Category: Life

Is lip-syncing the new photoshop?


Welcome to the new age of deception: Lip-syncing has gone mainstream.

Remember the big stir Milli Vanilli created when they were busted for lip syncing in a live concert in 1989? The band was sued for consumer fraud and suffered, rightly so in my opinion, an immediate end to their success when fans realized they had been duped.

So why do we allow today’s stars to get away with it?

Most recently, Beyonce was outed by the Marine band for lip syncing the national anthem at Obama’s inauguration. The national anthem! Is this what show business has come to: Deceiving fans and spectators at in order to deliver a “perfect” show?

If the productions were perfect, it might be tolerable. However, I’m aware of two recent accounts of lip syncing that were far from perfect.

In October 2012 my wife took our teenage daughter to the opening night of Justin Bieber’s tour in Phoenix. Not fifteen minutes into his act, Bieber threw up while “singing” one of his songs. My wife texted me the details live. She reported that the show continued even though he threw up twice more with no interruption in the music (or his singing) at all.

Justin Bieber caught lip syncing as he throws up on stage
Justin ‘the Biebs” Bieber tosses his cookies in his 2012 concert in Glendale, AZ as a recording of his voice continues to play. Photo credit: usmagazine.com

Intrigued to see what this was all about, I searched YouTube later that night and sure enough, smart phone videos taken by a number of people in attendance revealed that a recording of the Biebs rolled on as he tossed his cookies.

Another botched lip-sync performance occurred at the 2013 Fiesta Bowl football game I attended. As we fans were asked to remove our caps for the singing of the national anthem, the jumbotron camera zoomed in on 2012 London Games high jump silver medalist Brigetta Barrett who appeared to be psyching herself up for the performance she was about to lay down.

Before the crowd quieted down, her lovely voice began to deliver those beautiful lyrics we Americans love. The only trouble is that her lips weren’t moving yet. My guess is the AV producer had one espresso shot too many in the preceding hours and pushed the button prematurely. Once he (or she) realized the error, the pause button was pushed – at just the second the Barrett’s lips began to move.

Eventually they got it together and she finished her part of the show, but not before the damage was done. What a fiasco! I’m sure she’s a great athlete. She may even be a good singer, but she lost the faith of anyone that was paying attention that night.

Modern technology has made it possible for us to be fooled in just about every aspect of life. Think about all the models who are Photoshopped for their appearances on the covers of glam magazines. How about the Manti Te’o girlfriend scam?

Sadly, it seems that most Americans are okay with being duped by technology. I for one am fed up with it. In my opinion, if you want the fame and rewards that go along with being an entertainer, you had better be able to entertain.

Screw it up and you might find yourself featured in my blog.

The impact of political party on personal tax rates


by @PaulFiarkoski

The Washington Post headline for January 1, 2012 read “Senate overwhelmingly passes ‘fiscal cliff’ deal.” This after President Obama cut short his Christmas vacation with the family in Hawaii to fly back to Washington negotiate a deal with Speaker Boehner.

Tax time image 1040
Image credit: Fox2now.com – St. Louis, MO

With all the talk recently about the fiscal cliff and how President Obama’s plan would surely send the U.S. into a double-dip recession (the first dip having occurred 2008-09), I got to wondering about how my own tax situation had been impacted by the decisions of Washington in recent years.

It’s hard to know what the truth is with all the sound bites we hear in the news, so I did what made the most sense to me and looked back at the tax returns I have filed jointly with my wife for the past several years.

Our effective tax rates for 2004 through 2011

Year     Rate       Pres         Senate control
2004    6.68%     Bush        Republicans
2005    5.43%     Bush        Republicans
2006    9.37%     Bush        Republicans
2007    8.02%     Bush        Republicans
2008    6.46%     Bush        Democrats
2009    6.46%    Obama        Democrats
2010    7.46%    Obama        Democrats
2011    8.45%    Obama        Democrats

I was a little surprised by what I found. Our highest effective tax rate (9.37%) was in 2006. I did a little more digging found that the Republican Party not only occupied the Whitehouse (George W. Bush) but also controlled the Senate at that time.

