Son of a Son of a Gambler

Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers, and What to Do When You Win the Lottery

Published by RRP International


Advanced copies of Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers, and What to Do When You Win the Lottery are available now. There are only a limited number of advanced copies available and orders are limited to four books per person. You will only be able to get this limited edition copy through the link below until November 1, 2007 when the book goes on sale in bookstores and everywhere else. All advanced copies are autographed and sure to be a collector's item!

http://www.sonofagambler.com

Al Smith and Transitions

Al Smith and Transitions

"Keep on rockin' in the free world."

-Neil Young

Al Smith, my mentor in all aspects of life, was going through a list of things that he plans to do in the next year. He concluded by telling me, "It is better to wear out than rust out."

I don't see any signs of Al doing either. He is 80 on the calendar but 16 in his heart. I can't keep up at his pace. I don't know many people who can.

November is when Al is going to make a life change. He is ending his over 30-year career as host of Kentucky Educational Television's longest running show, Comment on Kentucky. His last show will be November 16th.

I am a frequent guest on the show and love the energy and preparation that Al brings to the production. He spends countless hours prepping guests and tracking down breaking news.

Viewers get information they cannot find elsewhere. No one can calculate the show's influence on Kentucky's history. Many a journalistic career, including mine, has been launched or enhanced by a Comment on Kentucky appearance.

I am glad that Al is leaving at the top of his game. He set his own terms and gave everyone time to prepare.

It reminds me a lot of when Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show. Carson left in good health and at the top of the ratings. He went out with class and dignity, just like Al will.

He is leaving his successor an incredibly loyal audience and a legacy. Like Jay Leno, following Carson, it could be that the transition to a different host works well, or it could be like when Louis Rukeyser left Wall Street Week and the show quickly died. The audience wanted Louis and no one else.

A lot depends on how the transfer is coordinated.

Although Al is normally the teacher and me the student, the transition of Comment is a situation where I can provide my mentor with advice.

I have had my own business transition.

Exactly twenty-five years ago, I started in the financial planning industry. Shortly after, I started my own business focused around my persona and image. My name, picture, and penguin mascot are on everything.

Just like Donald Trump, Charles Schwab, or Oprah, the business was based around one personality. A lot like Comment on Kentucky is.

Last year, we made a change in how we manage the business. I see more clients than I ever did but I don't run business operations. I spend more time writing and doing research.

It took some adjustment but the business has prospered and has had record growth.

I had advantages that Al doesn't. I got to pick my successors and he does not. Each member of my senior management team had over a decade of experience with the company and literally "grew up" with the business.

I assume the next Comment host will be a veteran journalist who has frequently appeared on the show. It would be a gamble to make a format change or bring in an outside host. Katie Couric's failed attempt to revamp the CBS Evening News proved that news audiences don't want a lot of change.

Al has never shied away from taking a stand. Even though the show is on public television, Al has always pointed out the failings of office holders and his audience appreciates his candor. A host that tries to "water down" the show to please politicians will find audiences quickly tuning out.

A guy who won't be tuning out is Al Smith. On or off the air, he will be as busy as ever. I pointed out to Al that based on his health, energy, and family history, he could easily be active for another twenty years. Until I recently made some weight and lifestyle changes, he had a longer life expectancy than I do, despite his 32-year head start.

When Al made his "better to wear out than rust out" statement, I thought of Neil Young's line, "better to burn out than it is to rust." I don't see Al burning out or rusting.

He will be rocking in the free world for a long time to come.

The Poll

The following are the results from the last poll:

1. Have you ever invited a neighbor to share a holiday with you?

Yes - 56.5%
No - 43.5%

2. What is your favorite holiday?

Other - 28.6%
Christmas - 25.0%
Thanksgiving - 25.0%
Fourth of July - 21.4%

This week there are two poll questions:

1. What is your primary source of news?
2. How many newspapers do you subscribe to?

To vote in this week's poll follow the link below. The poll will be on the left hand side of the web page.

http://www.donmcnay.com/

Don McNay is Chairman of the Board at McNay Settlement Group and author of Son of a Son of a Gambler, Winners, Losers, and What to Do When You Win The Lottery, which is available at http://www.sonofagambler.com. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at http://www.donmcnay.com.

