Journey into Finance

Chapter 1 The Blame Game My transformation began after reading a quote from a famous author that said, “Most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don’t like.” Jack Canfield (“The Success Principles”) that one statement hit a nerve with me. I couldn’t agree more because it’s absolutely true. I too was guilty of this same issue. I blamed my biological mother for not staying alive long enough to teach us or for not providing us with a better life. I blamed my bosses for not promoting me, my friends for not supporting me, the media for distorting my values, my spouse for holding me back, the weather for not being able to exercise, the economy for lack of money or a job—anyone or anything I could pin the blame on, except “myself”. I was the victim time and time again. That’s when I decided to kick the blame game out the door and say, “you know what—my decisions in life belong to me and the outcomes of such decisions are no one’s fault but my own”. Once I said those words aloud, a huge amount of relief swept over me. It was humiliating to accept the truth, but it is better than telling myself lies over and over again. When we take responsibility for every single thing that happens in our life, it liberates us. Taking ownership of my life removed the shackles holding me back from enjoying the true benefits of my labor. While working in Customer Service for a major financial institution, I noticed similar behaviors of those calling in about their bank accounts. When I began working with this company over fifteen years ago, I started off in the level one position, catering to those customers who call in constantly about non-sufficient fee reversals caused by none other than themselves, but wanting the bank to take the blame for their inability or willingness to subtract what has been spent from their beginning day balance. They don’t leave a penny in their checking account, but swear they had enough money in there to cover the transaction the other day. Yet they continue withdrawing money and using their debit cards to overdraw their accounts. They never seem to remember that if their accounts are not meeting minimum balance requirements, they will be charged a monthly maintenance fee and when they overdraft their accounts, there is a penalty that costs them dearly. Yes, I was just like that. Then it dawned on me- many of us are not taught how to balance a check book in school nor do we speak about this with our families. Not everyone is like this; however, being on the receiving end of the telephone call, you begin to see and hear patterns. There are some hard working folks out there that spend most of their money on bills, groceries, medications etc. Then there are the other ones—who spend money as fast as it comes in on fast food, movies, and all sorts of entertainment. They don’t have a savings account or if they do, what little money they have in their savings account is transferred into their checking account so they can spend that up too. Now you may laugh, but like I said before-I used to be one of these customers and believe it or not, they still exist. With all of this technology, one would think that everybody should know how to balance a check register, right? Well, sad to say “no”. Our schooling system has failed us in that aspect and one of the reasons why I decided to tell my story. While working for a bank I learned how they make money off of the ignorance of their customers. I promised that I would share this information with whoever called in and got me on the line. Believe it or not, Banks want an educated consumer, that's why they hire Customer Service Representatives to provide the necessary disclosures so they can [End of Excerpt]