During this time period our gross income increased by 16%. Neither my wife nor I changed employers or moved. Our dependent (children) count remained constant too.

The takeaway for me is that Republicans aren’t as true to their claims of being the tax reduction party as they would like the American public to believe. During the Bush presidency, our effective tax rate rose nearly 3% from 2004 to 2006 before it began to drop in 2008 in response to all of the stimuli designed to head off a recession. (Note: we went into a recession anyway.)

During the Obama years, our tax rate increased from Bush’s last year in office; however, as of our 2011 tax return we’re still not back to the peak rate of 9.37% tax rate we were paying in 2006 under Bush and a Republican controlled Senate.

Don’t take my word for it. Look up your own tax returns and see what the impact has been for you.

6 financial resolutions you can live with


by @PaulFiarkoski

Here we are in a new year again. If you are a resolution maker and want to do a better job at managing your finances, consider one or more of the resolutions below.

1. Make a budget (or spending plan)
Budget – it’s a scary word, I know. Almost as bad as the word “diet.” If you don’t like the word budget, try calling it a spending plan. Whatever you call it, without putting more thought into what you spend, you are more likely to spend money recklessly.

Keep it simple. You don’t need any fancy software or apps; a simple spreadsheet is what I use. Plot out what income you expect to receive on a monthly basis and how much you expect to spend.

I have found that predicting expenses is a lot easier if you download transaction history from your bank or credit union for recent months or the same month a year ago. Although it takes a little more work, I like to plot out every day of the month so I can project how my account balance will likely change from day to day. This is a good way to help prevent unnecessary transfer and overdraft fees.

2. Spend less
Sounds painful, but this is actually the one of the easiest things to do. A simple way to find ways to save is to look at your bank statements. What always stands out to me are purchases like coffee or fast food places. You don’t need to give them up completely, but you can cut back on the number of times you go there or on what you buy. Try this: small-size rather than super-size. Or bring your lunch to work one more day per week. Taking these little steps can add up to big savings.

poll results top financial new year's resolutions
Top financial resolutions people make according to creditcards.com.

3. Pay down debt
This one is a real challenge and offers perhaps the greatest feeling of satisfaction. My wife and I paid off three loans that had been weighing us down in 2012 and we aim to get rid of our last two in 2013. Take if from me, there is no better feeling than calling to ask for the payoff amount for a loan then telling the service rep, “Thank you – now help me make my final payment and close this account for good.”

Opinions differ among experts as to which debts should be paid down first. We’ve been following the debt snowball method made famous by Dave Ramsey. You pay off your smallest loan first by getting aggressive with extra payments. As soon as that debt is gone, add the minimum payment that you would have been paying on that loan to the payment you’re required to make on your next biggest loan until it’s paid off. Repeat that sequence until your debts are paid off.

With interest rates as low as they are currently, now is also a good time to see if you can renegotiate lower rates with your lenders. Be careful about consolidating debt. By bundling all your debt into one large loan, it’s possible to become overwhelmed and feel like you’re getting nowhere.

4. Save more
Don’t confuse this with spending less. What I mean by saving more is actually putting money away for you to use later on. The best way to get and stay motivated on this goal is to think of it as paying yourself. Ideally, you should be the one you pay first always. Anyone just starting out in the working world should make this a high priority. However, it can be really tough to do if you haven’t gotten serious about spending less or paying off some debt.

5. Get in touch with your investments
When friends or family members ask me for advice with their investments, I’m always amazed to find out how little they know about what they currently have. How much do you have? Where is your money invested? What sort of return are you getting? If you can’t answer those basic questions, getting answers should be a high priority.

Once you have a better idea of what you have and how it’s invested, do some digging to find out if it’s appropriate for your goals. Learn about investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds and get intentional about how your money is invested. You can only work so many hours per week to earn money for yourself. If you’re investing wisely, your portfolio can become like a silent partner for you – earning money for you even on your day off. Trust me, if you ever plan to retire you cannot grow your investment portfolio too large.

Don’t have investments? Make it a goal. It’s easier than ever to invest your money and have it go to work for you. The most convenient way to get started investing is with your retirement plan at work. If you don’t have access to one, look into setting up an IRA (individual retirement account) or mutual fund account.

