The Secrets Which Will Make You Angry

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There are a few notions out there based on fear and ignorance that create fear around financial matters. When this fear is allowed to fester, people do not act in a rational way in regards to not only money, but in treating other people with respect and dignity.

Here is some tough love for you. You may not want to hear it nor do you want to believe it, but if you don't take heed you could be left behind.

1. The 16th Amendment Was Ratified - For all you conspiracy theorists, I hate to tell you this one is true. Ohio may not have officially been a state when this was passed, but even without Ohio, there were more than enough states which did approve it. Like it or not, we are stuck paying taxes.
2. The IRS Agents Are Only Doing A Job - True, no one likes to pay taxes, but every now and then we must deal with these government bureaucrats who seem disinterested in our own set of problems. They are simply doing a job. The people you usually talk to on the phone or in person rarely get paid a great salary. They must deal with hundreds of people a day during the busiest season and cannot possibly get every person taken care of with extreme satisfaction - they are only human and trying to earn a living.
3. Taxes Are Necessary For Our Living Standard - If you have ever taken out a mortgage loan, chances are tax dollars are responsible, in part, of making that loan available to you at a reasonable rate. If you or your children are going to college, chances are you had to take out a government based loan which was funded by tax dollars. If your home or apartment was damaged by a natural disaster, chances are the government stepped in to not only help you repair the damages, but to assist in the cost of emergency assistance. Airport security is a drag and it still has a lot of imperfections, but your tax dollars go towards making your trip as safe as possible. Have a parent or grandparent over age 65? Your tax dollars are allowing them to have some sort of income so they will not have to work until they die and many can maintain an independent life without having to live with their children. Our taxes pay for the needs of both the rich and the poor and everyone in between. If taxes were totally eliminated at the national level, it would put more pressure on the state level and the taxes you would pay to your state would be a lot higher.
4. There Is Not A One World Conspiracy By Big Banks - For one thing, all the different banks around the world have separate and conflicting agendas to even make this a possibility. Some like to point to event that took place on March 9, 1933 as proof, but alas the argument has long been overstated. There was indeed a period of National Emergency, but we are no longer under that same period from March 9, 1933. The banks under control by The Fed are in the US and not foreign. The Fed does in fact report to congress and must account to them for all of their actions. Even if The Fed prints money, it is doing so as a branch of the Congress. Even if there were a conspiracy in 1933, those involved are long dead and didn't get to see a One World Order as some people claim they planned.
5. There Have Always Been A Rich Class Keeping It To Themselves - Sorry again conspiracy theorists. This is nothing new. Even looking back in relatively short periods of time in history we could see the Lord/Surf relations is one where the very poor were dependent on the rich who were not about to just give it to the peasants. This is not a New World Order movement, but just the way things always have been. Class difference have always inspired such conspiracy theories because the upper class has more power than the lower class can even imagine, so it is best to create an evil boogey-man out to get them rather than accept that it's just the way things are.
6. Stop Depicting Jews As Controlling The World - This simply is not true. The Jewish people have long been targeted as the source of all evil from the time of a developing Europe during the times of the Crusades. As one of the early "Christian values" people were taught that money was somehow evil and a good Christian would not dare to horde it. However, the Jewish people did not have that kind of hang up and when it came to the early, pre-historic versions of the banking industries, money was handled by mostly Jewish people because it was one of the few areas where they could work when the rest of the civilization was prejudice against them. Same goes for the media...Once upon a time it was considered beneath most Christians to become an entertainer and it opened up a field to people who needed work. Don't blame an entire group of people for a world conspiracy when most of this group is middle class or lower.
7. Paper Money Is Worthless, To A Certain Degree - Because of events on March 9, 1933, gold could no longer support the growing financial needs of the population. There is a limited supply of gold and if we were still on the gold standard there would be a lot more poor people in this country. Most countries have long abandoned the gold standard decades ago. There is no devious intention, but boils down to practicality - the same reason we moved from bartering with sheep and goats to use gold and silver. The paper money currently in circulation is given the value stated according to how much the Fed has determined will keep the economy flowing and this budget must be approved by Congress.
