prepaid

PREPAID
if i am riding around in my car in the afternoon
between 100 pm and 300 pm i turn my radio on to
the station that is airing the
dave ramsey show

i really wish that i discovered his show years and years ago
when i first went into private practice at the age of 40 years

now
gradually over the years i have done what he recommends
most of it i learned myself from trial and error
well most of it was error
yes we made all the mistakes
thats how you learn i guess

now into retirement where we have to watch our money
a little closer than when i was in practice
since we were making a good income
ok i was in the top 5% income
wouldnt have wanted to be in that top 1%
they get all the credit for whats wrong with us financially
us i mean usa

now in retirement i have dropped to a much lower %
now we dropped ourselves there several years before
retirement
in order to be ready financially for retirement
since i didnt start practicing having to finish a 3 year
federal committment first
when i was 40

most folks are around 26-28 when they start practicing
so i had a 14 year delay
i was behind 14 years
i had to play catch up

lucky for us
we did

so
now we live conservatively
we are totally debt free
we use a credit card only because its hard to buy things online
hard to make reservations without it
i use them whenever we buy large purchases
since we get consumer protection with the card
plus
we get 1% back on our purchases
but
i pay it electronically as soon as i use it
so
theres no end of the month surprise

now i never ever carry cash
i use a debit card
but whenever i use it i feel uncomfortable
knowing that just one purchase can lead to the hacking of
my checking account
wiping out all our money and more
at least until its discovered by me or the bank

so
i am selective where i use my card

now my wife she operates off cash only
she takes out money once a week to use
i tried that but have trouble with getting to the bank etc
so
i use my debit card
knowing that one day its gonna happen
ill find my account all cleared out


so
my plan is to use a new prepaid card
that loads a weeks worth of expenses on my card
ill use it wherever i used my debit card
i plan to use the american express card one
since american express has a good reputation for
customer service

eg
we recently bought a new electric stove
i paid for it with the american express card
got a defect stove
got a new one
got a replacement stove that was defective
contacted store and national office got the run around
contacted american express
they removed the charge
i called the store said you need to come get this bad stove
thanks american express

so
i plan to use the new prepaid card called american express serve
to do my cash purchases like groceries gas garden supplies etc
instead of my debit card
if it gets hacked they will only get whats in there
which should have a  max balance each week of $300

we will pay all our bills electronically
we will continue to use our credit card to make reservations and
do online purchases and to pay for restaurants

i wonder if dave ramsey would like my method

theres more on how i manage our finances
its a little complicated
my wife shes eyes get blurry eyed when i describe it to her
she sort of fades away into her facebook vortex

but it works for us
keeps us on budget
yes we have done all of what dave ramsey says do
we just added more
well not we but i did

my wife shes
she just along for the joy ride

so far its a good one

the organicgreen doctor

i worry

I WORRY

recollectionproject.com

this has bode me well over the years
being a worrier
many a patient of mine benefited from my worrying
about them
well sometimes it was mixed with intuition or 6th sense
eg for no good reason i ordered a test that came back
positive which saved their lives or shortened their illness

now i worry about
our future
when i write our i mean our kids and our grand kids
our great grand kids etc
what will their financial future be like when they
all get to our age

dim is what im afraid it will be
not all of them if any will read dave ramsey and follow
his steps to financial success

first it seems they and i guess all of us need more to live
on now
cable tv cell phones smart ones bigger more expensive
vacations bigger more expensive hobbies etc
now my hobby is gardening so i at least will break even
on that one
bigger more expensive vehicles
more bigger food bills since we eat out more

then
when they do reach retirement
their expenses are higher since we they need more

what will their source of income be


pensions
only 20% have them now
and
that number will drop
those that do are at risk of losing them
and
many of these pensions never increase ie no
col adjustments are done
eg
my wife she retires in say 2 years
her retirement checks will never increase
and
since the school district doesnt pay into social security
she nor the other teachers will receive social security
since there is this thing called offset they do
whoever they is
which wipes out most if not all of the social security
they get from their spouses

my wife will get $200 a month from social security
then when i die she will get about 40% of my social
security instead of 100%
luckily we were able to invest over the years in her
403b to compensate for this loss of income  from
social security
many or most teachers cant afford to do this

i am sure the government will make this even worse
for folks who have government pensions


social security
we know this will still be there but it wont be as it is now
my guess is that it will be cut 25% or more
the col adjustment will get smaller
so the end result will be less income from this
source for our younger relatives


