Today’s Adventures of Javabird comic…

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If you enjoyed today’s comic, check out:
“JB Exposes The Mrs.”

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The clock is ticking. Are you ready?

A couple of recent articles from CNN Money caught my attention for both offered startling statistics. The first, “American’s Buried Under Debt,” reports on a University of Michigan Study. According to CNN, the study found that, “About one out of every five U.S. households owe more on credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other debts not backed by collateral than they have in savings and other liquid assets.”   The second article, “American’s Saving Zilch For Retirement” reports that, “49% of all Americans…aren’t contributing to any retirement plan.”  Hello? Is anyone listening?

Though it hardly comes as a surprise that so many people in our country are struggling with their finances, numbers like these are shocking for they reflect troubling times ahead. And it gets worse: According to the government’s Social Security website, “The last 5 Trustees Reports have indicated that Social Security’s Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds would become exhausted between 2036 and 2041 under the intermediate set of economic and demographic assumptions provided in each report. If no legislative change is enacted, scheduled tax revenues will be sufficient to pay only about three fourths of the scheduled benefits after trust fund exhaustion.”

Clearly, from both a private and public perspective our retirement system is in shambles. With half our population not contributing anything to their own savings, others mired in debt, and a government retirement program on the brink of financial catastrophe, our ability to support a growing aging population seems questionable at best.

Do the math. We're in debt up to our necks.

Here’s the real issue: It is realistic to expect our already over-indebted government will continue wracking up trillions of dollars to support us in our golden years? If we’ve learned anything in the recent past, it should be obvious we cannot afford to continue spending on and on without consequence. One only need look at Greece’s current financial situation to understand that over the long-term a society unwilling to pay for its public services will face ultimate financial ruin.

I wish our government was addressing the larger issues surrounding our staggering public debt, but it seems Congress is more divided and partisan than ever. This begs a question: If we, as individuals, can’t expect help from government (or for that matter even if we can expect minimal assistance), what more can we do as we go to plan and save for retirement?

I think most of us have at least some hope to spend our “golden years” in quiet reflection, traveling to exotic ports, and enjoying the grand kids. In fact, I can’t think of anyone I know who’d choose to labor at a job until their last dying breath. Yet without taking concrete steps to correct the situation, the numbers above suggest those financially unable to retire will be in the majority!  That’s simply appalling. Will we throw our aged out in the streets? Will we end up there ourselves? If anything is clear it’s that we all must do a much better job of saving.

Start Making Time Work For You

If you’re a couple years away from retirement and the market crashes your window to recoup investment losses is small. At the same time, if you’re in your twenties, you have decades to make up for any losses. And beyond that, socking away money in an IRA or 401K will give you years to build equity and accumulate interest and dividends on your investments. That can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars (even millions) over a lifetime! Thus, to build for the future it’s absolutely essential to get started as young as you can. Yet don’t despair if you’re older. Having anything in savings or a retirement account is far better than having nothing. Just ask those who have no more to rely on than their Social Security check.

Wherever you are currently, and no matter what you earn, start taking small steps to build towards a brighter future today. If you have lots of debt, take real and concrete steps to get out of it as quickly as you can. Current interest rate charges on credit cards or student loans vastly exceed the amount you can earn in a bank savings account so start by paying off this debt. Then do want you can to put as much aside each year into an IRA or 401K.

Help Getting Started

For literally 100’s of ideas to cut the cost of living see our Great Savings Tip series. And young or old, be sure to read “Plan For Retirement Now” which offers 12 items to consider as you go to secure your long-term future.

It may not be a villa, but as cheap rent goes it has a pool.

How much of your income should you spend on rent? 20%? 25%? 35%? The trouble with any formula that gives a specific guideline is it rarely takes into account differences in lifestyle or other considerations like location. For example, it’s far more expensive to rent in a big city than out in the country, yet if your work is in the city living in the country may not be an option. Still, as rent eats up a significant portion of most family budgets even a relatively small reduction in the monthly total spent can add up to tens or even hundreds of thousands over the years.

Thinking Big Picture

We encourage anyone trying to get out of debt or build wealth to make all spending decisions more conscious. That means coming up with an overall spending plan. Though this requires both time and thought, the effort can mean the difference between being able to afford a house down the road, fund your child’s education, having money set aside at retirement or perhaps barely scrapping by.

