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The Person We Should Be Moving Our Money to

Over 4 million people moved their money from Wall Street Banks in 2010, according to Sara Ackerman, project coordinator for Move Your Money.
I bought into the “Move Your Money” movement the day that Arianna Huffington and some associates founded the concept. I had already been doing it for years.
My money is in non-Wall Street banks that have branches, or headquartered, in my home city of Richmond, Kentucky.
Long ago, I learned the importance of having a personal relationship with my banker. I don’t want to call an 800 number and talk to a “customer service” representative in India (continue reading…)

Keeneland The Book

Just give me one more crack at the ol’ race track
-The Mills Brothers
As the son of a professional gambler, I spent a lot of my childhood at race tracks. Not particularly nice race tracks.
Dad would take us to the aging River Downs facility in Cincinnati during the day and to the even more aging Latonia race track in Northern Kentucky at night.
Lots of broken down men (outside of Pete Rose’s first wife, I can’t remember any women) betting on broken down horses (continue reading…)

Health Insurance for Children Under Age 19 in Kentucky

I’m doing research on a longer article about the first battles on implementing health care reform in Kentucky. A battle between well entrenched health insurance companies and a strong willed insurance commissioner.
While I am finishing the piece, I wanted to make sure that people in Kentucky, and in other states with similar situations, understand that during January, Kentuckians under age 19 can get individual health insurance and the companies cannot deny coverage due to a pre-existing health condition.
In the early 1990′s, Kentucky was one of the few states to offer health insurance without considering preexisting conditions. Like any responsible insurance agent, I went through all of my client files and signed as many people up for health insurance as I could, and tried to purchase the best coverage that I could find.
For example, I had an 8 year old quadriplegic client who was able to obtain a Cadillac plan of coverage for $80 a month (continue reading…)

