How to Protect Yourself When the Government Can’t

Issue #2343

• WEALTHY: How to protect yourself when the government can’t (Robert Ringer)
• HEALTHY: 3 brain-harming chemicals hiding in your food (James LaValle)
• WISE: Dave Barry on children as our "Hope for the Future"

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• Overworked mother wants realistic advice from me (Michael Masterson)
• The big benefit of being second-best (John L. Herman Jr.)
• It’s Good to Know… about the deepest lake in the world
• Add "truculent" to your vocabulary

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"I care about our young people, and I wish them great success, because they are our Hope for the Future, and some day, when my generation retires, they will have to pay us trillions of dollars in Social Security."

Dave Barry 

Kicking the Can Down the Road

By Robert Ringer

Too bad it wasn’t mandatory for every American to watch the segment 60 Minutes recently did on David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States. Walker heads up the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which acts on behalf of taxpayers to assure a nonpartisan, honest assessment of government operations - especially government spending.

Walker bluntly stated that the most serious threat to the U.S. is not some guy hiding in a cave in Afghanistan or Pakistan, but our own fiscal irresponsibility. You know he’s sincere when he says he has given up on elected officials to take responsible action. He truly believes the very survival of the U.S. is at stake if voters do not demand that their elected officials make some hard choices.

To overly simplify it, the catalyst for our fiscal predicament is the eat-drink-and-be-merry bunch affectionately referred to as "baby boomers." If you were born between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam War, when the "culture of consumption" somehow became synonymous with the American dream, this means you.

Those Florida retirement communities you see advertised on television - the ones where retirees are yukking it up, playing golf, enjoying aerobics classes, and sipping midday cocktails - are where an awful lot of your fellow baby boomers fully intend to be in the not-too-distant future. And when your time comes, you not only won’t want to hear about work, you also won’t be in a mood to hear about medical bills. All you are going to be focused on is that it’s your turn to be supported by the people at the bottom of the pyramid.

Only one problem: The pyramid is upside down. And it’s going to continue to get wider at the top and narrower at the bottom with each passing year. GAO projections make it clear that just over the Horizon of Fiscal Hell, there won’t be enough wage earners to support the Arnold Palmer golf-community folks.

So, when does the sky begin to fall? It’s already falling! The first boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, stepped up to the Government Retirement Trough on January 1, 2008. And, along with 78 million other boomers right behind her in the entitlements line, she’s looking for her Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Of course, every halfway-informed individual knows that the real culprit is health care costs. Medicare expenses are five times greater than Social Security benefits. So what did President Bush and Congress do to begin whittling away at this draconian problem? They passed a prescription drug bill that added $8 trillion (that’s trillion) to what was already a $15-20 trillion underfunding of the health care system. If you or I did something equivalent to this in our own little worlds, we’d be incarcerated without a trial.

Washington insiders agree that most politicians fully understand the mathematics of impending doom, but they aren’t about to admit it to their constituents. The number-one objective of politicians is to get reelected, and they fully recognize that telling the truth would get them booted off the Washington gravy train rather quickly. They are well aware that voters despise truth, and, in fact, have a penchant for tarring and feathering truth messengers.

Which is why both liberal and (so-called) conservative politicians just keep kicking the entitlements can down the road, hoping upon hope that the painful truth won’t come home to roost until long after they’re out of office. Every politician you see on C-SPAN proposing a new sleight-of-hand "reform" of the Social Security and Medicare programs is lying - and he knows he’s lying.

Nearly 30 years ago, I warned my readers about the inevitable collapse of the vote-driven entitlements system in this country, and proposed a simple solution to the Social Security scam. I said then, and believe even more strongly today, that both Social Security and Medicare must be 100 percent phased out. Better a phase-out than a monumental collapse that would not only cause a great deal of pain, but could very well bring about anarchy - which history tells us is likely to be followed by a dictatorship.

