The Changing Picture Of Poverty: Hard Work Is ‘Just Not Enough’

 

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From npr : War on poverty, 50 years later

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There are 46 million poor people in the U.S., and millions more hover right above the poverty line — but go into many of their homes, and you might find a flat-screen TV, a computer or the latest sneakers.

And that raises a question: What does it mean to be poor in America today?

Take Victoria Houser, a 22-year-old single mother who lives in Painted Post, a small town in western New York. At first glance, her life doesn’t look all that bad. She lives in a cozy two-bedroom apartment. She has food, furniture and toys for her almost 2-year-old son, Brayden. He even likes playing a game called Fruit Ninja on her electronic tablet.

“He just likes touching it because he always sees me on my computer, my iPad or something,” Houser says.

Brayden’s father is out of the picture, and Houser knows she could be a lot worse off. At least she has a job earning $10 an hour preparing food in a company cafeteria.

Still, you don’t have to look too far to see that her life is teetering on the edge. Her nice-looking apartment? “It’s kind of not a very safe place to live,” she says. “There’ve been quite a few drug busts here.”

Houser says she’s scared to let her son play outside. Her next-door neighbor was recently arrested for allegedly murdering someone and stuffing the body in a cupboard.

Victoria Houser and her son, Brayden, may have food to eat and toys to play with, but she says she feels like she’s teetering on the edge.

Pam Fessler/NPR

But this subsidized housing is all she can afford. Most of Houser’s paycheck goes for things like food, diapers and gas. And she says what look like luxuries are necessities for her. They’re also mostly gifts from family or friends. She says she has a car to get to work, a computer to take online college courses, a cellphone to check up on her son.

But there’s one thing Houser doesn’t have, and that’s a lot of hope for the future.

She says she feels stuck in a never-ending cycle, constantly worried that one financial emergency — like a broken-down car — will send everything tumbling down.

“Poor to me is the fact that I’m working my butt off. I’m trying to go to school. I’m trying to take care of my son, and that’s just not enough,” she says.

And it’s this frustration and despair that those who work with struggling families say is the true face of poverty today — that it’s not just a lack of material things.

“It used to be that if you were poor, you just didn’t have the basic things, like maybe you didn’t have a washer and dryer, and you were able to get by,” says Kelly Wells, a case manager for Pro Action, a nonprofit community action agency that’s trying to help Houser and others like her.

“Now what I see with families is if you’re poor, you’re poor in every avenue: emotionally, supportwise, familywise,” Wells says.

She and other social service providers in western New York say they’re seeing more families ripped apart — by drug abuse, domestic violence and mental illness.

50 Years Later, Poverty Looks Different

The face of being poor has changed since the 1960s, when President Johnson declared a war on poverty. For example, in 1960, 63 percent of poor people had hot and cold piped water, 65 percent had a bathtub or shower and 69 percent had an indoor flush toilet.

In 2010, nearly 100 percent of poor families lived with similar amenities.

And in 1960, only half of poor people had phones; in 2010, 95 percent did.

The Cycle Of Poverty

At the Family Resource Center in the town of Bath, N.Y., where Pro Action is located, a young mother plays with her giggling 9-month-old son. The mother is petite with long, curly brown hair. And she has a huge black eye.

Right now, the mother gets to visit her son at the center once a week. She lost custody because of suspected drug abuse and violence in the home. The father is in jail. The father’s stepmother now cares for the boy.

The stepmother, who has come to pick him up, says he was in a lot of danger at home, and child protective services “basically told me I either take custody or he has to go to foster care, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.”‘

She says she and her husband now care for three of their grandchildren.

“We want them to have a good work ethic, morals, values. We don’t want them learning the kinds of things they would learn at home,” she says.

Social workers say they see lots of stressed-out families, with kids paying the price.

Marsha Patrick runs the local Head Start program. She says she had to hire nine extra classroom workers this year to deal with growing behavioral problems among the children.