To see what a profound difference a spending plan can make assume your family budget is $50,000 (meaning you or you and your spouse earn that much to spend after taxes) and take a look at the following chart.

Click on the image to expand it. Use your browser button to come back.

As the chart shows, the difference in spending half versus a quarter of an assumed $50,000 after tax income really adds up. Cutting the cost of your rent in half like this means you have $12,500 extra available annually to cover other expenses. Or if you put it all into savings, over 30 years the total would accumulate to a tidy nest egg of $375,000—though actually much more if you invest it wisely. That’s a huge sum. In many areas of the country that much money would be enough to buy and pay off an extremely comfortable house. Or it could mean the difference in being able to retire instead of work the rest of your life.

What is often hard to grasp as we struggle to get by on a day to day basis is how much our spending choices impact our ability to accumulate wealth over the long-term. Make no mistake: It’s extremely easy to get caught up in the idea we deserve to live in a nicer apartment or home, especially when we see our friends doing it. And sometimes, putting off our short-term happiness just doesn’t seem worth the sacrifice. There are also times when there are valid reasons to spend a little more on rent. For example, to live closer to work so we can cut down on a daily commute or perhaps to live closer to a particular school for our children.

Today’s example shows what a profound impact a major expense like rent can have on our ability to save money. However, the issue isn’t so much about designing a magic one-size-fits-all formula for spending, but to think consciously about what matters most to you and then to develop a spending plan that supports it.

Action Item:

Are you in a position to cut back on a major expense like rent in your life? If so, calculate how much you can save over the years by scaling back. Then decide if the savings generated are worth it based on your other lifetime goals.

For specific ideas to save money on rent see our post: 7 Tips To Find Nice Affordable Rentals. And to gain a long-term perspective on the goals you want to achieve in life see The Life Timeline: Planning For A Brighter Future.

Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans if you prefer, are loaded with protein and important nutrients like molybdenum, manganese, folate and iron. However, like most legumes they are valued for their high fiber content. In fact, just two cups of chickpeas provide an entire day’s recommended dose of fiber. Even better, there are now studies that show the fiber in chickpeas is better for lowering levels of LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides that other dietary fibers. (Source: WHFoods) Still, any food that doesn’t appeal to taste will do nothing to improve health if you end up avoiding it. That’s why I like this Chickpea Salad so much. Not only do I know I’m eating a really healthy salad, but it tastes terrific.

I love the ingredients in this recipe including sweet onions and tomatoes.

One of the nicest parts of using chickpeas in recipes is you can use the canned or freshly cooked variety and expect to get about the same nutritional content. That’s often not the case with other canned vegetables. I must admit, I often resort to using canned chickpeas for convenience. Yet when I’ve compared canned and freshly cooked chickpeas side by side it’s clear I prefer the taste of the latter. That means soaking my beans overnight, but it’s well worth the extra effort.

For a print copy of today’s recipe click here. Otherwise, see the instructions below.

Let’s Gather The Ingredients

For today’s recipe we’ll need:

Don't forget to add Herbes De Provence, red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

2 cups of uncooked (dry) chickpeas
1 small to medium sweet onion chopped
10-15 grape tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon Herbes De Provence
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preparation

You can use canned or fresh cooked chickpeas.

The hardest part of making this recipe is soaking and cooking the chickpeas. For that, refer to the instructions on the package. In case you were wondering, you can usually find dried chickpeas near the rice and other dried beans in your grocery store. If you use pre-cooked canned chickpeas you’ll want about three 16-ounce cans. Be sure to drain and rinse thoroughly.

Once the chickpeas are ready, chop the onion and tomatoes. I prefer sweet onions for their flavor.

Combine all the ingredients, stir and then let the flavors marinate.

Add the onions and tomatoes to the chickpeas. Then add the Herbes De Provence, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil. Now stir. If needed, you can add a little more salt to taste. Finally, let the salad sit a half hour or so. This allows the flavors to marinate. That’s it! So easy! You’re done.

Herbes de Provence are a blend of herbs commonly used in Southern France.

Variations: If you like mixing it up, try adding hard boiled eggs, tuna, avocado or bacon to your salad. Once you start experimenting you may never want to stop.