6. Educate yourself
Learning more about what you currently have is an important step, but don’t stop there. Learn about the stock market and what impact the decisions made by the numbskulls in Washington have on the market. Find a few blogs or websites to follow, starting with mine. I learned a lot about financial matters in college and my formal training but the real valuable lessons I learned by reaching, watching and doing. Expanding your knowledge about finances is a responsibility you owe to yourself.

Some resources to get you started:

How I reduced my debt burden with an auto equity loan


by @PaulFiarkoski

In December 2012 I called my credit union to ask about consolidating a loan we have elsewhere with a loan I already have at the credit union. The solution they offered surprised me: A cash out auto loan, whereby I send them the title for the truck I recently paid off and they loan me up to the blue book value at a very low interest rate.

autopawn image
Image property of autopawnamerica.com

Making a move like this is counter to the general advice offered by Dave Ramsey, whose wisdom my wife and I have been relying on in our pursuit of financial peace by eliminating all our debt. What I would tell Dave is that I’m not taking on more debt; I’m just changing the interest rate and to whom I’m repaying the loan. Besides, by having the loan with my credit union I can be “gazelle intense” in paying it off since I’m reminded of the debt every time I sign in to online banking and I can make extra payments with a couple mouse clicks. Truthfully, this is my real intent.

At first I was uncomfortable with giving my truck title back to the credit union since I had never heard of a loan like this. I wondered how it’s any different than an auto pawn business. In retrospect, it’s probably no different; however, the interest rate is much better than I could get with a pawn broker and I do have a lot more trust in my credit union.

Why is it that we always think the worst? “If I miss a payment, they can repossess my truck,” that voice in my head told me.

“You haven’t missed a payment on any loan for over ten years dummy; your truck won’t be repossessed,” the glass half-full voice responded.

I followed the voice of reason. As a result, I was able to borrow the same amount of money I owed on my other loan but at a much lower interest rate. The other loan was 18% interest and would have taken me another four years to pay off. The rate on my new loan is only 2.5%. The monthly payment is about five dollars more per month and if I make only the minimum payments each month, the loan will be paid off a year earlier. However, my wife and I are committed is to making double payments and paying the loan off completely by the end of 2013.

Provided we continue to be blessed with steady income and no big unforeseen expenses, I’ll have the title for my truck back in a year and we’ll be that much closer to our goal of being debt-free. Works for me!

Five keys to writing Craigslist ads that sell


by @PaulFiarkoski

If you have you been thinking about trying to post something for sale on craiglist.com but have been hesitant because you don’t know how to go about it, read on.

In 2012 I sold no less than two dozen items using Craigslist. To date, I have a 100% success rate. I also have a bachelors degree in advertising, but my advice here comes more from my actual experience using Craigslist.

craigslist selling tips
Craigslist is a free website you can use to sell items around your house.

1) Write to an audience of one  Knowing and writing to your audience is key to success for any ad. Since you likely only have one item for each ad, you don’t need the type of door buster ad that we see around Thanksgiving. In most cases your target audience is just one person out of a hundred or so that will see your ad. What does that one person need to know about the item you’re selling?

2) Keep it simple  Use simple language. Keep your sentences short; a bullet pointed list is more effective than sentences. Tell as much as you can in the title: brand, color, model, year, etc. This helps people find your ad when they perform a search.

3) List the price  In the world of Craigslist, price is a big motivator. Unless you’re selling something so unique that it can’t be found elsewhere, your ad will likely flop if you don’t offer the item(s) at a bargain price. If you don’t tell them your price, potential buyers are more likely to skip on to the next seller’s ad. Based on my experience, Craigslist buyers aren’t as likely to haggle as garage sale or old-school classified ad shoppers. So you don’t need to price it higher than you really want to sell it for in order to give yourself wiggle room.

Tip: my 100% success rate with Craigslist ads is due in part to my willingness to drop my price (if necessary) over a number of weeks until the item was attractive enough to a buyer.

