Recently I read the book, The Millionaire Next Door. It was a fairly easy read and contained good information. The paperback edition that I read was published in 1998 when the economic outlook was far different than what we experience now. Even so, the main principles are still valid: create a budget and stick with it to save money. The authors give examples of the type of car the "average" millionaire owns, neighborhoods they live in, stores they shop in and so forth. According to them, millionaires don't tend to be flashy and they generally buy American cars.
I'm not terribly old, but I am single and do think about retirement needs in case a sugar daddy doesn't come along. Well, towards the end of the book, there is an equation to determine how much wealth one should have to prepare for retirement. --Multiple your age times your pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This, less any inherited wealth, is what your wealth should be.--
Well, as my accountant friend, Krista, can attest I'm not great at maintaining great financial records. I don't have a record of my pretax income, however thanks to the Social Security Administration I recently received a record of my social security earnings. I know that this is lower than my pretax amounts, but you work with what you have...
Aforementioned friend, Krista sent me a very nice spreadsheet so all I had to do was plug in the numbers from the social security statement and voila! the amount of wealth pops up. I know that Krista is a wiz with spreadsheets, but I still double checked the formulas when I saw the amount of money that I should have as current wealth and compared it with my retirement savings. My number was half of what it should be according to the book!! Thankfully I remembered that wealth includes not just retirement savings, but also my other assets. With the addition of the equity in my house I'm in pretty good shape. Of course, at retirement I will still need somewhere to live, hmmm...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Snowpocolypse Junior
As you all probably know, we got over 2 feet of snow just before Christmas. Well, today we got another 8" when we were supposed to get 3-6". I had previously planned to drive to DC for a temple trip. I woke up early and felt really good about going. I got ready and drove off with about 1-2" on the ground. I thought that I would be the only one on the road, but I had company all along the way. As I was driving, memories of similar trips came back to me from my high school days.
I remembered driving home from Grantsville after a stake dance. The flakes were huge and reflected my headlights so it was almost easier to see the road without lights. One early morning I picked up Heidi Ferrin to go to a state honors orchestra event in Salt Lake. As I remember, she wasn't ready when I arrived at her house thinking that we wouldn't go due to the amount of snowfall. There weren't many other cars on I-80, but we made it in without issue and enjoyed the day.
Back to the present- The roads weren't yet plowed and it was pretty slushy on parts of 29 just as I left town. In fact, I fishtailed a little bit which was a good wake up to keep me alert the rest of the way. The snow fell consistently all the way to DC. I saw a few plows and lots of other cars and I continued to feel good about my trip. I know that I was being protected because there were several times that wrecks occured just before I arrived to a certain spot in the road and once a car spun out directly in front of me and both I and the car behind me were able to stop without incident.
The trip took a lot longer than usual because the average speed on the beltloop was less than 40 mph. My neck and shoulders were in knots from concentrating while driving, but I enjoyed my time in the temple immensely and am grateful that I was able to go as planned! Of course when I arrived (almost) safely home I took a little time to play in an empty parking lot. It was fun to spin around and let loose after being tense during my very long drive.
I remembered driving home from Grantsville after a stake dance. The flakes were huge and reflected my headlights so it was almost easier to see the road without lights. One early morning I picked up Heidi Ferrin to go to a state honors orchestra event in Salt Lake. As I remember, she wasn't ready when I arrived at her house thinking that we wouldn't go due to the amount of snowfall. There weren't many other cars on I-80, but we made it in without issue and enjoyed the day.
Back to the present- The roads weren't yet plowed and it was pretty slushy on parts of 29 just as I left town. In fact, I fishtailed a little bit which was a good wake up to keep me alert the rest of the way. The snow fell consistently all the way to DC. I saw a few plows and lots of other cars and I continued to feel good about my trip. I know that I was being protected because there were several times that wrecks occured just before I arrived to a certain spot in the road and once a car spun out directly in front of me and both I and the car behind me were able to stop without incident.
The trip took a lot longer than usual because the average speed on the beltloop was less than 40 mph. My neck and shoulders were in knots from concentrating while driving, but I enjoyed my time in the temple immensely and am grateful that I was able to go as planned! Of course when I arrived (almost) safely home I took a little time to play in an empty parking lot. It was fun to spin around and let loose after being tense during my very long drive.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Lean Forward Leadership
In the past few months I've heard the term "lean forward" several times. The first was at my brother, RD's, retirement from the US Air Force. During the ceremony his commanding officer outlined the awards and accolades that RD had received. He pointed out that wherever RD served his team became more efficient and effective. At the end of the ceremony RD was given a chance to speak. He started by briefly commenting about each of his team members in attendance and described a couple of them as "lean forward" leaders. If I remember correctly, one of the team members who received this praise is an enlisted person. I generally think of officers as the "leaders". I loved the term and it struck me as even more cogent when it was used for someone I consider a "team member" more than a "leader".
