Carpe diem!

Latin for, "Seize the day".

The American dream revolves around getting rich and retiring young. The sad truth is that while most people mentally plan to retire, they simply don't have a physical plan that would allow them to do so. The most recent figures I have seen for what a couple needs to have in savings to comfortably retire ranges from $700,000 to $1,300,000. Maybe this is why Obamacare is so popular - it will help us all die young so that we won't need to retire.

Still, most people would like to live the American dream, but what can you do? Surprisingly, there are a number of fairly painless ways to be able to save more without having to give of major frills like eating and living indoors.

When I substitute taught Junior and Senior High for six weeks while our real business teacher took a break to have a baby, I revealed to my students two of the most basic formulas for staying out of debt. The first is to never spend money on a credit card for non-essential items. Sounds obvious, I know, but you would be surprised how many people are paying on $10,000+ credit card balances consisting of little more than a series of custom coffees (I gotta have my caffeine) and fancy steak dinners (We have to treat ourselves sometime).

The second is to never, ever, ever, buy a new car that you cannot afford to pay cash for. A new car purchase or lease is always advertised as something like $299 a month. In reality, after taxes and fees, that $299 turns into $350. Add another $100 a month for comprehensive rather than liability insurance, and you're at $450 a month for six years - if you are lucky! Compare that to the $1,500 a year average for a used car with lower mpg and more frequent repairs, and you are still looking at about $4,000 a year difference before taxes. In 25 years, that is a $100,000 difference, assuming that you just put it in a hole in the ground. This $100,000 can be multiples higher if you invest it wisely - and you will invest it wisely - because you are now that kind of a guy or gal.

But, why talk about all of this? We want to live well right now - right? Who knows if we will ever see 40, much less 65, so let's carpe a little diem right now!

That would be okay, I suppose, if we were just talking about physically retiring - but we are not! The fact is that most people give far more thought to their thirty years of retirement than they do their eternities... yet they are still woefully unprepared! If you are among the vast majority of people on this planet who give much more thought to retiring than to heaven and hell, but are unprepared for the needs of your old age... what does that say about your chances for Heaven?

Why not "seize the moment" and start preparing for eternity by reading your Bible today? It's something to think about while we are driving our new cars and sipping on our frappuccinos, while on the way to that steakhouse tonight!

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.

Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 6:19, RSV