Independence Day Begins at Home

July 4, 2011 - PRLog -- It’s all American. Go to college. Find the spouse.  Buy the home. Lease the car. Have the children. Raise the children. Send the children to college.  Now there’s mortgage payments, lease payments, credit cards and college tuition.  Is it the America dream or the American error?  Rewind. There’ a fork in the road. Is there a way to keep the dream without the lifelong payments and if so how?

That’s the question some Americans are asking.  As the national debt looms at over $14 trillion, consumer credit at $2.43 trillion and consumer mortgage debt at $12 trillion, the answer should be obvious, but it’s not.

How will Americans stop this vicious cycle of debt?  Some propose it started with consumers so it should be resolved by consumers. Others say it’s the government’s problem. But it doesn’t change the numbers.  

There’s a ridiculous notion by some elders who survived The Great Depression, soup lines and World War II that consumers should buy only what they can afford. Live below their means. Pay off their mortgage. Start a savings account for college when the children are born.  Buy US Treasury Bonds.  Buy American goods. Support American innovation.

Now if the reader stands back, that’s something one might hear in theory bounced around on CNBC today, except it’s from someone whose  father ordered and built his house from a Sears catalogue.  What?  Yes.

It was paid with cash, the parts shipped in the mail with instructions (paint included) ,  and the simple one story house was built with his own two hands.  They made their own curtains and sewed their own clothes.

It may seem obscure now.  Today, there are some women who don’t even own their own underwear.  Seriously. They bought the lace thongs in every color with a Victoria’s Secret credit card.  How does a company repossess underwear for non-payment?  Easy. They don’t.  The price hike is passed onto the consumer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzwTkMCd_gE



So when consumers get a second chance and stand at the fork in the road, they can sit down with their kids and tell them to pay their expenses with cash and on time.  They can tell their children that times have changed.

It’s wise to create additional passive income with that silly obsessive hobby they have online.  Save a dime off every dollar they make. Invest and watch their money even if they have a money manager. They can tell them to always have at least nine months salary set aside on reserve just in case the boss suddenly pulls the plug on that big title CEO position that may come one day.

Last but not least they will tell their children to owe no man anything but to love them. Then and only then can they hold their heads high knowing they own themselves and their destinies.  They will have choices.

That is the best celebration of Independence Day any parent can give. Hotdogs are optional.

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Parents, teens, and new graduates can find more ways to prepare for a debt-free independent life The Answer Key to Avoid Debt Build Credit & Retire Rich available at http://Stores.LuLu.com/SoRichIam