Time to Focus

Last year was the first year that I wrote a goals post here on the blog.

I truly loved the experience as it helped put things in perspective of what I really wanted to accomplish.

Plus, it’s exciting to see how those goals actually played out and what transpired over the past year.

I now realize this will be an annual occurrence here at GFC.

Before I start with this year’s goals, I thought I would reflect back and see how last year’s goals played out (You can see the post here).

Hindsight is 20/20

My goals were broken down into 3 separate categories: Family, Business, Blogging, and the Book (Soldier of Finance). Here’s a quick look:

Family

1. Upon Arriving Home, Put the Phone Down
2. Peaceful Dinner with No Phone
3. Kiss my Wife Every Day

Business

1. Increase Asset Growth of My firm by 33%
2. Increase Revenue Growth of firm by 33%

Blogging

1. Average over 100,000 visitors per month to this blog
2. Increase Soldier of Finance to 30,000 visitors per month

Book

1. Have 90% of the Book completed by July 2011.

Okay, let’s see how I did…….

Family

The Fam

Overall, I did very well.  Smartphones help make any business person uber efficient, but; unfortunately, it’s hard to “turn off the switch”.

I was continuously guilty of coming home and still being on my phone – checking email, Twitter, Facebook…whatever.

I finally realized that this needed to change.

Now, upon arriving home, I toss my phone in our key basket and don’t mess with it until later on in the night.  The goal by doing so was to come home and be more connected with my family and thus far: mission accomplished.

The same has transferred over to dinner time.  The truth, though, is that dinner time at our household is a bit hectic.  When you have 3 young  boys, we’re scrambling to get them fed while trying to suck down our own dinner.  So dinner might not be with a phone, but I wouldn’t always characterize it as “peaceful”.

Pucker up.  I wish I could say that this one worked out, too; but it didn’t.  We have got much better at recognizing the fact that affection is important, even if it is just the little things.   I’m thankful to have a wife that loves me just as much as I love her.  Our family truly is blessed!

The Big Goal. The biggest goal for me as a husband and a father is to be a better spiritual leader in our household.  This year was exciting in that my wife and I were baptized together (it was actually my second time as I was baptized when I was a child).  We’ve grown together spiritually more in the past year than the five previous but I know it’s on me to bring it to the next level.

What does that mean?  To be in my bible more and be a better Christian for starters.  As a family, we just started praying together, but I know we need to do it more.  There have been a few times where our oldest son has asked if we can pray together – which I adore!  But why should my 4 year old be the one asking his parents to pray?  That’s my job to be persistent in bringing more of Jesus in our life.   So the big goals are to be in my bible more and to pray, at minimum, as a family once per week.   I’ve even set a “to-do” in my phone to remind me and shared it with my wife. 

Business

Wow!  What a year for the business.  First, let me say that I did reach my goals; just in a round-a-bout way.  I had an awesome surge in the first half of the year bringing in several new clients.   The whole time that this was occurring, I was plotting my next move – starting my own registered investment advisory firm.

The motivation for the transition was simple – I needed the freedom to blog and I was willing to do what ever I needed to do so.  Even if it meant giving up $36,ooo a year of income.

In May, I formed Alliance Wealth Management, LLC and the transition began and was finally completed in August.   It was the 2nd biggest transition in my business career (first being when I left A.G. Edwards to go independent) and thus far has been equally as exciting and promising.

Why did I really do it?  People ask me,

“Is that really why you did it?  So you could blog?”

Quite simply, “Yes”.     But it’s just about having the freedom to blog or to shoot impromptu videos like this one below:

It’s about a bigger picture I have.  I want to continue to help as many people as I can and believe that I’ll be able to make a good living doing so.   Without that freedom, it would never be able to come true.

Now it’s my time to make it happen….

Blog

Oh…the blog.  Having started the summer of 2008 and having no clue what I was doing to having over 120,000 people visit my site December of 2010 was surreal.   At least I was humble with my goals and just hoped to maintain 100,000 visitors per month.

How did that pan out?  <insert noise of very large balloon deflating here>

Well, it didn’t.   If I recall correctly, everything was going fine right up until April 14th which I named “P-Day”.   “P” standing for Panda.