The next Generation of Kentuckys Political Leadership

Come on up for the rising
-Bruce Springsteen
In 1980, David Broder wrote Changing of the Guard, an influential book about the upcoming generation of leaders in Washington.
Bringing the concept forward 30 years later, I asked a number of people in the “political know” of Kentucky the question. “Who do you see emerging as the next leaders of Kentucky?”
When we get to 2014 and 2015 (when a U.S. Senate race and Governor’s race will be taking place) who are some of the names we will be talking about?
Political predicting can be tricky. If we had asked the question a year ago, Rand Paul would not have received much notice. Secretary of State Trey Grayson and Lt. Governor Dan Mongiardo, neither whom will be seeking office in the near future, would have been on everyone’s list.
Thus, many did not want to go on record. But some brave souls did.
Some of the names were long-time political veterans.
Several, including Covington attorney Phil Taliaferro, mentioned Louisville’s “Mayor for Life,” Jerry Abramson, who is running for Lt. Governor on a slate with incumbent Governor Steve Beshear. Lexington attorney Bill Garmer, a former chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party, was among many who mentioned State Auditor Crit Luallen.
Three names were frequently mentioned as “up and comers” on the Republican side. State Representatives Jamie Comer from Tompkinsville, Alecia Webb-Eddington from Kenton County and incoming State Senator Jared Carpenter of Richmond are all Republicans to watch.
Tiffany Nash, President of the Madison County Republican Women, noted Carpenter’s tender age – 33 – and believes she has unlimited upside potential.
Louisville talk radio host, Joe Elliott, (970-AM WGTK) said that several of his Republican guests call Comer, who is running for Commissioner of Agriculture, as “the real deal.” Webb-Eddington showed up on several lists, including that of Joni Jenkins, a Democratic state representative from Louisville. Jenkins (who was also mentioned, herself) was one of many who touted Democrat Sanny Overly as a person to watch.
Legendary Kentucky journalist and former head of the Appalachian Regional Commission (under Jimmy Carter) Al Smith joined Garmer and former Secretary of State John Y. Brown III in mentioning Lexington’s incoming Mayor, Jim Gray. Garmer and Brown also noted incoming Louisville Mayor, Greg Fischer.
Smith touted three young people with considerable pedigrees: Clay Barkley, great grandson of Vice President (under Harry Truman) Alben Barkley, Martha McKinney of Logan County, granddaughter of Western Kentucky political powerhouse Rayburn Smith and Jamie Emmons, 30, the son of political consultant Dale Emmons.
Jamie “made his bones” by managing Jim Gray’s successful campaign for Lexington Mayor.
Dale Emmons and Bob Babbage mentioned Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Lexington attorney who is the daughter of former Kentucky Democratic party chair, Jerry Lundergan.
Although more as a behind the scenes player than a political candidate, Al Smith was high on Lexington technology guru Ben Self (and on his wife Rebecca) who was one of the key players in President Obama’s internet fundraising operation.
Jim Gray had his own pick — Craig Greenberg, 36, a Louisville attorney and a founding partner in the 21c Hotel group.
Like Greenberg, many of the names are of people who have not held political office. Republican state representative Bill Farmer, of Lexington, thought that Bill Samuels Jr., President of Maker’s Mark Distillery, and Bill Farish, son of the Ambassador to England, might be potential candidates.
Former Secretary of State Bob Babbage mentioned several people, including Adam Edelen, who is running for State Auditor, a position Babbage once held. Babbage and several others touted former Kentucky Democratic Party chair, Jennifer Moore, who is a Louisville trial lawyer.
John Y. Brown III noted Luther Deaton, the CEO of Central Bank in Lexington.
Babbage, Garmer and several others mentioned Louisville attorney Morgan McGarvey as someone to watch.
From the western part of the state, outgoing Madisonville Mayor Will Cox was frequently mentioned. But Cox, himself, likes Henderson County Attorney Steve Gold and state representatives John Tilly (Hopkinsville) and Will Coursey (Benton).
Award winning author and Republican power broker Rick Robinson sees the future of Kentucky’s Republican Party in Lexington attorney Blake Brickman. Brickman is the grandson of a former Democratic governor, Ned Breathitt, and is a former aide to Senator Jim Bunning.
State Senator Ray Jones, of Pikeville, and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer were names from the eastern part of the state.
Although Mongiardo, Trey Grayson and Jonathan Miller are sitting out the next election cycle, few people believe that they are out of politics permanently. Each is expected to come back in the future.
Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC of Richmond Kentucky is an award winning columnist and Huffington Post contributor. He is the founder of McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement consulting firm and author of two books, including Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners Losers and What to Do When you Win the Lottery. McNay is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

This Blogger’s Books from
Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery
by Don McNay
The Unbridled World Of Ernie Fletcher: Reflections on Kentucky’s Governor
by DON McNAY

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Wealth Without Wall Street Don McNays talk to Local First Lexington Ky