“Everything will be fine, and then all of a sudden they are literally off the wall. They might be walking on the tables. They might run up and down on the radiators,” she says. “They just cannot control whatever it is that’s making them go off like that.”

Patrick suspects that it’s the strain of living with adults who are overwhelmed by life or who don’t have the skills they need to raise children because they themselves came from troubled homes.

Her program is trying to break the cycle. But Patrick says it’s difficult, especially with factory jobs that used to support a middle class in this region disappearing in droves.

“Unless we have those jobs to offer those folks, that they’re going to feel good about and want to go to work for and do, the kids are going to be the ones who are suffering, and we’re seeing it,” she says.

Isolated And Disconnected

But, of course, poverty is about more than a lack of jobs. It can also mean isolation.

Frank and Amber Adams live in a trailer home in rural Hammondsport, also in western New York. The yard is filled with chickens and ducks, cats and dogs.

Frank, 41, has been poor his entire life. He says it’s been a lot of ups and downs, but mostly downs. He survives by selling scrap and doing odd jobs and masonry work.

Frank and Amber Adams of Hammondsport, N.Y. He sometimes has to redeem empty soda cans to buy gas to take Amber to counseling classes.

Pam Fessler/NPR

The Adamses have seven children between them, from other relationships. But the children are scattered about, and right now, Amber’s goal is to regain custody of her youngest three. But first she has to clean up her act. She’s a recovering crack addict. So is Frank. He says it’s pretty common in this part of the state.

“There’s lots of people that just aren’t happy with themselves or what have you,” he says. “Maybe they don’t have a job, so they gotta sell some of the drugs to make money, and then they get addicted to the drug themselves.”

He says drugs are readily available, but about a year ago, he and Amber looked at each and asked, “What the hell are we doing?”

They got married, and now he’s helping her through counseling. But it’s a struggle. Frank says sometimes he has to redeem empty soda cans just to buy gas to take Amber to counseling classes.

He says he thinks it’s harder being poor today than when he was young.

“People aren’t as outgoing and gracious as they were back in the day. Back in the day, your neighbors helped each other,” he says.

And that’s a big difference for poor families today. They might have TVs and cellphones, but researchers say they can be more disconnected than ever — from neighbors, work, family, all of the social networks that help people through life.

Amber takes a picture off the wall, which shows six of their seven children dressed up for their wedding last summer. And she reads the words written on the side: Family, together, we have it all.

For now, it’s something they can hope for.

Potencial Millonario Ep. 27- Liderazgo Hoy con Victor Hugo Manzanilla

Potencial Millonario Ep. 27- Liderazgo Hoy con Victor Hugo Manzanilla

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Potencial Millonario Ep. 27- Liderazgo Hoy con Victor Hugo Manzanilla

En este episodio de Potencial Millonario, les hablo de lograr lo deseado a través de lo sueños. Mas hablamos con Victor Hugo Manzanilla, Blogger de Liderazgohoy.com sobre el tema del miedo (parte1).

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Potencial Millonario Ep. 27- Liderazgo Hoy con Victor Hugo Manzanilla

Puerto Rico Unveils 1st Balanced Budget in Years

 Puerto Rico’s governor on Tuesday presented the territory’s first balanced budget in more than a decade, fulfilling a promise to cut spending at a time when the island’s economic problems have spread fear among U.S. investors.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla proposed more than $1.4 billion in cuts and adjustments by consolidating 25 government agencies and imposing an average 8 percent spending cut for most agencies, among other things. He also pledged $775 million to pay off debt — $525 million more than in last year’s budget.

The $9.64 billion budget aims to strengthen and revive the economy as the U.S. territory enters its eighth year in recession and struggles to reduce some $73 billion in public debt.

The budget does not call for layoffs or new taxes.

“We are finally paying off the debts of the past,” Garcia said during a televised address to a joint legislative session. “Our island needs radical changes. For too long, previous proposals have only been cosmetic or sought a collective applause.”

