A New Year Coming Down

A New Year Coming Down

“Well I woke up Sunday morning, with no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad, so I had one more for desert.”

-Kris Kristofferson

On New Year’s Day, there will many people waking up with hangovers. For some, it happens once a year. For others, it is an every day experience.

Many use booze or drugs when life is out of control. It is easier to pop a pill or have a beer than to tackle one’s underlying problems.

New Year’s is a time when people will make life changes. Diet classes and workout centers fill up every January, and people make resolutions to improve themselves.

My demon is my weight.

A few years ago, I started a group called Don’s Get Fit Club. I wrote a column inviting overweight men in Richmond to come meet me and share ideas about losing weight. Four men showed, and the group was started.

The group is still going strong. We’ve added a few members (and are looking for more), but every person in the group has lost weight. I lost over 50 pounds in 2007 and many lost a similar percentage of their body weight.

We ought to be on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine.

Like most successful self-help groups, we do not charge a fee; we simply give each other support.

We are difference from 12-step groups in that we are competitive. Every week, we each put a dollar in a pot, and the person who reports the most weight loss gets the cash. It is a motivator. I won three weeks in a row, and everyone was gunning for me on the fourth.

Motivation is the key to battling demons. I don’t know what makes a person decide to get help, but it has to come from within. Once they decide, they need the support of others and from a higher power.

People who turn to booze, drugs and other poisons use them as a substitute for something missing in their lives.

Employees with substance abuse problems create a real dilemma. In the past, I’ve had good employees suddenly become bad employees when faced with a trauma in their personal lives. They started drinking or taking medications.

It was not just Sunday morning coming down, it was Monday, Tuesday and every other day as well. They were constantly hung over.

They did not come to work drunk or stoned, but they were clearly not at the top of their game. Although we cared for them as people, the organization couldn’t carry someone who was not pulling their weight.

It is not easy to suggest that someone should start dealing with their problems. Most people with problems know they have problems. They don’t appreciate you pointing it out to them.

You don’t need to tell me I’m fat. My scale, clothes and broken chair will do that for me.

On the other hand, if you are a true friend, you want to get the person to confront their issues. Concern needs to be communicated in an effective manner.

It helps to have positive role models. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been an inspiration for me. He lost 100 pounds and wrote a book about it. I want to do the same thing. I’ve re-read his book several times and it gives me hope.

A struggling person needs support from other people. That is one of the reasons that groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have had tremendous success. They give members love and understanding.

The Get Fit Guys works because we root for each other and yet maintain a competitive nature.

I hope people fighting drug and alcohol problems will use the New Year as an opportunity to examine their lives and battle their demons.

It could be the last year that they face a feeling like Sunday morning coming down.

Don McNay is Chairman of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky. The Get Fit Guys Meet at 122 North Second Street in Richmond on Tuesday’s at 5 pm. You can write to Don at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com

Don McNay's Guiliani & OxyContin columns noted in Editor and Publisher Magazine

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/syndicates/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003689897

Joe McNay: On this Side of the Table

This Side Of The Table

“It's a lonely, lonely road we're on
This side of paradise.”

-Bryan Adams

My late father was a professional gambler. Towards the end of his life, he was active in helping at a soup kitchen in Cincinnati, which was run by the Sisters of Charity.

One day, as dad was dishing out food to homeless people, my father was approached by the Sister who ran the program.

“Joe,” she said, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a gambler,” replied my father.

“Joe,” she said “This is the first time we ever had a gambler on this side of the table.”

The key to my father’s success was that he was always on the house side of the table. He started in bookmaking, in the glory days of Covington and Newport, and moved into organizing junkets for Las Vegas casinos, when wide open gambling faded from the Northern Kentucky scene.

He understood that if the house has the odds in its favor long enough, the house will eventually and always win out. As he often noted, “You never see them tearing down a casino because people beat them out of money.”

First with lotteries, and now through video slots and casinos, governments realized that a very easy way to gain revenues is by allowing and sponsoring gambling.

The games that have been legalized, especially the lottery, bring in much of their income from those on “the wrong side of the table.”

Some European countries limit access to the casinos to those who prove they have sufficient assets. . Various forms of stock and option trading, which can be considered a more elite form of gambling, require that those who invest in those instruments have the net worth to survive a loss.

In my father’s era, bookmakers cut off bettors on losing streaks. Las Vegas casinos carefully monitored their customers and cuts off their credit when they lose too much.

