We had a great LIVE show on-location at Maggie’s in Westminster! We wanted to address all the uncertainties in the economy and also answer any questions that may be out there concerning the current market. Our first guest to join us was Kevin McIntyre, Economic Professor at McDaniel College. Kevin joined us on the show last year and made a prediction about what the state of the economy would be like this year. His prediction – it will be BAD. He was right. 

Going forward, he is slightly more optimistic about 2012, because of the new election. It will relieve some uncertainty and will unveil decisions that will be made to move forward. The federal deficits have been revealed and hopefully, there will be actions made.

One of the biggest negative impacts is the job market. Unless the government is creating an environment that businesses can be successful, businesses won’t be able to grow, expand and increase positions.  These types of uncertainties are what keep businesses (and the economy) in jeopardy. Also,

despite a few positive things going on, such as low interest rates and the decrease in housing pricing, the uncertainty that lingers has not helped sustain the real-estate market.

Our next guests was Delegate Justin Ready, serving district 5A which includes, Westminster, Manchester, Finksburg, Hampstead & Silver Run. Delegate Ready explained that issues such as re-districting and tax increases that may directly affect our area. He and his colleagues are fighting to  keep tax payers and business owners as a priority. He also is fighting to keep unemployment rates in check to help business owners.  

He, with the support of the community and followers, was able to petition over 100,000 votes to help fight the legalization of in state tuition for illegal immigrants. The bill will be on the ballad for voters to vote for the bill. Delegate Justin Ready is confident that we can stop the bill because our budget simply cannot handle the magnitude of costs this will create. Ready believes that we need more business owners or people with experience working in a small business or running a small business in office that will fully understand the way to help/hurt business owners.  Go to www.justinready.com for more information about your representative in the House of Representatives!

Maggie’s owner, Jim Brewer joined us for the last segment to explain how stressful for small business owners to think about taking care of employees in such a low economy right now. Generating business doesn’t just affect him , but the other 60 employees that he has. By developing monthly specials and events, he can bring in diners in affordable ways for both the customers and the restaurant.  Steve explained how important it is to spend local. Visit locally owned and operated businesses to keep Carroll County thriving!

We’re back!! After a great summer, we are happy to be back on the air! We have changed the time of the show to 5pm this season.

We would like to announce that we are hosting a few events coming up. On September 28^th, we will be LIVE at Maggie’s Restaurant in Westminster with special guests,  Maryland Delegate Justin Ready and Professor Kevin McIntyre.  We will hold an open discussion following the show. We are also hosting a workshop on October 11^th to touch on the new regulations for 401ks. You need to know how these changes will affect you!

This summer, we had many events that we all should learn from. For instance, BE PREPARED! Who thought we needed to be protected from natural disasters such as, hurricanes, earthquakes and extreme flooding in Central Maryland? But we learned that we should be protected from everything, because we DID in fact experience hurricanes, earthquakes and extreme flooding! Your home, property and family should be protected as much as possible for the unexpected. Its also important to keep emergency funds reserved for urgent situations, cash on hand if you must leave your home, and preserve copies of important family financial and personal records.   

We also learned from all of the events occurring in the media that we NEED leadership at the top. A leader should have courage, vision, delegation to other leaders, share credit, take responsibility, prove competence, and be inspirational to those you are leading. There seems to be a struggle in society of what is important and what is not. We predict that the upcoming campaign is going to get nasty.

Politics is an obvious form of leadership, but what about in our everyday lives? We need to be leaders, too, to help ourselves and others. Every day, ask yourself, are you part of the solution or part of the problem?

For our last show before the summer break, we were joined by Joe DiMaggio, Senior Vice President at Kelly & Associates and group health care consultant. Health care right now is having a major impact on the economy, which is what we wanted to discuss with Joe. At Kelly & Associates, they work with companies to set up group coverage and other services. One important task is to keep clients aware of the current state. With the Obama-care, Joe and his team has had to help customers navigate and understand the changes. It has made the insurance world much more difficult to follow and there are many uncertainties. The Obama-care changes have NOT made insurance more affordable. It increases costs and decrease the level of care. Mandates are going to be outrageous and include many unnecessary requirements.

