Now that a Financial Reform Bill has been passed by Congress and signed into law, it’s worth taking a step back to see how well the bill achieves what some (such as myself) saw as the essential tasks of financial reform, to prevent a similar meltdown from blindsiding us in the future. 

Here’s some background:
In November 2009, I was getting upset at the organized, well-funded campaign of “disinformation” and obstruction taking place in the nation’s capital to put the kibosh on any truly effective consumer protection in the banking and financial services industry, (where I began my career).  I sent a letter to Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, whose consumer protection efforts I’ve been involved with in the past.  In the letter, I outlined 7 principles that I believed had to be included for financial reform to achieve its objectives. 

How well does the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act make the grade?  Below, I’ve assigned a letter grade for each of the 7 principles, with pertinent comments:

1. First, there needs to be a clearly-stated mandate and set of principles for the Bill that assures that those in government who are to serve as watchdogs in enforcing the provisions of the laws, understand their duty on a basis that resists the influence of politics. The job of the watchdog in government is to give pushback, to level the playing field, to publicize wrongdoing, and to deter others in the industry from following down the same wrong path.

Grade: A
Comment: While specific rules in some cases are still to be drawn up, there is clearly a new sheriff in town and the previous “anything goes” atmosphere has been brought to a screeching halt.

2. Second, there needs to be a system of checks and balances put in place to assure that accurate information is being produced and reported, and that the law is being carried out.

Grade: B+
Comment: The requirement for exchange trading of derivatives, and creation of an oversight process for systemic soundness are needed steps in the right direction.  Having consumer protection under the Treasury Department remains a concern. 

3. Transparency must be created via a process of auditing and public reporting.

Grade: B+
Comment: Congress will be auditing the Fed for greater transparency.  Jury is out on this, we’ll have to wait and see. 

4. Capital adequacy must be enforced relative to the types of risks being incurred and the type of stakeholders being exposed to these risks.

Grade: B+
Comment: With no limitations on leverage, and considerable latitude for the regulators, much will depend on the competence and diligence of those in charge, who are being paid by the taxpayers, but not always controlled by their interests.  

5. There needs to be a clear distinction between “risk capital” and “safety capital,” but neither the taxpayers nor the safety return stakeholders should be put at risk for what should be appropriately private equity risk-taking.

Grade: B
Comment: While a Glass-Steagall separation of commercial banking and investment banking activities was not restored, new capital requirements and restrictions on depository institutions are important steps in the right direction. 

6. The banks should be chartered to serve the public, while making a decent return. They should not rip off the public with exorbitant and unavoidable fees so they can make risky investments suited to investment banks, private equity and hedge funds and risk capital.

Grade: A
Comment: The new Consumer Protection Agency, together with stronger bank practices and regulatory authority, are needed fixes.  Now, they must show they can get the job done. 

7. A consumer financial services agency must have teeth.  It must be primarily a watchdog, enforcing and, when necessary, prescribing remedies, and clarifying rules when there is a clear pattern of abuses taking place against the public’s interest. 

Grade: A
Comment: (See comment #6)

Overall Grade: B+
Comment: The Bill was repeatedly weakened to gain needed votes and yet still barely passed, against unyielding partisan opposition.  Under the circumstances, I give it an overall grade of B+, with one important caveat:  Now, it will take determined vigilance to assure that the rulemaking process and its results will not be allowed to compromise these principles.

In short, while far from perfect, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a very good step in the right direction.  It establishes (or re-establishes) some of the sound principles that were wantonly abandoned, leading to the financial meltdown of 2008-2009. It creates a new ethos of enforcement, accountability, and oversight, which must be maintained if we are to avoid a similar recurrence in the future. 

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Bruce Reznik with his pet water buffalo at his home in Southeast Asia.

I recently discussed the financial and cultural benefits of great places to retire abroad in Southeast Asia with my good friend Bruce Reznik, an international lawyer, who is now semi-retired (meaning he works only part of the year). Bruce has some valuable advice for you about traveling to and living in this area of the world.

There are five countries that Bruce recommends as great places to retire abroad in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines. Each country has its pros and cons.

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:

Cambodia:

Pro: Low cost of living

Con: More rudimentary accommodations

For instance: In Battambang, Cambodia, the second- largest city, the price for a 4-star hotel is about $20 a night. The average price for a comfortable apartment in Phnom Penh, the capital, ranges from $200 to $800 a month.

