Latest Updates

We at Christian Retirement have identified a strategy to enable you to win the battle against credit cards waged by your bank and credit card companies.  We posted the following on the blog at Freedom From Credit:  Top Secrets Credit Card Companies Don't Want You to Know.

It is possible for most people to become totally debt free within 24-48 months.  Here is the plan.

1.  STOP charging immediately!

No cheating allowed.

2.  REFUSE 

Refuse to carry your credit card with you!  If you don't have it with you, you can't use it.

2.  BE PATIENT 

Be patient and Understanding with yourself.  Remember that it took time to get into debt and it will take time to get out  

3.  DECLARE WAR  

Direct all your energies toward getting out of debt.  Develop a plan.  If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time

4.  ICE

  In Case of Emergency…you will want to establish an emergency fund.  Avoid the need to use credit by saving $1,000 cash to be used for true emergencies and nothing else.  

5.  ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT  

Create realistic expectations.

6.  DOUBLE DOWN

Pay off your credit cards.  Once you have accomplished all the steps above it is time to begin paying off your credit cards.  Put as much cash as you possible can on your credit card with the lowest dollar balance each month until it is paid off.  Next, attack the card with the next highest balance.  Keep doing this until they are all paid off.  Don't forget to continue making the minimum payments on all your remaining cards while you concentrate on paying them off one by one.   

7.  CONSOLIDATION

Before you jump from the proverbial frying pan into the fire consider this as a very dangerous move.  Why is it dangerous?  Bill and Mary were $25,000 in debt when they consolidated all their credit card debt into one account.  Less than five years later they were $50,000 in debt.  Why?  Though they had good intentions about paying off their cards and getting out of debt, in reality, they became too friendly with their old cards and charged them back up to the limits and were twice as bad off as they were when they started.

8.  MOONLIGHT

Find a part time job and sock every single cent you make on paying off your credit cards.  

9.  HELP

Don't be afraid to ask for help.  Talk to someone who has succeeded in getting out of debt.  If possible, ask parents, adult children, spouse, or some other significant person. to help fund your freedom ride.  Caution, don't ask   and run the risk of embarrassment unless you have demonstrated the fact that you are committed to becoming debt free.  If they don't believe you are serious about getting out of debt and controlling personal spending, you will be wasting your time. 

10.  CELEBRATE your victories!  

You are working hard at experiencing freedom from credit.  Celebrate when you pay off your first credit card.  Celebrate again when you pay off the second.  Keep paying them off one by one and in a couple of years you will look back at where you were then compared to where you are now and you will either be debt free or close to it.

Summary:  It will be a tough uphill battle, but it will be worth it!  Pray about it, talk with your spouse, and put your personal plan into action.  God's word says:  "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."  Proverbs 22:7

www.christianretirement.com

For this and other money-saving information please visit:  http://freedomfromcredit.us

With a National debt of almost $14 trillion, America is on an economic path that is unsustainable and that will lead to financial destruction.  Erskine Bowles, chairman of President Obama's deficit commission, stated that America is headed for disaster. 

The bipartisan leaders of the deficit commission released a preliminary report.  They proposed curbs in Social Security benefits, deep reductions in federal spending and higher taxes for millions of Americans.  In addition to Social Security, Medicare spending would be curtailed in a plan designed to cut total deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade.

The document was released by Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton White House chief of staff, and Republican Alan Simpson, a former senator from Wyoming one week after mid-term elections. The 2010 elections featured strong voter demands for economic change in Washington, the report was met with criticism from advocacy groups on the left and, to some extent, the right at the start of the post-election debate on painful steps necessary to rein in out-of-control deficits.

The proposed plan would gradually increase the retirement age for full Social Security benefits -- to 69 by 2075.  Recommendations included the proposal that current recipients receive smaller-than-anticipated annual increases. Another controversial recommendation would eliminate current tax deductions homeowners receive for interest paid on their mortgages.

Implementation of these bold proposals in the near future is doubtful.  The proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare are making many uncomfortable, while others are having difficulty with options suggested for raising taxes. The plan also calls for cuts in farm subsidies, foreign aid and the Pentagon's budget.  Simpson quipped to reporters: "We'll both be in a witness protection program when this is all over, so look us up." Said Bowles: "This is a starting point."

Bowles went on to say that serious action was demanded. He declared, "This debt is like a cancer that will truly destroy this country from within if we don't fix it."  The deficit for last month alone was $140.4 billion -- and for the past fiscal year was $1.29 trillion.  Deficits for 2010 are headed for the third straight total above $1 trillion.  Current deficits require the government to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spends.

The plan was rejected as "simply unacceptable" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a top Obama ally.  The White House spokesman Bill Burton said, "The president will wait until the bipartisan fiscal commission finishes its work before commenting." He called the ideas "only a step in the process."

For every $1 of new revenue, the plan demands $3 in spending cuts.  That was acceptable to panel member Tom Coburn, a Republican senator from Oklahoma. "If we do the cuts, I'll go for it," he said. 

Some of the other proposals by the commission include:

--Increasing the federal gasoline tax by 15 cents a gallon

--A three-year freeze in pay for most federal employees and a 10 percent cut in the federal work force

--Elimination all congressional pet projects, known as earmarks

--A major overhaul of both individual income and corporate tax systems

--Lowering tax rates

--Broaden the tax base

It remains to be seen whether any of these proposals will ultimately be embraced by congress and how they might affect your personal financial situation including inflation, 401(k)s, investments, savings, personal debts, and retirement.  Almost everyone is in agreement that America faces difficult financial days ahead and that effective and decisive actions are desperately needed.

