financial zen

Well contrary to what the IRS says – I’ve not seen a dime of my so-called “stimulus” check.

I had to dig a bit to find the real answer. Mistakes, misfilings, scams… it looks like this package will be less “stimulating” and more like an unexpected gift.

So if you filed through a third-party service and paid a fee – you won’t get a direct deposit like you may have been lead to believe. Instead, you’re going to have to wait for the paper check in the coming months.

So I’ve been writing about this post.

In my own way – I see that we all have deep seeded desires for our children’s future. We recognize that money can be an issue when it comes to something they want (and we want them to experience). We can do so much for them outside the realms of finance by simply listening to them, and guiding them to the best of our abilities. They are lumps of clay rolling down a hill, and we get to shape them a little bit, and guide them down the right path, but there are forks in the road.

I worry that some parents may focus too much on what they want and expect of their child, that it then stresses their child out. I’m not saying “take no interest” or “obsesses over your child” in any length of the word – I’m saying support your child. Celebrate their successes.

Let them fall, and show them how to better pick themselves up again. There will be times in life when you see that they’re going down a rough patch and “if they’d only just listen to you.” You realize you sound like your parents now, right?

It’s not about telling them what to do or how to do it. It’s about your kids needing to experience it for themselves – maybe they’ll succeed where you failed (or thought they’d fail). Maybe they’ll fail where you thought they’d succeed – the only way to know for sure is to let them live their lives when they need to – and let them know that no matter what you’ll always thinking of them – even when they think you’re just not thinking of their best interests.

Parenting, it’s… it is its own beast. I look forward to the future little Zens, but I also know how much heartbreak I’m in for! Best of luck to all parents out there – I know you’re trying, and I hope your little ones surprise you.

Sorry, but I’m probably going to not be able to post this week – my Grandmother passed away Saturday and I’ll be picking up relatives from the airport and being social, on top of having my finals this week and my pregnant wife having pneumonia and sinusitis.

Essentially, I’m peaking right now, so I need to step back from trying to write and relax. If I can, I’ll try to keep some posts coming in.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

I’ve noticed on a number of blogs and comments – a lot of people type and mention how they are professionals at whatever – journalism, financial planning, communications, marketing… but I see so many people that cannot spell words correctly, or even type correct sentences – let alone use proper grammar!

I know I’m no saint, and we all make mistakes, but some people mention being in their profession for many years yet still can’t type the most basic of phrases – it just makes me wonder how that has affected their professional life.

I don’t think I’d stick around an office where the Doctor can’t tell what’s poison and what’s antidote – let alone a planner (or marketer) that can’t type a proposal and not use spell check (or proper grammar).

Am I being a grammar nazi, or do people agree that it seems our standards for communication have gone down hill?

AskDong has a great write up about Salon’s article about a jazz musician looking to make a change late in life.

I seriously doubt the musician will read this, but bra-vo! He made a living as a musician for this long, I know so many musicians who wish they had a steady stream of gigs to help supplement their passion – and as the article states – they fall into the “I’m a musician, that’s it” bag of players who refuse to think they need a day job.

So I figure it’s time to point out how many musicians held day jobs before making it big (and a few I know who are not big, but still playing with a day job!)
Take for instance the numerous groups on MySpace.com – I know a bass player works at a non-profit by day, a few guitarists that are composed of a farmer, a manager of a fast food joint, an apple technician, and a couple college students.
And in my search, I found a couple related articles about the topic at hand:
Real Musicians have Day jobs
A Day in Life of a Musician (at Princeton Review)
Ask Metafilter asks the same question – do big names have day jobs?

It’s something worth realizing – sometimes your dream job is your night job, and that sometimes you can make a living (but may not be rich).

Happy belated Easter!

I know I didn’t post – and it’s been quiet – but I’m working on a slew of posts to help breathe life into the site at a steady pace – my weekend was spent watching Blades of Glory, going to a three hour Easter Vigil (…*cough*) and drinking Maker’s Mark and Coke while I studied Economics for eight hours (along with other studying, test taking etc.).

Today – is a good day. I’ll have more posts up this week, promise :-)