4) Post pictures Many Craigslist shoppers won’t even open your ad if they don’t see the image icon next to your title.  Craigslist now allows you to upload as many as six pictures per post. Use that to your advantage by showing the item(s) from many different angles. Since the first image you upload is the one that shoppers will see first, make sure it’s the most representative picture. Don’t hide the flaws though. Showing imperfections up front will make the transaction go much smoother when the buyer shows up at your house with the cash.

5) Give your phone number  This is critical. Craigslist buyers tend to be spontaneous. They feel like they need to strike quickly in order to get a good deal and won’t take the time to send and manage a number of emails. Be prepared to delete your ad as soon as it sells so you can eliminate unnecessary calls or text messages.

Tip: It’s best if you give a cell phone number and mention that they can call or text you. This works better for you too, because you can answer or respond to calls if you’re away from home.

Follow the five tips above and you’ll be selling your stuff on Craigslist with the best of ’em in no time. It’s a great way to turn unwanted items around your house into cash.

For examples of what not to do when you write a Craigslist ad, see these OMG Craiglist ads (intended to be humorous).

Reflections on 12-12-12: No ordinary Wednesday


by @PaulFiarkoski

I’m not into numerology, so I don’t believe anything special happens when numbers line up in a certain way. That said, all the hype with 12-12-12 could have came and went for me with almost no significance. Same for last year on November 11, and October 10 the year before that. August 8, 2008 (08-08-08) was sort of cool since it was my sister’s birthday – and the day of the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics.

My lack of interest in a numerically significant date notwithstanding, somehow a switch was flipped for me the morning of December 12, 2012. It actually started the night before when my 11 year-old daughter made me pinky promise I would take a picture of my iPod screen for her at exactly 12:12 pm since she would be at school.

Couldn’t avoid the buzz
When I checked in on Facebook the morning of the 12th, my feed was lit up with all things 12-12-12. Same thing on Twitter. One post in particular stood out to me: ” 12.12.12 …I have the DVR all ready to go!,” a friend from my high school posted. It was then that I remembered hearing about the benefit concert taking place later in the day at New York’s Madison Square Garden. I promptly set my DVR too.

Time check
I worked from home that day and started my lunch hour at exactly 12 noon, so could I stay focused on upholding the pledge I made to my daughter. An added bonus was being able to hug and kiss my wife like we do each New Year’s eve at midnight. I captured the special moment on my iPod and posted the image on Facebook with a snarky comment about surviving 12-12-12. Even though I know the Mayans alleged apacolypse was allegedly not to occur until December 21, so many people mistook the twelfth for D-day that I decided to play along.

The screen shot I took of my iPod screen at 12:12 on December 12, 2012.
The screen shot I took of my iPod screen at 12:12 on December 12, 2012.

Benefit concert
The day continued as any usual Wednesday would until 6:30 local time when the 12-12-12 benefit concert came on the tv. What a line up! When it kicked off with Bruce Springstein and Bon Jovi I quickly realized this was going to be a big event. The legends just kept parading out, one after another. Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, the Who. Honestly, I got chills a few times just sitting there watching these larger than life rock stars humble themselves for the cause of raising money for those suffering from the effects of SuperStorm Sandy.

I checked in on Facebook and Twitter a couple times during the show to see how others were reacting to the performances. Most were impressed, although there were a few low points. Kanye West comes to mind. A personal favorite for me was Adam Sandler’s rendition of Hallelujah. An instant classic! The biggest shock for me was that Alicia Keys did not sing her hit “New York”. Maybe I’ll find out when I play the rest of the concert on the 13th that it was part of a finale. I hope so.

Like Farm Aid on steroids
Here was my one-liner that summarized how I felt about the concert: Farm Aid has been working out and taking roids for the last 25 years and has re-emerged as the #121212concert for Superstorm Sandy victims.

I mentioned to my wife that when we look back at tonight in ten years or so, we’re going to realize this was a bigger event than Woodstock, BandAid or any of the other big time concert events.

Meteor Shower
Another topic that others were commenting about on social media was the Geminid Meteor Shower – an event I would not have been aware of were it not for Facebook. Then Kanye West took the stage. About 45 seconds into his act I decided then was a good time to make a break for the hot tub. Everyone else in the family had already dozed off, so I was solo. Low and behold, I saw a few streaks from the meteors whizzing through the night sky, high above South Mountain on the south edge of Phoenix.

