Climbing Mountains

First of all I would like to thank Rob Black, as well as Chad Burton, and Richard Alpert for allowing me to hang out with them both on Thursday night and then again this last weekend.

These guys regularly put on educational seminars around the bay area.
Each one has a slightly different theme weather it's wealth preservation, or Finance 101, or even this next week's Managing Your Mortgage (that's the one I'll be speaking at).

There is no hard sell, just honest hard hitting information in language normal people can understand.

I am always amazed at the vast amount of knowledge these guys have.
I could just sit in the back of the room and take notes.

And then, just when I think I have a good handle on these guys, another surprise comes along.
Thursday night, after their seminar, we went to the bar for a bite to eat.
We ordered 5 beers, 4 Sierra Nevada's and one RedHook.

I made a passing comment that there was something in RedHook that I was allergic to.
I mentioned that after I climbed Mt. Rainier in WA. I had come down and toured the brewery.
Richard asked when I had climbed Rainier, I told him back in 94.
It turns out Richard was a mountain guide.
Not just for a little mountain like Rainier, but Everest and other top notch peaks as well!

Climbing Everest makes all my previous climbs a walk in the park.
Not only that, In 1998, Richard became the youngest American at that time to reach the summit of Mount Everest via the North Ridge!
http://www.everestnews.com/98.htm
WOW!

You can find out a little more about him here: newfocusfinancial.com

The point maybe I'm trying to make (in a round about way)
is you never know about the people you are talking to.

Sometimes that's a good thing (like talking to Richard),
and then other times it's a bad thing, like the people I met at the seminar who are presently in an Option ARM.
Some were sold these loans by people who they trusted.
Some were sold these loans by friends in the business.
and then some were silly enough to answer a postcard or phone call.

You could be talking to me one day, and someone who looks, talks, and says the same thing as I do the next. One of us maybe selling you a particular loan just to make big $ knowing that we are also setting you up for a huge loss, and the other may genuinely have your best interests at heart.

How do you really know?

Next weekend is our seminar focusing on getting out of these loans.
I'll be very interested in where all these people got their loans.
Oh the stories they can tell!

Be careful out there.

Upcoming this week:
Monday: 2:00 PM - Treasury Budget
Tuesday: 8:30 AM - Retail Sales
Wednesday: 2:00 PM - FOMC Minutes
Thursday: 8:30 AM - Core CPI
Friday: 8:30 AM - Housing Starts