Live and Learn: First Time Home Buyers Beware

The American dream has many facets, but one of the most enduring is the idea of a home of one's own, with or without a white picket fence. 

Owning a home was certainly a part of Claudia Azula–Altucher's plan when she came to the United States from Argentina by way of Venezuela. She had grown up under a military regime but decided early on that she wanted a different life. She came, she said, "to follow my dream of being here in the United States; half-running, half because I wanted to eat pizza."

Pizza was not even the half of it. Azula–Altucher obtained a college education and eventually landed a job as an information technology manager for a law firm. And then, she said, "I wanted to have my own house. It was part of the American dream, having my house."

Azula–Altucher found a house she loved, but it was a stretch financially, and it turned out to be a bit of a money pit.

As soon as she bought it, she said, "every penny I made went into the house so I had no money to eat, just money to go to work, eat whatever I cooked, and then every weekend I was in my house fixing things."

Even as she became adept at home repair, Azula–Altucher was racking up debt, and soon she had no financial wiggle room. Then, in 2009, she lost her job. With five months' severance and ongoing mortgage and car payments, Azula–Altucher was in trouble.

Rent or Buy A Home?What Millennials Should Know:

First time homebuyers like Azula–Altucher are often surprised by the true costs of home ownership, from necessary repairs to ongoing maintenance. A study by real estate site Zillow found that, on average, homeowners pay more than $6,000 a year on unavoidable hidden costs like homeowner's insurance, property taxes and utilities.

In addition, many people are currently making smaller down payments when they buy homes, so they have less flexibility to adjust their finances to accommodate life's ups and downs.

Some 27 percent of homebuyers purchased homes with down payments of 3 percent or less in the first quarter of 2015, according tomarket research firm RealtyTrac, the highest share in nearly two years. And the 14.8 percent average down payment in the first quarter of 2015 was the lowest since the first quarter of 2012. (Azula–Altucher said her down payment was less than 10 percent of the $250,000 she paid for her home.)

Homebuyers' finances have improved since the financial crisis: In 2013, at nearly all income levels, fewer of them were devoting more than 30 percent of their income to housing costs, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard. But even so, more than 20 percent of homeowners with incomes between $45,000 and $74,999 were in that group, as were nearly 10 percent of those with incomes of $75,000.

Small wonder, then, that Census Bureau data indicated that the rate of home ownership in the third quarter of 2015 was just 63.7 percent, down from 64.4 percent a year earlier, while renting continues to become more common.

Azula–Altucher got lucky. As her severance was about to run out, she received an offer for the house. She has since married, and her husband helped open her eyes to other types of employment possibilities. She began writing self-help books, and their success enabled her to pay off her debts.

Azula–Altucher and her husband have no plans to buy a home, however. "I don't want to buy a house," she said. "I want to rent because I realize maintenance is a lot of work, there are hidden fees, taxes can go up and I'd rather spend all that energy writing and using my talent rather than worrying about a house.

If you've learned a valuable financial lesson that you would like to share, please email us at Vivian Collections 

Pocket Money At Nine-Year High Amid Gender Gap

Children are getting an average of $12.37 a week in pocket money but the gap is widening between the earnings of boys and girls. 

Pocket money has hit a nine-year high but the gender gap is growing, with sons receiving almost 12% more than daughters. The Halifax survey of nearly 1,800 children aged eight to 15 and their parents found that they now receive $15.00 a week on average.. 

Boys received an average of $13.08 per week, compared to girls who got an average of $11.62. 

Despite getting more, boys were also more likely to complain that they were not getting enough - 44% said their parents should pay them more, compared to 39% of girls. 
There was also a gender gap last year but it was just 2%. ONS figures show that the gender pay gap for adults is 9.4%, based on the median earnings of full-time employees. 

The average pocket money payment reached $15.80 (£8.37) in 1987 and fell slightly to just over $15.10 (£8) in 2007 but, when the financial crisis hit in 2008, weekly childhood earnings plummeted to an average of $11.57 (£6.13). 

The bank found that nearly 80% of current youngsters are saving some of their pocket money, with nearly one in eight saving all of it. 

Giles Martin, head of Halifax Savings, said: "It's reassuring to see that the average weekly amount has reached a nine-year high. 
"Some parents are clearly not feeling the pinch in the same way as they have done in recent years, when weekly pocket money dipped as low as $11.12 (£5.89).  

"It's likely it'll be a few more years until we reach the dizzy heights of $15.80 (£8.37) in 2005 though, when we saw the highest average pocket money since our records began." 

London children enjoyed the highest average pocket money rate of $15.50 (£8.21), up 7.3% on last year, while children in East Anglia received an average of just $9.36 (£4.96), down 11.9% on last year. 