Can You Handle Being Self-Employed?

Can You Handle Being Self-Employed?

"It's only half past twelve, but I don't care. It's five o' clock somewhere."

- Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett

Five o'clock is important to many people. It is the time that they leave their jobs and stop thinking about work.

Five o'clock has never been a big deal for me. I've been self-employed for 25 years, and my work does not conform to a time clock.

My father was a gambler and never lived a nine to five life. Thus, I never grew up wanting one.

Several of my clients are trial attorneys. Along with the bond of working with injured people, we have another common tie: we don't know when we are going to be paid.

The book and movie A Civil Action is a good example of how an attorney can go broke working on an important case.

Many professionals, like real estate agents and others in the sales industry, have the same kind of up-and-down incomes.

Few people are suited to be their own boss. Most people want a regular work routine. Their lives are based on a 40-hour work week and a steady paycheck.

When people tell me they want to start their own business, I ask them if they can really live without a regular income. I tell them to talk to their families and get their honest answers. I ask them if they could stand to go weeks or months without money coming in and how they would deal with it.

They need to understand they are trading their steady paycheck for an "unsteady paycheck."

Many people want their own businesses for the wrong reasons. Like the character in the Jackson song, people decide that they don't like their jobs and that it would be fun to be self-employed.

They don't realize that self-employment means that it is never five o'clock anywhere.

I've told many professionals that they should not go into business for themselves. They may be good workers with good ideas, but they could not handle the stress from not having a guaranteed income.

Never being off work can be hard on families. I had a friend try to be an independent insurance agent. He worked a lot of hours and his wife put their children on the phone and had them say how much they missed him.

He went back to a steady paycheck at a big insurance company. He has less independence but he is still married.

Some people, like me, became self-employed because no large organization would hire them. Once I started my financial business, I realized that I needed the independence of being self-employed more than I needed a steady paycheck.

I had a brief career at a company that decided to impose a dress code. I immediately started coming to work wearing blue jeans, a tee shirt, and a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap.

I killed the dress code and any hope of my advancement at the same time. I went back to working on my own.

Education and upbringing are important in deciding whether a person can make it as an entrepreneur. I was with Barbourville, Ky. attorney Sam Davies when a woman told him that she was sending her son to military school. "He will learn how to follow the rules," she said. Sam replied, "He would be better off if he found a school where they taught him how not to follow the rules."

Sam, who has never had a partner, is one of the best attorneys in the United States. Many trial lawyers practice by themselves or with a few associates. Most have the same anti-authority attitude that I have.

The attitude that makes them unafraid to take on billion-dollar businesses makes it impossible for them to fit into a big corporation.

They produce an "unsteady paycheck," and they never know when five o'clock rolls around.

Before a person decides on self employment, they need to figure out how important five o' clock is in their lives.


Story Behind the Song

It's Five O'clock Somewhere

This song was a monster hit that seems to hit a nerve. Also, it brought Jimmy Buffett back on the popular charts about 25 years after his last visit on the top 20.



Here is a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib8nH4kHjxk

Don McNay is Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky. He is the author of the soon to be released book: 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@mcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. His award winning column is syndicated to over 200 publications.

Birdbrain Bernanke

McNay on Money

People think I am hard on Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke, but I am beginning to think that I am not hard enough. I want for the world to avoid being plunged into worldwide panic, famine, and devastation.

Bernanke seems determined to do the opposite; look at the recent activity in the markets.

I do not think Ben is evil nor has an economic death wish; I think he is totally clueless. We could have picked any person working in a 9 to 5 job, and they would make a better Federal Reserve Chair.

Some people, like myself and Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, were saying this before Bernanke got the job. However, the United States Senate was clueless as to what kind of person should have the most important economic job in the world, and they let Ben sail through the confirmation hearings.