My suggestion was that benefits be slowly phased out at the rate of 2 percent per year. Thus, people just reaching retirement age, who have been paying into and counting on Social Security throughout their working years, would receive 100 percent of their originally promised benefits. People eligible the next year would receive only 98 percent of what was promised to them. And so on. In this way, FDR’s wicked brainchild would disappear completely after 50 years, with fewer and fewer people relying on it along the way.

Unfortunately, humility forces me to admit that there is zero chance the powers that be will adopt a solution remotely resembling the one I proposed. On the contrary, you can count on politicians to keep kicking the can down the road.

Which is why, if you are more than 20 years away from retirement, you’d be wise to assume that when the can rolls to a halt at your feet, there won’t be anyone around to kick it any further.

For me, this is going to be a slam dunk "I told you so."

And that’s when you’ll want to have your own nest egg safely hidden away. The absolute best way to do protect yourself? Start right now by setting up a business that acts as your own personal security blanket. It should throw off a steady stream of passive income for decades - and keep you from counting on an institution that’s crumbling faster every day.

[Ed. Note: In Robert Ringer’s powerful personal-development package, The Magic of Synchronicity, you’ll find out how to achieve prosperity, purpose, and peace of mind by getting all areas of your life in synch. Plus, get The Best of Robert Ringer, Volumes I & II - absolutely free. Learn more here.

And sign up for Robert’s free Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]

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Dear ETR: "How does someone like me fit anything else into a day?"

" I’ve recently started reading your newsletter. Some of your advice sounds great - but help me here. I already get up most mornings at 6.00 a.m. I’m at work by 8.30 a.m. In that time, I’ve taken the dog for a walk, done a load of washing and hung it out, packed lunch for my husband (who leaves at 7.00 a.m.) and children, and then gotten myself and my kids out the door and off for the day. There’s no time at work for me to be working on my own personal goals. You can imagine what it’s like at the other end of the day… not much time left there either!

"I have many goals and lots of things I want to do to further my life financially and otherwise - but how does someone like me fit anything else into a day?

"Realistic advice greatly appreciated!!!"

Anna Power

Sydney, Australia

Dear Anna,

You are the woman every man secretly hopes his wife or girlfriend will turn into. You earn a living, take good care of your family, and do it all before you think about yourself.

I could tell you to get up at 5:00 or 5:30, but I’m going to put that in the What-Kind-of-Male-Chauvanist-Is-He box.

Instead, here’s what I recommend.

Explain to your family that you have dreams too. Remind them that they’ve been benefiting from your selflessness for many years now. Tell them it’s time for them to square the deal.

In the old days, a good man worked eight to 12 hours a day and the wife took care of the home front. Today, we have thrown that model in the dustbin. Women are often expected to contribute to the family’s income. And when they do, that means the man of the family has to kick in around the house.

You work full-time. Your husband does too. You should be splitting the family work 50-50. That means he should be doing the work you do - walking the dog, making meals, and washing clothes - as often as you do. Switch weeks or days, but get him to take on his share of the load.

And your kids - what kind of message are you sending to them? Do you want your daughters to grow up thinking they have to defer their dreams? Do you want your boys to become full-grown men who expect their wives to work 40 to 60 hours a week and pick up their underwear too?

Even in the old days, children were expected to work. All seven of my brothers and sisters had regular chores - daily and weekend chores - that were mandatory. We were taught to be proud of that work. Our parents were kind enough to teach us that working for the family was a good and honorable thing.

My daily job was cleaning the dishes after dinner. My weekend job was scouring the sinks and toilets and bathtub. Nobody could clean a kitchen or bathroom better than I could.

We ironed our own clothes. We made our own lunches. We helped out!

MaryEllen Tribby, ETR’s CEO and Publisher is a working mom. How does she do it? "I get up at 4:45 Monday through Friday, and sleep in on the weekends until 7:00," she says. "I pack school lunches the night before while my husband does the dishes. We split all household duties. For example, I usually do the grocery shopping and he does the cooking. My nine-year-old and seven-year-old pick up their rooms and have very specific jobs around the house. My kids have wanted a dog for years, and we’ll finally get one this year because the two older ones will be able to help out. If we had gotten one sooner, my husband and I would have ended up taking full care of the dog, and that was just not an option for us."

