Alex Opalstone and the Window of Heaven's View: Life 101 Part 2

by T. M. Meek

Financial__Math_of_Hope_vs_Despair_8_copyright_2010_TM_Meek.jpg (Images are available in full color in this article at AlexOpalstone.com)

  Rising inflation is what makes the need for such a high income to sufficiently satisfy funding emergency needs and basic living expenses among other rising costs of life. Until we return to the common sense practice of the gold standard (or at least a bimetallic standard), out of control inflation will continue to threaten our financial security as Americans. The more quickly we return to the gold standard then the more quickly we'll be able to thrive on a lower income in a more realistic way than we currently can in these modern times. But until then, we can either educate ourselves and the rising generation about the financial facts of life or we can remain silent about the inflation produced reality that proves how average incomes in the U.S. produce little if any true financial security.

  So which is better? To continue to let both adults and young people believe the myth that they can find work that pays less than six figures per year and still be financially self-reliant and generously charitable at the same time only to live just one missed paycheck, major property damage or medical problem away from poverty? Or is it better to encourage people to do the kind of math that, although painful to face at first, may lead more people towards the kind of financial self-reliance that allows for generous charitable giving from the achievement of real success?

  The fewer people understand this math, the more the U.S. will see good people that are in dire financial need where most of their relatives are chained to the same impoverished circumstances because they choose careers that do not provide adequate income; they spend their labor for employment that cannot truly satisfy wise financial needs.

  Our youth, as well as adults, need to plan on choosing a career that will utilize their talent(s) in a way that can properly satisfy the financial needs for life as an adult––especially for men who desire to marry with the intentions of having their wife remain at home to work full-time as a mother so he can adequately provide for all in his immediate family. This is the way to strengthen individuals and families long-term.

  It's time to take a closer look at what it really means to be truly financially self-reliant. It's time for more people to find nobility and honor in wealth with integrity and wealth that makes the world a better place while teaching others to do the same for lasting independence. And for those who wonder if the pursuit of wealth can be noble, answer this: When one can acquire wealth to bless themselves and others in good ways, then how is choosing to remain poor honorable?

  Times may have changed regarding who we can rely on to provide for our retirement (not our employers as Defined Benefit Plans become increasingly extinct) but the often reliable means of our forefathers to light the entrepreneurial flame within will always be a tried and true means for prosperity and great philanthropic endeavors in a way that will more securely see each of us as individuals through difficult current and future financial challenges as are a natural part of life.

  Personal financial security cannot truly be guaranteed when we allow ourselves to live the lie that entitlement whispers of expecting our personal financial security to be provided by someone else's work and choices. Personal financial security is something that is best pursued by honorable, individual merit as such is the only way to ensure it has the very best opportunity to grow and last.

  This may not be pleasant or even perfect math but it's far better than what most people are believing and pursuing for their own financial aspirations. None of us want to be broke. None of us want to have large amounts of debt. All of us want to be happy and so many of us desire to be charitable when we can.

  So what does it take for true financial self-reliance? Earn six figures minimum per year to support just one adult wisely through frugal yet philanthropic living.

  But many of us have already graduated from college or chosen our careers without really understanding the Financial Math of Hope vs. Despair. For those of us who have long since (or recently) chosen employment that will not sufficiently cover our individual or family's financial needs, it's time to "retool".

  To make the changes needed in our personal financial lives for prosperity to happen, we simply must retool by learning what we need to do to truly prosper and then go and do those things that will create wealth that lasts. If you currently have good employment (“good” meaning you aren’t doing work that you feel in your heart is wrong for you to do ethically or otherwise) then don’t quit your job. Keep whatever good work you have and then spend your time off the clock retooling.

  So just how do you retool? You exercise faith as you study and do. Do two things: First, pray. Ask God (or Higher Power) for help and have faith that He will help you to acquire wealth to do good because of your faith in Jesus Christ and your good effort. Second, learn about business trends, investing and ways to earn six figures or more that will help you to also use your talent(s) so you can more easily tithe well and properly provide for your family. Then make a decision as to how you can best accomplish true financial self-reliance and then pray again about it––this time to see if your choice (after studying it out in your mind) feels right.

  As you start on the career path you choose, pay attention to the thoughts and ideas you have and if the ideas encourage you to stay on the path you chose and if it feels in your heart like a good thing that's right for you to pursue, then keep at it and don't give up and you'll be more likely to succeed. But if you have thoughts that suggest another idea or a better idea and you feel in your heart you should try a different path, then get on the path that feels best to you and makes sense to you. Once you recognize you're on the path that's right, never give up.

