the beach and took in some discount store shopping, as well as enjoyed local seafood. Here’s our gang at a waterfront restaurant called Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty in Cocoa Beach, FL, which I highly recommend!
Why is this so special? My aunts were formative influences in my early years, and each provided me with wise guidance and counsel. We are a God-fearing and a musical family, so we delighted in singing hymns in 4 part harmony together once again.
Two of my aunts are widowed, and another one is taking care of her incapacitated husband, plus my cousin is widowed. Each of these women have learned to manage their money in a way that allows them a comfortable retirement. My cousin’s husband died suddenly so she is a perfect example of a woman who when she needed, pulled herself together, and provided comfort to her 2 children. None of these women started out knowing much about money–let’s remember the horrible socialization women who are now in their 70s and 80s received in their youth and early adulthood–yet they have put one foot in front of the other to forge ahead in uncharted waters, investing for their future. They pray for God’s guidance and they act. I’m happy to be related to them, and to hold them out as “everyday folks” who could serve as examples of empowered women to any woman who needs a role model. We Can Do It Women!

Posted by Debra in Debra's Travels | No Comments

I’ve found the last couple of days’ Yahoo video interviews of Elizabeth Warren, both informative and infuriating.

Here’s a no-nonsense Harvard Law School Professor who is willing to truth tell; willing to answer tough questions with candor, and unpopular answers. Hers is the voice of common sense, the outlier in this conspiracy of silence of Too-Big-To-Fail financial institutions having their way with “the rest of us”.

I’m astonished that she and the TARP Monitor Congressional Oversight Panel aren’t given any real power. No authority to pass laws, no authority to police activity, just as she says, appealing for business to “do the right thing”…not a theme that big business has adhered to lately, for certain. To her credit, she was able to virtually shame Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley into paying closer to 94 cents on the dollar vs. 66 cents on the first 1% of warrant sales!

Would that she could have been in charge at the outset of the Troubled Asset Relief Program–TARP last fall! Perhaps the big banks would have needed to supply answers to the very questions they ask us “mortal” borrowers, when we go hat-in-hand for a loan. No, instead they were handed/forced money, hand over Paulson’s fist, with no accounting mechanism whatsoever!

Well, now we must contact our congresspeople and representatives to fight the huge bank lobbys and urge the passage of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency with sharp teeth! Enough of big banks gouging the taxpayers for bail out monies only to turn around and raise credit card fees and interest rates on these same consumers, all the while doling out massive, groups-of-zero bonuses to themselves!

We can’t stop applying pressure now! Turn your outrage into action, and write and call today! We Can Do It Women! Remember what our foremother Margaret Mead said, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Good day!
MsMorrison

Posted by Debra in Investing | 2 Comments

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Hello again!

I’m delighted to be pictured here with New Jersey’s distinguished Senator Loretta Weinberg.  Over 400 men, women and kids gathered last night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to celebrate Ms. Weinberg’s selection as Governor Corzine’s running mate.  The press swarmed the event in order to capture a bit of Loretta’s spirit and grace.

From providing Seniors in NJ with checks good for NJ fresh produce under the Farmers Market Nutritional Program to battling Big Tobacco to ensure smoke-free indoor public places, Loretta Weinberg has proven herself to be a tireless worker for the people of New Jersey.  When Jon Corzine chose Loretta to be his Lieutenant gubernatorial candidate she introduced herself to voters as the “fiesty Jewish grandmother” of New Jersey politics.

She’s sponsored bills requiring insurance companies to pay for at least 48 hours of hospital care for new mothers and their babies, as well as lowering the legal alcohol level to .08 aiming to crack down on drunk drivers.  Further, she spearheaded the landmark autism research bill that funnels $1.00 from NJ Traffic Violations to autism research; i.e., $20 million dollars to autism research without costing NJ taxpayers a dime.

Loretta is dedicated to the preservation of families for more than 3 decades in public service.  She created the Governor’s Advisory Countil on Adolescent Preganancy, and also established NJ’s Child Proof Handgun Bill which mandates safety locks on all handguns, the first of it’s kind in the nation!