I still don’t believe there is any thing special about how certain numbers line up. But thanks to the large contingent of others that do believe, 12-12-12 was anything but an ordinary Wednesday for me.

How to survive without cable or satellite tv


by @PaulFiarkoski

In 2012 my family of four decided to chase after the notion of financial peace. It was a decision that my wife and I made, but we made sure to include the kiddos in on the plan so as to explain why some things would be changing around the house.

GE indoor outdoor antenna
This medium quality indoor/outdoor HD antenna cost about $40 and delivers all the network and local channels in high definition.

Although I didn’t earn any popularity points for this one, I made the executive decision that we would be cutting DirecTV out of our budget after about fifteen years of loyal subscribership. It wasn’t easy at first but we’ve adjusted, and now we rarely miss the hundreds of channels we had access to but rarely watched.

How we did away with satellite TV
Since we already had a HDTV, I purchased a medium quality digital antenna for about $40 that I mounted on the side of our house nearest the radio and tv antennas perched atop South Mountain in Phoenix. After running the channel scan, we ended up with about 40 channels that are viewable; however, roughly a quarter of them are Spanish only stations and another quarter program content we would consider only on the most sleepless of sleepless nights. We do get all of the majornetwork channels that accounted for about 80% of our viewing when we had satellite. Most of the channels we watch now are in high definition, so we’re actually getting a higher quality picture than satellite at no cost.

Stretching our dollars with technology
So as to make sure we could watch the shows we want when we want (a habit we developed thanks to the DVR satellite receiver), I did spring for a Tivo box at a cost of about $70 and a $20 monthly service fee. I also pay for high speed internet from the local cable company and have the internet connection wired directly to the Tivo box. The internet connection means we can stream videos from Netflix ($8 a month for unlimited movies and programs) as well as free videos and programming available from YouTube and Tivo.

For music channels similar to the satellite radio stations on DirecTV, we now stream our favorite Pandora channels. We can also now surf the web, shop or play games with others around the world on the Wii console that’s also wired to the tv.

There are still moments when we really miss some of the stuff we used to watch on channels we no longer get. For instance, my wife and daughters used to love watching Dance Moms. When Superstorm Sandy battered New Jersey and New York, I really wished I had The Weather Channel.

Update (Jan. 1, 2012): I may be a little slow, but I just discovered that we can watch ESPN and a number of cable networks on the iPad, thanks to the growing number of available apps.

Bottom line
We gave up a monthly satellite bill of about $80 in exchange for our current cost of $28 (Tivo and Netflix) – a savings of $52 a month. That’s over $600 a year we’re saving for giving up very little. It may not be worth it to a lot of people, but we are laser focused on cutting our expenses and paying down debt.If it sounds good to you, I would suggest you try pulling the plug on cable (or satellite) and see how much you can save too.

Confessions of a surprised Phoenix newcomer


by @PaulFiarkoski

One Saturday morning during my first holiday season as Phoenix resident I was out running a few errands. Being new to the area, a lot of things on the radio caught my attention, like the promo for a car dealership that was hosting a radio station for a live remote on this particular day.

I wasn’t in the market for a car, but something about the announcer drew me in as she rattled off a few today only specials then invited us listeners to “come on out and see ’em for yourselves” at one of two locations.

Surprise, AZ
Surprise, AZ is a real place

When she gave the first location I could visualize it on a map in my mind. It was the second location – the “surprise location on Bell Road” – that confused me.

“Hello!” I thought to myself. “It’s not a surprise if you give the location.”

I couldn’t believe my ears as I played back the for-sure radio blooper in my head. “What a fool,” I remember thinking. “She totally blew the surprise and gave out the location. She’ll be lucky if she’s not fired on the spot.”

About fifteen minutes later I realized the fool was me. I mentioned the DJ’s blunder to a convenience store clerk, who very politely wondered aloud “Could she have been talking about a location in the town of Surprise?”

Doh! Imagine my surprise.