The key to being a good fed chair is being in touch with where we are and where we are going. Ben spent all of his life in an ivory tower and does not have an idea what it is like in the real world. He thinks hardship is when they run out of clean silver spoons at the Princeton Faculty Club dining room.

I would love for people to ask their United States Senators why they voted to confirm Bernanke and if they stand behind that vote now. I think that Bunning was the only one to vote against Ben.

There is an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal this week about when Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, interviewed their current CEO, who is an MBA and a CPA. Thomas told her, "You cannot think like an accountant. You have to take care of your customer."

If Thomas were alive today, he would tell Bernacke, "Ben, you can't think like an academic, you have to take care of the American people."

I would feel a lot happier with a guy like Dave Thomas, who was a high school dropout, running the Federal Reserve Board than Ben. Ben has more degrees than a thermometer but doesn't understand the concept of taking care of the people he was appointed to serve.

This incident is the epitome of how out of touch Bernanke and his band of followers on the fed are:

Fed Underestimated Spread of Debt Crisis, Worried About Prices

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYrqhzCehuJM&refer=home

Here are some previous columns I have written on Ben Bernanke:

Big Shot Bernanke

Nice Guys Make Lousy Senators

The Labor Day Holiday and Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Labor Day Holiday and Santa Claus is Coming to Town

"This is for all the lonely people thinking that life has passed them by."

-America

On a long holiday weekend, like Labor Day, it is easy to forget about people who don't have family or close friends.

Several years ago, I lived on a rural road and a divorced man lived nearby. On every holiday or long weekend, he would lock himself in his house and play loud music all day. He never played music any other time.

He was trying to ignore the holiday.

We always invited him to our house and he always refused. It was easier for him to ignore the day instead of spending it with people having a good time.

He was my reminder that holiday weekends are not joyous for everyone.

Some people never have a family connection. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, my late father would go to a "sleeping room" hotel in downtown Cincinnati and hand out cheap bottles of champagne.

The men (I never saw any women) were poor and usually drunks. Dad had come from a similar neighborhood and had done well. The men were proud of Dad's success and appreciated that he remembered them.

Dad took my sister and me to glimpse a world quite different from our suburban home.

Dad's gift was often the only one the men received. I'm not sure giving champagne to alcoholics was a great idea, but it was something they appreciated.

It always struck me that those poor and lonely men loved the seasonal holidays. They would dress up in their nicest clothes and come down in the lobby or hang out on the street.

Dad's gesture meant a lot to men struggling to get through life.

It's easy to forget that there are people who would be thrilled to have a bottle of $3 champagne.

My father also made holiday visits to one of the richest men in Cincinnati. He was also one of the loneliest. He had flunkies but did not have any friends. He had alienated his children and was a tough guy to get along with.

Dad visited him on a regular basis.

Dad would bring him a copy of the Racing Form, and they would discuss the horses. The few minutes of human interaction made the man's day. He would occasionally turn off his gruff persona and become sweet and kind.

My father was practically an orphan, and it gave him an appreciation for the people society had forgotten, on both sides of the tracks. Lonely people often put on a tough exterior and it is hard to reach them.

It is definitely worth the effort.

Giving and paying homage is what every holiday, even the "minor" holidays, are supposed to be about. The giver gets more than the person who receives.

When I was very young, songwriter Haven Gillespie used to frequent my father's bar. Gillespie wrote many famous songs including, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

If a child sang "Santa Claus," Mr. Gillespie gave the child a silver dollar.

I sang the song every time I saw him. It was a sure money maker but even at age 6 or 7, I realized that Mr Gillespie took great joy in giving the silver dollar.

He liked that his song was famous, but he really liked that he had money to share. Giving is what made the holidays for him.

More people die of loneliness than any disease. Reaching out to someone could make a major difference in their life. It is also a blessing for the giver.

During the holiday weekend and all year round, we need to show lonely people that life has not passed them by.