I heard it again just over a week ago on the radio. President Obama was speaking about the horrible earthquake disaster in Haiti. He talked about the need for everyone involved in the rescue and relief effort to "lean forward" in their endeavors. I tried to find this speech without success, but a search with the words "Pres. Obama 'lean forward' Haiti" resulted in lots of related hits. I saw articles from the Wall Street Journal and the military, as well as blog posts.
What does it mean to lean forward? Perhaps I can illustrate best with a non example. In several meetings this school year I've seen the escalator video where two people are "stuck" on the escalator between floors. They stay there shouting for help instead of simply climbing the rest of the way. As escalator riders it is simply their job to ride safely. These people know that it is the escalator's job (not theirs) to get them from one floor to another. A lean forward person would not only climb to the top, but would take the time to find the right person to notify that the escalator had stopped. To "lean forward" is to not only fulfill your job as assigned, but to actively look for additional ways to be useful. It is to search out ways to help the team to become more efficient and effective as a whole.
RD said that the Air Force frequently emphasizes the importance of leaning forward. My brother knows how to engender this lean forward attitude in others. He models it in his own actions, clearly empowers others, and rewards them as they demonstrate it. All of this combined in the outcomes of increased efficiency and effectiveness at every base he was located.
So, how can this principle be applied in education? We have a hierarchy in some ways similar to that of the Air Force. Often the teachers and other staff are seen as the "team members" and the administrators as the "leaders". Orders come from the departments of education in the form of standardized testing expectations. We can all simply do our jobs in the "lean back" style by fulfilling our contracts and working hard, or we can lean forward and find ways to help our teams be more effective and efficient. I propose that leaning forward is more important than ever before. The students in our care deserve the very best. We need to prepare them for a complex world where knowledge is a click away and critical thinking is essential to success. Classroom teachers must lean forward by finding ways to empower students to become collaborators in their own education. Subjects must become more integrated to better mirror real life. "Drill and kill" must cease as teachers and learners find authentic ways to meet the state standards.
Educational leaders should not only model a lean forward style, we must clearly empower school faculty and staff and reward them as they lean forward to improve education. Additionally students should be expected to lean forward as well. I don't think enough leaning forward has happened yet in Haiti, and I pray that it will happen in large scale soon. I don't think that public education has had the equivalent of the Haitian earthquake, but right now the next few years look pretty bleak. Let's all lean forward to change that outlook before the really big earthquake hits.
I heard it again just over a week ago on the radio. President Obama was speaking about the horrible earthquake disaster in Haiti. He talked about the need for everyone involved in the rescue and relief effort to "lean forward" in their endeavors. I tried to find this speech without success, but a search with the words "Pres. Obama 'lean forward' Haiti" resulted in lots of related hits. I saw articles from the Wall Street Journal and the military, as well as blog posts.
What does it mean to lean forward? Perhaps I can illustrate best with a non example. In several meetings this school year I've seen the escalator video where two people are "stuck" on the escalator between floors. They stay there shouting for help instead of simply climbing the rest of the way. As escalator riders it is simply their job to ride safely. These people know that it is the escalator's job (not theirs) to get them from one floor to another. A lean forward person would not only climb to the top, but would take the time to find the right person to notify that the escalator had stopped. To "lean forward" is to not only fulfill your job as assigned, but to actively look for additional ways to be useful. It is to search out ways to help the team to become more efficient and effective as a whole.
RD said that the Air Force frequently emphasizes the importance of leaning forward. My brother knows how to engender this lean forward attitude in others. He models it in his own actions, clearly empowers others, and rewards them as they demonstrate it. All of this combined in the outcomes of increased efficiency and effectiveness at every base he was located.
So, how can this principle be applied in education? We have a hierarchy in some ways similar to that of the Air Force. Often the teachers and other staff are seen as the "team members" and the administrators as the "leaders". Orders come from the departments of education in the form of standardized testing expectations. We can all simply do our jobs in the "lean back" style by fulfilling our contracts and working hard, or we can lean forward and find ways to help our teams be more effective and efficient. I propose that leaning forward is more important than ever before. The students in our care deserve the very best. We need to prepare them for a complex world where knowledge is a click away and critical thinking is essential to success. Classroom teachers must lean forward by finding ways to empower students to become collaborators in their own education. Subjects must become more integrated to better mirror real life. "Drill and kill" must cease as teachers and learners find authentic ways to meet the state standards.
Educational leaders should not only model a lean forward style, we must clearly empower school faculty and staff and reward them as they lean forward to improve education. Additionally students should be expected to lean forward as well. I don't think enough leaning forward has happened yet in Haiti, and I pray that it will happen in large scale soon. I don't think that public education has had the equivalent of the Haitian earthquake, but right now the next few years look pretty bleak. Let's all lean forward to change that outlook before the really big earthquake hits.
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