luckily for us we were able to put back enough in our
401ks and 403bs and iras to make ourselves comfortable
for our retirement
but it has taken
us downsizing
our life styles
our size of our house
our house is half the size of most physicians
our size of our cars
our cars are 5yrs 8 yrs and 17 years old
our vacations
our holiday spending
doing this a long time before we retired
and
now carrying that throughout our retirement

it appears that the amount of money left over for
inheritance to our younger relatives will diminish
even more
then they will have even less left over for their kids

now added on is a lifetime of school debt

so things im afraid will only get worse

the generation behind us
are not programmed to save at the rate they need to be
to be ready financially when they quit working

im sort of glad i wont be around to see what life will
be like for those generations

it seems the government isnt going to ever do anything
to help out
theyll just keep on fighting to get nothing done

so if you are a younger relative of mine and especially
if you have kids
you need to be thinking about this
or
your future will be dim

you cant really do anything much about social security
but plan on it being messed with

you if you have a pension realize it may not be there
for you when you retire or it will be reduced in some way

so it will be up to you
if you dont know who dave ramsey is then get acquainted with
him
i personally dont agree with some of  his religious and his political
views
i respect his beliefs but dont agree with many of them
but
his core message though is the one for all folks to follow

you need to know these terms
emergency fund
snowball debt reductions
no credit card debt

you must avoid debt and you must save starting as young
as you possibly can
the goal is eventually 15% of your earnings should be saved
then
you must downsize yourself
your cars your houses your vacations your expenses
to reach this goal
and
be happy when you do it

my wife she and i have done all this
and
we are happy
and
we do all those things we like to do

i see everyday when i work for habitat for humanity
and
meals on wheels
what poverty in retirement can look like

it aint purty

so yes i worry
please help me not to have to worry so much

the organicgreen doctor

another neurology appointment, video, study

ANOTHER NEUROLOGY APPOINTMENT
well its time again
have to go back for my 6 month follow up with the neurologist
this visit i dont mind
its usually in and out
how you doing
tap tap on the knee
refill the prescription
see you in 6 months

its been 15 months since ive been officially diagnosed with
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
thought to be possibly due to alzheimers disease
only time will tell for sure if thats accurate

during that 15 months i may have noticed a subltle change but on
all those neuropsychological tests ive had over that time period
there has been no significant changes
thats like a cancer patient getting a negative pet scan
its reassuring

but as i know this can remain stable for awhile then take off
like it has with my younger brother
he sure has progressed during these last 15 months
he has gone from driving himself to now not driving himself
not getting himself dressed and requiring 24/7  monitoring
i think about him a lot and wonder if ill be like him and when
the decline will happen

but i have to continue to move forward and accept the fact that
i really dont know what will happen
only time will tell

i am doing all the things you and someone like me needs to do to
prevent or slow down the disease
exercise, control blood pressure,control lipids, maintain my weight,
stay mentally active, socialize, and take my dam donepezil (aricept)

am afraid to stop it because i know it could be the one thing that is
slowing this disease down for awhile before it eventually takes off
if i stop it i could see a more rapid decline in my status
so i plan to continue it despite the side effects
at least its now a cheap generic

i and my wife she are trying to get things done now in this early time
as we dont know what will happen
we have a lot of travel plans and this is the year we are getting all our
financial and legal ducks in a row
we have paid off our house and our cars and this next month
we should be totally debt free
maybe ill call the dave ramsey show so i can scream were debt free
on his radio show

we enjoy each other more now than we ever have before
and know to savour each day as it happens

ive continued doing this blog and spend a few hours on it everyday
i also walk 3-4 miles a day and have taken up hiking trails in this area
sorry ive missed some of the beauty around here over the last 10 years

ive also started a habitat for humanity project that i plan to follow
through to completion
ok so im going to learn some skills i can apply to the redo of my old barn

i will start tomorrow delivering meals on wheels in this area
this is something ive wanted to do
my mother always looked forward to those meals and those
brief interactions with the person that delivered the meal

i have tried to read a real paper newspaper a day and read several
online news websites every day
i also read a book every day if possible
ok my stack is kinda high in my to read stack
havent made the kindle transformation yet
like the feel of a book and love to dog ear those pages
but know i will eventually have to give in and use one

i stay busy maintaining my 10 acres here at the country n and
my organic garden
i will never get all this stuff done that needs to be done here
but its fun trying

so hope in the next 15 months that things will not progress any
that will be good news for my wife she and i

stay tuned

VIDEO
today after my neurology appointment i will be interviewed for a
possible short video that will be posted on the alzheimers research centers
website at ut southwestern medical center
they have plans to update the website so it will be more useful for patients
families and medical providers
am glad to get to be a part of it
will post the website when its done