The Poll

The following are the results from last week's poll:

1. Should tournament poker games be legal or illegal?
Legal - 76%
Illegal - 16%
Undecided - 8%

2. Should prostitution be legal or illegal?
Legal - 60%
Undecided - 24%
Illegal - 16%

This week there are two poll questions:

1. Have you ever invited a neighbor to share a holiday with you?

2. What is your favorite holiday?

To vote in this week's poll follow the link below. The poll will be on the left hand side of the web page.

Weekly Poll

UPDATE:

Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers, and What to Do When You Win the Lottery

Son of a Son of a Gambler is on its way to the publisher. We will release information next week on how you can own a copy of a limited first print copy of the book.

Don McNay is the Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky. He is author of the soon to be published book: 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 other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com. Don's award winning column is syndicated to over 200 publications.

The 9/11 Widow and the Wasted Settlement

The 9/11 Widow and the Wasted Settlement

"How do I live without you?
I want to know;
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go;
How do I ever, ever survive?
O how do I live?"

-Trisha Yearwood

Kathy Trant attracted worldwide attention a few years ago by quickly spending the $4.7 million she received for the death of her husband who was killed in the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.

I'm not surprised about Trant's story. I have seen the same story played out hundreds of times with larger and smaller sums of money.

Trant called the money, "blood money." Her spending sprees are a sub-conscious and probably sometimes conscious effort to run through the money.

It is a common feeling amongst widows and widowers.

Some people use drugs and alcohol. These people use "blood money."

Many people think that if they get rid of the money their lives will go back to normal.

Often, I see a grief-ridden person influenced by family and friends.

I have had a number of widows and widowers remarry quickly and then turn all financial decisions over to the new spouse. Usually, the new spouse and the money run out at about the same time.

Many years ago, I had a client whose wife was killed in a car accident. He received a $500,000 settlement. I invested his money, but every month, the new wife would come to my office wanting to withdraw more. Each time, she was sporting new jewelry, a mink coat, and other expensive items. I finally went to their house and told them they were going to run out of money.

They moved their money to another broker.

Within six months, she had spent the entire $500,000 and left town.

Putting money in a structured settlement and giving victims a monthly payment is the only real solution I have.

I started out using structured settlements as a financial planning tool and became a true believer.

It is hard for someone who has gone through hell to think clearly about their money. Someone who has just lost their spouse has no chance.

There is a small window of time before people actually receive money to set things up right. After that, pressures and people get in the way.

I feel sorry for everyone involved. I feel sorry for the widows and widowers. Not only have they lost their spouses, but after they run through the money they are worse off financially than ever.

I also feel bad about the spouses who died thinking that their families were taken care of. People buy life insurance because they want their loved ones to achieve life goals. They don't pay for life insurance so that someone can take six "friends" to the Super Bowl.

A lot of widow and widowers wake up every day asking "how can I live without you?" I'm not sure how, but they eventually start to cope with their situation.

Kathy Trant has been through hell. If her attorneys, advisors, or friends had insisted that she needed to put her money in a structured settlement or a trust, she would be able to live a comfortable life; now she won't.

She can't get the money back from the six leeches that she took to the Super Bowl. People who prey on grieving widows don't have the money or conscience to help her. I suspect she subconsciously thinks that getting rid of the money will bring back her husband and her old life.

Her husband is not coming back. She, and others like her, need to answer the question, "How do I live without you," by answering, "With great memories and the money you left to help me through this."

Don McNay is Chairman of the Board for McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky. and author of the upcoming book, 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 other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com.

Business Lessons from the Fake Dry Cleaners

Business Lessons from the Fake Dry Cleaners

"They'd call us gypsies, tramps, and thieves
But every night all the men would come around
And lay their money down"

-Cher

I learned about outsourcing in the 1970's, during my teenage years.

I worked at a dry cleaning business that had no dry cleaning equipment. It had two clothing racks, a counter and a cash register and nothing else. There was no drive-thru window and no parking lot.