She serves on the AARP board in Teaneck and was a founding member of Shelter Our Sisters, as well as being active in the American Red Cross.  I’d say she’s worked consistently over the past 40 years to enhance the opportunities and lives of NJ’s men, women and children like no other.  She’s been called the “conscience” of New Jersey’s legislature.

What better example of We Can Do It Women is there?  Loretta is widowed yet still manages her life and money with courage and a sense of purpose.  She doesn’t give up.  I implore each of us to take a page out of Loretta’s book, and take a stand against whatever injustice we encounter–not only for ourselves, yet for all who follow, young and old.

I applaud senior women who are filled with hope and enthusiasm, and channel it to their own empowerment, and then to those more vulnerable.  Loretta, at age 74 models hope and fun for this and future generations.  Congratulations Loretta!

Posted by Debra in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

I’m back to congruent thinking again.  A few surprising events had caused me to rethink my mission and my message in light of these economic times.  I was led to some audio CDs that I’d gotten no less than 10 years earlier and I listened to them yet again.  Funny how the angels, the Holy Spirit, and/or our own subconscious mind lead us to what we need at just the right time, isn’t it?  I’m grateful for that guidance!  And I’m grateful to the wisdom that urges me to listen and take action too.

One CD was entitled Congruent Thinking.  My thinking had gone down an errant path; one that was eroding my confidence, one that undervalued my wisdom.  Well like most women I found my answer within.  The CD prompted me with salient questions, and I turned inside and was given the messages which brought me back on track.

Yes our lives are buffeted by outside influences, yet if we fall prey to allowing the news or externalities/outside events to steer or take sole ownership of us, we’ll all be depressed a lot, especially in these uncertain times.   Just as boats throw anchors to limit or eliminate drifting, we also must know whom to trust and employ our own wisdom to buffer ourselves from the many distractions, which are invariably short-term.  We must keep our eyes on the ultimate goals of our lives, knowing when to measure our success.  Premature “measuring” would have us missing the point of the endurance of a champion marathoner when her 50-yard dash time was sub-par compared to that of those competing in the 50-yard dash, for example.

I know from Neuro Linguistic Programming that information enters our minds through filters.  We’re all in charge of our filters and while that sounds easy enough, it does require a certain level of consciousness and discernment.  Yet it is surely worth our effort!

Nightclubs employ bouncers, and arenas employ security so that if someone is instigating negativism among the otherwise happy patrons, the bouncer/security guard notices the situation, seeks to narrow the focus on who’s causing the commotion, and then takes swift action to remove the person or persons responsible.  We also must be diligent gatekeepers of our minds and lives.  We must be conscious of those people in our lives who are contributing to our forward motion and those who are hindering our success; those who believe in us and those who don’t; those who are helpful and those who are not, those who emit a positive outlook and those who don’t.

I do believe people are in our lives for a time, a reason or a season.  We may enlist some people to participate in our lives for a time, and never again.  We may invite others to help shape our lives for a particular reason, and then some people will cross our paths for a season—the length of time of any of these is variable, of course.

While some people’s exits from our lives may be the result of some lack or failure, most are not; some people just need to move on.  Now I understand that it is not only ok when someone voluntarily leaves our lives, it is often healthy.  (And if it is also sad that certainly does not equate to unhealthy; it’s often just plain sad.)

I’ve heard it said, “I’ll tell you where you are headed when I see with whom you are hanging around” or some such language.  I encourage you to take a silent roll call of those around you.  If your confidence isn’t primarily boosted by their company, have a chat with them and tell them you want for both of you to contribute positively to each other’s lives.  If they agree, why wouldn’t each of you state specifically one or two examples of behavior or language that would contribute more of a positive effect in your lives?  Likewise you may wish to state specifically one or two examples of what each of you has interpreted as negative language or behavior and commit to eliminating those.   Teaching ourselves and teaching our family or friends or clients more effective communication is nothing short of being helpful and extremely loving.  It also acknowledges that while many have tried, no one has ever passed MindReading 101.