A word of caution: Some people are allergic to chickpeas so should avoid them. Also, if you suffer from gout or kidney stones you should probably talk to your doctor first to see if chickpeas are appropriate for your diet.

Enjoy!

For more great recipe ideas see our Recipes Page.

Will eating certain foods like fish or nuts prevent Alzheimer’s? While no one can yet lay claim to the perfect Alzheimer’s prevention diet, researchers are increasingly focused on the effect of consuming more Omega 3’s—fatty acids found in fish and plant oils. The hope is consuming more of these essential nutrients can prevent or reduce the risk of this mind-crippling disease.

In a recent Columbia University study published at Neurology.org,  researchers looked into whether certain vitamins and other nutrients could reduce amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaques are made up of clumps of beta-amyloid proteins. Higher levels of these proteins in the bloodstream are thought to play a role in developing the plaques that accumulate in the brain.  If this is true, adjusting diet to reduce beta-amyloid protein levels in blood plasma may decrease the risk for mental decline.  Of course, like most issues related to dieting and health, the development of Alzheimer’s may come as a result of a host of factors (including a genetic predisposition). This implies there are certain risks for oversimplifying the issues involved, and thus, a degree of caution is warranted.
 

The Focus Of The Study

The Columbia University study, which involved 1200 participants over the age of 65, set out to analyze certain nutrient intake and its effect on beta-amyloid blood protein levels. In other words, to see if consuming certain nutrients could reduce the level of these proteins in blood plasma. The nutrients studied included saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin C, Beta-carotene, vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin D.

Fatty fish like salmon is high in Omega 3 fatty acids.

Interestingly, of all the nutrients tested, only the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids turns out to be effective in significantly lowering beta-amyloid levels. As mentioned, Omega 3 fats are plentiful in fish and certain plant oils (though more so in the former), which would tend to suggest that eating more fatty fish like salmon or sardines or certain nuts or seeds may contribute to a reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. We should point out the study’s aim was not to develop specific guidelines for eating these foods, but only to confirm or disprove whether they could impact amyloid plaque levels. Since it turns out Omega-3 fatty acids did reduce beta-amyloid in the bloodstream, more study is needed to determine why this holds true and to come up with guidelines the public can use to determine how much Omega 3 should be included in a well-balanced diet.

Nuts have many important nutrients besides Omega 3's so should be part of a balanced diet.

Confounding the issue, there is a body of evidence which suggests there’s more to the question of eating the right fat than meets the eye. Why? Some foods higher in Omega 3 fatty acids (like nuts) are also high in their close cousin Omega 6 fatty acids. Yet most people already consume far too much Omega 6 fats in their diet in relation to omega 3 fats—up to 10 or more times an amount considered healthy. This presents other health risks such as inflammation and cancer. Where do all these excess Omega 6 fats come from? Some typical sources are corn oil, soybean oil and cottonseed oil. These oils are often a main ingredient found in salad dressings and manufactured foods. To be clear, getting sufficient Omega 6 fatty acids is relatively easy without consuming any of these excess oils easy since they are already a natural part of foods like fruits, seeds, nuts and vegetables. Bottom line: While Omega 3’s may be critical for proper brain function, not getting the right combination of fats overall could result in health risks that may counteract any benefit derived from eating more of them.

Is tuna fish really good for your brain? Stay tuned.

Clearly, the new Columbia University study adds another important piece to the very complicated puzzle of Alzheimer’s. It does prove Omega 3’s reduce amyloid protein levels in blood. However, more study needs to be done to clarify the link between beta amyloid protein found in blood and the amyloid plaque found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. In addition, researchers need to establish not only the best fats to eat, but the proper ratio of fats and other nutrients to obtain the greatest benefit. Meanwhile, since foods high in Omega 3’s like fish and nuts have already been shown to be healthy for your heart it seems a good bet to make them part of a well-balanced diet.

Today’s Adventures of Javabird comic…

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If you enjoyed today’s comic, check out:

“JB’s Getting Old“

Today’s Chicka ‘n Dee comic…

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If you enjoyed today’s comic, check out:

“Chicka ‘n Dee – The Tropics“
“JB’s Getting Old”

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When your kids are old enough to talk back to you, it’s time to start teaching them about money and finances. Don’t wait until they graduate from high school and head off to college. By then, you’ll have missed an incredible opportunity. Our saving and spending habits begin in early childhood. That means building a better future is all about equipping kids with the right tools from the get-go.