The business was located in the roughest section of Newport, Kentucky, which was one of the most economically depressed cities in America.

My father said that "gypsies, tramps and thieves" was an accurate description of the neighborhood.

The shop's location did not cater to an upscale clientele. Living conditions were bad and the crime rate was high.

I witnessed armed robberies, streetwalkers, numerous fist fights, and a car jacking. I watched a woman run over her soon-to-be ex-husband with a car.

A house of prostitution operated a few doors away. I never wanted sex bad enough to do business with the women who worked there. One offered me her services in return for a carton of cigarettes. Even though cigarettes were only four dollars a carton, it would have been a bad deal.

Their pimp did not fit the pimp stereotype. He was a pot-bellied, retired steel worker who drove a 15-year-old station wagon which looked like it had been salvaged from a demolition derby. He used an old clothes hanger as his car radio antenna.

He had a second job faking illnesses and going to a host of doctors for pain medicine. He sold the pills to his patrons until an unhappy customer decided to kill him.

There was a diverse mixture of cultures and personalities in that neighborhood. None of them seem concerned about owning neatly pressed, dry-cleaned clothes. They bore no resemblance to the people who lived in the suburb that I lived in.

There was one factor that made the dry cleaners a smart business decision. In its back room there was a gambling operation and an ongoing card game.

The back room had far more traffic than the dry cleaners ever did.

I was the "manager" of the dry cleaning section. Since I was the only employee, there was not a lot to manage. However, the experience at the dry cleaners was a better lesson in business than studying for an MBA.

I learned business techniques that were far ahead of their time:

1. Outsourcing. The dry cleaning business was the ultimate outsourcing operation. It seemed that two out of three people a week would wander in actually wanting their clothes dry cleaned. I would take their clothes to a real dry cleaner and have them cleaned.

We did the marketing and someone else did the work. It is a model that many businesses now follow.

2. Locating in a business-friendly location. In Joe Nocera's book, A Piece of the Action, he wrote about credit card companies locating in South Dakota because that state looked favorably upon the credit card business at a time when other states heavily regulated it.

Many companies look for a "business-friendly" climate with a lax regulatory environment and economic incentives.

Although gambling was against the law, Newport was a favorable business environment for the dry cleaning and gambling operation.

With far more serious crime taking place, enforcing gaming laws was not a high priority for the law enforcement community. The dry cleaners provided a legitimate business cover.

Policemen would occasionally visit the dry cleaners and on one occasion they went flying out of the building, guns blazing, when an armed robbery was attempted across the street. It was like watching a real life version of Kojak, even though I "witnessed" it hiding under the store's counter.

3. Keeping operating expenses low. The dry cleaning business did not have equipment and was located in a low rent district. I was the only employee and was paid minimum wage. Low operating expenses made the overall business a success.

Everyone involved in the dry cleaners are now dead. Their lifestyles as "gypsies, tramps and thieves" cut into any chance they had to live to an old age.

They were good business men. None were well educated but every night when the men would come around, they had plenty of money to lay down.


Story Behind the Song

Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves

This song seemed to stay in my mind every day when I drove into Newport.

http://www.cher.com/

The Poll

The following are the results from last week's poll:

Which Democrat would you like to see as the nominee for President?

John Edwards - 53.8%
Hillary Clinton - 23.1%
Another Candidate - 15.4%
Barack Obama - 7.7%

Which Republican would you like to see as the nominee for President?

Another Candidate - 60.0%
Rudy Giuliani - 20.0%
John McCain - 13.3%
Mitt Romney - 6.7%

This week there are two poll questions:

1. Should tournament poker games be legal or illegal?

2. Should prostitution be legal or illegal?

To vote in this week's poll follow the link below. The poll will be on the left hand side of the web page.

Weekly Poll


Note from Don

The following link is an article which follows up on my recent column about David Edwards.

Powerfall


Don McNay is the author of the upcoming book: Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery. His column is syndicated to over 200 publications. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com.