Panda was the name Google had given to its latest, and most intense, algorithm update supposedly only affecting a small number of sites.   The intent was to make the search experience better for “Googler’s” all across the globe.

Unlucky for me, my site took a drastic hit, as you can see below:

Boo on Panda!!!

I literally saw between a 60-70% drop in traffic overnight.  That did not settle well.

I was seriously bummed.  I had spent almost three years building my site and felt that I had finally arrived all to be whacked by something that I couldn’t explain and, even worse, control.

I felt helpless.

I remember I spent about a week or two and just didn’t want to blog at all.   It wasn’t until attending the first annual Financial Bloggers Conference that I finally had a new purpose:

Write Epic Shit.

I realized that I got so focused on writing for SEO – 401k limits this, Roth IRA rules that, -that I let the most valuable aspect of my blog slip away – my voice.

I got so used to writing “between the lines’ because of previously being heavily scrutinized by my compliance department that I forgot that I was allowed to have an opinion.

I’m so glad I finally came to my senses.

So what’s my blogging goals for 2012?  I don’t really care about traffic as I used to.  I care more about two things:

1. Building a community
2. Helping more people

That’s it.

Yeah, I want to make some money in the process.   But i know if I focus on the two points above, the money will follow.

What about video?

Well, I’m so glad you asked.      Video has been my new baby.  For Christmas, Santa treated me to a brand new Canon T3i and I’m loving it! Plus, my wife has officially quit her job (more on that in a bit) and has become my full time video editor (among other things).

What does that mean? That means that we’ll be cranking videos out at record numbers.   What has been a big help is I signed up for Jason Wedmore’s YouTube Video Traffic Academy.  You can’t beat it for the price.  If you are serious about making videos for YouTube, this course is a must have!!

My wife has gone through every module, learning how to get more views and engagement on our videos.   We’re a dangerous duo – watch out!  Here’s a recent video that we did to see the whole package in action:

Want to know the best part about that video?  No compliance approval needed. 

The Book (Soldier of Finance)

What was that goal again?  90% by July?   Ha!   Not even close.

Now for some really good excuses:

1. I formed a new investment firm and had to transition all my clients
2. Our third son arrived in May
3. I changed my outline for the zillionth time

Is that good enough?

The reality is the book didn’t start getting attention again until October this year.   What I’m happy to report is that Chapter 5 has just been completed.  Finally some progress!

My goals for 2012 is to have the first draft of the book done by April.   As I’m finishing the book, I want to also create a video course series that coincides with the book.  Yes, this is a tall order.  But I’m hopeful with my new videographer that it can be done.

 Other Goals

As mentioned previously, we were in a financial position that allowed my wife to quit her job.  But don’t think she’s slacking.  Oh no!  I’ve got her hard at work.

She has officially became my Social Media Manager (she preferred that title over Executive Assistant) to assist in my online business.   This includes editing videos for our YouTube channels and working on building up our sites.

Yes, I have more sites that just this one

I don’t get too much into her on this blog, but plan on sharing more about my online ventures on a new blog that my wife and I are starting up named Dollars and Roses.   (Note: the site is still in it’s infancy stages so don’t judge yet)

That site’s main purpose is to show people how we make money online and each month we’ll provide an income report of how much we make and where we make it.   Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income has been doing this for years and we’re excited to follow in his footsteps.

Right along starting this new site, some other bloggers came up with a clever challenge named the 30k challenge.

The name of the challenge pretty much sums it up.  Our goal is to make $30k more than we make last year from our online.

Is that ambitious?  Maybe.  But to be honest, my goal is more.  Much more.

In the past few months I’ve been implementing a few new businesses that I feel can really boost income.   Only time will tell.

If you want to keep track of our progress, be sure to stop by Dollars and Roses and follow our journey.

Are you ready to kick some butt in 2012 and achieve your goals?  Let’s do it!

The other day 5 seconds made all the difference in the world.  I was heading back home from a meeting I had with a client near the St. Louis area traveling south on Route 127 – a two lane road through the country side.  While talking to my wife using my Bluetooth, something immediately caught my eye.  What look like a big cloud of dust appeared in the middle of the road and I immediately knew something was wrong.  I vaguely remember saying to my wife,

“Baba, I got to go.  I think I just saw a head on collision.”

