Review: Right on the Money by Pat Robertson

When I was offered the opportunity to review this book, the first thing I thought of was- Was this book going to preach to me about money? In short, that answer is no. As a matter of fact, you soon forget that this book is being written by a televangelist.

Right On the Money begins by explaining how our current financial crisis began. For those without a background in economics, Robertson explains this in terms most would understand.

Most of us need to get a grasp on our money but have not been educated on exactly how to do this. Within these pages are ways to set financial goals to help achieve what we hope and dream about. Most of this is simple yet effective planning and budgeting. Robertson lays out the foundation of building a budget, even for those who have never done it before.

Robertson then moves on to the subject of credit cards and debt, detailing how to pay down your debt. Robertson believes in paying off smaller balances first. This allows you to see positive results and makes you “feel good” about your efforts. He also advises against consolidating your balances to one account because of the psychology of paying on a huge balance. He also stresses that eliminating debt is a lifestyle issue. For those needed extra help in reducing their debt, he suggests contacting the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Robertson details the importance of having a savings account, noting that many times this is your buffer during periods of financial hardship as well as part of your support system for when you are no longer working. It is estimated that approximately 3 months of living expenses should be saved for rough financial times. A common rule of thumb is to save 10% of every paycheck. He then goes on to describe the savings account options that banking institutions provide, including money-market accounts.

Robertson does not pull any punches when it comes to the “false security” many believe Social Security will provide. He points out that Social Security is in need of a financial overhaul as well.

It is at this point that we move onto the subject of investing. Robertson points out that you do not build wealth with savings alone, since there is no risk involved. There are no guarantees in investing, but you can build your nest egg at a greater pace. There are many various investment options but you must understand the risks involved before making the initial investments. Robertson explains stocks, dividends, bonds, mutual funds, options, futures, and gold in great detail. He goes into specifics of each type of investment in terms that are easy to understand.

I’m guessing that Robertson placed the subject of home ownership after his chapter on investing, since we do invest in our homes. I was surprised that Pat Robertson and I agree on the subject of home ownership-“Not everyone is meant to be a homeowner.” Home ownership requires a great deal of financial strength, due to many financial obligations (property taxes, insurance, homeowner association fees). This is not factoring in the actual upkeep of the property. Many times the financial pressure can cause strain in your personal relationships. Robertson stresses that your personal circumstances will determine if you are a homeowner or renter. We are then into specifics of different types of mortgages and how they are defined.

We are given specific instructions on how to purchase a home, including obtaining pre-approval. Once you have purchased your home, Robertson writes about prepaying your mortgage, which is paying more than required on your mortgage thereby paying off your home quicker.

At the mid-point of this book, we are introduced to retirement and retirement planning. We are given explanations for the different options on how to save for retirement. Robertson explains 401ks, IRA’s, asset allocation, and diversifying your investments across different types of assets in great detail. Robertson also goes into great detail into investing in foreign markets, explaining the different types of foreign investments and risks.
Robertson reminds us to “Be Prepared”. Bad things can happen at any time and the only way to protect ourselves and family is to carry insurance. Many of us regard insurance as spending money for a service we don’t expect to use. Insurance is the first thing used to protect your assets, (life, health, auto, home, etc) and we are given many reasons for each type of insurance policy as well as explanations. Robertson has many tips on purchasing insurance policies. He even goes as far as explaining annuities, which can be confusing.

Robertson wraps up this book by talking about families and businesses. While I disagree with Robertson about couples having separate bank accounts, I do see his point about each having their own investments. He dives into the generalizations of the 3 types of businesses-but you can see that he favors business to be a simple stock corporation. I was impressed with the positives regarding running a business as a corporation but found sole proprietorships and partnership information lacking as well as the complete absence of LLCs in the mix.

As an added bonus, this book contains a glossary in the back, that you can actually use as a “cheat sheet” as well as an Index that you can really use.

All in all, this book was an “easy” read for me. I thought Mr. Robertson effectively explained a lot of terms that have been thrown around because of the current economic turmoil and provided financial advice to everyone. Even though this book is geared towards “tough times”, there is information contained that we can all use at any time.

My year in review

So, I did my part and voted today- Have you?

I have had quite an exciting year. Im doing this from Nov-Nov because thats about the time frame involved.


So, last year - mid October-ish....after going to a race at Lincoln (missed all but 2 races because of my back-and were skipping my year of pain and recovery) -- Frank and I started our weekly routine. That Monday, I came in from work and Frank said-"know what Im thinking?"

I replied, "Sell the house, move to PA?"


Well, the PA part is just a dream still, but I was dead on on the selling/moving idea.