The governor is scheduled to formally submit the budget Wednesday, and legislators will debate it in upcoming weeks, with approval needed before June 30. Last year’s budget stood at $9.77 billion.

U.S. investors and bondholders were awaiting details of the budget and are expected to monitor its impact on the economy after Puerto Rico sold a record $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds last month in part to generate more liquidity and refinance debt.

David Tawil, co-founder and portfolio manager of New York-based Maglan Capital, praised Garcia’s push for a balanced budget, although he said reservations remain.

“It’s an important achievement beyond the financial soundness,” Tawil said. “It is all critical and goes a long way but may not necessarily be sufficient.”

Opposition legislator Lourdes Ramos criticized Garcia for not acknowledging the island’s contracting economy, the lack of jobs and dwindling funds. “It was disappointing,” she said of his speech.

Hundreds of unionized workers gathered outside the seaside Capitol to protest the cuts.

Puerto Rico economist Gustavo Velez said the last balanced budget for the U.S. territory’s government was in 1999, with governors borrowing over the past 14 years to finance deficits while violating the island’s constitution requirement for balanced budgets. He said the government borrowed an estimated $29 billion from 2004 to 2013, adding that the money wasn’t put into public works but rather was just used to let the island live beyond its means.

“That should never have occurred,” he said, adding he feels Garcia had no other option but to balance the budget. “This is happening because of the current fiscal reality. They cannot go to the market to borrow more money. … They have no choice but to face reality, to operate with the resources they have.”

Garcia, a lawyer who became governor in January 2013, inherited a more than $2.2 billion deficit and the highest unemployment rate compared with any U.S. state, among other economic problems.

He has sought to diversify the economy and strengthen its industrial base, attracting international companies with tax incentives while also courting wealthy investors such as New York hedge fund executive John Paulson.

Earlier this month, German company Lufthansa Technik announced it would invest $20 million on a facility for aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, while Arizona-based Honeywell Aerospace said it would spend $24 million to expand its business on the island.

Garcia also has made changes to two major public pension systems, noting they would run out of money soon if nothing was done. He also previously implemented new taxes and various measures to help generate some $1.5 billion in new revenue.

Amonzon Book coverThe island of 3.67 million people is struggling economically. More than 450,000 people have left in the past decade, and just 41 percent of working-age Puerto Ricans are in the labor force, compared to 63 percent in the U.S.

Potencial Millonario Ep. 26 / The Potential Millionaire Ep. 26

En El programa de hablamos de la época de Pascuas.

TrinidadEn la sección”cuidando su dinero”, hablamos del caso financiero de Felix Tito Trinidad, 3 veces campeón de boxeo mundial, cien termino en la bancarrota por inversiones y deudas.  Escuche, pase por la pagina www.potencialmillonario.com y dígame usted si Tito pudo hacer algo diferente para proteger su patrimonio. Vea encuesta:   Haga clic aquí para completar la encuesta.

También entrevistamos a Adolfo Albo

Adolfo Albo Bancomer
Adolfo Albo Bancomer

de México, quien recibió premio the Excellence In Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) en Educación Financiara uno de los premios mas codiciados en la nación Americana.  Albo es parte del Bano BBVA Bancomer, Mexico. El programa de Educación financiera de BBVA Bancomer esta disponible en Latino América.  Todos es gratis y esta disponible en linea gratis, el publico en general está invitado a participar, Gratis. 

 

Espero que disfrutes del programa, pero sobre todo que aprendas algo.  Recuerde que todos tenemos Potencial Millonario.