  Retooling is what will make the difference between barely surviving and benevolently thriving. This is not a should do, it's a must do.

  Because retooling requires additional education, it must be the kind of education that helps you to understand the problems most people face financially so you can understand why the best solutions are, in fact, the best solutions. Whether it’s a first-time education for someone younger or a reeducation for a business manager with twenty years of experience, getting the best education is imperative. Finally, we are beginning to see a much needed paradigm shift in the field of education where more and more people are seeing the profession of teaching for exactly what it is––a profession––and more people agree it’s time to start paying those who teach a higher and truly “professional” income.

  Teachers make all other professions possible and they often outwork others who work in higher paying, less value based professions. Just as elementary, middle and high school teachers are entrusted with our most prized gifts––our children––those adults who teach other adults how to run a business well, balance the books, improve marketing or negotiate for the best contract terms, wouldn’t be teaching at all if it didn’t start with that first spark of hope that is often fanned by the dreams of youth and by great teachers with vision. It’s our dreams for financial success that we need to keep alive and see through to success by proper retooling.

  As you think about what the best retooling career options might be for you, keep in mind that jobs that can’t be shipped overseas are often the service based jobs––such as automotive maintenance and repair, custodial, nursing, restaurants etc. Although waiting tables or cleaning an office won’t earn you six figures per year, if you own any of them as a franchise then you have a far better chance to earn six figures or more. If you have good enough credit to get a loan to open a proven franchise, you’ll increase your chances for success if you already have a few years experience in the field you choose (such as managing a well-known successful restaurant for 2 to 3 years first or managing a large dry cleaning chain store).

  When you’re considering buying a proven franchise to open, if you love details and following the exact patterns for success that someone else has long since established, then a proven franchise may be good for you to do. If you can’t stand b
eing told what to do or if you love to experiment to see if you can improve on an existing idea then a proven franchise system may not be for you because many of them have strict rules and audits so that you don’t stray outside of their proven recipe for business success.

  But since most people don’t have the larger start-up money to invest or if you can’t get a loan at a bank or credit union for several thousand dollars or more, you should consider networking. There are few other opportunities to achieve wealth like networking offers. Many of them involve very little up front capital investment (maybe three or four hundred dollars) and the good ones offer a proven system that works.

  The concept of network marketing has evolved from selling plastic food containers to your friends to throwing jewelry parties, sharing life enhancing vitamin testimonials and even online coupon and advertising referrals as a means of opening up the door to long-term prosperity. One advantage to network marketing over being a brick-and-mortar business owner is that you can choose your own hours to work. In the brick-and-mortar realm of franchises you’ll often start out working long hours (50-60 hour work weeks) before you can turn the reins over to someone you’ve found is skilled and reliable enough to handle it successfully.

  But once you’ve got enough income flowing and free time to pursue more investment opportunities, you can either open up another franchise location (ideally of the same proven big name company you have successful experience with) or sell it to someone else (such as your current manager that’s running it well without you) and move onto other profitable opportunities. But even if you make two hundred thousand dollars a year in network marketing, you’ll still need to put money into the stock market, real estate and/or other investments to build the kind of true self-reliance you’ll need to thrive.

  It was a difficult thing for me to not put retooling first in the list of emergency budget priorities but I put it as a very close second to emergency savings since if you don’t have the belief that something can go seriously wrong in your financial life then you’re less likely to plan to live frugally and be prepared when things do go wrong. (Remember, it’s not a matter of if something will go wrong, it’s just a matter of when.) When have you ever known a large, successful corporation to achieve prosperity or maintain it long-term through out-of-control (or at the very least unchecked) spending? All highly successful companies and organizations that go through financial challenges of life and come out prospering in the end have all had the goal of maintaining adequate emergency cash reserves as their number one priority while avoiding debt like the plague.

  Staying within a budget and reducing expenses while increasing income has been the key to corporate confidence and success. Frugality always has been and always will be the foundation for successful financial management. And for those who may be wondering why retooling comes before retirement savings, the common sense approach is that if you can’t survive the emergencies and income needs of today then there is little hope for any far away tomorrows, such as retirement, to save for. Provide a sufficiently prosperous income today and it will make saving for tomorrow so much easier. It also gives you the confidence needed to be more generously charitable.