To my dismay, that’s exactly what I saw.

I immediately pulled my car to the side of the road, called 911 and jumped out to see if everyone was okay. While  walking up to the crash scene, I immediately had flashbacks of being in Iraq and walking up to a Humvee that had just got blown up by an IED, as I saw pieces of car everywhere.

I knew what I was walking up to.  I just didn’t want to believe it.

Two passengers where involved in the collision.  One older gentleman in his 50′s driving a full sized red truck was responsive.  He was obviously dazed but seemed to know what had happened. The other passenger was conscious but completely en-wrapped in her white, four door sedan.  She had been hit directly on the front drive side of her vehicle, making it impossible for her to get out.   I’m not really sure what happened but by talking to the guy that was in the car directly in front of me, he thinks that one of the cars crossed over the median and that’s why they hit head on. (I later learned that she was the one that had crossed over the center line).

When I arrived on the scene there were two woman, a mother and daughter that lived right where the accident occurred, who were both nurses that were attending to the victims.  I and a few others were hauling buckets of water to throw on the woman’s engine to prevent it from catching on fire.  (We couldn’t get to the ignition to shut the car off and there was oil all over the roads)

What If…..

You don’t have many moments like this in your life where you really start to ponder the “what if’s“:

• What if I had driven a few miles faster along the way?
• What if I hadn’t stopped in McDonalds to get a coffee?
• What if my second appointment hadn’t had to reschedule?
• What if I had got gas the night before where I didn’t need to fill up that morning?

After witnessing such an accident, it really puts your life into perspective. The only thing I could start thinking about was my family and how much I loved them.   When I approached the car I remember hoping that I wouldn’t see a car seat in the back.   Having 3 young children I’m not sure how I could have handled seeing that.  You can imagine my relief when I didn’t see one.

Within minutes emergency first responders started arriving and tending to the man and woman.  I stood on the side of the road watching as the surrealism continued.

After praying for the woman the financial planner in me kicked in as I started reflecting on the financial to-do’s of my own life.  You know.   The items on your list that you always say “You’ll get around to it” but never do.

One item that came to mind was life insurance on my wife.  She currently has insurance at her job, but it’s always possible that she might decide not to return and take care of our kids.   In that case, we would need a third party term life insurance policy on her.

We already applied for a social security number on our newborn son and once that arrives we need to get his name updated as a beneficiary on all our retirement accounts and also our will. I’m sure there are other things but these are the first things that came to mind.

What’s on Your List?

In your own life, what are the things that are in your to-do list but you keep putting off?

• Have you set up a power of attorney with you and your spouse?
• Have you bought the life insurance policy that you know you need and keep telling yourself that you’ll do it later?
• Have you gotten married recently or divorced and need to get your beneficiary information updated?
• Have you made a phone call to your attorney to have the will drafted so that your family and your minor kids are taken care of?

I’m sure as I have things on my to-do list, you do as well. Today was a friendly reminder, a nudge, to get you off your butt to get it done.

Stop thinking. Start doing.

My Condolences

I was shocked to learn later that evening that the female passenger had passed away due to her injuries.  I couldn’t believe it.  Reading her obituary I learned that she was 34 years old (one more than me) and she had 3 children (just like me).  My heart goes out to her family. You can read more about the accident here.

Have you ever been sitting at your computer scratching your head thinking, I know I am putting in the right password and login but it’s just not working? If you have then you and I have got something in common. Today there are hundreds of websites that require a login and password from e-mail, work applications, games, online shopping sites to pretty much anything else you would need some type of paid or private access to.

If you are also like me, I am concerned with using the same login and password for too many sites at the same time for safety reasons. Which brings us to the major problem at hand; I have literally ten to twelve different logins, and roughly the same number of passwords to remember. When I only buy something off of Amazon around once a month, how in the world am I supposed to remember the password and login?

Luckily there are a variety of options out there today that can help you with this problem that many of us are facing. Depending on your internet competency, there is still a great route for you to take. First I will knock the three most obvious answers out of the way.