Felix A. Montelara

Autor:Potencial Millonario

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Fun Friday Links: Financial Spring Cleaning, Innovation and Easter Eggs, and What Successful People Do on the Weekend

Fun Friday Links: Financial Spring Cleaning, Innovation and Easter Eggs, and What Successful People Do on the Weekend (via blog.mindjet.com)

Welcome to Conspire’s Super Happy Fun Friday Link Time, a weekly collection of cool discoveries from around the Web. Most times the goal is to get you thinking differently about communication, collaboration, culture, and life in general. Other times…

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Nuevo estudio de MassMutual revela que la educación financiera y la planificación son clave para los hispanos alcanzar el sueño americano

Les persento la importancia de enseñarle sobre el Potencial Millonario que tenemos para lograr obtener el sueño Americano en nuestra familia. Es posible vivir aquí en los EE.UU y no tener deudas de crédito, vehículo, o hipoteca. Yo, Felix A. Montelara lo he logrado y es pero que usted haga lo mismo y pronto.Amonzon Book cover  Espero que disfrutes de la información de estudio por MassMutal y veas que todos tenemos Potencial Millonario.
Felix A. Montelara
Autor & Protagonista: Potencial Millonario

Nuevo estudio de MassMutual revela que la educación financiera y la planificación son clave para los hispanos alcanzar el sueño americano (via PR Newswire)

La encuesta también identifica la desconexión entre lo que los hispanos dicen y hacen cuando se trata de la planificación financiera SPRINGFIELD, PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Para los hispanos parece que la…

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Boxing Legend Felix “Tito” Trinidad Brought To His Knees By A 68 Million Investment Loss

Posted By Felix A. Montelara

Author: Potencial Millonario

Boxing  legend Felix “Tito” Trinidad is brought to his knees by a 68 million investment loss.  However, the knockout blow may be the reported debt of approximately nine million dollars.

Felix Trinidad, in an attempt to be responsible with his assets obtained a brokerage firm, “Popular Securities,” to manage his well-earned fortune. Now I’m going to explain how it is possible to lose an estimated 68 million dollars even if it is invested by a third party and you (or in this case Trinidad) are not monitoring the account. According to reports, José ‘Pepe’ Ramos was assigned by Popular Securities to handle Trinidad’s account. Ramos invested most if not all the money in bonds, according to news reports in Puerto Rico.  The truth is that until September 2013, this type of investment was not risky on face value. The problem began in September 2013 when the markets (Moody’s and the S&P 500) downgraded Puerto Rico’s bonds to junk bond status, hence reducing Trinidad’s wealth (fortune). It is said that Trinidad began to see losses in his statement. Really? Red flag, anyone?

The second problem is that if it is true that Ramos invested 100% of Trinidad’s money in bonds only, we can all see an issue with assets allocation. In lay man words, Ramos placed all the eggs in one basket (Puerto Rico bonds). The right thing to do was to diversify into many assets across the market and invest in several different market sectors, as I would say, “A little of this and a little of that.” Truth be said it is unknown at this time if Trinidad asked to be conservative with his investments, or even if Ramos was authorized to invest without Trinidad’s consent.   No one knows why Ramos decided to place everything into bonds. It is true that before September 2013, Puerto Rico bonds had good ratings in the market and benefited from a triple tax exemption and could be enticing- or as I would say it would have been “sexy” to invest in them for any portfolio at that time; however, never at 100% of any portfolio.

One must understand that Trinidad is a former professional athlete and a marvelous boxing World Champion. He is not a finance expert. He took prudent steps to preserve his fortune but that was not enough.  The last blow brings Trinidad to his knees by a man without gloves in a suit. The lack of basic personal finance education hurt Trinidad as much as it hurts everyone else. Trinidad would have most likely have avoided this type of situation if he was well trained in personals finances. Its like training for a championship bout and not knowing the opponent.  It is alleged that Trinidad noticed losses on his statement.  In the boxing world that is like telegraphing a cross punch. With personal finance training Trinidad may have seen the knee dropping blow coming his way.   When Trinidad

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received his earning statement reports with some personal finance training he could have determined that all the eggs were in one basket and we all know in personal finances that is not a good thing.

