The Art of Healing – When The Vampire Strikes
By Al Jacobs
A running debate continues over the use of credit cards. Much of the controversy involves matters like annual fees, interest rates on the unpaid balance, and the use of an account to establish credit. Articles abound on charge strategies to secure tax deductions for otherwise nondeductible interest payments. There are even dissertations explaining how balances due on one card can be financed for prolonged periods through borrowings on another. Much of the information is of marginal value, and some is preposterous.
Here’s the straight word: The lower the annual fees and charges, the less you pay each year. Some banks and other organizations offer a card without a fee. If so, grab it. In case you cannot find a free one, shop around for the lowest price. In this regard, let me offer the philosophy of “Cheap Charlie,” a one-time Huntington Beach, California, shopkeeper who operated on the stated principal: “You can’t beat cheap” certainly words to live by. As an aside, Charlie closed up shop during an economic downturn; perhaps his prices rose too high. Nonetheless, make certain it’s not merely the first year’s fee which is waived. Also give thought as to whether the card is sufficiently usable. MasterCard and Visa are universally accepted; American Express, Diners Club, and others are of less value because fewer businesses accept them.
Does it surprise you interest rates charged on credit card balances generate dissension, resulting in litigation and legislation? This is understandable when comparing interest paid on bank savings accounts, currently at or below 2 percent, to the interest that credit cards incur, often running to 21 percent and higher. It’s true some issuers around the country offer credit card rates more in the 10 percent range, but these are the exceptions. Worst of all is what happens to those unfortunates who get tagged at the default rate, which can be triggered by any sort of contrived infraction such as exceeding an arbitrary credit limit or a single late payment. Default rates as high as 31.99% are not uncommon.
To add a second whammy, the federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 phased out tax deductibility on personal interest payments. Consider the ramifications of credit card debt at a 30% default rate on a taxpayer in the 28% federal income tax bracket, forking out an additional 7.65% in FICA withholdings as well as state income taxes (at 9.3%, if a Californian like me). This poor devil must earn $1,817 to retain $1000 after taxes to pay on the credit card. This calculates out to an effective annual interest rate of 54.5%. Such thievery would have caused Al Capone to blush.
In passing, be aware of other wrinkles. Many credit card issuers impose charges on users who avoid paying interest. They also collect fees, often retroactively, on a variety of pretexts. They rationalize these practices as necessary costs of maintaining the account, as if a reason to charge a fee is needed. Perhaps some relief is in sight. In an April 23rd radio address, President Obama called for legislation from Congress to reign in the credit card industry. He declared:Rate hikes and late-fee traps have to end. No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions. We can’t tolerate profits that depend upon misleading working families. Those days are over. What will come from all of this is uncertain. The bank and credit card lobbyists constitute a powerful interest group.
This finally gets us to the bare bones of the matter. My belief is a credit card serves a single purposea convenience when neither check nor cash is handy. Most importantly, when the monthly statement arrives, pay the full cash balance before the date interest is charged. Follow this rule and the interest rate means nothing. If for any reason you cannot regulate your credit card use in this manner, destroy your cards, swear off cold turkey, and fashion your life accordingly.
Al Jacobs has been a professional investor for nearly four decades and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is the author of Nobody’s Fool: A Skeptic’s Guide to Prosperity. Subscribe to his financial column, “On the Money Trail,” at www.onthemoneytrail.com. Receive your free Life Stages report at http://www.onthemoneytrail.com/lifestages.html.
The Art of Healing – When The Vampire Strikes18879The Art of Healing – When The Vampire Strikes
There is a marvelous phrase in the post polio community coined by Dr. Richard Bruno, chairman of the Post Polio Task Force about vampire bait no more. Everyone can have a tendency to become vampire bait; we learn to become people pleasers in an attempt to feel whole and worthy. It is difficult to say no and a challenge to not take on other people’s problems believing in our own omnipotence and need to control. We allow others to suck on our life’s energy derailing us from our own hopes, dreams, desires and ability to take good care of ourselves.
I am experiencing a flare up of a disc/nerve condition in my cervical spine, Exploring why this area is vulnerable I realized that the area of my neck affected is where a vampire would bite to drain life’s energy. I went for an MRI and am working with Western medicine to bring about the best possible outcome. I need to be incredibly kind to myself understanding why this area is vulnerable, using visualization, meditation and prayer, and to allow my ‘master magicians’ (God and my physician) to help me with healing. There are steps I need to take to put distance between myself and others’ drama. I can be loving and supportive but it is crucial that I protect myself from being bitten by the fangs of the drama vampire. While I cannot rescue another, I can surround them with loving prayers. If I am feeling resentment about what ‘they are doing to me’ (and in fact it is not they who are doing something but how I allow their behaviors to affect me) then I am not free to love them and express my gratitude that they are giving me the opportunity to grow. I am grateful for the challenge they present in my life because it allows me to shed the beliefs which no longer serve me and to choose a higher path for myself. It is a blessing to move from vampire victim to fullness of life. With love and faith we can be pulled out of the muck and mire of vampire drama into God’s love and light.
The MRI
Pounding, clanging lying still
Eyes closed and shallow breath
A time to move toward light with God
or fear impending death?
Ego wants to win the flight
Panic GET ME OUT!
Spirit knows let go, let God
Release all fear and doubt.
Transcend the tube all limits gone
The Spirit flying free
Beyond all wild imaginings, the best is yet to be.
Mary McManus, a post polio survivor, Boston Marathon finisher and author of “New World Greetings:Inspirational Poetry and Musings for a New World” can be reached via her website at www.newworldgreetings.com. Mary generously donates 20% of book proceeds to the Spaulding Rehab International Rehab Center for Polio and Post Polio.
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