Friday, September 18, 2009

By 

James W. Stone

This week's blog article will take a different approach from the usual. I've been involved in some interesting projects lately and wanted to give you an update.

First, I attended the Financial Literacy Conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago on September 11, 2009. Many of the topics of discussion at that meeting convinced me that the message I am trying to deliver is important and very timely. I found enthusiasm for many of the teaching approaches I use in Spend Joyfully! Many discussions at this conference related to the differences between teaching grades K to 12 about money and teaching adults. Kids are used to learning things that might not have immediate application or usefulness. Adults have an immediate need to put the learning to practice, and they need immediate results.

The Federal Reserve and the U. S. Treasury Department have clearly pointed out the detrimental effects of our nation's low level of financial literacy. While my approach may seem more like a self-help approach to getting your financial life in order, I am definitely directing my efforts toward financial education for adults who aren't money professionals. But I don't want the process of learning to feel like a classroom experience — It is more about reading a book and shifting your attitude, making changes in what you do because you want to improve the way you handle your money. At the conference, I met several people who can be resources in helping me do a better job. I also identified opportunities for speaking engagements through representatives of organizations who attended the conference.

If you think the nation needs to have a better understanding about how to use credit cards, how to use a bank account, and how to finance houses and cars, you will find a lot of like-minded thinking at the Fed and Treasury Departments. They are also concerned that many people don’t understand how to budget the use of their money and how to save enough money to get them through retirement.

Second, I need to let you know the book Spend Joyfully! is now in print and is available for purchase at www.spendjoyfully.com, Amazon, etc. (If you want to buy an autographed copy, you need to catch me at a speaking engagement, or send me an e-mail at jim@jameswstone.com)

All the work to write the book and get it into print now changes course. The next step is to promote my services as a speaker on matters related to managing your life and managing your money. This will be quite a transition. Writing a book requires research and many phone calls. It is a lonely pursuit to sit at the keyboard and "get the book out”. Contacts with vendors and with the publisher usually deal with working around delays and mistakes, so that is also tedious and seldom encouraging. I'm finding that discussions about potential speaking engagements and efforts to promote my book through other organizations are much more exciting.

Third, you can help me. If you know of potential speaking engagements, or opportunities to sell Spend Joyfully! let me know. If you have any advice for me, let me know. If there is something I'm missing, tell me. If you have an idea for a blog article, let me know that too. Many of the topics I use for the articles come from suggestions I get from people.

Until next week …

James W. Stone
Copyright 2009, James W. Stone, all rights reserved worldwide