The four points of Wealth Without Wall Street.org are:
1. Move Your Money. Take the power away from Wall Street banks and give them to banks and credit unions in your community.
2. Don’t use credit cards. They are a tool that Wall Street uses to tie the average consumer in chains.
3. Give back to your community.
4. The point that I primarily want to focus on is creating and promoting a small businesss.
As a writer and businessman, I know firsthand the value of a well-written media story.
If you trace the history of almost any national company, you’ll find that somewhere along the way a story in a publication put that company in the spotlight.
It’s like winning the media lottery. You toil for many years in relative obscurity and suddenly you become an overnight sensation.
It happened to me.
I was 23 when I started my structured settlement and financial consulting business, McNay Settlement Group. For a few years, it grew only by word of mouth.
That all changed because of a story in the Lexington Herald Leader.
Business Editor Jim Jordan wrote a feature about my work with injury victims that explained it in a way that captivated the reader. It also grabbed the attention of many national publications.
We went from being a local business to a national business as a result of a few hundred well-written words.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. I’m a writer.
I know that comments in my newspaper column or in my blogs on The Huffington Post have tremendous power.
I want to scream when I see small businesses, with the potential to be “overnight sensations,” screw it up.
Journalists are not interested in being public relations or marketing people. They are interested in finding good stories. Some business people don’t seem to get that.
It helps if a business has an identifiable owner or spokesperson.
It’s more than just ego that made the late Dave Thomas, who started Wendy’s, or John Schnatter, who started Papa John’s, star in their company’s television commercials. It was a way to remind people that the fast food chains were not started by nameless, faceless corporations.
They were started by entrepreneurs chasing the American dream.
Faceless corporations do not make for a good story. Chasing the American dream does.
If you have some connection to the rich, famous, or powerful, make sure the world knows about it.
I watched Ted Gregory build his small Montgomery Inn, a rib joint outside of Cincinnati, into a national powerhouse. Whenever a Bob Hope or an Arnold Palmer or a well-known celebrity ate at the restaurant, Ted made sure that the world knew about it.
I watched another Cincinnati restaurant owner, Jeff Ruby, use the same celebrity strategy.
Not everyone has a celebrity clientele, but anyone who is successful in business knows how to sell.
Ironically, that selling skill often goes out the window when dealing with journalists.
Business owners who can be charming and customer friendly in business dealings can turn uncooperative, pushy or defensive when talking to the news media.
Business owners need to treat journalists just like any other clients they are talking to on a one-on-one basis. They just keep in mind that the world might be listening.
And as with any good client, once a media relationship is developed, the business owner needs to make sure to keep it up.
The same skills that will make you a business success, like following through on commitments and saying “Please” and “Thank you,” will make you successful in communicating with the media.
Don McNay speaks to Local First Lexington
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Don McNay spoke to a meeting of members of Local First Lexington about Wealth Without Wall Street and becoming an overnight business sensation.
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Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC is the founder of McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement firm based in Richmond Kentucky. He is also an award winning columnist and Huffington Post Contributor. McNay is a member of the Eastern Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni and has masters degrees from Vanderbilt University and the American College. He is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

This Blogger’s Books from
Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery
by Don McNay
The Unbridled World Of Ernie Fletcher: Reflections on Kentucky’s Governor
by DON McNAY

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Byron Crawford Bard of The Backroads

Kentucky Rain keep pouring down,
and up ahead’s another town that I’ll be walking through.
-Elvis Presley
On the surface, Byron Crawford new book, Kentucky Footnotes appears to be anthology of some Crawford’s most interesting columns from his 29 years as an award winning columnist for the Louisville Courier Journal.
It’s more than that.
Crawford’s beat for the Courier Journal were the back roads and small towns of Kentucky.
A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, Crawford has a unique eye for finding, “the story within a story” that other journalists miss.
What has made Crawford a great writer is that his understanding that every individual has a great story. Byron might have been the only journalist to ever print their names in a newspaper but he found interesting people doing interesting things.
Sometime Byron’s stories sparked worldwide interest.
Byron’s son Eric Crawford, who is also an award winning columnist at the Courier Journal (covering sports ), noted that one of Byron’s stories about a blind trumpet player named Patrick Henry Hughes wound up with Hughes being featured on Oprah Winfrey and the television show Extreme Home Makeover redoing the Hughes house.
All because Crawford saw a story that the rest of missed.
Before he became a columnist, Byron was a disc jockey at the legendary WAKY-AM radio station in Louisville. A station that influenced a young listener named John Mellencamp, along with many others.
Byron includes a great story about a couple who owns one of Elvis’s cars and another about Elvis’ sound man.
Far more interesting than reflections on the King himself.
Byron’s writing style flows like an old friend sitting around a campfire, telling stories that you want to hear over and over. I’ve read his column for over half my life (and once was the subject of one of his columns) but his style leaves you hungry for more.
One of the reasons Andy Griffith had such a long run on television and in re runs is that a big part of America is looking for the kind of balance, perspective and wisdom that comes from the Main Streets and back roads of small towns
Crawford captures that same perspective and wisdom in Kentucky Footnotes.
Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC of Richmond Kentucky is an award winning columnist and Huffington Post contributor. He is the founder of McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement consulting firm and author of two books, including Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners Losers and What to Do When you Win the Lottery. McNay is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