However, Bruce also said of Battambang:

“ It has the goods and services that one would need in general. It lacks an international courier office, so it’s tough to send things quickly. It is remote from any airport so it’s about a five hour drive to Siem Reap which is the town near Angkor Watt that has an airport, and also a five, four, six hour ride to the capital.”

Vietnam:

Pro: Similar accommodations to the U.S.

Con: It’s a little more expensive

Vietnam has accommodations that are more similar to what expatriate retirees from the United States are used to.

As Bruce says in the interview:

“I just think that because their economy is greater than the other countries that they have, perhaps, accommodations that are more reminiscence to Americans of what they’re accustomed to back home.”

Bruce compared the two countries with an anecdote:

“A friend of mine told me that he went to his mother’s home town which is in Cambodia along the Vietnamese border and it was at night. Everything was dark on his side of the border but as he looked down in the valley there were lights all over in Vietnam showing that their power system is on a much better level.”

Retirement in Southeast Asia is not for everyone. There are many other options Baby Boomers can explore when considering retirement overseas as a way to lower costs.

Check out theBaby Boomers Retirement Network for the resources and expert advice you need when choosing from the many great places to retire abroad. For more information, and to read and listen to the entire interview, go to: http://www.boomersretirementnetwork.com/audios.php.

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Now I’m making this letter public to further press these key points.  When you read the letter, please let me know what you think and I’ll be pass them along where it will do some good.

Dear Senator Dodd,

I appreciated your letter of October 2 regarding my prescription for “untying the Gordian Knot” and restoring stability in the U.S. housing markets. I have been closely following your efforts with both the Health Care reforms and Financial Services reform bills and have enjoyed our work together in the past, particularly on passage of your PMI reform bill and in support of the AHA’s National Smoke Alarm Awareness project conducted with the City of Bridgeport and its fire department. I greatly admire your motivation and efforts to craft effective legislation in each case that achieves the desired goals and outcomes on behalf of consumers without adding excessive burdens that inhibit private enterprise.

There are several thoughts I’d like to share with you that could have impact as you work to finalize these bills in committee, and deal with the various controversies that will arise.

The first is that there needs to be a clearly stated mandate and set of principles for each bill that assures that those in government who are to serve as watchdogs in enforcing the provisions of these laws understand their duty on a basis that resists the influence of politics. Clearly the SEC failures in the last decade must not be repeated. Take politics out of fiscal soundness regulation. What’s needed is a watchdog, not a regulator. The job of the watchdog is to give pushback (or always be a threat of pushback), to level the playing field, to publicize wrongdoing, and to deter others in the industry from following down the same path.

Second, there always needs to be a system of checks and balances put in place to assure that accurate information is being produced and reported, and that the law is being carried out.

Third, transparency must be created via a process of auditing which assures that fiscal integrity and soundness are maintained.

Fourth, capital adequacy must be enforced relative to the risks being incurred and the type of stakeholders (account holders or policy holders or investors) at risk—the various standards for capital adequacy articulated, measurable, measured, and enforced.

Fifth, there needs to be a clear distinction restored between risk capital and safety capital as applied to investment or merchant banking, versus deposit taking and lending. Take risks with your own private risk capital as much as you wish, so long as you are not jeopardizing the safety of others who are not voluntarily at risk. But neither the taxpayers nor the safety return stakeholders should be put at risk. Thus the question of “too big to fail” becomes a vital issue requiring timely attention.

Let’s encourage risk taking so long as the risk is being taken by those who have the capital to risk and stand to be rewarded, but not by taxpayers or depositors.

Sixth, fundamentally, the banks should be chartered to serve the public, while making a decent return, not to rip off the public with exorbitant and unavoidable fees so they can make risky investments suited to investment banks, private equity and hedge funds and risk capital. As a lifelong financial services industry professional, and sometime industry gadfly, I believe I have gained a bit of insight and expertise into how an effective consumer watchdog agency could perform these functions. I welcome any opportunity, assistance or input I can provide which would help you achieve these goals.

Seventh, a consumer financial services agency must have teeth. It must be primarily a watchdog, more than a prescriber of rules, but it should not hesitate to prescribe, initiate, or clarify rules when there is a clear pattern of abuses taking place against the public’s interest. Some time ago, I testified before Chairman Henry Gonzalez’s House Banking Committee and helped to re-write the legislation, which corrected mortgage escrow overcharge abuses, resulting in refunds made by servicers of more than $5 billion to homeowners with mortgages. To this day those particular abuses have not raised their ugly heads again.

