Look Realistically at the Price of Gas

The national price for unleaded gasoline hit a record $ 3.22 a gallon last week. That is up $ 1.05 since February of this year.

There are numerous reasons for this rise in price. There is a large amount of oil refining capacity currently offline. There is strong gasoline demand. Finally, there are lower fuel inventories.

It is estimated that this rise in price is costing Americans an additional 20 billion dollars to drive.

What can you do about it?

There are the obvious solutions such as find ways to carpool, cut back on driving, make sure that you car is running effieciently etc. You don't need me telling you the obvious. However, there is something that is very obvious that people forget to do.

Look at this rise in prices realistically and plan for it!

This is the problem. People don't plan for this additional cost each month based on the notion that prices will go down soon and or it is just ignored until the bill comes. Look out over the next 3 to 4 months and accept it is going to cost you more to drive. Figure out how you are going to adjust. Remember when you don't adjust your spending, you will create debt. Debt is the replacement for the income that wasn't there to pay the bills.

The US Government reported that we are going to se up to 10 active hurricanes this season with 3 to 5 being major. We could just be in the early innings of these high gasoline prices.

Make sure that you aware of this and make sure that you plan for it

The Barefoot Boss Promises you Riches - Don't Fall for this scheme

This irresponsible marketing award goes to www.barefootboss.com. They advertise very aggressively on satellite radio. I have found that the majority of radio advertising on satellite radio falls into the irresponsible category. It seems that they are desperate to take on advertising and anything will do.

This one goes through the story of how they will make you millions. Of course, they claim making millions is very easy. Just take these steps (claims the commercial), and you can be working barefoot from home.

They appeal to your emotions by talking about how boring and uneventful your life is right now. They talk about how big business is just using you. "You can free yourself from this life," says the ad. The good news is that they have a "free" book and DVD set to help you. It is 100% absolutely free claims the ad. You can read about the program and see if it is a fit, then they charge you 39.95 so that you can access the rest of the program.

So, you are going to pay them 9.95 for this "free" book and DVD. They call it shipping and handling. If you don't cancel by 14 days, then you are charged the 39.95 for the rest of the program. However, you never get back the 9.95.

What a deal...... for them! They are probably making somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to $ 4 an order from shipping and handling. That is not a bad spread.

The reality is that they are peddling a multi-level marketing program for Herbal Life. I am not saying anything negative about these programs. I am simply saying that this type of advertising is misleading and a huge rip-off. You can go to a herbal life meeting for free and get all of that information.

Always be leary of the "free" consumer offers. Most of the time, they are selling you something. The problem is that the consumer just thinks it is shipping and handling.

Banks Writing Mortgages for Illegal Immigrants??

I really wish that I could make this type of thing up. Let's see..... mortgage lending is getting tougher because of the real estate bust. Lending standards are getting tighter because of all of the irresponsible lending by the mortgage business over the years. So, business is not as good and standards for lending are going up. So, what is a bank to do to make money?

Well, they can go after the illegal immigrant market. Yes, they can lend money to illegal immigrants so that they can own a piece of the American Dream while illegally residing in this country. Now, let's look past the illegal immigrant debate and issue. I just want to focus on profit motivated banks and how even for them this makes no sense.

They are going to give credit to someone without a credit score who could easily take out the note and go back to their country at a moment's notice. The bank gets stuck with the property in a real estate market that is in the beginning to middle stages of a bust. That makes no business sense at all. However, they do get to charge outrageous fees and very high interest rates to the ones who make the program work.

In Maricopa County the sheriff whose office has arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants, said banks providing these loans are taking on a risky proposition.

Well at least they are not writing sub-prime loans. After all the definition of a sub-prime loan is a loan that is given to someone who is a credit risk and has a very low credit score. Maybe in the interest of fees and high interest rates the rationalization is that the sub-prime issues don't apply here because after all the illegal immigrants don't even have a credit score.

The saddest part of the irresponsible lending practices of banks is that a legal residing resident with poor credit cannot even get a loan today.

Someone really needs to regulate these big banks.

Tricks of the Trade - Marketing Secrets of Financial Advisors

The ad reads:

Financial Playbook is a 68-page glossy magazine packed with entertaining and informative content. It is published semi-annually and is customized to feature individual agents/advisors on the cover and inside as Financial Playbook's featured financial professional.

• Your Photo Ithe advisor) is placed on the front cover
• Your article is published inside
• Generate Quality Leads
• Enhance Credibility
• Use the Power of Print

The best part is that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke is on the front cover right by your (the advisor) picture.

All the advisor has to do is write a big check and they will put the advisor's picture on the front cover and publish their article inside the magazine. Incidentally, they will do this for anyone willing to pay for it.

A little misleading? It is just another example of irresponsible marketing by the financial services industry. What is irresponsible marketing? It is marketing that creates something that isn't true.

Financial Playbook is not a credible published magazine. It is not like a Wall Street Journal or Fortune Magazine. However, the public doesn't realize that to be true. The advisor is putting themselves out there as someone who is published by request of a major magazine because of their expertise.

So what would the advisor say when asked how this major magazine article came about?

Well the honest answer would be, "It is for marketing. I look credible being in a major magazine. It especially looks good with a picture of me next to Ben Bernanke. No, you can't find a copy of this magazine anywhere else. I just paid for this marketing stunt."

Do you really think that would be the answer? Be careful of the illusion.