This Blogger’s Books from
Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery
by Don McNay
The Unbridled World Of Ernie Fletcher: Reflections on Kentucky’s Governor
by DON McNAY

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Will our new leaders encourage consumers to save

After the recent election, are going to have a bunch of new people running the show.
I wonder if they will encourage consumers to focus on saving.
I once heard an economist say, Rich people accumulate wealth. Poor people accumulate things,” he said.
He had a trickle up theory of economics. He felt that money burns a hole in a poor person’s pocket while wealthy people will sock it away.
Poor people often spend all their income just to survive but there are some who are broke simply because they can’t handle money.
There is a financial dividing line that separates savers and spenders.
The savers wind up with wealth and the spenders wind up with debt. Debtors can only get bailed out if they are Wall Street banks who are “too big to fail.”
Working Americans aren’t deemed “too big to fail.”
The line between affluence and poor is getting bigger.
For years, poor people wanting to spend had plenty of help from credit card companies, payday lenders, “buy here, and pay here” car lots and subprime lenders.
Many people got in over their heads and couldn’t make payments. Companies like Citigroup bet that the fun would never stop and kept lending.
They were both wrong.
The economy tanked because companies and consumers put too much faith in a system of endless spending and borrowing.
People on their way to wealth usually have good savings habits. People on their way to a lifelong struggles blow money on stuff they don’t need.
Spending is an instant gratification, like snorting cocaine. One shopper told me that she got a high from shopping like a high from drugs.
When I was growing up, I used to think some people didn’t have good jobs. They lived in run down houses and often had their cars repossessed
I found out that they made as much money as my parents. The people who lived in run down houses spent money on things they didn’t use and motorboats that never made it in the water.
They lent money to “family and friends” even though they should have paying their own bills first. They had no sense of long term planning.
Ultimately, they had no money.
Spending beyond your means is an addiction. A spending addiction is probably as hard to cure as a drug addiction. It requires changing your lifestyle.
Money is a leading cause of divorce. The stress of debt pushes people to escape reality with booze or drugs.
When the economy slowed down, the addiction became a crisis. People keeping the balls in the air suddenly couldn’t. They had no backup systems.
I’ve frequently hired a casual laborer. He is good at his craft and for 20 years, he made really good money. None of which he saved. Whenever I saw him, he talked about skiing trips, his bass boat or his brand new trucks.
Now the economy has turned. His house is being foreclosed on and they repossessed his trucks. He has no savings or credit.
His focus was on accumulating possessions. Now he doesn’t have those possessions. Or any money either.
If our next set of leaders truly wants to make an impact, they need to get America focused on saving.

This Blogger’s Books from
Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery
by Don McNay
The Unbridled World Of Ernie Fletcher: Reflections on Kentucky’s Governor
by DON McNAY

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Kentucky an Election Sneak Preview

As Nate Silver and other election watchers have noted, the Kentucky Sixth Congressional District race between incumbent Democrat Ben Chandler and Republican challanger Andy Barr has been one of the tightest and most competitive Congressional races this year.
It also might be a glimpse of how the rest of the night might go for Democrats and Republicans.
Kentucky is one of the first states to post results. Barr winning would signal a huge Republican landslide while Chandler holding on to his seat mght signal a milder wave.
Ryan Alassi had a fascinating point in a post on his
CN2 Politics website.
In past 20 years, no one has won the 6th Congressional district without winning Madison County. It is the second larger county in the district, behind Fayette (Lexington.)
Chandler has always carried the much smaller Estill County, even though it is a strong Republican county. If Barr wins, or wins by a large margin in Estill, definitely an indicator of his having a chance to win.
Wallingford Broadcasting is doing election night radio coverage and will have live reports from the Madison County and Estill County courthouses. Thus they should have the very first results.

http://www.wcyofm.com/index.html

Don McNay of Richmond Kentucky is an award winning columnist and Huffington Post contributor. He will be providing election commentary on Wallingford Broadcasting.