There have been few, if any, moves by states to monitor the losing of their lottery customers.

Legalized casinos, which have several games of skill and reasonable probability, gear most of their operations to the highly profitable slot machines and video games.

Lotteries have evolved from a form of gaming called “numbers,” formerly very popular in poor, urban neighborhoods. If you go into a grocery or liquor store in any poor neighborhood today, you will see people who can’t afford to lose even a few dollars, standing around playing scratch off lottery games until all of their money is gone.

I rarely if ever gamble. I can’t stand to part with my money on something that is such a bad bet.

My few trips to casinos have been bad experiences for the house. I bet very little and I am a terror at the low price buffet. I play high probability games and won’t go near a slot machine. I have a certain profit margin in mind and leave the second that I hit it. In short, I am a person casinos do not want to attract.

Making gambling illegal was an attempt to protect people from themselves.

It did not stop the tide but pushed it underground. Gambling for rich people, such as options trading and sophisticated stock market games, have always been allowed.

When I passed the stockbroker’s test many years ago, I called my father and asked, “Why is futures trading legal but betting on the Bengals illegal?” There is no logical answer.

States like Kentucky are under a lot of pressure to legalize casinos and slot machines, and just like the lottery, they eventually will.

When casinos opened in nearby states, they started taking revenue from Kentucky’s racetracks and other forms of entertainment. Casinos understand their customers and have been introducing many new people to their games.

When legislators do expand legal gambling in Kentucky, someone must think about and speak out for the person on “the wrong side of the table.”

When I was growing up, my father would go around to the sleeping room hotels and give out bottles of low cost champagne at Christmas. Just like the patrons at the soup kitchen, many of those men were gamblers and often the bottle was the only gift they got.

Legalized state gambling is not responsible for most of these people being in these positions in life, but the state needs to take extreme care that they are not the reason we are keeping them there.

Don McNay is the author of Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do when You Win the Lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning column at www.donmcnay.com

Getting Out and Staying Out

Honey won’t you open that door.”

-Ricky Skaggs

I’ve devoted several columns to Rudolph Giuliani’s legal representation of the company that makes OxyContin.

Rudolph’s drug-maker clients benefited from his great connections and knowledge of the Justice Department. Knowledge he gained on the government payroll.

I’m not upset that Rudolph took the information he gained in public life and turned it to private gain. People come out of government with expertise that is valued in the private sector.

I have a problem with politicians who take a “break” from government service, load up some clients and jump back into government. It seems to happen all the time in Washington. Since Rudolph is running for President, he is playing the game at a higher level.

A potential President should not have represented the company that made OxyContin. The company made need future influence with the Justice Department and will certainly need help with the Food and Drug Administration. It is worth big money for the company to have a potential buddy in the White House.

A recent issue of Vanity Fair did a terrific job in exposing Guiliani’s clients since he left public office. Both Vanity Fair and the NBC Nightly News discussed Guiliani’s OxyContin ties but talked about a number of his questionable clients.

Guiliani’s situation is unique. He left politics but trying to get back in at the ultimate level. He left politics completely broke. He told his second wife in a 2001 divorce that he only had $7000. Five years later, it is estimated that he is worth $70 million.

If Rudolph’s company were on the stock market, it would have gained 364% EACH YEAR.

What makes Rudolph valuable to clients is that he wants to come back in as President. If he flames out in his bid for the White House, he won’t maintain that 364% rate of return.

There is a cry from “good government” people that former politicians and regulators should not go into lobbying. Some entities make ex officials wait a year or won’t let them lobby at a place they used to work for.

I’m not as concerned about the ex government people turned lobbyists. I’m worried about the system that makes those lobbyists so effective.

I just finished reading Robert Reich’s book, Supercapitalism. Reich was former Labor Secretary for President Clinton and like many around Clinton, does not speak in clear and direct language. If you hang with it, the book offers some fascinating insights.

Reich said that in the 1970’s, only 3% of retiring Congressmen became lobbyists. Now nearly 30% do. The amount of money spent on government influence is huge. Banning Congressmen from would not change the dollar amount spent on influence, it would just change who delivers the message.

Influence peddling has become a big business and one not going to be legislated away. There has to be a uprising from voters to protest the effects of big money. It won’t happen soon. People are focused on getting through their daily lives. Politicians can distract attention with social issues and it is more fun for the media to cover the exploits of Britney Spears.

