So for this year, why don’t we focus on what we actually accomplished for the 2011 year and throw out some ideas for 2012.

Looking back on last year, I’m most proud of three accomplishments:

1. I was able to push my personal savings rate above 85%. It was not a goal that I set out to achieve, rather, it was a product of continuously pushing to lower my expenses and increase my income. I didn’t set out to achieve this, but it happened, due to a lot of hard work and some luck.
2. The wife and I put ourselves in the position financially that she was able to start attending nursing school without accruing any student loan debt. At the end of 2012, she’ll graduate debt free, will make a higher income, and start a new career with a low unemployment rate that she is excited about. Win, win, win.
3. The wife and I sold or donated roughly half of our personal belongings. We had been meaning to get rid of clutter for a long time, but this is the year it finally came together. It’s still an ongoing process, but thus far we’ve made roughly $3,000 by selling stuff online (Craigslist, EBay, and Amazon) and through a garage sale we had over the summer. I gave a ton of stuff to charity as well. Although, loosely a financial accomplishment (I did financially benefit), it was the one personal goal that I was most passionate about this past year.

As I look forward to 2012, some areas that I want to focus on include:

• Having Less of my Savings in Cash: I have too much money in cash, not earning any return, that is eroding due to inflation. I need to change this.
• Optimize my HSA and HDHP: In the 2011 open enrollment season, I changed my health insurance elective. 2012 will be my first year with an HSA and HDHP. I want to optimize my medical expenses and invest my balance so that I can hit health insurance nirvana with 2 years. And now that I’ve thoroughly jinxed myself, I’ll pray for a little luck on this one.
• Be Ready if I Need a New Car: My wife and I share a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am. It has 190,000 miles, is burning a quart of oil every 2 weeks, and smells like gas fumes occasionally. I don’t know how much longer the engine will last. It’s on an IV now. I have been researching the cheapest new cars in the event it dies on us.

What About You?

Enough about me, I want to hear about what members of the 20somethingfinance community are proud of accomplishing and excited about looking forward so we can all share, congratulate, brainstorm, and discuss.

• What are your biggest financial successes in 2011?
• Did you set out to achieve them or did they just happen as a byproduct?
• What are your biggest goals/resolutions/focus areas for 2012?
• What personal goals are you most excited about?

Share your Biggest Financial Accomplishment of 2011 & what you’re Excited About for 2012 is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

I created a 20somethingfinance Google+ page, but was surprised to find that you cannot add people to your circles unless they add you first. Bummer!

So I decided to instead focus on my own personal Google+ profile. Thus far, you’ll find pictures of me, my dog, my wife, a mystery animal, and my first few posts. Most 20somethingfinance Google+ content will be hosted here.

I am looking forward to trying out some new things on Google+ that you won’t be able to find here, on Facebook, or elsewhere. This will include original content (in the form of short and sweet personal finance tips), hangouts, and commenting discussions from 20somethingfinance posts. I like the idea of seeing a REAL face and a REAL name behind a comment. I am hoping it encourages genuine interactions and discourages negative trolling.

To give it a test run, I will disable the comments on this post, and as a follow up discussion on Google+, please share any other ideas you have on Google+ and what you’d like to see. And if you add me to a circle of yours, I’ll do my best to add you back. And if you don’t remember how to get there, just click on the little G+ icon you’ll find all over the blog.

Or just click on the big Google+ logo on the sidebar

If you haven’t yet done so, you can also subscribe to the 20SomethingFinance Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or subscribe to get new posts via email or RSS.

I’m on Google Plus! Let’s Circle it Up is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

It’s a complicated world out there and we are bombarded with information on a daily basis. When presented with advice or solutions that make our lives easier, we latch on. As a result, cliche advice that sounds good on the surface can transform into cultural memes. If heard enough times from numerous peers and the media, those memes become blindly accepted as truths.

Some of these cliches are deftly true, but others can be particularly dangerous when interpreted the wrong way. They can be universally strong, oversimplified and misleading, or just flat out wrong at times.

So, I’ve decided to start a series of posts break down and analyze some of the most popular personal finance cliches to determine if they are legit advice to follow or not. And then you can debate to your hearts content.

This will be the first…

“A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.”

“A penny saved is a penny earned” is used to describe a scenario when a consumer has or will realize the benefit of a discount, promotion, or sale when making a purchase. It attempts to equate the act of saving money to having earned that money. And who doesn’t like earning money? So where is the debate?!