Missed Goals And Opportunities

Parents play a huge roll in shaping their kids expectations--whether they want to or not.

Many kids grow up with an expectation that Mom or Dad will bail them out of a financial jam if and when the need arises. Though most of us would do almost anything to help our children, it’s often our inability to say no today that leads to the next problem down the road. As parents, when we fail to set clear boundaries, guidelines, and expectations, we set our kids up to repeat dysfunctional patterns. It’s those patterns that can take a huge toll in terms of a child’s ability to cope with and manage problems over a  lifetime.

It’s easy to forget that young children are like sponges. They soak up everything we say and do and then copy us. This is only natural, since in their eyes we can do no wrong. Thus, the first goal of a responsible parent is to put our own affairs in order. When we do that, we don’t need to worry about the things our kids will soak up just because they hang around.

Learning How To Save Money

Our kids grow up far too fast. Don't wait to tell them the things that will make life easier.

Unfortunately, even the most financially responsible parents can still fail their kids if they don’t share their knowledge of money or how the world works. It’s far better to start at an early age and teach them how to budget and plan for expenses.

If you give your child an allowance, you can have them put some of it aside. If they want to buy something, only allow them to access a part of that savings. In doing that you show them how to maintain an emergency fund.

As they get older and take on first jobs, continue to have them set aside a portion of their income in savings. Tell them a certain percent applies to college, a certain percent to emergencies and rest is the money available for buying the things they want or enjoy. However, occasionally have them kick in for some basic household expense. For example, ask them to buy a pizza for a family dinner or fill up the family car with gasoline. Not only will this give them a sense of accomplishment and self-worth for helping to provide for the family, but they’ll begin to appreciate the financial stakes involved. And with any luck, they’ll learn the value of not blowing all their cash in one place.

By the way, if your grown children frequently come to ask for money, there’s nothing wrong with putting your needs first. For example, if you’re coming up on retirement and your savings are already stressed or insufficient, you may need to draw the line and tell your kids to suck it up. For more on this topic read, “Plan For Retirement Now”.

Rewarding Effort

Does your child have a reasonable expectation for the value of an education?

One of the best things you can teach young children or grandchildren is how to save. Learning to save requires developing a sense of discipline and willpower, and that requires a certain amount of effort from both parent and child. Thankfully, the rewards of saving can be exciting—there’s nothing quite like it when a child reaches a savings goal and is allowed to spend a portion of their money on something special. One practice that can really encourage a child to save is to offer a bonus if they meet a certain savings goal. If you’re interested in more information on this topic, read our posts “Teach Your Kids To Save” and “How Much Should I Save Every Month”.

Applying For A First Credit Card

Handling credit is tricky. For many adults, it’s hard to teach kids the dangers of using credit when they struggle with too much debt themselves. Nevertheless, credit is one topic that should be continually addressed as the kids grow older. Be sure you show them what makes a good or bad credit habit and then translate how either impacts their financial future. For example, show them how you set up your bills to be paid automatically so you never miss a payment and are never charged a late fee.

It’s by no means a given children should be handed credit cards. Yet as long as a particular child is under your control and is generally responsible, having their own card may be a terrific learning opportunity. However, it’s critical to carefully consider the risks first and then monitor all credit activity as you go.

What are some potential advantages of giving a child a credit card? You can:

• Demonstrate first hand how credit cards work

• Teach kids how interest on debt makes buying more expensive

• Teach kids good habits for paying off debt

• Guide kids on how much debt to take on

• Explore the risks of taking on too much debt

• Show kids the best way to improve their credit score

Make sure your kids understand the difference between buying with cash and buying with credit. They'll end up saving thousands.

One note: Even if your child has sufficient income of their own, you’ll want to be absolutely clear about establishing a strict credit limit. If you haven’t seen them yet, read “Your Credit: Keeping Score” and “Debt Relief: 2 Solutions That Work”.

Saving Money For College versus Student Loans

Make no mistake: With over 1 trillion dollars of student debt hanging over their heads, our youngest citizens carry a huge financial burden—one bound to have a significant impact on their ability to accumulate wealth over the course of their lifetimes.