Scottish children had the second-highest rate of $13.33 (£7.06), while children in the South East earned $12.89 (£6.83) a week and those in the North West got an average of $12.61 ( £6.68). 
NB: The dollars are in Canadian money :-) 

Controversial Theories of Child Discipline

Traditional versus Western models of child discipline:

Although the use of traditional or corporal punishment to discipline children has been argued for centuries, a thorough understanding of whether and how corporal punishment affects children has not been reached. There are many models of child discipline but lets talk about these three:

Traditional, Western and Biblical Models.  

1. Traditional Child Discipline. There is an old African saying that "It takes a village to raise a child". If my child breaks the rules, uncles, aunties or the elders of the village are legally and morally allowed to discipline them. In my experience this has effectively worked for my generation because there have been limited adverse issues of crime and immorality compared to my children's generation who are growing in the western culture. Traditional models bring wholesome fear and maturity. This is the fear with a positive quality that ultimately enriches and nourishes our lives, it could be argued. The above video reflects the controversy between western and traditional ways of child discipline where some immigrant parents struggle to adapt to the western culture, which in this case has reflected flaws. The children's services remove the child from parents and dismally fail the child whose case got worse as she got pregnant and abused while under social services care. Furthermore, parents ended up carrying the can to help the depressed teen mother and the social services are no longer to help the child as intended. Could these be some of the failed policies of the western child discipline approaches?

                2.  The western culture believes that discipline is the process of teaching children the values and normative behaviours of their society. It is the guidance of children’s moral, emotional and physical development, enabling them to take responsibility for themselves when they are older. It helps children become aware of the boundaries of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, what is right and wrong, and how to relate to the world around them. Discipline emphasizes teaching and the consequences of actions. Positive discipline normally involves helping children to understand why certain behaviours are unacceptable and other behaviours are acceptable. In this view parents are authoritative guides and supporters on the path to maturity, not generals commanding the course of growth by using corporal punishment. Examples encouraged includes: time out, talking, removal of regular incentives, cafew, limiting bad associations, "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

3. Biblical Child Discipline: Removing biblical prayer in schools has increased social problems in our societies.

The removal of bible prayer in public schools by the supreme court in USA had negative moral impact in today's societies. My argument is that prayer would not eliminate criminal problems but at least it would reduce them. For example in June 25, 1962, the United States Supreme Court decided in Engelv. Vitale that a prayer approved by the New York Board of Regents for use in schools violated the First Amendment because it represented establishment of religion. In contrast,  in 1963, in Abington School District v. Schempp, the court decided against Bible readings in public schools along the same lines. So we need to realize that these actions do have consequences, when we remove that moral fiber - that moral emphasis – this is what can result.

• Academic achievement plummetes

• Increased rate of out-of-wedlock births

• Increase in illegal drug use

• Increase in juvenile crime

• Deterioration of school behavior

* Vivian Collections

Health Care And Baby Boomers

Will Baby Boomers bring down Medicare? A cottage industry runs on blaming Boomers for everything (Boom Bust & Echo: Profiting from the Demographic Shift in the 21st Century).

The logic for blaming Boomers goes like this: Boomers make a population bulge.  Boomers are aging.  Old people get sick.  Ergo, old Baby Boomers will overwhelm Medicare.

Despite everything they’re blamed for, old people do not guarantee system failure (and Baby Boomers are not old!…yet).  Age might be one factor.  But many old, sick people access the system less than the young worried well. Of course, most healthcare spending occurs in the last 6 months of life.  An aging population will drive change, but there might be an even bigger factor.
Baby Boomer Attitude
Demographers believe Baby Boomers have attitude.  Not just ‘an’ attitude but attitude.  They know what they want.  They change things they don’t like.

They won’t put up with waits.
They won’t put up with no choice.
They won’t put up with hordes of patients jammed into hallways and EDs because no beds are available.
They will demand efficiency.
They will demand great patient service.
They will want medical experts leading healthcare, not inexperienced bureaucrats and allied health providers.

Boomers expect to stay active, healthy and productive for as long as possible.  They want control.  If early retirement doesn’t impress them, they want to stay fit and working long past 65.  They accept the responsibility of choice and ownership.