There is no doubting that a vibrant financial services industry is necessary for a healthy and growing consumer economy. Monopoly power is always desired by companies and moguls. It’s the job of our government to absolutely assure that they don’t receive it, whether explicitly or implicitly.

Impulse buying and undisciplined financial behavior unfortunately affect the majority of financial consumers. Building savings and financial security is a slow, unexciting, incremental journey of consistency. Most households in this era have had too many destabilizing events to maintain that consistency for long. Combined, the recent spate of abusive practices, the present financial climate, excessive hidden or involuntary fees and costs, and excessive dependence on household debt loads have threatened to return the bulk of the U.S. middle class to the condition of serfs under feudalism. This was not the vision that was established and fought for by the Founding Fathers.

If a National Health Care Policy is to be passed into law, it should include both incentives and disincentives to achieve reform of our national health practices. A carrot and stick approach, to both health care providers, and consumers, should produce checks and balances. For example, there should be penalties applied for obesity and smoking, as both are well-documented to result in degenerative diseases, excessive medical care needs and costs, and premature death.

Basic nutritional education should be required in elementary school, along with basic personal and household financial education. There is no point for elementary school children to be able to name every type of leaf and every type of fish, and not know how to live a solvent life.

You and I have each had the delight and good fortune to have our children after age 50. I have two daughters in grade school (my twins, Allison and Rebecca, are in second grade at the Mill Hill public elementary school in Southport, CT).

Let’s leave this place better than we found it. I know that is your desire, and you know it is mine. Congratulations on your purposefulness, your diligence and your hard work on behalf of our state and our nation’s future.

Warm personal regards,

Richard J. Roll

Founder and President

RJR:nm

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Get ready for a surprise because believe it or not I’ve given this question a lot of thought!

Continue and read more…

http://www.boomersretirementnetwork.com/blog/2010/02/09/49/

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Here are some questions to think about now that we’re in the New Year…Grab an extra piece of paper and jot down your ideas and see how spiritual you want to be in 2010!!

DREAMIN’

Allow yourself to dream by completing these sentences:

• If I had my wish, I would…
• My life would be more fulfilling if…
• One goal I really want is…
• I am happiest when…
• The one skill/talent that I would love to develop is my ability to…
• If I had one gift to give to mankind, it would be…
• If today were my last day on earth, I would…

NOW, GO AFTER YOUR DREAMS!!!

COURAGE

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

If I had the courage, I would…

REGARDING 2009

• List five actions that you took that moved your life forward.
• List five people who assisted you in moving your life forward.
• List five gifts that you received this year.
• List ten abilities, talents, or gifts that you demonstrate.
• Next, take these same four questions and use them to set the path you want to be on for 2010.
• Vision yourself doing even more than last year!!

NOW, LOOK AT THIS LIST. KEEP IT WHERE IT CAN BE REVIEWED AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FORWARD MOVEMENT AND YOUR TALENTS!!

GO FOR IT!!!

With acknowledgement and thanks to the Center for Spiritual Living, Greater Las Vegas, NV, www.cslglv.org ,which created this inspiring message

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Sure, the banks have been hit hard by the recession, but they are enjoying gross profits in one area: overdraft fees. USA Today reports that banks are expected to pocket $38.5 billion in 2009 from insufficient funds and overdraft fees, more than double the amount banks earned a decade ago.

In light of the bad press they have suffered in the past year, banks are eager to re brand themselves as kinder and gentler. A few—including Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One—have capped the maximum number of overdraft fees it will charge any single customer in one day to four. At $35 a pop, this still causes customers in the red $140 a day—a hefty price tag for people who are already suffering financial strain.  This is down from 10 in one day;  Can you imagine getting charged $350 in one day due to overdraft fees?

How Can You Avoid This? Here are two ideas:

• Call your bank and ask that it stop automatically paying transactions that overdraw your account. While they are not currently required to oblige your request (though a federal regulation might make it mandatory in months to come), banks might be eager to please unhappy customers by declining transactions that put your account in the red and saving you the overdraft fee.
• Give yourself a $100 or $200 cushion—at least on paper. Today, make an adjustment to your bank ledger so that your records show that you have $100 or $200 less than you actually have. This will help protect you from overdrafts caused by charges that might have slipped your mind.