Kids grow up in the blink of an eye. Don't wait: Start saving and setting reasonable expectations for college when the kids are still young.

The promise of a college education is only as good as a society’s ability to provide jobs for its graduates. As it stands, far too many kids are getting the wrong messages about paying for school, especially as a large percentage of those who take out student loans end up paying them off in their middle years and beyond. Yes, you can go into debt to get an education, but the real question is always whether you should.

Setting fiscally sound goals around college and education is an important first step to protect your own finances as well as that of your kids. If you expect to pay their way, at least teach them an appreciation for the gift being offered—it’s huge. If you can’t afford to pay for college, do what you can to help beef up their savings or encourage them to take on jobs as they come into their teens. There is no single right answer on this question as everyone comes from a different background. However, there is also no set rule that says you or your child needs to take on significant debt just to get an education. For several ideas on how to save money on education, read our “Great Savings Tip #97 – Save On A College Education.”

Setting High Expectations

Prepare your kids for life. The goal isn't too scare them, but teach responsible habits.

Kids are born free of the burdens of our world, but the sooner they learn how to handle money, the better prepared you can expect them to be for the challenges ahead. When teaching kids about money the idea isn’t to create unneeded stress and anxiety, but to ingrain healthy saving and spending habits that will serve them the rest of their lives.

If you want your children to succeed financially, start by putting your own financial future on a firm footing first. Then take the kids aside on a regular basis to talk about money. As you do, challenge and assist them in setting and achieving all their financial goals. Don’t be afraid to talk about money, or to admit to mistakes you made along the way. In doing that, you’ll teach them honesty and open the lines of communication. And hopefully, that will give them the permission they need to come and talk to you before getting deep into a jam of their own.

In our original Great Savings Tip 12, we suggested you can stop drinking soda and save almost $200 a year. It’s actually much more than that and we’ll break the numbers down for you in a moment. However, the real issue here goes far beyond saving a few hundred bucks on pop. As we recently learned in Rules For Healthy Eating: Cutting Added Sugars Americans diets contain far too much added sugar. It’s not just in soda, either. Added sugar comes in many forms including candy bars, sugary snacks, desserts, breakfast cereal and many so-called “healthy” or “natural” foods like granola bars and low-fat yogurts.

Think "All Natural" is good for you? Before saying yes check out the added sugar. This protein bar has 25 grams of sugar. That's a lot.

Here’s the kicker: Cut out some of this added sugar and not only do we save a few bucks this year, but we’ll save thousands over the long-term. Even better, we’re bound to gain far less weight over the years, and that means less medical care and all the anguish associated with being overweight.

The statistics on soft drinks are appalling. According to the USDA, “The average teen consumes 15 teaspoons of sugar or 11% of their calories per day from soft drinks.” To be fair the USDA includes fruit-flavored part-juice drinks and sports drinks in their definition of soft drinks, so we’re not just talking about soda. Yet put them all together and the situation is really much worse than most people realize. Here are some additional facts as reported by the USDA:

♦ School children who drink an average of 9 ounces or more of soft drinks a day consume 188 more calories than those drinking no soft drinks.

♦ Teenage boys and girls drink twice as much soda as milk.

♦ For a 120-pound adolescent who has a healthy diet and exercises regularly, it would take two hours of moderate walking to burn off a 20-ounce soda.

And per the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Obesity:

♦ In 1999, 13% of children aged 6 to 11 years and 14% of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years in the United States were overweight. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past 2 decades.

♦ Risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, occur with increased frequency in overweight children and adolescents compared to children with a healthy weight.

♦ Type 2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease, has increased dramatically in children and adolescents. Overweight and obesity are closely linked to type 2 diabetes.

♦ Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese. Overweight or obese adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.

♦ The most immediate consequence of overweight as perceived by the children themselves is social discrimination. This is associated with poor self-esteem and depression.

What’s that? You you don’t drink pop, sport or juice drinks? Well, what about that morning latte? Doesn’t it contain added sugar and/or syrup flavoring? The truth is sugar is added into many of the foods and drinks we consume, and that means we end up eating far more sugar than is good for us.

Even if you aren't drinking soda, you may still support a sugar habit.