Insurance companies pay the majority of medical costs in the US. People don’t know the actual cost of screenings, tests, exams, etc. because most just pay a small dollar amount co-pay. But when government starts to mandate health care coverage and requiring “one size fits all” products will waste money and increase costs. Someone in their 20’s doesn’t need extensive cancer testing or other screenings needed by someone in their 50’s or older. It will cause insurance companies to increase because of costs of unneeded procedures.

Group billing was created for individuals to be put together to qualify for the group rates. Age and health conditions are huge factors, so keeping a leveled, fair “pool” can be an issue. Another change was the movement to allow adults to stay on their parents’ health care coverage until the age of 26, regardless of marital status or career status.

Question from a caller: what is going to happen when someone new takes office and doesn’t agree with the ObamaCare system and the health care reform? It would take time to unwind it if someone takes office that doesn’t agree with it, but it will take time to change and will need the funding to do so. For the sake of the nation, changes need to happen sooner to stop the uncertainties before they are in place.

For information about health care options, you can call Kelly & Associates at 410-527-3400.

Biggest Mistakes Made Regarding Financial Planning:

1. Deferring saving for retirement to pay for other things
2.  Failing to plan for the impact of aging – physical restrictions and medical costs
3.  Not updating beneficiaries
4.  Fail to communicate within your family about money
5.  Avoiding to create/sticking to a budget
6. Making investment decisions based upon emotions
7. Neglecting to periodically conducting a risk management review  

We were pleased to be joined by the interesting Jim Hindman, a successful entrepreneur, the founder of Jiffy Lube, the current CEO and founder of Energy Savers of America and legendary football coach at McDaniel College (then Western Maryland College). Our first question was one Mr. Hindman has been asked a thousand times: how was Jiffy Lube created? He explained that he has already made himself a millionaire by the age of 35 (which we discussed later) and was coaching McDaniel college football. One of his players was expressing his concerns with the job market and how there were no opportunities out there. After a conversation, the player challenged Mr. Hindman to creating another success story. Jiffy Lube was created to “unbundle services” to offer them at a lower rate and focusing on evevry day needs, such as oil changes. He also believed in franchising to give other the opportunity to own a business and jobs to local residence. The rest is history.

 We then began exploring the details and origin of his current project, Energy Savers of America. This company was created because of a number of factors. One of his previous football players had become an executive at IBM and contacted Mr. Hindman about the possibilities available. Mr. Hindman had been following and conducting research on the “fight for freedom from foreign oil”.  The issue was first examined for homes built before energy efficiency was explored. Also, a major goal was to avoid oil importing from overseas. From there, Energy Savers of America was developed as a franchise (like Jiffy Lube) to give Americans self-owned business opportunities, as well as create an energy efficient community. By offering energy audits, Energy Savers will   come to your home to conduct an “audit” to evaluate all the ways how you can save energy and save money by becoming energy efficient.

The ultimate idea is to become self-sufficient when it comes to energy and not reliant on expensive  electric companies. We also discussed some new technology that is not only efficient but all-natural. Mr. Hindman and his associate explained the development of anaerobic digesters that can create up 40,000 kilowatt hours (the average family uses about 10,000 kilowatt hours per year) using manure and other organic compost. It is a process that breaks down methane gas and uses to create energy. Mr. Hindman explains that his background growing up on a farm with horses and cattle helped the development of his ventures. He has always tried to “make something out of nothing”. To learn more about the alternative energy and making your home energy efficient, visit www.energysaversamerica.com.

We also wanted to explore Jim Hindman’s unique success story. He explained that as young as the age of 6, he recognized that the need to work to gain in life was necessary. His family was struggling and he decided to shine shoes and deliver papers to make extra income. He later found his way out of the “economy ghetto” by playing football. His talents took him to new places and opened many doors. In his late twenties, he dove into the field of hospital administration. He quickly advanced. At the age of 30 he was working at the Kansas City Kennedy Space Center in the medical administration department. He got a call from the Vice President…of the United States! Mr. Humphries himself called Jim Hindman to come work an important project at Baltimore County General. Hindman accepted and became very successful. Through his advancements, Mr. Hindman made himself a millionaire by age 35! His hard work, determination and great success are all something to be admired. He continues to lead others and gives inspiration to many.