ADNI-2 STUDY
if you follow this blog you know that i am in the
alzhiemers disease neuroimaging initiative-phase 2 study at the
alzheimers research study in dallas at the ut southwestern medical center
its a five year study thats an extension of phase 1
its probably the most important research study on alzheimers that has
ever been done
it will define how patients will be evaluated in the future and will trigger
some of the research that will eventually lead to the treatment prevention and
possible cure of this diseaese

in april i will have my 1 year follow up visit
i will have blood work, mri scan of the brain, a neuropsychological exam
(i call it the torture test) then will get to go to annual visits after that
no spinal tap or pet scans until april of next year

when i take the neuropsychological exam i know when i take it exactly
whether i have improved or not
they dont have to tell me the results because i already know
so in october i had not changed and hopefully in april the test will
show the same

the organicgreen doctor

our dysbudget

OUR DYSBUDGET
thanks to sa from facebook for the information used in this blog

heres a household budget

annual family income                                 $21,700
money the family spent                              $38,200
new debt on the credti card                       $16,500
outstanding balance on the credit cards     $142,710
new budget cuts                                               $382

well yes they are in trouble

if you consulted dave ramsey the financial advice guy
he would say the only choice is to file bankruptcy
if you consulted clark howard the consumer guy he would
say the same thing
ask most financial advisors they would say the same
ask me and i would say win  the lottery or file bankruptcy

now

add 8 zeroes to everything and what you have is the
us governments budget
im not talking about the congressmen that are zeroes

united states tax revenue     $2,170,000,000,000
fed budget                          $3,820,000,000,000
new debt                           -$1,650,000,000,000
national debt                   - $14,271,000,000,000
recent budget cuts                    $38,500,000,000

what if we filed bankruptcy
the chinese would lose the most
then the whole world would be in the worst economic crash
ever imaginable

our only other option is to do what you and i would do
here at home
raise our revenues  and cut our expenses

how complicated can this be
why cant those zeroes in congress do this and hopefully
do it soon

lets just subtract them all and start with new ones who
are one of us and understands what needs to be done
no party needs to be spared

we need to occupy congress

the organicgreen doctor

words,football

WORDS
from yahoo finance there are ten new words learned in
2011



tebow, tebowing, tebowed
ive been tebowed
i like to watch him play
hope he gets into the playoffs

supercommittee
well they didnt do much good did they
lets just strike that word out of our vocabulary
lets vote out any one who was on that committee

rapture
well it didnt happen did it

oops
if you live in texas you know who this came from
its what you say if you voted for him
what a crash he had-lesson one dont take drugs and
do a speech or answer questions
we already knew he wouldnt make it

ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan
speaking of not making it
add him with perry to the dumb list
herman couldnt pronouce uzbekistan in central asia
its scary he wanted to be president

human microphone
was at the occupy austin with 2000 people one day and saw how
this worked
the speaker said something then it was repeated through the crowd
its used when microphones arent allowed
it worked
not even pepper spray could stop it

gunwalking
we walked those guns over the mexican border but forgot to change
the batteries so they all got lost
but they all got used
hope this doesnt happen and get used again

bunga bunga
thats what that italina prime minister did with all those young girls
sick guy

pedexting
i added this one
walking while texting
i did it again last week and ran into a tree limb
glad i wasnt down town somewhere

skexting
my younger son did this the other day
he texted us while skiing
probably not a good thing to be doing

words endgame and cone of uncertainty
endgame relates to how europe will finally fix their debt crisis
maybe we need an endgame here in the usa
would recommend the dave ramsey method to congress

cone of uncertainty
this was used in regards to the uncertain path that irene was
going to take
would use it for what is going to happen to us and the economy
in the future
it may be the most important word

what words will 2012 bring us
should be interesting

FOOTBALL
longhorns play california in the whatever bowl
i dont even try to figure how what bowl game is being played
some of those names just dont sound right

its important to the horns so they can see what they may have
for next year especially the quarterback position
just pick one and sink or swim with that one
talk about confidence killer

lets go horns

organicgreen doctor