• #1 Being to just write them all down on a piece of paper with the website name and store it in a safe spot. This is an acceptable option, but there safety is still not there. If you were to lose that piece of paper the next couple of weeks could be a scary time in your life as you scrambled to change them all.
• #2 is to simply make a Microsoft word document out of them. This option is very similar to writing them down, but it does however create a little more of a safety net because it is much less likely that you will lose your whole computer.
• #3 is for all you excel spreadsheet nuts out there. You can make an excel spreadsheet of your logins and passwords. This option has about the same security level as a word document bet lets you spruce it up a little.

Alternate Solution For Your Passwords

For all of us out there who have tried one of the above methods and are still not convinced that they work, or are always forgetting to update them when we start a new account at a different website, there are some online options that you can take. The first option that is out there is KeepPass. This is an online website that allows you to download the software. It basically is like an excel document except for the fact that it offers you a password to open the document. You will login into your computer and then have to enter in another password to be able to open you KeepPass area. This is similar to excel as well as the Microsoft word document. If you feel that this is the proper route for you, you can go to keeppass.info to be able to download the free software.

photo credit: Johan Larsson

Evernote to The Rescue

There is also another option for the internet/mobile user called Evernote. Evernote is another option that you can download to your computer that is entered via a password. Evernote also includes as the name sounds to include a variety of information into the system that can be accessed from any computer. Along with Evernote if you are a smart phone user, there is note shelf that allows you to link your Evernote account to your cell phone so that you will also have access to the information you have stored while on the move. For those of us who do not find much time to sit at home, this could be a great option for you.

LastPass is The Way to Go

Finally there is what I consider to be the best and easiest option out there. LastPass is a new website as well that like the name implies, will be the last password you will ever need to remember. This site will actually give you the ability to store all of your passwords inside of their system, then when you go to the site that a password is required, LastPass will auto fill the login and Password for you. I enjoy using LastPass the most, and is arguably the fastest option out of all the ones previously laid out. Here is a demonstration of how to gain access to Last Pass and how it works.

Step 1: Go to www.lastpass.com

Then click on the Free Download Yellow button on the right side of your web page. After you have clicked on the download, there will be two options to download, either a 32 bit or a 64 bit. If you have a computer that is not new, or not upgraded, then you will want the 32 bit. Chances are if you have a 64 bit you know that you have it, so if you do not know, go with the 32 bit.

Step 2: Follow the download instructions by clicking on Run when the window pops up.

After you have downloaded, you will be taken to a screen that looks like this.

Step 3:Select language and browser.

After you have selected your language you will then be able to pick which internet browsers you would like LastPass to be installed on. It works with internet explorer, firefox, as well as google chrome.

Step 4:Open Account

After you have selected which browser you would like to use, then it will take you to the screen where you will need to open an account. You will need to create your account at this point in time. The screen will look like this.

Step 5: After you have entered in your info, then re-entered your password

You will be taken to a screen that gives you the option to allow your info to be put into LastPass. Click on “Yes”, let me choose what to put on LastPass.

Step 6: After you have selected Yes and clicked next

It will take you to another screen where it will tell you if any passwords have been found. Most likely there will be none found so just click the next button.

Step 7:Log Out

Finally you will be taken to a screen where you have the option to always stay logged into last pass, or be logged out when you close your browser. I prefer to be logged out when I close my internet window but the option is yours.

Step 8: Watch Video

After clicking done LastPass gives you the option to watch a short video tutorial on how to work LastPass. I would suggest watching the video to help you clear up and last minute questions as to how last pass actually works.

Step 9: Log Back In

After you have downloaded and watched the video, there will be a LastPass Vault on your desktop. Click this icon and then enter in the e-mail and login that you created. This will officially log you into LastPass.

Step 10: “Last” Step

The final step is to go to a site that you normally use and type in the login and Password, after you login LastPass will ask you if you would like to save this site, click save and you are done, you will never have to remember your password again! You will know it has worked when you go back to the site and the login and password are filled in with a red and white star next to the information.

Now you are done and will never need to remember your passwords ever again!

The software and applications discussed in this post are not affiliated with or endorsed by LPL Financial.

photo credit: Ron Bennetts

Hello Good Financial Cents readers. It’s been a bit since I’ve had an update post on the blog so I thought I would keep you in tune at what’s going on with myself, Good Financial Cents, and my latest project Soldier of Finance.

First up is the family.

