No. 610 - RICH AND DEBT FREE BY FIFTY OR SIXTY

No 610

Jim Davidson — NEWSPAPER COLUMN

RICH AND DEBT FREE BY FIFTY OR SIXTY

Would you like to be rich and debt free by 50 or 60? This is highly possible, assuming you still have a few years to go before you get there. For folks like me who are pushing the top out of 70, we won’t make it. However, it’s all a matter of how we define rich and what our needs and priorities happen to be.
If you are like I am, these change with the passing of time. While I don’t have a lot of money in the bank, I am one rich dude when it comes to the love of family and friends and living in the greatest nation in the world.
For me, that’s being rich, but I know there are millions of people in our prosperous nation who are hurting when it comes to their finances. Here is a good example. A few weeks ago I heard that 40 percent of all new home loans Are made with no money down. You can see that picture without closing your eyes. First, there is the person or family who want to live in a new or different home, but have not been able to save any money for a down payment. In reality, all these people are doing is paying rent, and when they have a financial crisis and they can’t make the payment, they just move. But where will they move? Of course, the lender is the one holding the bag. They now have a house, or even dozens or hundreds of houses they don’t need, when interest rates rise and they have to foreclose.
These thoughts came to mind as a way to introduce you to a new book written by Bob Owens titled, “Rich & Debt Free by 50 or 60.” Bob is originally from Connecticut, but now lives in Mountain Home, Ark., where he reads my column in the Baxter Bulletin. He called me several months ago when he was writing his book and asked if I would be willing to read his manuscript and make some comments on it.
During our conversation I told him that I would be willing to do that, but would not endorse anything that I considered to be a “Get Rich Quick” scheme and was not based on Godly values. There are countless books like this on the market and I want no part of them. Bob assured me that this was not the case, and so began a relationship that is healthy and directed to helping people all across our nation who are hurting financially. I Just wish I had been privileged to read this book years ago when I had more productive time.
Bob’s book has now been published and contains 64 pages of large type, which makes it easy and short reading. I’m not concerned about the small number of pages, because some of the best books ever written have only a few pages but they are packed full of real nuggets of truth, ideas and solid information. Here is the purpose of this book as printed on the back cover: “This book was written for the nearly 80 percent of Americans that tend to be struggling paycheck to paycheck and month after month just to make ends meet. You know there has to be a better way and fortunately there is. This book should help you find it and achieve it, for yourself and your loved ones.”
Bob’s plan for financial success is broken down into seven simple steps. These seven steps will give you insights as to what is in the book, and I might add that it is chock full of charts, tables and graphs to help you see these steps visually. Step one: Save part of everything you earn. Step two: Spend less than you earn. Step three: Pay off your credit cards. Step four: Pay off your car, SUV, mini-van, or pickup. Step five: Pay off your home. Step six: Work with a good company. Step seven: Earn income that will pay you month after month and year after year.
The final chapter is directed toward helping us become a more balanced human being in the Spiritual, Social, Physical, Mental and Financial areas of our lives. As always, I don’t earn a penny from sales of this book.
Order from Amazon.com or Bob Owens Sales Co. P.O. Box 2323, Mountain Home, Ark. 72654 and the cost is $14.50 including S&H.
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(EDITOR’S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, Ark. 72034. To support literacy, buy his book, “Learning, Earning & Giving Back.”