Bank of America Consumers Beware

Bank of America is going to start testing what their customers will do if they raise their annual fee on credit cards.

This month and next, about one in every 100 Bank of America customers will received a notice that their annual fees were increased by$70—from $29 to $99. Though the bank’s spokeswoman said the rate increases were assigned to customers based on “risk and profitability,” the truth of the matter is that customers who never carried a balance and always paid on time might have received this notice.

That’s right: customers in good standing who never incurred interest charges, late fees, or over-the-limit fees, but who had low credit scores, might be among the 1 percent of customers seeing a 340 percent increase in their annual fees.

Bank of America isn’t alone. According to the research firm Tower Group, 27 percent of credit card offers included an annual fee, compared to just 18 percent in 2008.

If you are one of the many people whose credit card annual fee has been increased, try this:

• Remember, this is a test that B of A is running,so immediately, call and complain.  Most likely, they will report back to their management that they had to “make an exception” for you.

First Line of Defense: Housing Counselors

Second Line of Defense: Credit Improvement

By now, you know that homeowners across the country are walking away from their homes, unable to afford the payments. What you might not know is that HUD’s Housing Counseling Program provides free foreclosure prevention counseling services to troubled homeowners through 2700 nonprofit agencies.

For those having problems making their payments, housing counselors are the first line of defense. The services offered by these counselors run the gamut from negotiation for loan modifications with banks to helping homeowners establish more realistic budgets. If you are financially strapped and need immediate intervention to stop you from losing your home to foreclosure, visit the HUD website for foreclosure avoidance counselors.

Your next line of defense is to improve your credit score.With a high credit score, you can negotiate for better loan terms and lower interest rates. Regardless of your credit history—even if you have suffered a foreclosure, short sale, or bankruptcy—you can see your score jump to 720within two years of taking the appropriate steps. Here are a couple steps you should take immediately:

• Keep your credit card balance below 30 percent of its limit. Credit-reporting bureaus reward people who keep a low balance month-round. Preferably, your balance would be close to $0, but this might be unrealistic. Aim for less than 30 percent of its limit, and you might see your score skyrocket.
• Comb your credit report for mistakes. Though not all mistakes are detrimental to your score, some—such as an inaccurate credit card limits—could lower your score 40, 50, even 100 points.

For more information, visit the 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score website.

By Special Guest Blogger Philip Tirone

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Guest Blogger:
Frank Don
Astrologer Par Excellence

This October seems a paradoxical month, but should that surprise any of us?  We have been living, continue to live and will be living in a paradoxical world.  For many of us, we may feel as though we have entered a strange and bizarre landscape where the parameters have dramatically shifted, the terrain unstable at best, and people’s attitude a little edgy, edging towards a seething frustration, fraught with anxiety. While I have written previously and repeatedly for the need of adaptability and flexibility, it bears repeating with an addendum of the importance of our disposition and maintaining a positive outlook on life, even as life’s circumstance seems to be changing in a kaleidoscopic manner before our very eyes.

The formats of our lives can be under increasing scrutiny during this October.  We may be somewhat critical, seeking perfection in an imperfect world.  As the wise Taoist saying reminds us: ‘bend like a reed or break like an oak’.

This sage advice is essential for us to successfully navigate the swirling currents of these times.  Due diligence, constant evaluation and re-evaluation, getting out of our own way and dispelling any power given to our fixed beliefs are all important characteristics for us to embrace during these times and during this month.

As the biblical admonition states: ‘until we become like little children’.

It would be wise, especially prudent, for us to embrace the innocence and the vulnerability of little children.  Nothing is the way it has been.  Everything is in a state of flux with little solidity to cling to or hang on to.

October begins with no planets in a Fire Sign, four planets in Earth Signs, three planets in Air Signs and three planets in Water Signs.  There are three planets in Cardinal Signs with a Cardinal T-Square by Sign with the Sun in Libra, Pluto in Capricorn and Mars in Cancer.  Two planets are in a Fixed Sign and five planets are in Mutable Signs with a Stellium of three or more planets in the Mutable sign of Virgo with Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the Mercury-ruled Sign.  Three planets are in Positive Signs and seven planets are in Receptive Signs.