We were excited this week to celebrate our second son, Bentley’s, first birthday. I can’t believe that the little guy has been around for exactly one year. For those of you that are parents you know the huge transition it is to go from zero kids to one and those that have two kids know how much of a crazier time it is to transition from one to two. The first six weeks of Bentley’s arrival was a bit of mad chaos. To say that is a slight understatement. My wife and I were able to bear down and accept him into our loving family. I won’t say it’s been easy but we definitely have handled having the two boys around.

For those of you that didn’t know, we are already expecting our third child and just because we don’t believe in keeping people in suspense, I’ll already reveal to you that it’s another boy. That’s right, the three amigo’s in the Rose household. The next question we always get is “Okay, so when are you guys going to have the girl?” I’ll have to be upfront again when we say that we just don’t know. I’m not saying we won’t have a fourth child, but right now we just want to see how much it is to handle three. Whatever happens we know that it’s in God’s hands and we’re thankful either way.

Here’s some awesome photos of Bentley chowing down on his 1st birthday cake.   This is the most I have ever seen this little pinball sit in one spot.  Needless to say, I think he enjoyed it.

Mmmm....Icing

My parents have been holding out on me this whole time.

Not be left out, we snapped some pics of Parker.  Hard to believe that he’s 3 1/2.   Where does the time go?

So if I smile I get chocolate, right?

Bo Jackson ain't got nothing on me.

Goals for 2011 Chugging Away

Okay, for those of you that read my goals post for 2011 you know that I had some pretty exciting happenings around the blog. Probably the biggest new venture that I’m introducing the blog is more video. Santa, in the form of my wife, was super gracious enough to surprise me with an iMac Notebook for Christmas. I have to admit I was just as excited receiving that as a gift as I was back in 1988 when my dad surprised me with a 1986 Donruss José Canseco rated rookie card. These have to go down as two of my most remembered Christmas gifts in my young life. Let’s just hope that the Mac has a better career than my José Canseco card.

My new baby

With that purchase I’ve became a huge Mac lover and am enjoying iMovie more than you would believe. I’ve actually already shot more than two dozen videos and can’t wait to get them edited and uploaded to the blog. For the ones I do have done, you can head over to my new and improved Good Financial Cents YouTube Channel. I’ve got several there and expect many, many more to come.

New Addition to the Goals

One item that I have added to my Goals of 2011 is something that I’ve been struggling with for quite some time.  I’ve been a Christian for almost all my life, but I have never read the bible.   Sure, I’ve read a few verses here and there, but I know much about the bible as I do trying to break down a car engine – Nothing!

I’ve tried on several occasions to read the bible, but all have failed….miserably.  I may have finally found the answer: The One Year Bible.  But just not the regular paperback One Year Bible (I bought that too…..didn’t work).  What seemed to be the magic solution was purchasing it on my iPad. (seen below)

Praying that I can finish it...finally.

The biggest difference I can say is having the ability to read it in the dark.  Whether it be in bed, on the couch, or while my son is watching Tom and Jerry, it’s been easy to crank out a day thus far.  Granted I’m only a few weeks into it, but that’s way more progress that I ever have before.

Soldier of Finance Update

And it wouldn’t be an update if I didn’t share more of what was going on with the Soldier of Finance both book and blog project. For those who haven’t had a chance to check it out, head over to www.soldieroffinance.com to see all my blog posts and videos there as well. The book is still a work in process but I’m excited to say that I’m meeting with my co writer here in the next few days to hammer out some serious details. I made personal goal to get as much as I can done before the arrival of our third son so the clock is ticking and it’s time to get off the pot. In case you missed it, here are some of the more well receptive video and blog posts of Soldier of Finance.

SOF Blog Posts

SOF Videos

Transcript with corresponding snazzy pictures below:

This is Jeff Rose from Goodfinancialcents.com. Welcome to my first post on the blog with my new web cam. Pretty excited about this and I’m sure you’re wondering why this fuss with this announcement post through my web cam? The reason is that I have two very important announcements that I want to share with you and I am pretty pumped about it.

Fitness Test Like No Other

The first announcement that I like to share is that in less than two  weeks one week (oh crap time flies!), I am getting to put myself through one of the hardest physical tests that I have ever signed up for.  This month in Chicago, I have signed up to compete in what is called the Urbanathlon sponsored by Men’s Health.