Here’s what other’s are saying:

• “If something hurts, they are not going to grimace and bear it.” (Huffington Post)
• Boomers embody involvement, assertiveness, technology, freedom, independence.  (American Medical Association)
• Changes in radiology from Boomers – engagement, mobile access, choice. (Medical Imaging Talk Blog)
• Book: Baby Boomers: Can My Eighties Be Like My Fifties? 
• 
  
• Baby Boomers in 10 Years: 
• When we look back, people might ask, “Hey, weren’t you involved back then?  What did YOU do to improve things?” 
• We can advocate for change now. 
• Fly patients to the USA when wait times exceed a limit….say, 4 weeks?
• Reward hospitals only when they see patients, instead of before they see patients (block funding), or only when they follow recipe care (QBPs)?
• Ask patients what Canadian healthcare could learn from other industries, other countries?
• Ask patients whether they think healthcare should be as good as pet care or prisoner care? What do you think?  Baby Boomers have reshaped everything they’ve ever come up against.  How will they reshape healthcare?

Inspirational: Allow the Lord to give you Peace

Confidence in God's Grace and Care Ps 23: 2

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside still waters.

Few days ago, I flew to see my mother and the plane began to rumble and flipping side to side. Fear engulfed me but I quickly rebuked the devil that fear is the opposite of faith. I muttered "leave me alone!" Faith took over and thought of the Psalmist. In whatever situation you may find yourself today, allow the Lord to make you, to mould you (don't make yourself), if he makes you to lie down you are promised green pastures, you are guaranteed success, victory, breakthrough, peace etc. He knows where you should be. Let Him make you to lie down. Let Him lead you because His lead besides the still waters is perfect, neither late nor early but just on time. If you lead yourself you will make the situation worse, if He leads He will calm the vicious waters. Even if the issues, rumbles or flipping continue, you will not feel it, calm and peace will take over. He leads you to the waters of rest: not gently-flowing streams, but streams where you find rest and refreshment. Allow him to make you, to mould you. Allow the Lord to be your shepherd today.

Finance and Money Matters: Credit Cards for Bad Credit

What To Look For When Applying

If you have bad credit, then you need to find a secured card from a reputable bank that has a reasonable annual fee (or no annual fee). Fortunately, there are several of these products with an annual fee of under $50. Another important benefit is a card that offers email and text alerts to remind cardholders when their payment is due. If you travel, then you will also want a credit card that offers a rental car collision damage waiver policy. These valuable policies are standard on most unsecured credit cards, but are less common on secured cards. Cardholders with bad credit can also benefit from having a credit card account at the same bank where they hold a checking or savings account. This allows you to see all of your accounts in one place and makes it easier to make a payment from one account to another.

What To Avoid When Applying

The hardest part about applying for a credit card when you have bad credit is being approved. First, you need to check your credit score to see how bad your credit actually is. Those with the lowest credit scores may need to apply for a secured card to avoid being denied by a standard credit card. A secured card requires a cash deposit from the cardholder to "secure" the line of credit. Even if you have bad credit, you should still avoid applying for a card with extremely poor rates and terms. For example, applicants should avoid any card that does not offer an interest-free grace period, has very high interest rates, or one that has expensive fees that are billed monthly. Since there are several secured credit cards issued by reputable banks, there is no reason to open an extremely uncompetitive card.

Should You Apply For More Than One?

If you have bad credit, then you should avoid applying for multiple credit cards. Instead, you should be focused on rebuilding your credit history and your credit scores by making all of your payments on time, keeping balances below the credit limits, and staying out of debt. Managing multiple accounts can make it harder for you to reach that goal. Once you have been using a secured card and paying your bills on time, keeping your balances below your limits and staying out of debt for at least a year, then it might make sense for you to apply for a second, unsecured card. Even then, it is important to maintain a conservative strategy of limited, responsible credit card use as your credit scores recover. Only once your credit score can be considered average or good, will it be time to consider having different cards for different uses.

When Is The Best Time To Apply?

If you have bad credit, you may be looking to open a new credit card account in order to rebuild your credit history and raise your credit score. But before doing so, you should check a few things to ensure that you will have the best chance of being approved. First, you should make sure that you have any bankruptcies fully discharged, as that will preclude you from being approved for even a secured credit card. Next, you should wait until you have been using a secured card, and paying all of your bills on time, for at least one year before applying for a standard unsecured card. Paying bills on time and carrying very little debt are vital to any effort to rebuild your credit.

"At the end of the day, it's all up to you, it could be argued"

At the end of the day, success or failure is up to you, it can be argued. You can encourage yourself by declaring and defining your day each morning. The potential to live your best life starts with each new morning. With every sunrise, you can choose to approach the day with an attitude of gratitude, faith and expectancy. When you get up in the morning, the first things you should do is set your mind in the right direction . . . and then go out anticipating good things.

Now a tool to accomplish your positive expectancy is to begin by prayer, meditation and defining how you want your day to be. You can actually make your own positive daily prescription to boost your best life now. One more thing, remember to take your prescription everyday or else your expectancies will not be fulfilled.

  

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.