Although Libra, the Sign in which the Sun is transiting as we begin October, is a Sign of balance, this October is akin to the Hopi word of Koyaanisqatsi – life out of balance.

The lack of Fire and the emphasis upon the Receptive Signs speak to a period when we might feel that we are more reactive to life’s conditions rather than taking a proactive approach.  Our passion, determination and desire to forge ahead might seem muted as we deal with whatever life is throwing at us at the moment.  Now is a time for us to learn our Tai Chi moves, to work with the energy in such a way that we are cognizant and respectful of the energies operating and not feeling solely overwhelmed by life and what seems to be unfolding at this time.  By becoming One with the energies unfolding, accepting our role as co-creators rather than expecting to be masters of our universe, we can successfully and productively advance our interests, develop our selves and express our talents by fulfilling our individual journey.  As individuals and collectively, we have chosen to be here at this time.

The Saturn Uranus opposition with which we have been challenged since last Autumn of 2008 continues and is reinforced early this month.  Not only is the Saturn Uranus opposition close in aspect by orb, but both Saturn and Uranus are triggered by the other two planets transiting through Virgo.  At the time of the Aries Full Moon on the 3^rd - 4^th, Mercury opposes Uranus on the 4^th, followed by Venus opposed Uranus on the 9^th.  On the 8^th, Mercury conjuncts Saturn, followed by Venus conjunct Saturn on the 13^th.

While unexpected situations can keep us off center, or at least challenge us to maintain our center, we also have the opportunity of considering options and alternatives we might not otherwise have taken into account.  How we choose to react to unanticipated variables coming forward is secondary to the fact that new and different possibilities are making themselves known.

The new, the unique, the innovative may stand in stark contrast to our past, to our familiar, to our habitual.  We might have to take a walk down Memory Lane, revisit through thoughts, memories and even reconnections the people and situations of our previous experiences.  We may even want to embrace the so-called security of those familiar faces.  Whether we engage our past or feel a discomfort from the viewing, what we choose to do is secondary to the contrasting of old and new presenting itself, even confusing us with the different push – pulls.

The Stellium in Virgo to begin the month raises the question of our health — our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.  Now is a time for us to embrace a practice of good health regimen, in whatever ways and however manner that works best for us.

Just as we have seen people rising up and making their voices heard; the focus on individualization is becoming ever more of a global presence.  Technology has created both an Information Age and an Individual Expression Age.  People have the opportunity and the forum by which to express their voice and display their talents.  These are exciting times, times when Individuals can emphasize their being and their role as a co-creator.  Meanwhile, big government, big corporations, big institutions are getting bigger and seeking more control.  Just as Individuals must free their minds of the fixed mind-set of control, so too will these large entities have to be more flexible, adaptable, willing to change in order to stay extant and become more viable.

The battle of old and new is engaged, and the battle is likely to continue over the next few years.  In considering ‘old’ and ‘new’, we might be perplexed regarding what is old and what is new.  While we might assume that new is new, we would have to be wary that the new wasn’t like the old saying: ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’.  These times are confusing times, volatile and dramatically changing, but the question remains whether change is meaningful and evolutionary in the natural unfolding or if change is solely for the sake of change and could turn out to be same old, same old in a new costume or a different format.

Let’s allow the jury to be out until we have more information, have done our due diligence and have evaluated and re-evaluated as the unfolding continues.  In the interim, let’s be certain that we are taking care of ourselves.  Even if it seems self-absorbed, or even narcissistic, now is a time for us to focus on our health and well-being, no matter how life’s circumstances might be around us.

I often refer to the pebble in the pond and its ripple effects.  The more we take care of ourselves, come from our integrity and pursue those activities that are self-enriching and soul-fulfilling, the more we can be, and are, of assistance to other people, to our community, to the global society, to the earth and to the heavenly realms.  As above, so below.  As below, so above.

Much of the first half of October deals with the contrast between past and possibilities.  We may find that we have to blend both a visionary quality of what could be with a grounded, focused attention to detail and specifics.  If we can combine these two characteristics with a strong dose of adaptability and a willingness to be humble while things unfold as time goes by, then this early part of October can be highly productive allowing us to generate the suspension bridge between our past and our future, testing slat by slat the ingredients to get us from where we have been to where we are going.

Much will be under scrutiny during the first half of October.  Our dreams, our goals, our integrity, our accountability and our responsibility are all characteristics that could be tested this month in order to be tempered and honed.