This is in downtown Chicago. This is a nine mile race which consists of 6 or 7 different obstacles in between that 9 mile stretch. These obstacles include a long monkey bar track (think playground when you were a kid, just A LOT longer), barriers that you have to climb over and crawl underneath like military crawling.  Also there are cars that you have to climb over and a big bus that you climb over. One of the last obstacles is running the stairs at Soldier’s Field. This is a pretty exciting.

As I said, this race is 9 miles long and as most of you know that I was in military. But in the military, the longest I ever had to run was 5 miles and that was eternity ago.  Once again this is 9 miles so I am hoping to goodness that I survive. Probably the next logical question will be “Jeff, are you training for this?” And is funny you ask because the answer is no, not really. I am not a runner and actually I hate running. But thanks to my buddy Tom who coaxed me into signing up for this stupid thing, I’m going to see what my body is capable of doing. I do Crossfit, which you may or may not know. I do Crossfit 4 or 5 times a week so I am hoping that my Crossfit training will be enough to get me through.

So as long as I can survive the 9 mile race and it takes me less than 2 hours to complete then I’ll be good. The  the very last obstacle is this 8 foot wall you have to scale. If I can scale that 8 foot wall and not look like a complete buffoon, I will be pretty excited.  It will be October 16 on Saturday so if you join me there, great! Motivate me and make sure that I finish. That is my first announcement, on to the biggee.

Book Title Announced!

The second announcement which is “the announcement” is I want to finally release the title of my book that I have been working on. If you are new to my blog, maybe you missed that I have been working on a book. This is a book that I actually got the idea at the later part of 2008 and worked a little bit in 2009 – emphasis on little bit.  2010 is when it got serious. Thanks to Les O’dell who is a freelance writer and who really helped to put that in focus. Right now we are about halfway done.  I just started chapter 6 last week or so. We are putting a lot of our energy and any extra time that I have is going into this.  I am really excited to share the title of the book with you today. So if you are ready, if you have a drum set at home, you can give me little drum roll please to show that you are ready. Ok………

You like it? I hope so. (Translation: You Better)

First Attempt Book Cover

Soldier of Finance, I came up of this title beginning part of 2010. It was a late on a Saturday evening. I drank a lot of Diet Dew just trying to really find that title and it just hit me like a military cannon: Soldier of Finance. Military background, infantry solider, field artillery it was all right there. The soldier has been in me for 9 years plus. That is a big part of my background. The second part obviously is because I am a financial planner. So that is how title became Soldier of Finance.

The Book’s Mission

The premise of the book is I want to give people motivation, encouragement, a good butt kicking if they need it. The same way my drill sergeant gave me a butt kicking throughout basic training to make sure that I got through. I want to help people take charge of their life financially permanently. I am tired of seeing people reaching out for government bailouts or having to rely on other people to get them through. No more.  I want to give people encouragement, the strength and the motivation they need to invest in themselves, to enlist in their lives, take charge and succeed.

I am looking forward to sharing more updates with you as the book progresses. Here is a quick mock up (pictured above) of  the book cover as you can see. It is a survival guide for personal finance and investing. The subtitle will most likely change a little bit. I created this by a year ago just to have this as the motivating factor to get me through this whole process. I am excited about this. Hope you will be also as excited as I am. Love to share with you more as we go long so stay tune to the blog for more updates and progress.

Soldier of Finance Site

As you can see, I have a link to the new website soldierfinance.com. Please feel free to check it out. You will see more blog posts and video posts like this and still working on many of those to be completed. I want to say thank you for all of your support throughout this whole process. Love to have your comments on the blog, love all the emails, and the ideas. I really appreciate it. This is Jeff Rose from Goodfinancialcents.com and Soldier of Finance.

Spring has sprung!  Oh, how I love this time of the year.  Baseball season is already here and can’t wait to root Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals as they contend for another World Series (Don’t worry Cubs fans.  You always have next year ) I can’t believe that 1/4 of the year has already has passed.  Between moving into a new house and having our second son Bentley arrive, I don’t think I’ve had any time to take a breath.  It’s been a while since I’ve given a personal update and I had some exciting things I wanted to share.  So many things, but where to start?

It’s Foxy!