Since big interest groups have influence peddling culpability and no one seems to care, you can’t pick on retired lawmakers for getting their part of the pie. If you are going to fix the system, it needs to be overhauled completely.

Giuliani’s supporters claim that I am hypocritical since I don’t have a problem with retired Congressmen turning lobbyist but I have a problem with Rudolph. They point out that many of my criminal lawyer friends represent clients who are just as scummy as the ones that Giuliani represents.

The Congressmen are retired and generally don’t plan to come back. My lawyer friends aren’t running for President of the United States. Their clients aren’t looking for long term political influence. They are looking to avoid making license plates.

Rudolph is running for President of the United States of America. A person who has their finger on the nuclear button and who can influence the world economy should have a private life that is expleary.

There is a simple solution. Tell politicians that once you are out of government and start lobbying, you are barred from coming back. That would have changed the dynamic of Giuliani’s situation. He could have stayed poor and ran for President or been a super rich lobbyist.

He couldn’t have it both ways like he has it right now.

Don McNay is the author of Son of Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to do when you win the lottery. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning syndicated column at www.donmcnay.com

Kentucky Lottery Winner could have stayed anonymous, says author of lottery book.

Kentucky Lottery Winner could have stayed anonymous, says author of lottery book.

For further information contact:

Don McNay

don@donmcnay.com

www.donmcnay.com

For Immediate Release:

Linville Lee Huff of Bullitt County Kentucky was the winner of the December 12, 2007 $33.8 million Powerball Jackpot. Huff claimed the cash option of $16.8 million.

As reported in a (Louisville) Courier Journal article, Mr. Huff had requested that his cashing of the winning ticket remain anonymous. However, his name was obtained by the Courier Journal after it made an open records request to the Kentucky lottery.

“There are a variety of ways Mr. Huff could have protected his identity,” said Richmond Ky. author and lottery expert, Don McNay. “He could have had advisors set up a trust or a corporation.”

“There are Kentuckians who have protected their identity by setting up corporations,” said McNay. “A $148 million Powerball winner in Ohio protected his or her identity by setting up a trust.”

McNay is the author of the recently released book, Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What To Do When You Win The Lottery. The book is published by RRP International and can be found at www.sonofagambler.com

“I wish Mr. Huff had sought advice, read my columns or had a copy of my book,” said McNay. “

McNay has written extensively about lottery winners and offer three tips for lottery winners:

1. Never let anyone know you have won. “Winning the lottery is a life changing experience,” said McNay. “Several well known lottery winners, like Jack Whittaker in Hurricane, West Virginia, who have run into legal and financial difficulty after publicizing their lottery winnings.”

2. Before you cash a ticket, seek out advisors. “There are attorneys, financial advisors and trust officers who have expertise in dealing with the legal, financial and tax implications of winning the lottery,” said McNay.

3. Take the payments over 30 years instead of the cash option. “Although more than 90% of lottery winners take the cash option, there are a number of financial planning and tax advantages to taking payments over time,” said McNay.

“I does not look like Huff followed any of the three rules,” said McNay. “It is estimated that over 90% of people who win large lottery amount spend all of their money in five years or less. I hope that Mr. Huff is not one of those people.”

Articles and books to reference:

Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What To Do When You Win The Lottery

www.sonofagambler.com

What to do when you win the lottery

http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/224/9/

Life’s a Dance for Lottery Winners

http://www.donmcnay.com/content/view/56/9/

Bullitt County man won $33.6M Powerball jackpot

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071214/ZONE10/71214032

Powerball winner, who bought $33.6 million ticket in Bullitt, requests anonymity

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712140416

Could Fletcher Have Been Where Huckabee Is ?

Could Fletcher Have Been Where Huckabee Is ?

It could have been me standing there with you.

It could have been me and my dreams coming true.

-Billy Ray Cyrus

He is the last Republican Governor of a southern state that normally elects Democrats. The last Democratic Governor was involved in a highly publicized extramarital affair

A former Baptist minister, the Governor is known for taking conservative positions on social issues. He has a low key and genial manner. He is known for advocating a healthy lifestyle.

No, I am not talking about Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. I am talking about Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky.

Huckabee is a front runner for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Fletcher lost his bid for re-election by a huge margin.

Could Fletcher have been a presidential front runner like Huckabee?

Shortly after Fletcher came into office, there were rumbling about his being a national candidate.

