I like dave ramsey, he has good sound advice!

 

My former boss, Peter Bass, founder of MAine Cottage ,back in 1988.
He is fromteh Bass Shoe family (family sold the shoe business back in the mid 1970s). He dumped $500,000 of his own money into Maine Cottage, bcadk in Sept (after 14 folks got cut), then 7 more folks (myself included), got axed in Jan of 2009. I think he is one millionare that might lose his famliy fortune.

 

My boss is a millionaire. And he know's how to spend it. He has three houses here and one in Phoenix. He also has a garage that is 200' x 100' with radiant heat. He collects cars and he's quite generous. We don't have a union at work and don't really need one. My last job needed a union and it was a good thing we had one, but not at this job. My boss just informed us all that anyone who puts in 20 years, will get an all expense paid cruise for two as a thank you for the time put in. As for cars he has:

Oldsmobiles:
1961 Ninety-Eight (30,000 mi original paint)
1962 Starfire Convert.
1963 Starfire
1969 442 W30 4spd Convert (in process of ground up)
1969 Hurst/Olds (62,000 miles)
1970 442 W30 Convert
1983 Hurst/Olds (10,000 mi)

Pontiac:
1968 GTO
1969 GTO Judge 4 spd
1970 GTO Judge (Looks like the one in "Two Lane Blacktop")ground up last year

Chevrolet:
1962 Corvette 4 spd. Convert
1965 Corvette 327 4 spd.
1970 Chevelle 454 LS5
2000 Corvette Convert

Buick:
1968 Wildcat
1972 GSX

Cadilliac: 1961 Coupe de Ville Convert

Next car he wants is a 1969 Camaro Z28 RS SS. If he gets it I'll know only if I see him at the cruise nights with it. He doesn't like to brag about the cars he buys. He's very humble about it, almost embarrassed about it. Last year we went to a swap meet together and he spent $4,600 picking up old gas station signs. I spent about $3 and he bought lunch. I met him after I started the Oldsmobile club and he joined. He is a great guy.

 

Thre are a lot of good books out there that can help you become MORE financially sound but it is not a reality that everyone who follows the principals set out in these books could work for everyone. there are just too many variables ( different circumstances , income availability , unforseen setbacks , local economy's etc. etc. ). Too many of these books and CD's and programs reflect the authors own personal experiences and it seems to me that theur latest idea's on how to grow their personal wealth is to write books or put out infomercials to purchase their plan or give seminars to people for large fees telling them how he did it. what would be really interseting to find out is what percentage of people who invest money in one of these methods ( and I am sure it's in the millions ) actually becomes rich. In my opinion it's kind of like playing the lottery , everyone always hopes they hit it big but the reality is that it is a longshot. wealth has more to do about being happy , wise and living within your means , good or bad. Hard can pay off but learn to spend quality time when you have it. Life has many disappointments but if you can learn to put it in the past ( the sooner the better ) and keep moving forward you reach the good parts sooner.

 

dido here on that . i think we can all be a little irate at wall street execs who hurried up and gave themselves 18.5 billion in bonuses for such a job well done in 2008. Those rich who make their money from hard work , innovation and chasing their dream help the economy because they usually drag a few people along with them and enrich the lives of others who work for or with them. Bernie madoff is an example of excessive greed where he actually started out witha good idea but realized he could not follow through on his promises of big returns. thus his "ponsi" scheme was born. The SEC dropped the ball on that one but they are not completely to blame as the federal government has taken away too many regulations and allowed wall street to run amuck.mr. marckopolis figured it out 8 years ago but it fell on deaf ears. SEC regulations are as lax as they were back in the 1930's and it caused havoc in the markets then , so the U.S. tried protectionism which led into the dirty 30's and the dust bowls in the midwest prairies. Obama is on the right track by spending short term and long term , but I was disappointed to see the Republicans negotiate out almost 70 billion in rebuilding education and crumbling schools. I guess most of them would be in inner city poor neighborhoods and poor rural districts , probably not the schools they went to. trying to get 5% tax cuts across the board just will not work. People who need the extra cash to live on will spend it , lower and middle class as well as small buisness. George W.H.Bush gave the wealthy 138 billion in tax cuts last year and you can't find one economist who can find how any of that money made it back into the economy. Unfortunately the Hill is still buisness as usual and Obama is going to have to fight to pass his policies ,even with some of his own Democrats.It tokk a strong President to get out the last great drepression. He needs to stand his ground and keep creating work for the present and the future. I wish him well and hope the American people get behind him because I think that if you really look at the man you will see someone who loves America and is really trying to change Washington as best he can , though he will have to break down a lot of doors.We just have to believe as he does that America is a great nation that will come out of this stronger in the eyes of the world.