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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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What’s the Right Decision between Saving and Paying Off Your Credit Card Debt?

PAY ATTENTION. THIS WORKS! Managing your family business is like any other business -- CASH FLOW IS WHAT KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON.
 
What that means in practical terms is that you don't have to pay off all of your credit before you save. You have to have enough cash available to maintain the lifestyle you want. We live in an age where it is impossible to function on a cash only basis. We can't buy a house with cash. We can't pay cash for a new car. And many of the things we want to be comfortable can be bought with credit. The key is to develop a CASH FLOW PLAN that allows you to save (invest) and manage your credit at the same time. 
  1. Based on your salary, set an amount that you can contribute to credit -- i.e., $500 per month. Set a cash-flow plan with your credit cards (better to use only one card) that will retire your debt in 3 years. At approx. 16% interest, you can support about $15,000 in credit. Pay this amount faithfully (the minimum payment would be about $285, so you are always paying more than the mimimum payment). In the months where you don't buy anything, the balance is reduced more rapidly. If you have an emergency, perhaps you can pay the minimum payment for a couple of months. But always return to the plan.
  2. Based on your salary -- set an amount to save (invest) -- i.e., $500.00. Deposit this amount faithfully -- 30% in a cash-based saving account (emergency fund), and 70% in a non-retirement investment account. A non-retirement account is liquid, and penalty-free if you need to make a large withdrawal. If you don't know how, learn how to invest in low-medium-high risk mutual funds (this money will grow faster than your savings account). You will learn how to balance the risk with practice. Understand this law of investing -- "The natural gravity of the stock market is UP." Over time, your mutual fund investments will grow faster than your savings.
  3. Adjust each of these strategies as your financial situation dictates. But like a business, manage your cash-flow in each of these financial categories with discipline, and you will prosper. 
You can save and manage your credit at the same time.