Safety is also a word often used to imply security. And many times we feel secure because there is no information to tell us otherwise. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be more secure. Lately, I’ve been thinking about steps and actions that might improve my security, or my safety when it comes to finances. Some are the ones I have been using myself, and others are only more recently coming to mind.

1. Account security. Online banking is great. But how secure is your account? Do you change passwords regularly? Do you use easy to determine passwords? Do you use a common password for most of your accounts or logins? I have had some sort of palm or smartphone device for years, and when I lost one in an airport, I had to set about changing all my passwords, because there was an outside chance someone could crack my password file, and thus get all my passwords. I realized then how weak my plan was. Now I still keep a file on my phone, but it has a password that you couldn’t guess before the file auto-destructs. And all my financial accounts not only have tough passwords, but they have different user names.  Overall, I feel pretty secure.
2. Auto financing. Most people understand that they typical new car loses value when you drive it off the lot. Depending on how much you put down on a car, you may owe more on the car than its re-sale value for the first  two to three years of ownership.  I have a Ford Focus philosophy about cars. What is the least I can spend on a car that is sufficient for my commuting and traveling needs? Keep it maintained, and plan to drive it for 10 years (or longer), and you end of with a pretty good value. I can afford a much nicer car, at least in terms of current cash flow, but every extra dollar I spend now is one I am not saving for retirement.
3. Every extra dollar I spend now is one I am not saving for retirement. Yeah, I know I just said that, but when I consider the implications on my various monthly services – internet, cable, phone, wireless, lawn care, heat, electricity, water, trash removal – I am sure that I could pare those down a bit, and maybe work one or two months less than if I spend at the level I do today.  Spending less now equals more financial security – if I do the right thing with my saved money.
4. Consider the size of your house and mortgage. For me, these two have been increasing through 6 moves over many years. Thirty years of home ownership, and I currently have 24 years left on my mortgage. It doesn’t have to be that way. Its an old paradigm. My wife hit me with this one last week with one question: Why did we buy the house we live in today? I knew the answers, and every one of those answers no longer matter. We have fewer people in the house, we have no interest in the schools, and we have more rooms than we need. Yes, I can continue to live here and pay the mortgage and build equity, or we can find a smaller house that fits our current need, go to a mortgage that is half the size of the current one, and be paid off in 7 years. Not as much equity, but now I can save the money I was paying each month, and not one dollar of that goes to someone’s interest earnings on the money they loaned me.
5. Diversify. We all hear this, and it makes sense, but you need to pay attention to it carefully. Not all savings in one bank, not all investments in one stock. Life expectancy is increasing, spending power of dollars weakens over time, and social security just might not be accurately named – at least the “security” part.
6. Prepare for college, or raise your children to know exactly how they can get college paid for. Here in Georgia, my youngest is benefiting from the lottery in the form of a college scholarship. That means he can use what he and we saved for graduate school, which he will likely consider. There are all kinds of approaches today from 529 plans to pre-paid tuition. Understand the options, and don’t wait too long to decide what your approach as a parent will be.
7. Kick the gadget habit. “I don’t need an iPad, I don’t need an iPad…..”

There are many other important purchases and income opportunities that help define our financial safety. You are in control, every day. Do you have a particularly smart strategy for improving your financial security and safety?

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists and the others linked there always give you something to think about, and may even make you smile!

Long before everyone had color televisions, video games and personal music players, we amused ourselves with traditional toys. Well, maybe they weren’t all traditional, but they were fun! Even with all our progress, many games and toys from my childhood are still popular today. But there are a few from Christmases past that have gone away, some for safety reasons.

1. The Sonic Blaster. This was probably my most favorite unsafe toy of all time. There was a pump handle that you were instructed to pump “no more than 8 times”, which was of course an invitation to pump until you couldn’t anymore. When you pulled the trigger, it let out all that compressed air which echoed through its long chamber in the coolest “BOOM” you ever heard. We once set a lit candle at the bottom of the basement stairs, and then blew it out with the blaster. We had ours taken away when my parents found the burnt paper plates we were lighting and blowing out like we were skeet shooting. Mattel took it off the market due to the damage it caused ear drums. Not the sound, but having it blown at the side of your head.
2. Mr. Kelly’s Car Wash.  Nothing unsafe, just boring. We started looking for inventive uses that the toy was not designed for, which is never a good thing. Little plastic cars go through a motorized tunnel where they get squirted with water and dried with little sponges. Yipee. Perhaps its purpose was to motivate us to go to college, or to be Mr. Kelly and not one of his workers.
3. Thing Maker. This was like a Fry Daddy, only you filled it with plastic pellets. When they melted, you injected the mixture into molds to make your own “Things”. There were theme sets with bugs, army men, and other creatures. Anyone who had one got a burn mark or two.
4. Photo-Electric football. You had a set of papers that had plays drawn on them. Your opponent had defensive plays. You lay them both upside down on top of each other on a lite box, and slowly pull a slide out so the light would shine through the paper. If the Offensive play moved down field without touching a player’s dot on the defensive sheet, touchdown baby! Of course if the bulb burned out and you replaced it with one that was too much wattage, you burned the plastic screen that the plays are set on, and maybe even caught it on fire. Some halftime show.
5. Jarts. Need I say more?