While there can continue to be swings of emotions, at times feeling elated by prospects and the elimination of albatrosses which have hindered our progress, other times despairing of the tests and challenges and feeling only able to react to the changing times; it would be essential for us to embrace the process and not concentrate on the resolution.

An aspect of the paradigm shift that we are all experiencing is the elimination of resolution in the process of beginning, middle, end.  Increasingly, we may realize that there are no endings, no beginnings, no middles.  As we move beyond the limiting dimension of space – time coordinates into the NOW where past, present, future are all now, where the space dimensions of height, width, depth drop away into the INFINITE, we may come to a recognition and appreciation of the liberation from completion, achievements, resolutions into the embrace of process, rhythmic unfolding and continual flux.

These are exciting times, although they may seem threatening and certainly challenging to our conditioned patterns and learned responses.  If we would keep in mind the alchemical process of transformation, of turning base mettle into gold, of the caterpillar morphing into the butterfly, then we can engage our shapeshifting without fear, dread or determined resistance.  And it will be important to do so, for in truth the processing of these changing times has only just begun, at least from our old perspective of beginning, middle and end.

The early part of October has the Saturn Uranus opposition engaged by Mercury and Venus transiting through Virgo.  Communications can be off with possible computer problems and Internet difficulties.  There can be travel delays.  People may be raising their voice, at times crying out in concern, frustration and fear.

As we move more into October, the personal planets shift with Mercury entering Libra on the 9^th and Venus entering its own Sign of Libra on the 14^th.  And as Mercury and Venus move into Libra, they also move into a square of Pluto in Capricorn.  The Sun did so when it first entered Libra last month, with the Sun square Pluto exact on the 23^rd of September.  This month, Mercury squares Pluto on the 10^th, followed by Venus square Pluto on the 15^th.  The Pluto in Capricorn raises the question of whether we have built upon rock or built upon sand.  Already, we have seen the falling away of various traditional institutions once believed to be rock solid.  This process continues.

Although our mind can be incredibly insightful with an ability to strip away the extraneous and concentrate on the fundamental, we might feel as though the stripping away is cutting us to the very bone.  We may find our frustrations are vented on those safe harbors, those people with whom we are closest, our significant others.  We might feel that there is no other arena in which to release our anxieties and our fears but in the ‘safety’ of our personal relationships.  And what collateral damage we could wreak.

It is important for us to notate our actions and our reactions when the Libra transiting planets square Pluto, for there is more to come with ever greater intensity over the next two years.

During these times, we may feel as though our semblance of security is shaky at best.  We might have the sense that the floor has opened beneath us and in so doing we might assume that we are about to move into a free fall.  While our conditioned beliefs and learned responses may have taught us that the opening of the floor below us automatically triggers a free fall, might I raise the possibility that instead of a free fall we could actually do a free ascent.

In my life’s experiences, I have often found that those times when the floor opened beneath me, what I would refer to in those moments as my greatest tragedies, in actual fact led to an initial free fall from established patterns then shifted to an ascent and provided me my greatest opportunities and greatest successes.

While there are more eliminations to be made, more of a cleaning out and de-cluttering in preparation for new days and new ways, if we will suspend judgment, let go of our opinions, then we might discover our journey is taking a different path, embracing a different itinerary.

As we come towards the end of October, the dis-entangling and cutting to the core seem increased in effect.  The Sun enters Scorpio on the 22^nd – 23^rd, followed by Mercury entering Scorpio on the 28^th.

One of the most significant energy shifts this month of October is Saturn ending its two plus year transit of Virgo to move into Libra.  While Saturn will retrograde back into Virgo next April into July of 2010, Saturn’s move into Libra on the 29^th also transforms the Saturn Uranus opposition, which will continue for the next two years, into a T-Square as Saturn in Libra squares Pluto in Capricorn and joined in the T-Square by Uranus moving into Aries.

If people have felt the battle of old and new over the past two years to be challenging, this T-Square offers a shapeshifting, a time when it will be essential for each of us, and every one of us, to be willing to let go, let god.  Whether we can appreciate it or not, these times ask us to keep in mind the truth to the idea that when one door closes, a new door opens up.  And so it is.  And so it will be.  All part of processing.