If Mary Ellen can do it - while running a multimillion-dollar business, you can do it too. So get that family of yours into gear. Give them the opportunity to have their wife/mother get some free time every morning to achieve her dreams.

Your life is not a dress rehearsal. It’s a one-time show and you are the star. Act like the star you are and your family will enjoy your glow.

- Michael Masterson

[Ed. Note: Trying to accomplish your goals and take care of all your everyday responsibilities may seem impossible. But you can do it just by putting a few simple strategies to work. Learn the details here.

Send your questions to AskETR@ETRFeedback.com. Include your full name, your hometown and state, and the ETR team may answer you in an upcoming issue.]

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Someone Is Better at It Than You Are

By John L. Herman Jr.

There is only one number one, only one best at anything. Thankfully, we live in an environment where even the tenth-best or the hundredth-best business may make some money. But why not try to learn something from the leaders?

Set aside your ego. Recognize that someone may be better than you are at what you do. Admit it - and then set your sights on becoming even better.

Who else makes what you do, sells what you do, or provides the same service you do - and is more successful at it? If you don’t try to understand what they are doing better, you don’t really want to win.

You see, another business fact is that sometimes number one slips and becomes number two or number three. Find a competitor that is more successful than you. Identify what they do better, combine that with your strengths, and then work harder or smarter. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be number one someday.

[Ed. Note: Author and businessman John L. Herman Jr. ("Herman"), who has owned more than 20 companies, has become an expert on why businesses fail. The above article was excerpted with permission from Hermanisms: Axioms for Business and Life. For more information about Herman and his business writing, please visit Hermanisms.com.]

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Caffeine Imposters Can Cost You Sleep

By James B. LaValle, RPh, MS, ND, CCN

Everyone knows caffeine during the day can affect your sleep. But you may not know that there are caffeine-free foods that may have caffeine-like effects on the brain. These foods can even be toxic to your brain. But once you know what to look for, you can avoid them and protect your health.

These foods are sometimes referred to as excitotoxins because they cause over-stimulation, which can lead to nerve cell damage in the brain. And anything that causes increased brain cell activity could counteract your attempts at rest and relaxation. Be aware that excitotoxins come in all shapes and sizes. But here are three common sources:

1. Aspartame. This is the phylalanine-based artificial sweetener often used in soft drinks, diet gelatins, and sugar-free gums and mints.

2. Monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG. MSG is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. It’s found in more than 6,000 processed and preserved foods, often listed on the label as an ingredient that’s "partially processed" or "partially hydrogenated."

3. Natural glutamates. Natural glutamates are found in abundance in both plant and animal protein - and if you’re allergic to any of those foods, they can also act as excitotoxins. Any time your body has an immune response to a particular food, one of the side effects is increased stress hormone production and increased inflammation. And chronically increased stress hormones can affect your sleep.

So if you have trouble sleeping from time to time, the problem could be related to your diet. Keep a food diary to see if you can pinpoint the culprit(s).

[Ed. Note: James B. LaValle, RPh, N.D, C.C.N., is founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies, and the author of 13 books on healthy lifestyles and integrative care, including Cracking the Metabolic Code.

By modifying your diet, medications, lifestyle, and exercise habits, and with nutritional supplementation, your health is largely within your control. Dr. LaValle’s approach to health has worked for thousands of patients, and it can help you, too. Learn the details here.]

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It’s Good To Know: The Deepest Lake in the World

At a little over a mile deep, Russia ’s 25-million-year-old Lake Baikal is the deepest and oldest lake in the world. It is also the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, holding 20 percent of the planet’s unfrozen fresh water.

(Source: UNESCO)

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Word to the Wise: Truculent

"Truculent" (TRUK-yuh-lunt) - from the Latin for "savage" - means ferocious or cruel.

Example (as used by Frank J. Murray in the Washington Times): "… officers mistook his father’s cursing and argumentative reception of five men with guns for the actions of a truculent fugitive."

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008