We at christianretirement.com would like to see the following implemented immediately…

--The Federal Reserve's QE2 plan must be scrapped

--100% of Congressional earmarks must be eliminated

--100% of deficit spending must cease

--The federal budget must be balanced

--America must learn to live within her financial means

Stay tuned, the future offers many surprises!

The 2010 midterm elections saw the GOP regain control of the House of Representatives but fail to recapture a majority in the Senate.  Votes continue to be counted at the time of this writing so final totals are unavailable.  Nationwide, the tea-party movement scored several victories but failed to reach 100% of their goals.

President Obama faced the public after the historic defeat and took responsibility for the “shellacking” Democrats experienced on Election Day.  He promised to negotiate with resurgent Republicans on issues such as tax-cut extensions, energy, and education.

Christians are implored by Scripture (Romans 13, I Peter 2, and several other references) to view governments as ordained by God, to submit to governing authority, and to pray for those who serve.  Since government, legislation, and decision-making are not always neither in line with God’s will nor directed by God, government is finite and fallible.  They can and do make mistakes, and Christians are in no way obliged to agree with every action of government, e.g. the legalization of abortion.  Christians however, are not granted the right to pick and choose which laws they will follow and then claim exemption from submitting to their authority.  

How the election will impact peoples’ retirement prospects remains to be seen.  Various candidates stated their intent to address issues such as Social Security.  Most analysts agree that changes to Social Security and other retirement vehicles are on the horizon at some point in the future.  No one knows just how soon or how distant those changes could be.    

This week the Federal Reserve announced that they would be buying $600 billion of dollars worth of U. S. Treasury Bonds over the next eight months.  This plan was announced with the hope that it would bring about a dramatic effort to rev up a “disappointingly slow” economic recovery.  They hope that the action will drive down interest rates and encourage more borrowing and growth.  Several foreign governments expressed strong displeasure over this announced plan because it has the effect of devaluing their currencies.

The immediate impact of the Federal Reserve’s move on Americans’ retirement accounts is that interest rates on bonds will drop even further and create losses in the retirement accounts that have bond holdings.  Unfortunately, the U. S. taxpayer is once again paying for the failed economic policies of the past, including the Freddie and Fannie fiascos, TARP, various stimulus packages, the banking and Wall Street bailouts, etc. etc. etc.  Responsibilities of these failed policies span both political parties, as well as several past and the present political administration.   

Potentially, America has both a bright and a muffled economic future.  There will be good days ahead yet those good days may be punctuated by days of continued economic recession and high inflation.  

When Daniel faced the chilling, and all too certain, prospects of being devoured by hungry lions, he chose a simple path of unmistakable faith and action (Daniel 6.)  At the expense of focusing his attention upon his problems, he focused his attention completely upon the Lord.  Christians, focus your gaze upon the Lord, not upon all the problems swirling around you.

http://www.christianretirement.com

1945—U.S. drops atomic bomb on Japan; World War II ends eight days later

1950-53—Korean War

1954—Supreme Court declares segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education

1956—President Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, signs Interstate Highway Act.  Created massive government investment in road building and disinvestment in American downtowns and public transportation

1957—USSR launches Sputnik, beginning of Space Race

1960—John F. Kennedy elected 35th President of the United States

1961—Birth Control Pill becomes commercially available, sexual revolution begins

1963—Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

1964—Civil Rights Act of 1964

1964—Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving tremendous power to make war to the presidency, significantly ramps up American involvement in Vietnam

1964-1968—President Johnson, 36th President of the United States, launches his Great Society, including establishment of Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and dozens of other programs intended to lift Americans out of poverty

1965—Voting Rights Act of 1965

1968—Super Bowl I ignites sports revolution

1968—Assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee

1969—Americans land on moon

1969—Woodstock music festival in New York

1970—Environmentalism becomes prominent; first Earth Day protests, creation of Environmental Protection Agency to enforce increasing number of environmental laws and regulatory agencies

1973—Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion

1977—Apple introduces Apple II, the first prominent personal computer

1978—California passes Proposition 13, drastically cutting property taxes

1980—Ronald Reagan elected as 40th President of the United States

1989—Fall of Berlin Wall heralds end of Cold War

1991—Breakup of USSR

1991—First Gulf War begins period of long-term American military involvement in the Middle East.

1992—William Jefferson Clinton elected 42nd President of the United States

1992—creation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), expands both globalization and outsourcing of American manufacturing jobs abroad

1993—Internet becomes prominent

1994—Republican Party wins massive gains in Congress, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich issues “Contract with America”

1994—California voters pass Proposition 187, designed to deny undocumented migrants all state services, leads to backlash against Republican Party and makes California a Democratic stronghold based upon Latino votes.

2000—Renewal of Christian Faith and growth of evangelical churches within America

2000—Supreme Court declares George W. Bush 43rd President of the United States
 
2001—terrorists attack the United States, over 2000 dead, begins “War on Terror,” invasion of Afghanistan, etc

2003—President George W. Bush orders invasion of Iraq

2003—Latinos pass African-Americans as nation’s largest minority group

2007—Global recession begins with no immediate end in sight

2008—$700 Billion Bank Bailout enacted

2008—Barack Obama elected as 44th President of the United States

2009—Cap and Trade Bill H.R.2454 introduced in Congress

2009—$1.2 Trillion Federal Stimulus Programs enacted

2009—National Health Care Reform Bill passes House

2010—National Health Care Reform Bill passes Senate

2010—Sleeping giant awakened.  Grass-roots citizens’ movement wrests power from political ruling class as it begins its campaign to “Take Back America!”