Expecting to find a breakdown on calories and sugar from the Starbuck’s website, we were disappointed to learn their nutritional information is only available at their local outlets. Not giving up so easily, we found a website called Dietbites.com. They list a number of a fast food restaurant menu items and total calories so they’re worth checking out if you’re serious about watching your weight.

Dietbites reports a Starbucks Coffee Latte (not to suggest the company’s latte is unique) contains 260 calories and 19 grams of sugar. However, if your tastes run a bit richer, that delicious Starbuck’s Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino® Blended Coffee Plus Whip contains a whopping 470 calories and 65 grams of sugar! To put this in perspective, the Mayo Clinic recommends that American women should consume no more than 100 calories per day from added sugars (about 6 teaspoons or 25 grams per day) and for men it’s no more than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons or 38 grams per day).

The Costs Add Up

Since our Great Savings Tips are really about saving money and building long-term wealth, let’s go back to soda and see how cutting it out of our diet can really add up.

This vending machine charges $1 per soda, but I've seen others more expensive.

Assume we feed our daily soda habit by regularly buying a 6-pack of a generic cola for $2.99 at the grocery store. Also assume we only drink one can per day. Our total cost per year breaks down as follows: $2.99 / 6 cans per pack x 365 days or $181.89. Think about that a minute: Even when we buy pop at the best possible price we’ll still end up spending nearly $200 a year. But how realistic is that number? For example, say we buy that same quantity of soda from a vending machine, a soda fountain or a café. If the machine charges $1.00 for a can, our cost balloons to $1 x 365 days or $365 per year. Or say we drink two cans from the vending machine. Then our cost doubles and we pay out $2 x 365 or $730 per year.

What does your cola cost?

As we learned from Great Savings 10: Spending Consciously, when we calculate the long-term costs of any habit we have the real information we need to see if the habit is really worth keeping. Is drinking soda worth it to you? Why not do the math and find out? A 10 year supply of soda at $1.00 per can costs $3,650 and that means a 30 year supply costs $10,950! Imagine all that money in your savings account instead.

Let’s not forget, a 12 oz can of Coke®  contains 140 calories so that means a can a day works out to about 51,110 calories per year or over 30 years 1,533,000 calories! That’s 1.5 million empty calories in case you missed it, or enough to represent about 438 extra pounds.

Oatmeal is good for you. It provides great fiber. But not all oatmeal is the same. Each serving in this box contains 13 grams of added sugar.

Calories To Pounds

Wait, how do we relate calories to pounds? According to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness each pound of fat our bodies store represents 3500 unused calories—to be clear that’s calories we don’t burn off. Now, unless we burn off those extra calories in our pop the math works out as follows: 1,533,000 calories / 3500 calories per pound = 438 pounds. In all fairness, most of us will work off at least some of those calories, but the point remains the same: Lots of extra empty calories create the perfect conditions for gaining a significant amount of weight over the long-term.

It’s Not Only About Money

Being heavy or obese also presents certain health risks and that can mean more trips to the doctor. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, being overweight or obese puts us at risk for: “Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, metabolic syndrome, certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, fatty liver disease, and pregnancy complications.” More important, depending on a patient’s insurance or lack thereof the treatment costs associated with many of these diseases can be astronomical.

Finally, the costs to being overweight continue to add up as we look to our ability to earn a decent living. According to Forbes, “In 2004, Charles Baum, of Middle Tennessee State University…reported…obesity could lower a woman’s annual earnings by as much as 6.2% and a man’s by as much as 2.3%.” Thus, any long-term habit like drinking soda that adds extra sugar to the diet not only costs us in out-of-pocket dollars to support the habit and pay for additional medical care, but it may result in a significant loss of lifetime income, too. That’s bound to impact wealth and certainly worth thinking about as you go to plan a brighter future.

Action Item: Pick an item you eat or drink that contains a lot of added sugar. Now calculate how much you’d save in money and empty calories by cutting it out of your diet. Is it worth doing? Not every habit is a bad one, especially if you gain some added benefit like peace of mind. Only you can decide.

I can’t help it. I love spring. The flowers are blooming, the leaves are popping and there’s hope for summer right around the bend. I took these shots while I was out walking this past weekend. Click on the pictures to expand them and use your browser to come back. Enjoy!