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 The new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act goes into play this month.
While it seems there are a lot of new rules to help protect you, the credit card holder ... the reality is that the new laws just give the credit card companies new ways to steal your money.
We've just created complicated legislation which gets rid of some old fees and replaces them with a whole set of new, sneakier (and in many cases more onerus) fees.
Read this Article on the new CARD Act.
Make certain you understand these new rules and what to look for in new agreements sent to you by your old credit card companies and any new card applications that you might receive.
I can't help but think about the phrase, "With friends like these, who needs enemies" when I consider this attempt by Congress to help(?) the American consumer.
It is so obvious to me that the net result of this legislation is more obfuscation and more ways for the banks to screw the customer ... while the politicians expect us all to bow down with thanks and gratitude for all they've done for us.
Bowing down will happen - but it will be more like bending over ... and the "all they've done" has been to us, not for us.
I begin to wonder if Americans will ever learn. These guys and gals in Washington are not our friends. We don't have the money or power to keep up.
The POTENTIAL of SHIFT
This week I mention the great success of the "Bring Google Fiber to SLO Rally." From a germ of an idea last Thursday morning to an event with more than a thousand likely participants, this concept has literally exploded.
Much of the success comes from social media. It would not be possible to create this kind of buzz so quickly without FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn (not to mention phone texts and email blasts like this newsletter).
Glen Shakelford is one of the main creators of the event. We happened to be having coffee yesterday morning. Glen was sharing with me how exciting the process was and how much had changed in "four short days."
Originally, they had been happy to get former Call America CEO, Jeff Buckingham and the Dave Garth (SLO Chamber) to speak at the rally. Now Glen was wondering why stop there? Why not the mayor of SLO ... or even Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Glen decided that he was going to go back to his office and make some more calls to invite even bigger dignateries to the event. I suspect that if they are invited, they will show. The rally has that much momentum and politicians love to be in front of a crowd.
That's the background ... but what came out of that meeting (and other personal experiences the past five days) is this:
Glen could always have called the Governator's office to ask him to come to the event. The difference between last Thursday when they thought up the idea of a rally and Tuesday when we were having coffee was that Glen knew that people were going to be there.
As he realized his dreams, he realized that his dreams could be bigger. Glen is still the same guy. The rally project is still the same concept.
... But Glen's mindset changed. It SHIFTED. Today, he is approaching the exact same issues as last week, but with a totally different perspective and mindset.
The same is true of each of us. I've been through a similar shift in my financial planning practice thanks to a couple of visualization exercises I put myself through last week.
If you can change your mindset (and you have COMPLETE control over that - it all depends on how you filter and process the data you are receiving) ... If you can change your mindset, you will change your actions, your approach to those around you AND YOUR RESULTS.
In Glen's case, you WILL call the Governor. In my case it has changed how I approach every conversation with every client, alliance, friend and prospective client I meet. It changes the words I use and the tone of my voice. The changes may be subtle, but the results have already begun to be substantially different.
EXERCISE - Pick a project or a part of your life where the results have been decent but you know they could be better.
Add a zero - in Glen's case it was attendance (from a few hundred to a few thousand). In my case it was gross income.
Visualize exactly what things would look like if that were the new normal. How would that feel? What would you be doing? What would you be doing differently? What is your mindset at that point? Would adding that zero put you into a substantially different mindset? Would that new mindset change how you behave, act and feel?
If the new mindset would create different behavior (and it almost always does), how would that SHIFT create different results (beyond just adding a zero)?
Last question - What is stopping you from making that mindset SHIFT right now?
I hope this is helpful to you. Let me know of your experiences or perspective. Just send me an email or give me a call.
I look forward to hearing from you,
John
John D. Buerger, CFP®
Wealth Coach / Fiduciary Financial Advisor
jdbuerger@altuswealth.com
ALTUS Wealth Solutions
3211 Broad Street, Suite 201
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
805-476-0333
Get Control Over Your Money ...
... Enjoy a Life with Less Stress and Fewer Worries
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Mindset is everything - those comments you are saying to yourself make the difference between abundance or misery in your life.
