Tip # 86 Headlines – just doing my duty to the country
If your leaders are pondering war and your beliefs go the other way, write your congressman a note – it doesn’t have to be a flawlessly written letter. Urge him not to sign any legislation that hints at the country taking up arms. Suggest negotiation instead of confrontation, diplomacy in place of ultimatums, peace, not war. This way, you’ve done your civic duty, and you’re not procrastinating about potentially saving a beautiful country.
Tip # 87 Headlines – they’re changing Medicare laws again
Quick, take pen and paper and send off another note. If the changes in your country’s health care act will affect you adversely, don’t wait for others to take up arms. Be among the first to protest. If thousands – or millions – do the same thing and it’s an election year – these letters might just change your leaders’ stance. Would you rather procrastinate than pay a 25% increase in your yearly drug bill?
Tip # 88 Business – cut your losses
If you haven’t learned from the Nortel fiasco, don’t wait until the next major stock in your portfolio turns into another Nortel – or Enron – or Worldcom. You know what happened to the small investor – he thought the stock, being a blue chip, might pick up momentum again.
Well, it started as a lackluster stock, and then it became sluggish, finally becoming a junk stock. There were millions of procrastinators waiting around for the stock market to do a 360 degree turn.
Money theorists agree. It’ll be awhile before we see another spectacular performance like the one we jubilated over on the eve of the millennium. Everyone felt rich when 2000 rolled around. A lot of them are now in debt.
Tip # 89 Business – ask a financial planner to help you out
Your local banker would be more than willing to refer you to one of the bank’s in-house financial planners. If you’ve fared poorly with finances, or want to have a better grasp of money matters, a financial planner could be a life saver. Sit down with your planner: tell him how you owe, how much you want to save for retirement, what assets and liabilities are on your books - he’ll do the rest.