8. If You Stand Still In Worry Of Conspiracies Against Your Money, You Won't Have It When You Need It - Be reasonable. At any time any government could fail, including this one. This is a fact of the evolution of nations. There is no such thing as a country who has had a monetary system that did not fail inside a period of 200 years. Many do so more frequently. There really isn't much you can do about factors beyond your control, but if you obsess about what could happen and don't work within the present system, you will be left out in the cold.
9. If You Fail To Plan For Your Retirement, You Will Work Until You Die - Don't count on Social Security to carry you through your Golden Years. Even those on it now exclusively are living below poverty. By the time most of us under age 45 reach age 65, the funds will probably be so depleted that the benefits will not support a single person for a week, let alone an elderly couple trying to make it through a month. It's never too late to start saving and planning, but the earlier you do it, the more money you will have.
10. Debt Collectors Are Not Scary Creatures - Once you realize the full nature of their business and that they are only people [sometimes people on power trips] you can face up to them easily and work out a deal that works for all involved.
11. You Could Have Been A Millionaire - Most people who earn over $12 an hour for full time work and are paid in keeping up with inflation and started working by age 21 will have in fact made over a million dollars by retirement. However, this fact is rarely realized because the cost of living from age 21 to death is estimated between $1-5 million dollars depending on whose figures you believe.
12. The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Middle Class Is Disappearing - However, this cycle is not new. The gap between the very rich and the very poor has always been moving both directions. Yes, even if you are dirt poor, you could be rich if you have the motivation, the education, and a fresh idea with a lot of action...Yet, many who are dirt poor do not have access to what it would take to get them rich which makes this an idle pipe dream for many who are forced to feel guilty about their station in life when they need a little help.
13. The Rich Versus Poor Argument Is Pointless - It has been argued back and forth over who should pay the most taxes. Both sides have a point, but neither side listens to the other. True, the rich who do create jobs enrich the lives of the poor and if they are doing this should get a break on the taxes they do pay. However, not all the rich are doing this and are hording their funds solely to make their portfolio fatter. There is nothing wrong with it, but it would only be fair they were taxed accordingly when this action does not give a fair chance to others to accumulate money. Yes, the poor do tend to use a lot of government benefits to just get by with basic living needs and expenses which are paid for by tax dollars, however, this is a weak argument to make the poor pay a higher level of taxation because the rich also make use of government programs which feed from tax dollars and often at a higher level of payment from the government. The bottom line - if you were to take only 30% of income from people making $25,000 a year, they are unable to make a decent living, but if you take the same amount from a person making $500,000 a year they will not have to worry about choosing between buying food or paying the electric bill.
14. A Safety Net Is Just As Much For The Rich As The Poor - For all those who make the callous decision to cut benefits for the poor, just think about how this affects the welfare of the rich. If you have enough desperate people who are trying to survive and cut off any chance they have of getting by, you create havoc that could be a threat to even the rich. Stop judging the poor as lazy slobs who have no ambition. If you give them a hand, they become better customers which feed into the pool of those who sell the goods to make you rich.
15. If You Have 7 Years To Wait, Your Credit Record Will Be Clean Without You Having To Do A Thing - Credit report cleaning con artists like to scare consumers into thinking they must buy into their program in order to have a clean credit report, but often come back with claims that cannot possibly be done. All bad marks, except for bankruptcies, will stay on your report for 7 years unless you make an effort to prove the allegations are untrue. That really is not a long time. Do nothing and don't create any more bad marks and you will have a clean record.
16. If You Must Have A Clean Record Now, You Can Do This On Your Own - The process is not complicated, but due to many false claims you may have an unrealistic expectation of what can and cannot be done. It will take a lot of paperwork on your part and sending things by certified mail and keeping receipts and documents. If there are marks on your report that are true and the company can back it up, the mark will stay on. If the company kept bad records or do not respond to the inquiry or if you have proof you paid, then it can be knocked off. You cannot remove judgements, bankruptcies, or garnishment orders until the time is up unless you can prove that such action was not legal or enforceable. If you are willing to do the work, you can get many bad marks off, but probably won't get all of them off.
17. Investing Your Money Is Always A Risk, But Not Investing At All Is A Bigger Risk - When you put your money in stocks, bonds, or any various form of investing, you take a risk that business conditions may be good and can turn a profit leaving you with more money. However, it is not a guarantee. You could lose all of your money should there ever become another Great Depression era and all that money you thought you had is long gone. If you don't invest at all or stuff your money in a mattress, it will never accumulate extra value and will in fact decrease in value the longer you have it out of circulation.