We are at a time when various significant aspects of our lives may fall away, be released, eliminated or torn from us.  While such a process can be wrenching, it is only more so by our attachments.  In many philosophical traditions, emphasis is placed upon detachment, with a recognition that true inner peace comes from letting go of our attachments.

October is a month when various unexpected situations are likely to arise.  We may be doing a recapitulation, reflecting on our past, remembering our experiences.  We may also find that new possibilities arise, even possibilities that seem impossible at best.  This is a month when the inventory taking of our lives continues.  We can have a good autumnal cleaning of those items, situations and people that may have been significant for us in the past but no longer are essential to our journey.  Just as there is a clearing away of old debris for us, so too is there an exploration of prospects and testing the waters of new interests and new approaches.

Nothing needs to be carved in stone.  We can try things out, experiment with new, and hopefully more effective, ways of dealing with life.  But, like little children, let us also give ourselves permission to embrace the idea of ‘do over’.

We can try things out, see if they work for us, and consider whether to embrace new aspects of our being now or just notate the possibility of changes for ourselves in the future.

October… riding the waves, allowing ourselves to do over…

Frank Don is available through http://www.frankdon.com

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As we enter our 50’s and 60’s, in turbulent times, and as the months and years roll on, it helps to be reminded constantly that “This Is It,” it doesn’t get any better than this.  It’s all about the life you can create for yourself and your loved ones and making the best choices today.   There’s no time to waste.

That’s why I’m so committed to the mission of the Baby Boomers Retirement Club and the Baby Boomers Retirement Network. We’re here to help you make the most of what comes next, in your life, and the lives of your loved ones.  See you there!

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What an unusual day I had yesterday.  Starting at 7am, with three other members of our Baby Boomers Retirement Network team in tow, I headed to a large Hartford, CT venue to hear from an all-star cast of luminaries on the theme of Get Motivated!  We along with 19,000 others in the audience, heard Joe Montana, Laura Bush, Krish Dhanam, Phil Town, Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, and Colin Powell tell their personal stories, funny anecdotes, and reminiscences in the process of trying to make pertinent points.  I came away with a number of standout ideas, mostly not new but always worth being reminded of.

America is a country with many problems, flawed but still a great country, still with the greatest potential of any country on earth because of our system of free enterprise and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms [which need to be protected vigilantly and vigorously from every type of extremism].  There are no lines of people waiting to get into most, if not all, other countries of the world.  Our freedoms and protections here beat most anywhere else. Free enterprise is still the greatest engine for prosperity the world has seen.  Our level of educational success as a nation is way below par (Laura Bush), we have to make the future of our children and their children a higher priority.  We need to all make sure we have God and service to God in our mission.

Zig talked about Martin Luther King Jr., and the civil rights movement to expand dignity to all individuals, and having a sound “Home Court Advantage” (be good to your spouse) to have the most success and joy in life.  Forbes talked about how the Fed’s excess printing of money in 2003-4, when we should have been protecting the dollar, was the underlying cause of the financial crisis [partially true but not clearly the cause].  He’s still beating the same drum: simplify the tax code, enact a flat tax (I haven’t heard the other side of that argument however, if there is one).  Colin Powell and Giuliani, polished, professional, predictable. Two great patriots, in my opinion (although I’m not a huge Giuliani fan).  Krish Dhanam, an Indian émigré, motivational speaker and protégé of Zig Ziglar, who now lives in Texas, reeled off portions of speeches from Patrick Hale, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy, Ghandi, and Mother Theresa to bring home his message of patriotism and self-management: take ownership of our lives, practice stewardship–give more than you have, leave more than you take, build great partnerships, realize whose applause matters.  Beware: mediocrity and misery both love company, keep out of that trap.

Others talked about how we have to wean ourselves off of junk media (TV, tabloid rags, news media), junk pop culture, and junk food, and focus on getting our family’s financial foundations and values straightened out and sound (a message I’ve been pounding away at in this blog and elsewhere, for years).  The government is helpless and hopeless in correcting the housing foreclosure problem at this point (see the my February, 3, 2009 blog post “Emergency Plan to Save the Economy” for my housing market recovery proposal which the key officials in Washington have all received).