First off, I was excited that Fox Business News.com contacted me to pick my brain on a few financial planning related topics.  They initially contacted me last fall, but didn’t run a quote until recently.   I even persuaded them to get me a link to my blog, so that was super exciting.  You can see the article here.

I’ve been busy writing articles for this blog and also been able to help on other blogs, too.  Matt Jabs who runs the blog Debt Free Adventure contacted me to help with a reader question on life insurance.  Life insurance is a topic that I feel doesn’t get as much attention as it should.  I hope I was able to answer his readers question.  In case you had questions on life insurance, here’s a list of my more popular articles on the subject.

• What Happens When a Life Insurance Policy Lapses
• Do You Need a Disability Income Insurance Policy?
• There’s Room for Life Insurance in your Budget
• Should You Buy Mortgage Protection or Term Life Insurance?
• Life Insurance Reality Check – Do you have enough?

Are You Wired?

One of the unexpected and exciting occurrences of having a blog and being plugged into social media is that I’ve made several key contacts in just a short period of time.   Most recently I met (via the web) Stephanie Sammons who left her position as a financial advisor to create her own company Wired Advisor.  Wired Advisor’s mission is to help financial advisors, like me, get plugged into social media via: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.   Stephanie was impressed enough with my blog that she called me up and wanted to know how I did it.  In addition, she posted the interview on her Wired Advisor blog.

Adding Another Contributor

Les O'Dell

In an effort to offer different perspectives to the blog, I’ve asked Les O’Dell, who is a local freelance writer and currently attending Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU),  to share his experience week by week.  FPU is a 13 week program, so I’m sure Les will have some exciting  revelations on the course.

I’ve been a fan of Dave Ramsey and his baby steps ever since I read Total Money Makeover 6 years ago.  While I don’t agree with everything Dave says, you can’t deny the basic principles that he teaches.

Shhhh….Can You Keep a Secret?

photo credit: gak

The real reason is that I’ve brought on some guest writers is because I need some time for another project that I’m working on.  Yes, I enjoy being busy.  My latest project that I’m really excited about is that I’m writing a book! I haven’t told a lot of people (until now) because I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off.  Well, after “talking” about writing a book for a year, I realized I couldn’t.  At least by myself.   That’s why I’ve brought on my man Les O’Dell as my writing coach to help me along the way.   We’ve got the introduction done and chapter one is almost complete.  The book is really taking shape and that excites me to no end.

What is the book about? Personal Finance…..surprise!  I know, not another personal finance book.  The difference with the book is that I’m putting my spin into it that hasn’t been done.  Trust me, I’ve researched it and thus far my idea is unique.  I don’t want to spoil it too soon.  I hope to share some excerpts as the book develops, so stay tuned!  Until next time.

I have many reasons in my life to be thankful, but for the purpose of this post I have two major reasons to be blessed:

1. I have an awesome family.
2. I have a truly talented best friend who takes great pictures of my awesome family.

My best friend, Jason York of Jason York Photography, paid a recent visit to the Rose household to capture us with our latest addition, Bentley.  Enclosed are some of our favorites, although there wasn’t one picture that we did not like.  And no, this is not a paid post…..just a shameless plug…..I did mention Jason York of Jason York Photography, right?  Enjoy some classic pics!

Photo shoot with the Rose's

Mom, my butt is cold!

Parker and Bentley showing some brotherly love

Hey brother!

Is there a draft or is it me?

Give me five, bro!

When do you want me to smile?

I'm just doing this to get chocolate later.

Excuse me, you're in my bubble!

You better wash my head when this is over!

I'm so over this photo shoot.

And just for fun…..

This is a urinal, right?

Thanks again Jason York Photography! You never disappoint!

Jason York is not affiliated or endorsed by LPL Financial (Another friendly reminder from my compliance department )

Hello Good Financial Cents Readers! I’m so excited to share a few announcements of some cool happenings in my life.  So much to share, but where to start?

First, let’s start with some blog milestones.  It’s been over a year and a half since I started Good Financial Cents and it’s grown to more than I could have ever imagined.  When I first started my blog I was super excited to have 100 people visit my blog.   The graphic below shows what my current stats are looking like (as about two weeks ago) and right now I’m averaging over 4,000 visitor per day! Pretty soon I’ll pass my one millionth page view which will be pretty neat.