Any toys you remember from your past that you probably wouldn’t let your kids get near?

May your holidays and gift-giving be safe, memorable, and trouble free.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists and the others linked there always give you something to think about, and may even make you smile!

So today’s run was 7 miles, and it’s the first time I’ve been out that long for months. I’ve got a long way to go to be ready for this late-January event, but if I follow the training I will do well.

I ended up with a fair amount of walking breaks today, and it was a good day to just see where my thoughts would take me. They took me to my Dad. He’s been gone for 15 years now, but still with me in so many ways. Since I worked in his factory through college, I’d like to think I got a lot of ideas for safety from him. Truthfully, I got a ton of ideas about life from him. Here are a few that I remembered today.

1. Too much of any one thing is not good for you. That’s so right about so many things. Too much food, too much exercise, too much work, to much play, too much money.  If you have enough that you can say it’s too much, it’s time to course correct somehow. If you happen to be in the “too much money” category, I might have a few ideas to help you out!
2. Be Careful. It was always the last thing he or my Mom said when we left the house. Whether we were teens early in our driving careers or adults visiting from wherever we lived at the time.
3. If we were all the same, we’d all be the same. He really said that, and it has stuck with me. I’m very involved with the diversity and inclusion efforts where I work, and this phrase makes me smile whenever I think of it.
4. Do as I say, not as I do. I think I only actually heard him say this once, but it was implied, especially in regard to swearing.
5. It’s just as easy to like a girl from the west side as it is to like a girl who is from the east side. I grew up in Cleveland, in the western suburbs, and ended up dating a girl who lived in an eastern suburb. It wasn’t a background issue, just a practicality of driving issue. I think I’m even more practical than him – I’ve told my boys that it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich girl.
6. That’s enough for now. Good advice, and sort of goes with #1. We usually heard this after an afternoon of water skiing when he drove the boat. It’s also good advice for this post!

Do any of your parent’s sayings stay with you today?

And you know mine – Let’s be careful out there!

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists and the others linked there always give you something to think about, and may even make you smile!

Driving is hazardous. It also can be time-consuming, particularly if you live far from work or take a crowded commute. And as I pointed out on my list last week, people sometimes compromise their safety in the name of expediency – they text while driving.

In the world of industrial safety, companies who excel do not depend on the law to tell them what they can or cannot do. They do the things that must be done to assure employee safety. No doubt, many factories are safer than they might otherwise be due to OSHA regulation and supervision, but the best don’t need that. You shouldn’t either.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there is a technological fix you can apply to prevent texting while in a moving vehicle. For Android phones, you can buy Textecution, which is advertised as something to put on your teenager’s phone.

Then there’s TXTBlocker, which again is advertised to parents. And Employers.

And coming soon, you can buy iZup (get it, eyes up) for Android and Windows smartphones.

Call records will easily show if you were texting near the time of an accident. But do you really need a software solution? What you really need is a personal discipline solution. If you, as an adult or parent cannot see or understand that this is a dangerous problem, then don’t lecture your kids. If you can, then teach your kids to manage it. Sure, you can pay for the software to prevent it, but there are always going to be new ways to work around software, and kids will figure it out.

Trust but verify. Check the phone records against the time you know your son or daughter was out. They will tell you and you can take the appropriate action. And in the meantime, lead by example. Don’t send or read text messages while you are operating your vehicle. It can wait. Text with integrity.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

This Father’s Day, like many other Sundays, I suspect that I will see families out and about enjoying outdoor activities together in the nice weather. If I take a ride to a local park I will find picnics and ball games. Down by the river I’m sure I’ll see some folks canoeing, swimming, fishing and just enjoying the water. And in just about every neighborhood, I’ll see some family bike riding taking place.

Just about every modern parent sees the value in making certain their child is wearing a helmet when on a bicycle, even if the bike has training wheels. Helmets are inexpensive and can prevent serious injury.

I have to wonder though when I see about every fourth or fifth parent riding without a helmet. What are they thinking? I have to imagine that they believe that their riding experience makes them less likely to have an incident. Probably true, but it in no way reduces the potential severity of an injury should the unlikely event occur.

One of my old friends used to refer to her ex as the sperm donor, and not as the father of her children. True fatherhood is earned. I have seen fathers with their children playing with them, teaching them and guiding them, and yet this potentially simple lesson becomes one where the example does not always meet the instruction.

Fathers, we earn our respect for the kids each day, and we earn that respect by walking the talk. Your family has so much at risk if you are injured, and wearing a helmet when you ride is a simple gift you give your children. Don’t take your safety for granted. When you put the helmet on you tell them that you are important, and when you help them with theirs you tell them they are important, too.

Happy Father’s Day to all men and women who have earned the right to be seen as a Father.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.