Investment Club Meeting: February

Yep, that time again! Last night I went to my investment club meeting. Each month a member is assigned to be our education coordinator. She is in charge of organizing the education segment of our meetings. It was my turn last night and I invited a guest speaker to talk about empowerment. What an amazing hour of information and stories! I will be sharing some of what I learned in my upcoming monthly journal.

We did some journaling from the book The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth, Ph.D. We worked on Life's Intentions which will eventually lead each of us to a list of goals. Personally, I set goals often and revisit them every few months. I even have some great tips and tools on how to set goals and achieve them. It is really nice to see a new way to develop goals; the way Maria Nemeth show us in her book. I would recommend to you to buy the book and start a group. It is a great way to be decifer what you might want in life and more fun do share the process within a group of supportive friends!

And the last item to mention is that many of us in the investment club will be reading The Great Depression Ahead by Harry S. Dent Jr. I have already started reading it. I am finding it easy to understand and most of all finding comfort in knowing that there are many directions to choose to prepare and ride out and even prosper during this upcoming downturn in our economy. Look for my book review in a few weeks!

Book Review: "This is easy to read, simple to understand and a good place to start"!

I highly recommend this book for one very simple reason. It sheds light on a large portion of the driving force of our economy -- something we cannot change; Family Spending Cycles. There are so many factors in calculating why the economy is doing what it is at any given time. Many more factors to consider in order to predict an economy. But to understand a major driving force of our economy here in the United States gives insight and some comfort in knowing that it is just a cycle like anything else and in time will cycle back.

Harry S. Dent Jr. says, “An old economy must die for a new one to emerge”.

The book I recommend is called Roaring 2000’s, by Harry S. Dent Jr. Then read his latest book, The Great Depression Ahead. But don't let that title scare you. Be informed, be empowered, be in position to ride this economy out!

Our economy is driven by Family Spending Cycles. And you don't have to be an economist to understand this!

Consumption: How the average family spends money shows in predictable patterns over time. Harry S. Dent Jr. calls this pattern the “S” Curve.

People hit the work force @ average age 19
People get married @ average age 25.5 (men @ 27, women @ 24)
First child @ average age of 27.5
Starter home is purchased @ average of 33 –34
By the average age of 43 the largest home is purchased
Family Spending Cycles peaks @ average age of 46.5 – years 2008-2009
After 46 spending becomes discretionary (move into travel and leisure spending) *but end of Family Spending!

So basically pay attention to the largest populations of people moving through life now; here in the United States and in other Countries. Harry S. Dent Jr. explains this and so much more. I must say though, in some countries the generation cycles are not key to growth simply due to standard of living – people are poor (health care is poor) and don’t live long enough.

One more thing I'd like to highlight that Harry S. Dent Jr. talks about; the internet. The Internet is the key to the next information revolution - a 500 year cycle. The last information revolution began in 1440 with the printing press. 500 years later, in 1947, we have the transistor, which is the basis for today’s computer and communications technology. We are only 62 years in to the next revolution ... just imagine what is still to come!

Enjoy,
Jules

If you want to buy either Roaring 2000's or The Great Depression Ahead by Harry S. Dent Jr., visit Copia's Bookshelf in the column to the right. Just scroll down the page and you will see it. Also, sign-up for my FREE monthly Journal and be a part of a growing community of women moving in new directions!

Investment Club Meeting: January

Last night was my women's investment club meeting. Our new president did a fabulous job of running her first meeting. We had five new members join last night! That is very exciting! Everyone is so happy about that! We are beginning to plan our annual retreat which is planned for three days in March. We set some dates on the calender for stock study groups. We got a lot done in the three hours that we were together for the meeting.

You know what, if your are interested in learning how to start your own investment club, subscribe to my FREE monthly Journal! I will share how to to things like this in my publication!


Jules

Merry Christmas

I feel tranquil today; also happy and appreciative. This feels very satisfying. Today is Christmas day and my kids just left a couple of hours ago to spend the day with their dad and his family. This is my first Christmas day without my two children and my first ever Christmas day spending the remainder of the day completely by myself. I actually welcome this alone time. Some of my friends told me that this would be difficult to spend Christmas day without my kids ... well it is different, but I am completely okay with this. I think it is partly due to the fact that my kids are happy and caught up in the spirit of the day ... me too I must say. I did have them all of Christmas Eve --which by the way is my most favorite day of the year--and a couple of hours this morning. Also, I am feeling self-assured right now just because I successfully created a magical Christmas for my family and one that I could afford - nothing overboard - all within the realm of what I believe the deeper meaning of this time of year is. So today I am enjoying my home, the Christmas tree, the fire, the stormy rainy weather, I called all my closest family members and will work on some projects that are meaningful to me.

Merry Christmas!

A Quote for Today: August

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;

they just make the best of everything they have".

~Unkown

First Steps to Grasp the Changes Ahead

I am creating a new life. I am looking forward to it, yet it is change.

I am getting a divorce after 16 years of marriage. My husband moved out of our house about three weeks ago. We decided that he is going to take most of the furniture. I just don't want what we have accumulated over the years. He has moved out but most of his belongings are still here. My kids and I have to move out too. We rent and the house is going to be placed on the market. The kids and I have until the end of June to find a new place (and I may have some opportunities to be creative with that 'deadline'). Anyway, during this transition of dividing up the household, my main my goal now is to spend some time calculating how much money I will need to create each month to run my new household and set a budget in place.

I have my own checking account -- we have already closed all of our joint accounts a few months ago. The bank I bank at offers online banking and I love that feature, but I want to keep track of my money using a program. So another goal I am setting now is to set up my checkbook and track my spending on Quicken.

So that is where I will begin: #1 Set time aside to determine how much money my kids and I need each month to live #2 Set up my bank account information and budget plan on Quicken.