Tips for a productive household budget meeting


by @PaulFiarkoski

After seventeen years of marriage and countless arguments over money, my wife and I recently got serious about getting out of debt. We’ve been following the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover program where you take a series of steps with the ultimate goal of becoming completely debt free. First you cut out all frivolous spending and set aside $1,000 in savings. Then you start attacking all your debt from smallest loan to largest. After all your unsecured (no collateral) debt is paid off, you get aggressive with investing.

Pen and paper
For best results, take time to prepare for your household budget meeting.

One of the keys to cutting out frivolous spending is to hold a monthly budget meeting, presumably with your spouse. It’s a good idea for domestic partners and single people too. We’re prepping for our third monthly budget meeting and are really starting to see some results – mainly in the way of fewer arguments over money.

Below are some tips that we have found help us have successful budget meetings and outcomes. If you have questions, post them in the comments and I’ll respond the best I can.

Set some ground rules
Create some simple ground rules to review at the beginning of each meeting. You should read them out loud before getting into the money discussion. We have found it’s also good to pray before starting the money talk to get our heads and hearts in the right place.

Here are the ground rules we abide by:

  1. We’re a team and we’re doing this activity for a mutually beneficial outcome.
  2. It’s not about judging or finding fault; it’s about being responsible stewards with the gifts God blesses us with.
  3. Each will listen and respect the other’s feelings and opinions.
  4. We are not perfect and we won’t do it perfectly but we must get better over time.

Have an agenda
Make the best use of your time by sitting down with specific talking points and outcomes in mind. We use the same agenda from month to month. Below I have outlined the key things we talk about.

Track progress with net worth
Having been a registered financial consultant for over a decade, I learned that the best way to measure financial progress is net worth. Net worth is a pretty simple calculation; although gathering up the numbers can be a chore.

To calculate net worth, add up all your assets (what you own) and subtract your debt (what you owe). Include everything – home, cars, timeshares, retirement accounts, etc. On the credit side include all your debt, even credit cards and no short term furniture loans, etc.

Here is what we include in our net worth calculation:

Net Worth = Assets – Liabilties
Assets
Checking
Savings
Health Savings
Retirement account
IRAs

Liabilities
Mortgage
Overdraft line of credit
Medical bills

Pulling together the net worth data takes some time, but talking about it takes only about a minute. What I do is gather up the data and have it all set to go in a one page report prior to the monthly meeting with my wife. Websites like mint.com simplify this monthly task by aggregating multiple financial accounts into one application. Many banks and credit unions now offer these online aggregation services too.

The idea is to look at your net worth on a regular basis to see if it’s increasing or decreasing. It’s sort of like using a scale to keep track of weight loss.

Wins and losses
Next, talk about what you did well last month from a budget standpoint. This can be a great opportunity to score brownie points with your partner if you approach it right. Focus on things each other did well, rather than spotlight ways where the other blew it. This doesn’t mean you should ignore obvious “withdrawals” of fiscal trust; just be careful in how you approach shortcomings on the part of each other.

Talk about things that pulled you off course.  If talking about who spent how much on coffee, nails, hair, etc. is likely to start an argument, consider making the decision that each of you get a set amount of cash each month to spend as you wish. Then take that cash out at the ATM and don’t hold each other accountable to it.

What’s coming up
Once you have made it through what will likely be the most emotionally charged part of the meeting, talk about what the next month looks like in terms of money coming in and money you need to pay out. I have found it helpful to use spreadsheet and plot out every day of  the coming month and what money we expect to receive or to pay out. It’s time consuming and sometimes painful, but it’s what you will do if you want to break out of a financial rut.

Agreed goals
Finally, close the meeting by reminding yourselves of the financial goals you have in common and discuss how you’re tracking to meet them. If you haven’t established any goals, consider starting with the baby steps that millions of debt-free Dave Ramsey followers have based their success on.

How often to meet
My suggestion is to have the budget meeting once a month for starters. Sit down in a distraction free environment at least an hour and talk it out. We get together on the back patio. Stay in constant communication with each other about the budget, especially when one of you is about to spend money that wasn’t part of the last budget discussion.

Don’t put it off
The only way to fail is to not try it. Feel free to use some of the ideas that have worked for us or create your own approach. I have also found some great resources on Dave Ramsey’s website.