My Blog is Growing!

Guest Post at Wisebread

When I get a little free time (which is never ) I try to contribute a guest post at Wisebread.com. You can check out my recent post on the Backdoor into the Roth IRA. In case you missed my last one, I shared how to save $1,000 on your next backpacking trip.

New Opportunities

I am excited to announce that I have worked out a partnership with the local SIU Credit Union that will allow me to offer financial planning services to all their members.   This is a tremendous opportunity and I’m looking forward to seeing the relationship grow.  You can see the press release here.

New Baby and New House

New House In Progress

I hope you saw my update post about our second son Bentley coming into this world.   The past two weeks have been a fun adjustment as both the Misses and I try to remember how we functioned on such little sleep.  As if we didn’t need any more chaos in our life, we’re gearing up for the big move into our newly built home next weekend.

Bentley and Parker Hangin' on the Couch

Updates to Good Financial Cents

New house, new baby, new opportunities, growing blog….I’m sure you’re wondering how I do it?  Sometimes I wonder myself.  To make sure I still offer quality posts to my Good Financial Cents readers, I’m adding another staff writer.  Miranda Marquit will be joining JoeTaxpayer as an awesome contributor to GFC.  Miranda is a journalistically trained freelance writer and professional blogger working from home. She is a contributor for Mainstreet.com, Personal Dividends and several other sites. You can also find her at The AllBusiness Personal Finance Corner and the Banks.com Mortgage Blog.

Thanks to everyone that subscribes to this blog.  Can’t wait to see what 2010 brings!

Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.

This information was provided by Kandis Bates, President, Invest in Others Charitable Foundation, Inc.

Following this week’s catastrophic earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti, we have heard from many of you who have asked how you can help the international relief efforts.  These horrific events remind us that natural disasters can strike at any time in any place, and that very often recovery requires the collective efforts of citizens, businesses, and governments across the world.

photo credit: Ucodep

In response, LPL Financial is currently establishing a disaster relief program that will create a centralized resource for directing—and matching—donations to relief organizations during times of crisis. Additional information on this program will be made available shortly.

In the interim, if you would like to make a gift immediately, there are a number of experienced agencies on the ground in Haiti making an impact. Following is a list of just a few who are mobilized and hard at work to ease the suffering of the disaster victims:

How To Make a Donation to Haiti

• The American Red Cross is focused on feeding, sheltering, and supplying other basic needs.  Doctors Without Borders has sent medical supplies and additional doctors to the island and set up makeshift emergency medical response centers to help the injured.

• Oxfam America has a staff on the ground in Haiti, and a team of emergency specialists based in the capital will be responding with public health, water, and sanitation services to prevent the spread of waterborne disease.

• UNICEF will deploy essential aid—including safe water, sanitation supplies, therapeutic foods, medical supplies and temporary shelter materials.  It will focus on children who have become separated from their families.

photo credit: Ucodep

Thank you for your concern and commitment to supporting our global community.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.

The day has finally arrived. Our 2nd son Bentley Ferrell Rose was born on January 11, 2010 at 11:12 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 13 oz. And this biased parent thinks he’s absolutely adorable-just as adorable (but not more) than our first, Parker.  Although it’s our second child, both mommy and daddy were nervous before the delivery.  But mommy did an awesome job and the whole delivering process only lasted 5 minutes.  Yes, that’s all.  I’m sure there are several other mommies out there that are jealous.

Bentley meets mommy for the first time.

This was our first son Parker introducing himself to his little brother.  He actually said, “Hi, my name is Parker”.  So cute!

"Hi, my name is Parker"

About the Name

Many had asked about the meaning behind the name so here it is. Bentley has no meaning whatsoever. It was a name that I liked and, surprisingly, the wife agreed. This was also the case with our first son, Parker. Ferrell was my father’s first name and like me he went by his middle name, Keith. Since our first son’s middle name is Wilson, which is my wife’s maiden name, we wanted to do something to honor my late father. Hence, Ferrell was chosen. Dad that’s for you!

Daddy gets his chance to hold the newborn.

Can you dress me already?

Say cheese!

Grandma Gigi snapping away.

Mommy and daddy changing the first poopy diaper.