This Blogger’s Books from
Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery
by Don McNay
The Unbridled World Of Ernie Fletcher: Reflections on Kentucky’s Governor
by DON McNAY

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Be first in your age group to embrace technology

“Do you believe in rock and roll, can music save your mortal soul?”
-Don McLean
Daisy Werthan: You should have let me keep my old LaSalle. It never would’ve behaved this way and you know it.
Boolie Werthan: Mama, cars don’t behave. They are behaved upon. Fact is, you demolished that Chrysler all by yourself.
-Driving Miss Daisy
I believe in God, country and rock and roll. But the concept that gives me the most hope for the future is technology.
I’ve always been an “early adapter” in the technology world. I had a personal computer long before any of my friends did. Same with the cell phone, fax machine, email, website and PDA. I got an iPad the first day they hit the market, just like I did with the iPhone.
Spending money on technology has been some of my best moves. Sometimes I am too far ahead of the curve, (I had video-conferencing 15 years ago but no one to conference with) but generally it pays off.
When used properly, technology is a tool that makes us more productive. It can also be a distraction, stressor or time waster.
The technological principle I try to live by is that I want to the first in my age group to use the newest gadget.
One of my grad school classmates was a computer pioneer. He had an interesting insight.
He said that the best computer minds on the planet were always going to be high school and college students. They have the time and energy to learn new skills.
Even more importantly, they don’t have to “unlearn” anything.
One of the things that keeps me from learning a new technology is that I am tied to concepts that are outdated.
I still have a land-line phone. I can’t rationally explain why, but I feel like the land-line is more dependable. I rarely use my cell phone. I don’t like to text and I resist it fiercely. To contact me, I want people to email, call or send a Facebook message.
If I was coming out of high school today, I would probably be a texting fiend. But my tendency to be verbose is better suited to phone or email.
You can also understand why my friends try to push me to text messaging. Not everyone is up for my hour-long phone calls or 1000 word emails.
The key to embracing technology is figuring out what it can do to improve your current situation.
Which brings me to the Google Car. The New York Times recently had a fascinating article about a car that Google is working on that can drive itself.
I want one.
The article notes that it will be a few years before robot-driven cars become common place. If it all plays out correctly, that will be about the time when driving becomes more difficult for me.
The article says that automated cars could have as big an impact of on society as the Internet.
We won’t care about drunk drivers or people driving while they text. More than 37,000 people die in the U. S. each year in auto accidents. That number would be dramatically reduced with the Google Car.
Although it will be hip, new technology, the group where it will have the most immediate impact is senior citizens.
Several of my older friends have hit a stage of life where it difficult for them to drive themselves. It’s a horrible loss of independence and productivity. Not being able to drive can force them to move from long-established homes and cause them to feel dependent on people to drive them around.
That all changes with the Google Car.
I can see some resistance to turning the driving over to a computer. That’s one reason why I urge people to start being early adapters within their own demographic.
You don’t need to know how to program an automated car. You just need to know how to turn it on.
It’s been a rough time for the American economy and I don’t see it getting better anytime soon. We have too many years of bad decisions and bad leadership to wring out of the system.
But technology gives me hope. I’ve long been a fan of things like universal broadband. I can see how it can allow people to live in small towns but do big business.
Technology tends to crunch bureaucracies and eliminate current jobs, but it offers a creative person a chance to get ahead further and faster on his own.
It makes us less dependent upon big government and big businesses.
It’s all about giving it chance. You don’t have to keep up with the nerds at the college computer lab — you just need to stay ahead of your peer group.
Those who do are going to be happier and more productive in the long run.
And the envy of their neighbors.
Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC of Richmond Kentucky is an award-winning financial columnist and Huffington Post Contributor.
You can read more about Don at www.donmcnay.com
McNay founded McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement and financial consulting firm, in 1983, and Kentucky Guardianship Administrators LLC in 2000. You can read more about both at www.mcnay.com
McNay has Master’s Degrees from Vanderbilt and the American College and is in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni of Eastern Kentucky University.
McNay has written two books. Most recent is Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win The Lottery
McNay is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table and has four professional designations in the financial services field.

Follow Don McNay on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Donmcnay

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com