So, by this time last year, we were painting, boxing, storing -to prep the house to show. BTW, our real estate agent---WONDERFUL and gets the job done! (Dont ride in a car with him tho) In two weeks, we had prepped and were showing the house.

Within 6 days, we knew we had an offer-we were asked to have the furnace and all checked-to see how much it would cost to convert into Central Air....(that was about $5,000) After careful consideration, we beleived that with the housing market facing what they were, we should adjust the asking price, and we were signing a contract on that 9th day.

So, last Thanksgiving, we were taking a vanload and truckload of stuff to the new place.....which, I should also tell you- we couldnt look for a new place until the house was inspected. (like one week) So we found the place and moved within that 2 week period.

We did have our usual Christmas here tho...Franks parents, brother, gmother, aunt and uncle. We moved into a wonderful house that has enough room for all of us to sit comfortable in the living room as well as in the dining room.

And this Halloween? My friends in Arbutus would be bored. Not ONE trick or treater! I was so relaxed, not having to walk anyone around or keep a handful of candy on me at all times...(For those of you not in Arbutus-we started at a measely 2 bags of candy....and we quickly learned that our neighborhood was a 12-pounder.)

I was able to watch a movie, uninterrupted. And then-go to bed!
And how nice, not to see parents dressing up their kids to beg for candy! Every rule I learned as a child was allowed to be broken on Halloween....not walking over someones lawn, not talking to strangers, not going to unknown houses.


Since the move I have:

----learned things I NEVER knew about cows (some I wish I didnt know)
----joined a wonderful church
----been elected Secretary of the PTO (PTA)
----truly downsized
----RELAXED
----I dont hear trains, fire engines, ambulances, police cars
----I dont see brick, roads
----I dont have a crazy neighbor who calls the cops 3 times on a 10 year olds birthday party because bubbles hit my fence

Weekend shippiness

I have waiting patiently until Sunday to post this....well, maybe not patiently-but I've been waiting.

I have looked at the videos on the following site and there are no spoilers in them.
For interviews associated with the X-Files movie: http://duchovny.net/index.php


Friday night I went to see the X-Files movie. I can tell you that I "floated" out of the theater!
Some minor spoilage - so, if you want to see the movie...stop reading now!

The plot of the movie has nothing to do with the mythology of the show, so if you never watched the series....you'll be safe from having to know anything. The movie is more of a suspense-thriller rather than sci-fi - centering around a physic pedophile priest. Chris Carter stays with the X-File type case of mad scientists performing operations with stem cells.

Chris Connolly plays the pedophile priest trying to figure out the connection between him and his visions. While this type of character stirs up many controversies, Connolly plays him well, and the exchange between Gillian Anderson's Scully character is brilliant dialogue. Since I am a big David Duchovny fan, I will steer away from gushing about how he fell back into playing Fox Mulder.

There are many homages to the loyal X-Files community. Anyone on the Fox message boards during the decade the show ran, and even now, can tell you the many threads of conversation on some of what this movie did address.

First and foremost....Mulder talked about William and his parentage. This was a huge topic of debate during the series. I am extremely glad to have this finally addressed.

Pencils in the ceiling - I know this really isn't a big thing...but it does show you that Mulder still has old habits that are hard to break.

Sunflower seeds - As soon as I saw them I remembered "Bad Blood". I certainly hope his tip never has to be used.

Cell phone contact list - Names of those associated with the series...the most obvious one is when Mulder is looking thru his contact list, he is on the G's....Gillian's name is scrolled thru.

Skinner! - Do I really need to say more? I actually laughed when he was assisting Mulder.

The pure shippiness!! As a long-time shipper, I was definately happy to see how Mulder and Scully's relationship progressed. For those of you who do not know....a shipper is someone who watches a show and hopes for characters to get together.

Ever since Mulder put his arms around Scully to show her how to hold a bat, I have longed for them to be a couple. I thought I may have my wish during the "All Things" episode, (I swear this is the episode Scully got pregnant with William) and then poof! My hopes were up again once Scully had the baby and Fox visited her and they shared a kiss....however, the powers that be did not let that occur during the series, as he had to go back into hiding.

There are many varying opinions on this well-anticipated movie, all of us having our own. I enjoyed this movie on many different levels...and thank Chris Carter for all that he went thru legally to get this movie made for us.

During the interviews on Duchovny's site, there is mention of a third movie that would center around the mythology of aliens taking over the earth. I could understand why an almost introductory movie now would be needed. As with anything in the entertainment industry, interest would have to generate and sales would have to go up for this to be a possibility for the fans who love the series.

I can almost say with certainty that we, the fans of the X-Files, definately have made a difference when it comes to the survivorability of this franchise. I hope that we continue to write expressing our desire to have Chris Carter give the fans a proper sci-fan mythology based answer to all the unanswered questions that arose during the series.