  The freedom to support your favorite charity through entrepreneurial wealth is a great choice. The freedom to choose employment that provides a sufficient amount for our self-reliance while improving upon our God-given talents is a freedom we can't put a price on. We can and should believe that each of us is smart enough to freely make such decisions for ourselves and happily enjoy the abundant fruits of such worthy efforts.

  Once you know what it takes to begin to truly thrive (such as earning a half a million dollars per year) you can make much more educated choices towards your own successful financial future in your choice of career and significantly decrease the chances that you'll barely survive.

  So who can benefit from this information? Since few people in the U.S. are truly financially self-reliant, the majority of Americans can benefit from this understanding––especially America's youth.

  If the average individual knew this math, then why are there so many two-income households that are living paycheck to paycheck and retiring in poverty? Why have so many people chosen employment that does not pay enough for their actual needs? Why are so many people just one missed paycheck or one misfortune of property damage or just one other financial catastrophe away from homelessness?

  With so many different kinds of financial problems that can occur in a person's life, why do so many gamble their lives on the idea that earning anything less than a generous six figure income will help see them (and any loved ones they planned to provide for) securely through unexpected financial emergencies?

  Most of us should know by now that it's not a matter of if an unexpected financial emergency will occur, but it's a matter of when.

  If our young people and adults learned what they need to learn to provide more for themselves by not only living frugally through a reduction of unnecessary expenses, but also by increasing their income adequately enough through wiser career choices, the U.S. would see:

  - Fewer incidents of insufficient preparation by people in times of need and thus fewer demands on charitable programs and government programs by able-bodied individuals for generations to come.

  - A significant decrease in an individual's (or family's) need to become entangled in stifling consumer debt.

  - A greater increase in an individual's ability to freely donate to a favorite church or charity of their choice.

  - A reduction in marital stress over financial matters and thus stronger families.

  - An increase in U.S. made inspirations of invention, innovative technology and other entrepreneurial driven creations that strengthen our nation and improves and blesses the world.

  You be the judge. Is this information that supports the drive to work smarter towards true self-reliance and freedom or not? If more people understood this simple math (it's easy enough for a sixth grader to learn) and applied it, how much more would individuals and families be blessed? What kind of tremendous advantage and head start would our youth have to strengthen their generation and the next for several generations to come? What kind of dramatic reduction in stifling dependence would come? What kind of reduction in debt might we see? What kind of increases in personal and individual freedom would come from the correct and benevolent application of this math? How much better would our world be if more people either chose jobs or created jobs that have the primary focus of making the world a better place by the best and highest use of our divinely supplied and inspired individual talents?

  Ultimately, most of us know that dependence is not the answer. Where has dependence upon credit cards and other debt gotten us? Broke.

  Independence through financial self-reliance is the obvious answer. Entrepreneurship is also the obvious answer. It's what has made this country so great that the only word to adequately describe it is "miraculous" in its proven history of entrepreneurial prosperity, hope and philanthropy. These miracles, including understanding the right math for success, are ongoing evidence in the Divine Providence that blesses this great nation. Let’s be grateful to God for His constant help. We truly still are in Good Hands.

  Every year new multimillionaires emerge to set the example of what's possible when you use your talents to make the world a better place. If you would like to achieve the same, you simply must believe that you can and will do it too. This world needs you to be optimistic in hope and to prosper rather than dwindle in pessimistic despair.

  Will living frugally by cutting back our expenses and living within our means help us? Yes. But it may not save us when we can and must be doing more by earning more with two specific goals in mind: 1) the great American tradition of freely choosing to achieve lasting, abundant financial self-reliance through individual employment efforts that best uses our individual talents while making the world a better place and 2) expressing our thanks to God (or Higher Power) for helping us succ
eed by freely choosing to give back through domestic philanthropic efforts (giving to a church or charity of our choice) that strengthen our nation so we may continue to bless the rest of the world.

  Don't choose to barely survive. Retool and choose to thrive.

  – T. M. Meek

  The information in this book is provided with the understanding that the author, company, and/or publisher are not offering these materials as accounting, legal, investing, and/or tax advice as they may relate to this book. The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Questions regarding the specific accounting, legal, investing, and/or tax needs of the reader should be addressed to their professional advisor. Please consult with your professional advisor.

  Appendix C: Lewis Perry’s Presentation Transcript for “Sexual IQ vs. Sexual EQ”