Then, yesterday evening, I went to hear the rock group Living Colour perform live at our local Fairfield Theatre Company Stage One, an intimate 200 seat theatre whose Board I serve on.  Living Colour is a Grammy award winning and truly “out there” metal/funk/rock band who studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, toured as an opening act for the Rolling Stones, and are virtuoso musicians.  Yet incredibly, the themes of Living Colour were surprisingly related to those of the luminaries earlier in the day: how New Orleans was forsaken over race after Hurricane Katrina; what it took to overcome the KKK and the “colored not allowed” culture of the Old South; Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Statue of Liberty and American Flag is for all Americans, not just the few.  They quote JFK, FDR, and MLK in their song “Cult of Personality,” which the National Review listed at number 18 on its list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs in 2006.  They shout, “You don’t have to follow me, only you can set you free,” echoing messages of the motivators in Hartford.  Their song “Middleman” exposes the folly of allowing the media to be the middleman between Americans and their experience of life.

And for me, the biggest takeaway of all from the day comes from the lyrics in one of Living Colour’s songs: “You’ve got to fight for your neighborhood.”  And neighborhood in this sense is metaphorical, it’s where you live, it’s where you come from, it’s the best of who you are.  You have to fight for it.  Fight the foreclosure blight, fight the educational slide, fight the narrow-minded mean-spirited (Giuliani: be an optimist, with pessimism there is no “there” that’s worth striving to get to.)

Fight the Taliban, fight the terrorists, fight the bullies and the obstructionists who oppose creating a more just and humane society, and a fiscally sound one.  And note once and for all: It will never be perfect.

Fight to learn about how to get better returns on your investment capital and 401(k) or IRA account without taking more risk (it can be done and I’ll be showing you more specifics in the coming months).  Keep your spirit strong, your body healthy, work to get out of costly debt and get out now from unproductive financial services relationships.

Fight for America’s highest ideals, for most, it’s still the best chance in the world.  And for Boomers: take action, take the right action, take it now and keep taking it.

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5. Open a Roth IRA.

Hedge Your Bet Against Future Higher Taxes-By Having More than One IRA. A Roth IRA uses after-tax money to build it and gives you more options in how you take money from your retirement savings after your retirement. With both a regular IRA and a Roth IRAs, you can choose whether to withdraw either taxable or non-taxable income in a given year, or a mix of both, depending on the income and the tax rates you will face that year. You see, it’s not just how much you save on taxes today with your retirement account; it’s how much you’ll save tomorrow, when it’s time to take distributions (including, mandatory distributions after age 70-1/2). How would you like to have the added flexibility to withdraw from after-tax money (with a Roth IRA or Roth 401k)? The net result is that your money grows tax deferred in both cases, but because you get to keep more of what you take out each year (because the tax man gets less), you deplete your savings more slowly. Pretty smart huh?

Final Word

It’s important to have a stream of financial advice and resources you can trust from a source that acts as your advocate, with informed, unbiased perspectives and second opinions. While not always easy to find, the right sources can help you gain confidence that you’ve covered all the right bases in the future, help you evaluate your investment options, assure continuing income, and take the needed steps to prepare for a future without fear.

Above all, it’s time to choose every financial move you make starting in 2009 with a new, hyper-awareness and care in the selection process: from here on out, it’s got to be all about how you select the PRODUCT, and how you select the COMPANY.

The Baby Boomers Retirement Network (BBRN)^TM and our Baby Boomer Retirement Insider’s Club (BBRIC)^TM offer advice, resources, and second opinions that baby boomers need to stay afloat in the current economic crisis and in the challenging years ahead.

The Club provides a proven easy-to-use 3-step process everyone can use to clarify their priorities, develop confidence, create a sound action plan, and find the right resources to get the job done the right way,  regardless of the declining economy. To get started, you’ll find free tools and calculators at www.mybbrc.com that can help you develop an intelligent and workable roadmap and financial plan for your retirement years.

Go there now and take the free 10-Minute Quiz. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.
For more information on the benefits you’ll receive by joining the Baby Boomer Retirement Insider’s Club (BBRIC)^TM , go here.

We’ve all had too many surprises and upsets in the past year, but it’s still going to be a very scary economy for the next few years ahead. You can count on this for sure: no one is going to be as informed or as concerned about your well-being, and your future security, as you are. We’ve now got to take matters into our own hands, not assume anything we are told or read is 100% true, and investigate the costs, risks, and fees of every product ourselves, until we truly understand what we are buying and why, as well as the Company that is providing the product and what kind of financial stability is underlying it.

Please comment. I would like to know what you think about this five part series.

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