Let’s talk with each other.  Let’s communicate effectively with each other, and let’s be confidence enhancers!  We Can Do It Women!

Posted by Debra in Celebrating Life | 1 Comment

Not YOUR weight, the weight of your US postal letters or packages!  As you know, today marks the third straight year’s increase in the cost of the first ounce of first class mail at the United States Post Office.  Today, it will cost us an additional 2 cents to mail our first-class mail, up from 42 cents to a whopping 44 cents.  (Postcards’ postage went up 1 cent to 28 cents now.)

Beware, however, that the second ounce cost remains at only 17 cents.  I don’t know how many times I’ve received mail with two first class stamps affixed, which represents a waste of 25 cents under the old rates, and now 27 cents.  Well if you would stoop over to pick up a quarter off the sidewalk, I suggest you be mindful of only affixing 17 cents representing the cost of each additional ounce after the first one.  It pays to be cost conscious, yes even with our small change, because with the miracle of compounding even small savings add up to big dollars over time.  So, if you don’t have an ample supply of 1 cent and 2 cent stamps, get some soon, and be mindful of your money.

Even with the rate hike, the Post Office apparently could still run out of money by year end.  What better time then to consider buying even a used computer and getting your kids or grand kids to hook you up with email?  It’s so easy and fun to be in touch with those you love, and the added benefit of being able to do so whenever you want, even instantly, surpasses waiting for the Post Office to deliver something.  (They’re even proposing only delivering mail 5 days per week, eliminating Saturday service, so it could be a long weekend, with no correspondence, right?)

Always the planner, I, of course, bought $200.00 worth of “Forever” stamps.  Now, with this financial news out this morning of the potential demise of the Post Office, I wonder what the definition of “forever” is if it goes bust.  I guess, on second thought, it’ll just become another buy-out, stimulus recipient, and our grand kids will end up paying the bill.  (That will be particularly ironic and sad, since very few young people even use the Post Office, but I digress…)

We women always like to shop, and particularly to save money, so I will remind you that if you don’t want to buy your own computer, you can use the free computers at the local library, as well as other computer centers in your town.  You can take an introductory course offered at lots of places, just keep your eyes pealed for local courses.  It’s fun!  Just ask my mom and a dear friend, both of whom I bought a computer for several years ago, and now they’d really be lonely without hearing from their friends via email several times a week, or even daily.

We women can learn new skills, and we do all the time.  Think of it.  How many of you had cell phones 5 years ago?  How many of you are learning how to “text”?

Well I want to invite you to learn about your finances too, with my help.  We will be launching a teleseminar later this summer, yet there are tips and products on my website all the time, so sign up to receive our information, and get aboard!

We’ll talk about exercise and maintaining the rest of our health in another session.  :-)

Posted by Debra in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment

I’ve really been running at top speed lately, and feeling the pressure of undone tasks more so than usual.  I finally remembered Mother’s Day was rapidly approaching, so went shopping for cards (for several important women in my life who are Mothers) on Friday morning, hoping beyond hope that all the good ones wouldn’t have already been purchased.  (I was unable to be with my Mom, who lives 7 hours away, and was feeling some guilt about that, despite the fact that I’d just taken her to my Florida condo with my aunts, which I reported in an earlier blog.)  To my sheer delight, I saw Hallmark’s brand new musical cards that were bigger than any I’d ever seen!  I mean these were nearly substitutes for a gift, they measured 1 foot by 1 foot AND they cost $10.00!

I bought several cards and found a great one that epitomized my Mother perfectly, so I bought it.  I was feeling particularly tickled that I’d bought such a huge and special card, something that would really impress my mom and promptly drove to the Post Office to mail them out.