There is only one problem – as already stated, the phrase is used in the context of saving money on a purchase. With the exception of offsetting the future cost of needs, the reality is that you are saving nothing when you are spending money. In fact, you’re doing the opposite.

I fear that many blindly apply this advice as a justification for making purchases on wanted items that are on sale. And that’s dangerous.

While you chew on that, consider that the origin of this cliche is through a misquotation of a statement made in Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack, which Franklin began writing in 1733. The original phrase was: “A penny saved is twopence dear. A pin a day’s a groat a year.”

A twopence was a silver coin used in Britain in that era. A pin and a groat? Consider it a history class homework lesson.

So if we break down Franklin’s original statement, he seems to simply be making a currency comparison between a penny and the British twopence. Yet, the remodeled cliche has lived on and morphed into personal finance advice with a different meaning that everyone has heard and repeated.

There is no doubt that it is good to save money – but only in the context that it is money you would have needed to spend. Just remember that the next time you go to grab your groat.

Verdict? While it may seem rather innocent on the surface, this cliche can be misleading, and potentially harmful if transformed into purchasing motiviation.

Alternative Advice? “A penny saved is a penny saved. A penny earned is a penny earned. A penny spent is a penny spent.”

Related Posts:

• How to Calculate your Personal Savings Rate
• Personal Savings Rate by Country
• Your Personal Savings Rate Poll Results
• Money Saving Products I Use

Good or Bad Personal Finance Cliche? “A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned” is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

This past Friday a number of major retailers – including Kohl’s, Best Buy, Target, and Macy’s – all decided that they were going to push their open times to midnight. A few retailers – Toys R Us and Sears – took it a step further and decided to open at 9 PM on Thanksgiving night. WalMart opened at 10 PM. An entire mall by my in-laws opened at 9 PM on Thanksgiving. Madness!!

The masses liked it though, apparently. Black Friday sales rose 6.6% to the highest mark EVER – with a reported $11.4 billion being spent in one day.

The Race to the Bottom

Yes, the precedent has now been set for all retailers to open their doors at 9 PM or midnight on Thanksgiving – ironically, the national holiday that is supposed to be about getting together with loved ones and giving thanks for what you have in life.

As if recent Black Friday mob tramplings, lootings, and pepper sprayings weren’t enough of a race to the bottom for consumers, retailers have now raised the bar even higher. Who cares that they may be separating their employees from their families on a holiday? We can all benefit by getting 30% off a pair of shoes that were overpriced by 25%!

I’ve never been a fan of Black Friday and have not participated in years. I find shopping to be flat out exhausting on its own. Add in thousands of zombie-like shoppers to the mix, no parking spots, gimmicky sales on artificially marked-up items, and depleted inventories, and it’s downright hell to me.

The ethics behind this move by big box retailers has sealed the deal that you will never find me shopping on Black Friday again.

Consumers Feed the Corporate Greed Machine

In taking the bait to go shopping at 9 PM in Thanksgiving, you support the cultural race to the bottom that prioritizes shopping over family. And in doing so, you take those workers away from their families on a holiday. What’s next, a 9 AM Thanksgiving morning open? Why not just replace Thanksgiving with Black Thursday?

Nope. Not doing it. And to send a big “Screw you!” message to the retailers who subscribe to this madness, I decided to put together a list of miserable, yet common evils that we would all rather put off but could be doing that would be better than shopping at your store on Black Friday (or any time).

25 Awful Things that are Still Better than Shopping at a Big Box Retailer Store on Black Friday

1. I’d rather clean out that gunk that gathers underneath and behind a refrigerator than shop at your store.
2. I’d rather give my fully clawed psychotic cat who hates water a bath than shop at your store.
3. I’d rather go to an awkward holiday party and make small talk with people I don’t know and will never talk to again than shop at your store.
4. I’d rather listen to a Justin Bieber album than shop at your store.
5. I’d rather watch a romantic movie with my wife than shop at your store.
6. I’d rather de-frost a freezer than shop at your store.
7. I’d rather pull 36 beer bottles that weren’t properly rinsed from a plastic garbage bag to recycle than shop at your store.
8. I’d rather get a planter’s wart burned off than shop at your store.
9. I’d rather ask my neighbor for salt than shop at your store.
10. I’d rather go to the DMV and wait in line for an hour than shop at your store.
11. I’d rather get solicited by a Jehovah’s Witness than shop at your store.
12. I’d rather clean out the mucky leaf piles that have gathered in my gutters than shop at your store.
13. I’d rather get a cavity filled than shop at your store.
14. I’d rather get a flu shot than shop at your store.
15. I’d rather eat two pounds of meatloaf and suffer the after-effects than shop at your store. (I’m vegetarian)
16. I’d rather have my annual performance review than shop at your store.
17. I’d rather given a co-worker feedback for their performance review than shop at your store.
18. I’d rather scrape off that unidentified, burned-to-hell lump of food at the bottom of my oven than shop at your store.
19. I’d rather collect my dog’s poop from the backyard after 2 months of neglecting to do so than shop at your store.
20. I’d rather watch Friend’s re-runs than shop at your store.
21. I’d rather read a newspaper that has been soaking in the rain for hours than shop at your store.
22. I’d rather unclog a toilet than shop at your store.
23. I’d rather fill out a medical history form for the 20th time while waiting in a doctor office waiting room than shop at your store.
24. I’d rather have a flat tire than shop at your store.
25. I’d rather negotiate with Comcast than shop at your store.

OK…. maybe not the last one…

The point being… if you’d rather do these miserable things, then imagine the thousands of fun or enjoyable things you could be doing than supporting these big box retailers.

Why let the fun stop here? What awful things would you rather do than shop on Black Friday? Share your list in the comments and forward to your friends so they can share theirs! Let’s send the message to retail execs that we won’t participate in feeding the consumer disease that plagues our country.

Related Posts:

• The Money Saving Products & Services I Use
• The Story of Stuff
• My Counseling Session with Mother Earth
• The 5 Worst Return Policies
• The 5 Best Return Policies

25 Awful Things that Still Beat Shopping on Black Friday is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

The result of this lunacy is that our nation’s debt is climbing, our infrastructure is crumbling, our job market is hurting, we have lost our world leader image, and our stock markets have been in stall mode for over a decade.

All of these things impact your bottom line. And if the debt ceiling debate didn’t raise your concern as a citizen of this country, not much will.

How did we get this way? Those who are Republicans weren’t genetically born as Democrat haters, and vice versa. Something must have happened along the way…

I’m not a Washington “insider”, so perhaps I’m not the most qualified person to write about how to fix our political climate. On the other hand, perhaps that makes me more qualified.

I have worked in political advertising in the U.S. – and doing so has given me some insight into how political campaigns are bought and sold (er, lost and won). I’ll share that now.

Election Contribution Limits

The first thing to note is that there are really only two expenses to running a political campaign:

1. Staff (we’ll roll travel/office into staff)
2. Advertising

That’s it. Staff (usually underpaid for their efforts) are a small percentage of total expenses. The rest goes towards advertising to influence voters. The more advertising you can buy, the more you can persuade the voting public. The more persuasion, the better chance you win, particularly when you’re in a fairly well balanced dem/rep geography.

But it’s not just a campaign’s fundraising prowess that earns the dollars to buy the ads. There are many other players who are now also buying ads via candidate donations or directly.

Here’s a breakdown of all the players:

• Individuals: Currently can give $2,500 maximum per election directly to a campaign. They can also give $30,800 to a national party per year and $10,000 to a state, local, and district committee per year, $5,000 to a PAC coordinated with a candidate or political party, and unlimited funds to independent expenditure only groups.
• Federal Parties: Can give $5,000 to a candidate per election or $43,100 to a senate candidate.
• State, Local, & District Parties: $5,000 to a candidate per election.
• PAC (Political Action Committee): PAC’s can give $5,000 to a candidate per election or to another PAC, $15,000 to a national party, and unlimited funds to independent expenditure only groups.
• Corporations: Can create a PAC or now fund independent expenditure only groups directly from their treasuries.

Independent Expenditure Money

When it comes to political ad dollars, it’s not so much about what you give. It’s about what you can spend. Party ‘committees’, 527 special interest groups, and PAC’s can all spend as much money as they’d like as “independent expenditures” – which means that the expense was not in coordination with a candidate, that candidate’s authorized committee, or a party directly.

The Rise of Super PAC’s

Citizens United Vs. the FEC, a landmark Supreme Court Case, made it legal for corporations and unions to spend from their general treasuries to finance independent expenditures. These ‘Independent Expenditure Only Committees” are unofficially dubbed “Super PAC’s” and they can raise and spend unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, unions, etc.

Super PAC’s are the hot new thing out there right now in politics. The most popular one at the moment is Stephen Colbert’s Colbert SuperPAC. Karl Rove’s American CrossRoads is another that has received a lot of press.

Unfortunately, there are few exceptions in any political election where those who do not have the most political ad money in their favor win. And most candidates tow the party line to receive as much ad money as possible, even if that means it goes against what is best for the country. That’s the sad truth. And it needs to be fixed.

How to Prevent Elections From Being Bought & Sold

I believe that each of the following three things would result in a more pure form of democracy that is represented by the citizens of this country.

1. Limit Contributions by Individuals to $100 Per Person

Individuals should only be allowed to directly support candidates only and at a maximum of $100 per year. It is ridiculous that each individuals can give $2,500 to a candidate in an election, $10,000 to a local party, $30,800 to a national party, or unlimited funds to an independent expenditure only group. These are not tax deductible donations. Who, but the very wealthiest, has that kind of money to give?

Level the playing field so each citizen has an equal opportunity to influence advertising messages in an election.

2. Eliminate all Independent Expenditure Contributions Altogether

I previously claimed that we should limit contributions to these groups political efforts to $100 per person. But now I think it should just be $0. Give the power back to the citizens to vote for those who stand for what they believe in.

These groups do nothing good for our democracy. The facts and figures that they cite in their ads are often out of context and deceiving and the portraits that they paint are manipulative at best. I don’t care if you are a labor union or an anti-tax billionaire, I don’t want to hear your biased manipulative messages anymore!

3. Break Up the Two Party Monopoly

Somehow, someway, the Republican/Democratic monopoly on our political system needs to be stopped. Regardless of the best interests of the country, candidates feel that they must tow the party line in order to keep receiving donations to fuel their job security.

We shouldn’t compartmentalize every issue. Why does democrat=anti-business, republican=pro-business, democrat=pro-choice, republican=pro-life, democrat=non-evangelical, republican=evangelical, democrat=pro-tax, republican=anti-tax? By forcing voters to choose one of these pre-stamped buckets, we have created the uncompromising political culture that we have today. Life is not, and running the country is certainly not that black and white. And being in favor of one party stance does not mean you’re in favor of another (or it shouldn’t, at least).

We all realize it, but nothing seemingly can be done to break it up (all of those elected are in either of the two parties in power, after all).

Eliminating the ability of parties to raise funds and independent expenditures to spend without limit to influence elections is a starting point.

What do you Think?

If you agree with these suggestions. Take whatever actions you can. Send this to your friends, your congressman or senator, and by all means don’t contribute money to shady independent expenditure groups!

What would you do to re-store credibility in American politics?

Why Our Politics are Broken: Political Ad Money & How to Fix it is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

The wisdom shared by her patients in their final moments, and then by Bronnie, are priceless. They can serve as a guide on not how to embrace death, but how to live life while you have the opportunity.

To summarize, here are the 5 most common regrets of the dying, according to Bronnie:

1. “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

This was the most common regret people had. And it makes sense. We only live one life and if you’re not living it true to yourself, it seems like a great missed opportunity. This is something that I have slowly been coming to grips with over the years. Still have a long ways to go though…

2. “I wish I didn’t work so hard.”

Bronnie said that she heard this from every male patient she worked with. Today, we are all overworked. If you love what you do, this might not be a regret. But most people do not. And when you’re in those final moments of life looking back, I can imagine that your view of the pursuit of income through work that was not satisfying to you might seem like a misuse of precious time.

I love Bronnie’s follow-up advice: “By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.”

3. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

Suppressing feelings to keep peace often led to bigger problems, including health issues.

4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”

In the end, all that matters is love and relationships.

5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

Most realized that happiness was always a choice. And they did not permit themselves to be happy.

Added Thoughts

Why raise this topic at all on a personal finance blog? Because the two biggest regrets that Bronnie mentioned are very closely related to personal finance.

Having the courage to follow your own passions and not placing such an emphasis on income for the sake of income are very closely related and both are tied to the hip with personal finance.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the pursuit of money is empty unless it buys you the freedom of time and experiences. A bigger bank account, nicer car, and bigger home mean nothing when you are slaving away 80 hours a week or on your deathbed.

Thanks for the reminder, Bronnie.

Related Posts:

• Finding Happiness Along the Way to Long-term Financial Goals
• Can Money Buy Happiness?
• How to Pull Away from the Rat Race
• 55 Marketable Hobbies you can Get Paid for

The 5 Biggest Dying Regrets is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Often times those reputations come as a result of a few very vocal customer’s opinions or a few poorly trained customer service reps actions and are not a reflection of the company as a whole or their values.

Other times, their poor reputations are earned.

At some point, I think Comcast VP’s sat around a table and wrote into their company manifesto, “Thou shall not satisfy the customer at the expense of company profit”, and made it the centerpiece of how they interact with customers. When you run a near monopoly in the markets you are in, you can often get away with that type of policy.

I wanted to share a chat transcript from a chat that I had yesterday with a Comcast rep. that illustrates my point.

The Comcast On Demand Story

Late one Saturday evening last month, I decided to watch The Wrestler (great movie, btw) with my wife through Comcast’s On Demand service. If you’re not familiar, it’s basically a way to pay to watch newer movie releases through your cable box. The rental cost $2.99 for that movie.

We press ‘buy’ to watch the movie, and 2 seconds into the opening credits the program freezes. It won’t restart, so we give up and watch something else.

One day later, we try again. Risky, I know. But, this time, it worked.

I had a hunch I might get billed twice, even though the first time didn’t work (side note: it’s kind of ridiculous that you would have to pay twice to watch the same movie one day apart).

I get my bill for that month a few days ago. I’m charged twice for the same movie. I decided to chat in to get one of the charges credited to my account.

A Few Caveats & Lessons

1. This isn’t the first experience like this I’ve had with Comcast. A few months ago I upgraded my broadband speed. For some reason, the higher speeds didn’t kick in for 10 days, but I was charged for the upgraded speeds from day one (I was using a bandwidth tester daily to verify this). The rep. didn’t issue a credit until I threatened to cancel my service because, in his words: “you still had service”.
2. I went in to the chat not looking for a fight and things started off nice and pleasant (I recommend this as the best way to initially approach customer service reps.). When it was clear a nice guy approach wouldn’t work against their customer service policy, that’s when I had to harden up a bit. Issuing a $2.99 credit doesn’t look good for a rep., but having a customer cancel their service and giving you a poor survey REALLY looks bad.
3. As I mention in the chat, $2.99 wasn’t the issue. It was the principle that they would not issue a credit when their service did not work as it should have.
4. You always have the power, as a customer, to leave. Don’t be afraid to use it, particularly if you are right about something and not getting what you are asking for.
5. I have changed the reps name to protect their identity. I don’t like to see anyone get fired and since I’ve had similar experiences with Comcast, I believe this particular experience is a systematic Comcast issue, not a particular service rep. issue. And for that, I’ll change the rep’s name to “Pawn”. I didn’t give Pawn a bad survey afterward, I thought my message to Comcast would be best served through this posting.

The Comcast Chat

• G.E. > Hi, how are you Pawn?
• G.E. > Pawn, That’s a nice name.
• Pawn > I’m doing great today, G.E.. Thank you for asking.
• Pawn > How about you?
• G.E. > Not bad, have the day off work.
• Pawn > Hope you are doing fine today.
• G.E. > Question – on my latest bill, I had two charges for the Wrestler on Demand
• Pawn > That’s good to know, G.E.
• G.E. > The first didn’t work, so when I went back, it charged me a second time.
• Pawn > My sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
• Pawn > No worries G.E., I will be glad take a look at your account to confirm all information and take care of your concerns regarding your Comcast bill now.
• G.E. > OK.
• Pawn > Thank you.
• Pawn > G.E., thank you for waiting.
• Pawn > If I may ask, were you able to contact us when the first Wrestler on Demand did not work?
• G.E. > No, I just went back in to it a second time b/c the first time didn’t work.
• G.E. > it worked the second time.
• Pawn > G.E., only we can consider removing the charge if you were able to contact us on the exact date that you found out that the show is not working.
• Pawn > G.E., are you still with me?
• G.E. > Hmm… I didn’t know about that contrived rule.
• G.E. > and I didn’t think I’d be charged in the first place since the movie never worked
• G.E. > why would I pay twice for the same movie knowingly?
• Pawn > I understand, G.E. however those shows were ordered on separate dates. If you were able to contact us, we can somehow consider removing the charge.
• G.E. > I am contacting you now to tell you.
• Pawn > I am referring on the date that the show did not work,
• Pawn > Since the charge is system generated.
• G.E. > The movie did not work. Your service did not deliver as promised, so I should not have to pay for it.
• G.E. > It’s only $2.99, but it’s a matter of principle.
• Pawn > G.E., i really understand how inconvenient it is spending out money. However, it was really not a problem considering a credit or removing the charge if it was brought to our knowledge the exact date of order and the show was not working.
• Pawn > If we take a look at it, today’s date is really beyond and is far from the date of the order.
• Pawn > Our system won’t even recognize that the show was not working since the order was successfully processed.
• G.E. > Look, I know you have the power to extend a courtesy credit. It should not matter what date this happened. This is poor customer service. If you do not extend a credit for this, I’m going to cancel my Comcast service right now. I’ll give you the choice.
• G.E. > Credit or Cancel. Up to you.
• G.E. > $2.99 credit, Pawn. Make it easy on yourself and do the right thing.
• Pawn > If this happened to be just a misapplied payment or something that is an error on Comcast side, then we’ll be gladly honor a credit on it.
• Pawn > But G.E., I do hope you understand that the order was made successfully and it’s already beyond or very far from the date the order was made. <G.E. Note: I had just received the monthly bill for these charges the day before I chatted in>
• G.E. > It does not matter what date this happened or when I am telling you about it.
• G.E. > OK, go ahead and cancel my service. I’m tired of Comcast’s poor customer service and I don’t want to give you guys any more of my money.
• G.E. > I’m also going to give this chat a poor rating when I’m done.
• Pawn > Alright, G.E. I know you are upset about this. I am glad we are able to clarify that if this thing happen again, we expect you to contact us in time.
• Pawn > I’m here to help you with this, G.E..
• Pawn > I know it is a risk for me, but, being a valued customer, I will take the risk to give you a credit this time.
• Pawn > How would you like it, G.E.?
• G.E. > Yes. That is what I’ve been asking for.
• Pawn > That’s alright, G.E. Let me do the process and I hope this would make you feel better.
• Pawn > G.E., thank you so much for patiently waiting online.
• Pawn > I have succesfully processed an inconvenience credit on your account for $5.00
• G.E. > Thank you.
• Pawn > Just to set the right expectation, the credit will be posted on your account on the next billing cycle.
• Pawn > You are most welcome, G.E.,.
• Pawn > We always value you as our customer.
• Pawn > I hope this will make you feel better this time.
• Pawn > My sincere apologies for all the inconvenience.
• Pawn > G.E., I am glad we are able to clarify that if this thing happen again, we expect you to contact us in time.
• Pawn > Before we finish up, I’d like to just take a minute to review what we have done so far. We have resolved your concern by processing an inconvenience credit on your account to compensate with the Wrestler on Demand show which did not work on your initial order.
• Pawn > It was my pleasure to help you with your billing issue today, G.E.. Thank you for your patience. Do you have any other questions or concerns today?

My Message to Comcast

Comcast, I am assuming you don’t give a damn and probably won’t have someone comment here, but I wanted to extend a few points of feedback to you in hopes that this trickles up to someone who has the power to set customer service policy:

1. Give your reps (even the outsourced 3rd party ones) the power to extend courtesy credits ESPECIALLY when the customer is right and <hold your breath to embrace this> even when the customer is wrong. That is how you create customer loyalty. Encourage your reps to do this – don’t make them feel threatened if they are to do so, that is bad policy. Do you really want to lose a customer who pays you over $1,000 a year for a $2.99 charge? Happy customers increase your profits and your brand value. Why is that so hard for you to figure out?
2. Don’t insult your customer by telling your reps to make up B.S. excuses to not issue a credit like “you still had internet” (even though it wasn’t faster as you were paying for) or “you should have contacted us the day of” (even though it was at 9 PM on a Saturday evening and you were settling in for a bottle of wine and a movie with your wife, and even if you had contacted us, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything for you until your bill was issued anyways).
3. Stop outsourcing your reps to third parties in other countries. Pawn’s real name was Russian and “i really understand how inconvenient it is spending out money” is not something compassionate Americans say. If you want your customers to have the best experience, give them the experience of talking to someone from their own country who isn’t thousands of miles away in a warehouse somewhere and bring those jobs home.
4. Despite all of your TV messaging around how archaic AT&T’s U-Verse is, it’s not. Everyone who has it raves about it and its speeds. And there are always the satellite providers to switch to. Even though you think people are attached to your cable wires, we are not. Now that you have competition, maybe it’s time that you tried the “happy customer” approach, no?

And another thing. Why not reward your loyal customers instead of making them do the every-6-month song and dance to negotiate a better rate? It’ll help you avoid switching costs for those customers who jump to another provider who has a nice shiny promotion like the ones you entice new customers with. And you get to keep them and their money. Something like $1 off your bill every month until you reach our new customer rate, for example. Run the numbers, factoring in lost revenue from customers who switch and come back and those who re-negotiate anyways. You might actually see improved profits BEFORE you delight your customers and have them want to spend more with you, stick around longer, and start to sing your praises and improve your brand value. A win-win with customers? Imagine the possibilities.

Related Posts:

• Comcast Broadband Usage Caps
• How to Get Rid of Cable
• Comcast’s Kryptonite Discovered
• Comcast Class Action Lawsuit

Dear Comcast – Your Customer Service Still Sucks: My Comcast Chat Transcript is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

Tragedy, Money, & the Good Things in Life is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

But, let’s be frank… we have fallen from our pedestal and we are now getting it handed to us by other ‘advanced economy’ countries. Everyone’s current quality of life is at stake. We need to improve and progress. And we need to do it quickly.

Acknowledging that we have room for improvement as a country and actually taking action to push for changes for the better is about the most patriotic thing you can do. Ready to get angry and then (hopefully) inspired?

The New York Times produced this telling graph:

What Can We Take Away From This?

• We’re third from the bottom in economic equality. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getter poorer. And the middle class has been almost completely gutted already. Dead? It’s on CPR. Regardless of political affiliation, you have to admit that this is a bad direction for our country to move in. The continued trend of decent paying jobs being slashed or outsourced and CEO’s and bankers making off like bandits is a surefire way to complete economic collapse. And look at the ‘food insecurity’ data point. How can we let 16% of our fellow citizens starve?
• Our prison population is more than double that of any other country on this list. Almost one out of every 100 citizens is in prison. This ties directly in to the economic inequality point. If you’re poor and can’t pay to put food on the table and find help to do so, you’re likely going to resort to desperate measures and end up in jail. Whether it’s with your tax dollars or if the crime is being committed against you, we all end up paying for it.
• We are tied for dead last in math scores. Our educational system has completely failed us. We’ve seen what works through special programs and in observing other countries. Why don’t we change it so that we can compete economically in the future?
• We’re in the lower half of ‘political democracy’. Quite honestly, I’m surprised that we’re not amongst the worst. Our two party system has failed us completely. Would things be different if corporations, unions, and shady shadow organizations with vested interests weren’t allowed to completely buy our elections? Absolutely. Will it ever change? Not through the legislative branch of our government. The party in power has gotten there because they have benefited from the present state of things. They want to keep the status quo. Why would they vote for change while in power? There may be a handful of politicians out there who are still ‘pure’, or not willing to compromise what they believe vs. fitting the ‘electable mold’ of being a democrat or republican… but they are a dying breed.

Meanwhile, we have a $689 billion (2010) defense budget. That’s a full 20% of our country’s budget. Is that really needed? I suppose it is when a handful of election contributions are at stake. This should make you sick:

The Answers?

I may be naive or foolish, but I think we could do a whole lot worse than starting with the following:

• Limiting all campaign contributions to $100 max from citizens, corporations, organizations, or any other interest group. And perhaps more importantly, completely abolish 527 organizations and PAC’s. They harm more than help our democracy. We won’t make significant progress on anything until politicians have no incentive other than to do what’s right and truly represent the people of this country versus protecting their own jobs and interests.
• Cut our defense budget by 80%. At $690 billion, we are at more than 10 times the third highest budget (UK) and 7 times the second highest (China). At a budget of $137 billion, we’d still be 40% higher than second place China. And still twice that of our education budget!
• Double-down investments in education, infrastructure, and creating jobs and community improvement programs in the areas of highest crime and poverty. These are true investments that pay us back multiple times over.

Forward this to your friends, write or call your congress(wo)man, run for political office, stop giving money to political organizations, stop listening to the media, and start demanding actual change.

How would you start fixing us?

Related Posts:

• The U.S. is the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World
• 5 Ways to Recession Proof Yourself
• Forget Wall St. – Occupy Should Head to DC
• American Maternity & Paternity Leave is the Lowest

Broke and Broken: It’s Time to Start Fixing Our Country is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.

You work more hours, you make more money. Sometimes more money than you’ll ever need. Without purpose. That is the rat race.

Whether you garner an hourly wage and see a direct monetary impact from working more hours, or you’re on salary, receive bonuses for hitting certain landmarks, or improve your promotion prospects and generally ascend in your career quicker – you work more hours to make more money.

There may be a handful of workers who just can’t get enough because they genuinely love the work more than anything else in their lives. But when push comes to shove, it takes a very rare breed of worker to actively choose sitting in an office for another 10-20 hours a week versus taking that time to do something they love outside of work (when money, job security, and promotional opportunities are 100% identical either way).

It’s all about the money. And that, in itself, is the rub. Work more, earn more. When enticed like this, humans are kind of like rats at the feeder bar, except we never get full and the pellets keep coming.

We know that there is more to life than making money, lets all agree on that point. But at what point do you stop and say “enough is enough!”?

The Traditional American Career Equation

The traditional American career life-cycle equation has always looked something like this:

More work hours now (with less life balance) for more reward in the future

IS GREATER THAN

Less work hours now (with more life balance) for less reward in the future

Reward, in this equation, is whatever you want it to be: more stuff, more security, less work. In other words, you are sacrificing the present for the future. Isn’t that what the entire stereotypical American retirement is based on? Slave away for 45 years so that some day you can entirely leave the workplace behind, drive a Cadillac, golf every morning, watch your bank account swell to a level I you’ll never be able to spend, and dominate your Bingo circuit?

….. well, that sounds…..kind of, sort of….. awful.

Subscribing to this model is also a hell of a dangerous bet. The only time we are truly guaranteed our health and livelihood in this world is RIGHT NOW. There is no guarantee that we’ll be around when we reach the ‘golden’ payoff years of this model. At the same time, there is almost 100% certainty that if we do reach this end, we’ll have poorer mental and physical health than we do in the present. That free time that we worked so hard for will be less enjoyable than the free time that we could have had earlier in life. And many become so conditioned to overworking that they simply can never slow down, even when it’s painfully obvious that they could and should.

Fear – And Overcoming It

What keeps us stuck in this model? The only conclusion I can come to is FEAR. Fear that we’ll end up homeless and begging on the street. Fear that we don’t have someone to guide us along the path and hold our hand as we explore a different way. Fear that we won’t be able to support a family. Fear that others will get ahead of us financially. Fear that Social Security won’t be there to save us. Fear that the stock market will deplete our retirement savings. Fear that inflation will eat away at our savings. Etc., etc. etc.

Some of these fears might have some merit. But should they have enough power over you that they force you to submit and completely give up your present life for more money?

How can you overcome these fears? It’s not easy and I struggle with this myself, but I think the answer looks something like this:

1. Realize and accept that the traditional career life-cycle is only a construct, and it might not be the best one for you.
2. Figure out how much money you actually need to maintain a base quality of life. Countless studies have shown that once you achieve the basics of food, water, shelter, clothing, health, a little security, and experiences, money can do little advance your happiness levels. You might find that what you need to maintain the basics is FAR less than what you’ve been earning at 20 or 30 hours, let alone 60 or 70. It’s OK to save towards the future, but saving money for needs and hoarding money without purpose are two completely separate things.
3. Earn what you need. If you choose to work more hours when you’ve already earned beyond what you need to maintain that base quality of life, understand that you are actively choosing to trade your guaranteed present for an uncertain future. If you’re OK with that trade and absolutely love your work more than anything, then keep working. If you’re not OK with that trade, it’s time to draw the line and simply stop working the additional hours. If you find that there is no way you can continue in your present job at the reduced hours, you may have to make some tough decisions.

Execution is always the hardest part.

Knowing when to Step Away from Work Discussion:

• How have you drawn the line in the sand to know when to stop working?
• Are you OK with sacrificing the present for the future (the traditional American retirement)?

Related Posts:

• The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World
• Can Money Buy Happiness?
• I Hate my Job!
• Stop Dreaming & Start Retiring – Now!

3 Steps to Pull Away from the Rat Race & Work Fewer Hours is copyrighted by 20somethingfinance.com without consent to republish.