Wisdom of Rich Dad

I know the foreclosure crisis has been super-bad, but now it’s even badder, given that it’s knocking on the door of the baddest, most ridiculously funky musician to ever emerge from the frozen north: the Minnesota Landowner Currently Known as Prince. Or MLCKP, if you prefer.

The Carver County Sheriff’s Office reports that the multitalented, multiplatinum Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has fallen behind $368,382 on the mortgage to his 20-acre former manse in Chanhassen, the Minneapolis suburb that he’s called home since 1980. A sheriff’s auction is set for May 13.

Has Prince been paying property tax like it’s 1999?

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With every financial decision, you have to balance two competing urges: the desire to not be poor and the desire to be rich. Lately the former has been trouncing the latter.

“Investors are stuck on protection of principal when they should be focused on what their principal can do for them,” says Colleen O’Brien, a vice president at Charles Schwab. Your principal will be supporting your golf games and travels after you retire, so head to a savings calculator like the one at cnnmoney.com/tools and run the numbers using a cash return of 3%.

That’s not the comfortable retirement you were hoping for, right? Now do it again assuming a stock and bond portfolio earning 7%. “When you force yourself to focus on what you want your retirement to look like,” says O’Brien, “that helps you get moving toward that goal.”

The EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey found that workers who have done some kind of retirement calculation have higher — and more realistic — savings goals than those who have never run the numbers. Plus, 67% of the doers are confident about retirement, vs. 49% of all workers.

But don’t be a hero. Do you know what will really turn you off stocks for good? Jumping in with both feet today, just as the market is nearing its pre-crash highs, and then taking another beating on the next dip.

If you’re in your thirties or forties and afraid of the market, aim to reach, say, 30% in stocks over the next two years. That’s still too conservative for someone your age, but it’s a start.

Divide to conquer your fears. Splitting your money into long-term and short-term buckets — the same trick that can stop you from jumping in and out of stocks — can also help you overcome your fear of stocks in the first place. Again, your long-term bucket doesn’t have to be filled to the brim with stocks.

Investors in corporate bonds haven’t gotten much for their money lately, but new signals suggest that’s all about to change.

After a nearly 12-months tear, companies have been issuing fewer bonds — a sign bond investors are tired of settling for low yields and weak investor protections, say market watchers. In June, issuance of new high yield bonds dropped 68% globally and 66% in the U.S. — a turnaround from May, when global issuance hit an all-time monthly record of $50 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Investment-grade bond issuance was down, too — 46% globally and 65% domestically. Ultimately, this could show investors are demanding better deals before snapping up new issues again, says George Young, portfolio manager of the $85 million Villere Balanced fund (VILLX). “You have sort of a standoff right now where investors say that’s not enough of an incentive for me to lend you money.”

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PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – A Clearwater couple is concerned after they say they attended a financial seminar over the weekend that they believe is a scam.

Joshua Steendam and his girlfriend, Kendra Keller, were looking forward to learning how to make money in real estate. They went to a “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” seminar, held at the Hilton Carillon Park in St Petersburg. It’s based on financial teachings from author Robert Kiyosaki.

But Steendam says the seminars were just a way to push people into forking over money for more classes. He says he learned very little about real estate. According to Steendam, on Saturday he felt pressure to shell out cash for more classes that cost between $11,000-44,000.

In fact, he says everyone was asked to come up with $50,000 by Sunday to start up their business. The couple never returned on Sunday.

10 News showed up to the seminar Sunday at the Hilton, but seminar officials inside did not allow cameras and didn’t want to be interviewed. They instead referred us to a corporate person.

Someone from Tigrent Inc., the company who puts on these seminars across the country for Rich Dad Education, did, however, say their program does work and has helped tens of thousands of people.

But, according to the Better Business Bureau, Tigrent, which is not BBB accredited, has received dozens of complaints over the years about sales practices, refund disputes and unsatisfactory business performance.

The Tigrent official insists complaints found on the web are mostly from competitors.

10 News did leave a message with the corporate person from Tigrent we were referred to. We have not heard anything back as yet.

(Money Magazine) — Question: Everyone talks about ‘the number,’ but what does it tell you? – ROBERT C., Los Gatos, Calif.

Answer: Ah, the number. Books have been written about it. ING has designed an entire ad campaign around it. And an assortment of online calculators will help you figure out yours — that is, the savings you’ll need to amass by the end of your career to generate enough income beyond Social Security and pensions to retire comfortably.

But while the obsession with this figure is somewhat useful — it is good, after all, to have a goal — there are better ways to determine if you’re making progress toward a secure retirement.

To arrive at the number, you estimate how much income you’ll need to maintain your standard of living after you retire — and how long that income must last. So the number for a 55-year-old who earns $150,000 a year, plans to retire at 65 on 80% of his salary, and wants that income to last until age 95 would be $3,136,687, according to ingyournumber.com.

A moving target

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Can’t get dental insurance coverage through your employer? If not, you may be tempted to skip dental cleanings and other treatments. But good basic care lowers your risk of suffering a major, expensive problem in the future.

There are three ways to approach dental care if you don’t have employer-based coverage – purchase your own private insurance, opt instead for a discount plan or simply pay for services out of pocket as you need them.

Each approach has its own risks and rewards.

Private dental insurance plans

In some cases, you may be able to purchase group dental insurance and private insurance plans on your own even if you can’t get coverage through your employer.

Group dental insurance typically costs less than individual insurance. In some sta

tes, organizations such as AARP and businesses like Costco offer dental plans at group rates to members, says Elizabeth Risberg, a spokesperson for Delta Dental.

If you don’t qualify for group coverage, consider buying individual dental insurance. Individual plans advertise costs of around $200 to $300 annually, which is higher than many group plans charge, says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, an insurance consumer advocacy organization in San Francisco.

Risberg says there are ways to lower those costs. Plans with higher deductibles often offer lower premiums. Other plans offer greater affordability in exchange for your agreeing to choose services from a more restricted network of dentists.

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