I placed all of them, most of which were over sized, in the window asking the older male attendant there to weigh them.  I said I also wanted to buy some stamps.  He proceeded to weigh them one-by-one, announcing the postage due for each one of them, placing them on a counter below where I could see.  Before I knew it, he lifted them up to the counter, and I was so shocked to see that he had slapped postage tapes on each of the cards–crooked at that!

When I saw my beautiful big card, with that whopper-jawed sticker glued on it, I was so stunned, I burst into tears.  I couldn’t believe it…my “special card” sullied by a crooked and boring white postage sticker!  What I meant to tell the attendant was that I wanted to buy love stamps for these special cards.  I stuttered through my tears, “I wanted to put a pink love stamp on them!”  He replied emphatically, “a love stamp is ONLY 42 cents and these cost more”.  Dhah!!!  I said, “I know.  I wanted to put several love stamps and then make up the difference with additional stamps.”  Well now it’s so quiet in the post office you could hear a pin drop.  I mean how often is a customer crying at the Post Office window?  And on top of that, how often is an attendant arguing with a crying customer?  I can’t think too often.

I just stood there, and regained my composure, pretty shocked I had cried over this, and immediately realized two things–I was clearly more stressed than I had acknowledged to myself, and secondly, that men and women are very different in their ways of doing things.  I mean this guy just couldn’t get it that presentation is very important to me.  This was my Mother’s Day card to my Mom, my sister, and several very important women!  They indeed WOULD have noticed the love stamps!

My silence was broken with his now conciliatory, “would you like me to remove the sticker?” as he pointed to the huge card.  While I really would have preferred he remove each and every one of the stickers, I nodded in the affirmative.  He picked away at it until he had it removed, and proceeded to place the love stamps on it, making up the difference owed with additional stamps.  I thanked him, swiped my credit card, and apologized for not stating exactly what I wanted immediately upon approaching the window.  I walked slowly to my car, still amazed at this whole exchange and my feelings around it.

In the end, I am more and more cognizant of certain gender differences, this being one small example.  On the larger scale, men and women really want the same things with their money too–to eventually grow it consistently in order to provide choices.  Yet women, and particularly mature women, appreciate their information dispensed in ways that build confidence, and make perfect sense.  They typically gather more information before they invest.  They have less tolerance for the dots not connecting, are less inclined to act on a “tip”.  They prefer their investments to fit together in a coherent way, feel the pain longer of any prior investment “mistakes” and are less likely to invest in capital appreciating investments, preferring interest bearing ones instead.

Because I have dealt with countless women in their financial quests, I get it.  Women need, and deserve, the special attention required to teach them in ways that “work” for them.  We are unique creatures and while it does often take us more time to learn in ways that are comfortable, we women deserve special attention.

So, I was glad I persevered to get the love stamps on at least my Mom’s big card, I am also glad to be able to serve, by building mature women’s money confidence, especially in these fragile and uncertain times.

Posted by Debra in Gender Differences | 5 Comments

For all of you who are concerned about the spread of swine flu, I was able to find face (dust) masks at Home Depot.  Drug Fair, Shop Rite& CVS were all sold out.  Then it dawned on me to call a hardware store, since these masks are often used when wood working, and sure enough, right there in aisle 7 of my HD, in the paint section, were all types of masks.

I bought some basic ones, and then a couple that allow for venting, which keeps one cooler, they say. While I don’t tend to panic in these circumstances, I am a planner.  So, IF I would need one of these, and any one of my friends or family need masks too, I have a supply.  Presuming we all escape this viral strain, I’ll use them while sanding my next project, or simply return them.

I would advise calling any store you are intending to purchase masks from, as many are sold out, and you surely don’t want to be wasting your two most valuable assets–time and health on dry runs.  So, do your homework, and be prepared yet continue to live your lives.

Good luck and great health to all of you!

Ms. Morrison

Posted by Debra in Celebrating Life | 2 Comments

I will be hosting a free call tonight, April 28th, check it out, and please get yourself registered. You cannot afford to miss this information!

http://www.msmorrisonspeaks.com/money_tips/

Posted by Debra in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments