card games

I'm learning so much in my Wednesday morning "Finances For Women" class. It's taught by a woman, around my age, who has worked for years as a financial planner. Her husband died a few years ago after a bout with cancer, which makes her perspective even more valuable and relevant to women aspiring to and entering retirement. Because there's a good chance that at some time in the next twenty years, many of us will be on our own:

"The average life expectancy for Canadians at age 65 is 20 years, with women outliving men by approximately eight years" - Kristin Doucet, Editor's Letter, Forum Magazine, May 2012


"The Canadian census reveals that close to one in three women above the age of 65 lives alone" - Peter Watson, Inside Halton.com.

One morning a couple of weeks ago we got on the topic of credit—credit cards, credit scores, that sort of thing. Our teacher, Ruth, related how shortly after her husband died she needed to put a large item on her credit card—a card they had held jointly but of which her now-deceased husband was the primary card-holder.

She found, to her chagrin, that the card was now useless and she had a hard time getting another one because of her non-existent credit score. She was eventually able to produce that score as a result of other financial transactions. However, her advice to us was:

1. Get yourself named as the person responsible for some of the regular payments you make for your household (hydro, telephone, internet) in order to establish a credit history and credit score.

2. Get your own credit card for two reasons: 1] to establish a credit history and score, and 2] so you have a credit card to use should your husband die suddenly.

The day of our discussion I checked with our credit card company and discovered that Ruth was absolutely right. If my husband died, the card we use jointly but of which he is the primary card-holder would be no good to me. I have since applied for my own card. Might as well head off one potential nasty surprise at the pass!

What other nasty financial surprises could be lurking down the road for someone newly widowed?

book review: Rich Is a Religion - Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth by Mark Stevens

Title: Rich is a Religion: Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth
Author: Mark Stevens
Publisher: Wiley, 2008, Hardcover, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 0470252871
ISBN-13: 978-0470252871

In Rich is a Religion: Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth, multi-millionaire Mark Stevens imparts his philosophy of wealth. He likens it to a religion with

…a view of money that vests it with far more substance than a simple trading commodity. It is a way of thinking about money that has greater connectivity to what most of us place at the top of life’s hierarchy of values: family, friends, fulfillment, enrichment, and independence. (p. 10)

The book is interesting, loaded as it is with stories that illustrate his points. It is easy to understand for even infrequent visitors to the world of finance (moi). And it is to-the-point.

In the nine chapters that comprise the main part of the book Stevens extends the religion metaphor (e.g. chapter titles like “The Vision,” “The Congregation,” “The Atheists of the Religion of the Rich,” and “Metamorphosis”) and gives instructions on how to convert. Despite the religious symbolism, he does not advocate the worship of money but rather a relationship with it that resembles one’s relationship with religion – one made up of deeply held and faithfully followed convictions. To the brotherhood he promises at least an improvement in financial position if not outright wealth.

Some of the tenets of Stevens’ religion of the rich include the need to respect money and handle it with discipline and a sense of fiduciary control. He eschews using money and what it can buy to impress others (“Don’t care whether you are perceived as being rich or poor” p. 40). He warns against greed and taking undue risks with one’s livelihood and home. He recommends simplicity, contentment, humility (“Recognize that the most important money you have is the money no one can see” p. 158), smart management (“I have learned to make money while I sleep” p. 61) and realistic caution (“Never bet the farm” p. 101).

And to what end do we gain this wealth? “…To maximize the gift of life” p. 5, to achieve contentment (“The most rewarding achievement in life is to be content” p. 16), “…to extract the maximum pleasure from life…” p. 84. If there is anywhere I would quibble with Rich is a Religion's ideas, it would be in these regards. For though this is a book that gives wise advice about how to accumulate wealth for one’s time on earth, it lacks an eternal perspective on riches. As I read it, I kept thinking of the words of Jesus: “Do not lay up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). It’s not that this book is against these things. Stevens just never mentions them, leaving it for the reader to make their own connection. I suppose the astute reader will, though it’s awfully easy to lose sight of that perspective in the midst of all the motivation to gain material wealth for the here-and-now.

Stevens has earned his reputation as an expert by reason of his experience and success. His father died when he was a teenager, leaving the family with the grand total of $84. The fact that he came from that to his current multi-millionaire status and position of CEO of MSCO -- a results-driven management and marketing firm — by using the principles he explains in Rich is a Religion: Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth, speaks eloquently of their power. More of his advice is available through other books he has authored (Your Marketing Sucks, Your Management Sucks, God is a Salesman) and via his Unconventional Thinking Blog.