Along with his stint as a minister, Fletcher has been a physician and a fighter pilot. He served in Congress and the state legislature. Huckabee’s resume is not as broad.

Kentucky is strategically more important in a presidential race than Arkansas. Kentucky has more electoral votes than Arkansas and borders on some of the most important “swing” states like Ohio and Illinois.

Since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, every elected president has come from the south or from the west. The perceived Republican front runners have been Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Giuliani is from New York, which has not had a president since FDR, and Romney is from Massachusetts, which elected John Kennedy in 1960.

You don’t meet many guys named Rudolph or Mitt in the states where recent presidents have come from. Names like Mike, Ernie, John or Jim-Bob are more popular.

Although John McCain has experience and is a courageous war hero from a western state, his campaign has had problems. Fred Thompson is showing that he is a much better politician in the movies than he is in real life.

I thought Thompson would fill the void for a southern candidate but the charisma he shows as an actor is not coming through on the campaign trail.

Thus, there is an opening for a southern, conservative. An opening that Mike Huckabee has taken advantage of.

It could have been Huckabee and it could have been the Ernie Fletcher that Kentucky thought they elected in 2003.

It’s easy to see how Fletcher could have been the presidential frontrunner and Huckabee sitting at home.

What happened?

Fletcher’s downfall as Governor is traced back to what is termed a “merit system scandal” in his administration. Actually, it is simpler than that: Fletcher’s downfall is tied to a personality flaw. He took criticism far too personally.

As the Godfather said, “it business, not personal.” Fletcher must have missed the movie and the book. With Fletcher, criticism of his policy became a personal insult. The deliverer of the criticism became a personal enemy.

Thus, Fletcher had a lot of enemies.

If Fletcher had apologized for his “merit system scandal” it went have went away in about 15 minutes. Instead he burrowed in and waged a long and personal attack against the prosecutor.

A brilliant strategy that got Fletcher and a bunch of his cronies indicted.

Fletcher never “got it”. He held a pep rally when he pardoned his cronies. The average citizen doesn’t think the issuance of gubernatorial pardons is something to cheer about. Fletcher’s inability to grasp public perception, combined with a well run campaign by his opponent, resulted in Fletcher getting walloped at the polls.

Getting stomped did not make Ernie more reflective. Every other Governor, even the one who was caught in the extramarital affair, took time to meet with reporters and do a final “exit interview.” Fletcher turned down some requests and granted others. I guess he is trying to “punish” reporters by refusing their interviews.

The reporters will be in Frankfort next week. Fletcher won’t be. Fletcher had a chance to define his historic legacy and screwed it up.

Huckabee and Fletcher were both Baptist ministers but Huckabee understood that part of the Bible about “turning the other cheek.”

If Fletcher had studied that passage more closely, he might have been in the running for President.

Instead of being unemployed.

Don McNay is the author of the Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read his award winning syndicated column at www.donmcnay.com

McNay & Bigler again receive highest financial services honor

McNay and Bigler again receive highest financial services honor.

Don McNay, CSSC and Clay Bigler, CSSC, were named to the Top of the Million Dollar Round Table, the highest honor awarded by the financial services organization.

McNay is Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group Inc. in Richmond Kentucky. Bigler is President of McNay Settlement Group.

Matt Harville, CSSC, a Senior Settlement Consultant at McNay Settlement Group, was also named to Million Dollar Round Table for the third consecutive year.

Don McNay is one of the world’s best known authorities on structured settlements and on handling unexpected sums of money. 2007 is the 22nd time he has been named to the Million Dollar Round Table and eight year that he has achieved Top of the Table recognition.

McNay is also an author and an award winning syndicated columnist. His most recent book is Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery.

Bigler is a rising star of the structured settlement industry. It is the fifth time he has been named to the Million Dollar Round Table and second time he has achieved Top of The Table status.

Bigler was named President of McNay Settlement Group last year, after 14 years with the organization. He has spoken to legal and financial groups around the United States along with the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Bigler has also published numbers professional articles.

Harville is an expert in providing structured settlements for workers compensation claims and serving in his seventh year at McNay Settlement Group.

Harville, Bigler and McNay have received the Certified Structured Settlement Designation (CSSC) from Notre Dame University.

McNay Settlement Group was founded by Don McNay and recently celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary. The firm is one of the nation’s leaders in structured settlements and financial counseling for injured people. It is headquartered in Richmond and has an office in Virginia Beach.