Also with a good personal financial education a millionaire worth 68 plus may have not carried with an estimated nine million in debts. Why would Trinidad? Anyone trained or educated in the basics of personal finance knows that the debt is the most powerful opponent, who most likely provides the knock out blow when you are already down on your knees. But as they say in my neighborhood: “to late,” the money was invested and lost. The only controversy is whether Ramos was authorized by Trinidad to place the eggs in one basket.  Ramos, along with Popular Securities, will defend themselves as if they were in a championship bout and the truth will be known in court.

If you were in Trinidad’s shoes, would you have the know-how to foresee that ultimately it is your responsibility to watch over your money?

Finally, we are celebrating Financial Literacy month in April.  Wise up!   Get educated in personal finance and do not allow yourself to be victimized due to financial ignorance. Remember, we all have “The Potential Millionaire.”

Los millonarios estadounidenses tienden una mano firme a sus herederos: Te ayudamos, pero abre tu propio camino

Potencial Millonario
Los millonarios estadounidenses tienden una mano firme a sus herederos: Te ayudamos, pero abre tu propio camino (via PR Newswire)

Dejan un legado que incluye dinero, pero se trata de mucho más que eso, según la encuesta de PNC – FILADELFIA, PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Más de cuatro de cada cinco millonarios estadounidenses (el 82 por ciento) coinciden…

Continue reading “Los millonarios estadounidenses tienden una mano firme a sus herederos: Te ayudamos, pero abre tu propio camino”

Potencial Millonario Ep. 23 / The Potential Millionaire Ep. 23

En este episodio hablamos de los problemas entra la pareja en cuanto el asunto del dinero y como resolverlos para mejorar tu relación. También incluyo un resumen del libro Secretos de la mente millonaria por T. Harv Eker quien ha ayudado a mas de 1.5 millones de personas con el asunto de la mentalidad millonaria.

” Money Will Only Make You More of What You Already Are ” - T.  Harv EkerHoy finalmente contesto preguntas que me han llegado vía Facebook, Twitter, Google+, y Potencialmillonario.com.  Espero que disfrutes del programa de esta semana. Déjeme un comentario por su red social favorita o dele like  en itunes o solo deje un comentario al 334 357 6410 .

  
Pero sobre todo recuerde que todos tenemos Potencial Millonario .
Felix A. Montelara
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Aumenta a 215 los Millonarios en Honduras

Potencial Millonario

http://www.laprensa.hn/
Redacción: redaccion@laprensa.hn
World Ultra Wealth realizó el reporte publicado por Wealth X.

Tegucigalpa. De los 8.5 millones de habitantes del país, 215 son millonarios.

La cifra fue revelada en el informe World ultra wealth report 2013 (Reporte mundial de ultrarricos 2013), publicado

Mis Islas de la Bahía Mónica Elwin Gouhg se coronó Miss Mundo Honduras 2013.
Mis Islas de la Bahía Mónica Elwin Gouhg se coronó Miss Mundo Honduras 2013.

por la firma Wealth X, que se dedica a estudios de inteligencia sobre millonarios en los cinco continentes, basándose en ingresos, pasiones, intereses filantrópicos, afiliaciones, política, asesores, familias y biografías. Dicho estudio indica que Latinoamérica es la única región del planeta donde la cantidad de multimillonarios se ha reducido.
En el área, Honduras ocupa el undécimo lugar de países con mayor cantidad de millonarios, superado solo por Guatemala en Centroamérica. Según el reporte de Wealth X, en Honduras hay 215 millonarios (10 más que en 2012), cuya fortuna alcanza los 30 billones de dólares estadounidenses.

El año pasado, el reporte daba cuenta de una población de 205 millonarios en Honduras, con una fortuna total de 27 billones, lo que indica que, si bien la cantidad de millonarios ha aumentado, su patrimonio no se ha incrementado notablemente.

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