My career first began at a prestigious law firm. As soon as I got to The Firm, I felt as though I was done — I had achieved my goals and now I could spend the rest of my life enjoying the fruits of my labor! Guess what? I was only 27! Quickly, the restlessness settled in; was this all life had to offer. Was this all life was about? A steady paycheck (almost half of which was gone to taxes) and no control over my own destiny? Was I forever condemned to answering to someone else and doing things their way? I began to think I had made a big mistake. At first I blamed myself; maybe there was something wrong with me since I could not appreciate this amazing job. Maybe I should never have gone to law school. Maybe if I could just fit in better with the other attorneys I would be happier. Thankfully, a confluence of events occurred around the same time that allowed me to see the Truth (no, you are not imagining it, that is Truth with a capital T).

The Truth was that there was nothing wrong with me! Yes, I am unique and being unique is wonderful and amazing, not something to be ashamed of. I was merely limited in my thinking. If I could tap into the limitless possibilities that are open to each of us, I could be and do and have everything I ever wanted. So, you ask, what in the heck does that really mean? Well, let me take you back to the way the Universe pointed me in the right direction. And that is Step One in Identifying and Realizing Your Dreams: Follow the Signs! Pay attention to the signs that show up in your life and take action whenever you see one.

Steps 2-5 to Identify and Realize Your Dreams PLUS the inspirational real life stories of 49 other women can be read in Inspiration to Realization Vol. III - available here for only $15. It’s $19.95 in the stores.

Are you living your dreams? If not, check out the book to read more about the 5 steps and get inspired to realize your dreams. My story is just one of the amazingly inspirational stories of real life women inspired to live their dreams. It is an inspirational book that will help you make your dreams come true!

I was at a conference a few weeks ago and a friend in the foreclosure business told me that 15,000,0000 (yes, that’s 15 million) adjustable rate mortgages are set to adjust this month. Wow! Then, two of my clients and Professional Planning Partners (Scott Davis with Platinum Capital in Manhattan Beach and Michelle Alessi with Riviera Funding in Redondo Beach) sent me the very important information you will read below.

Breaking News Regarding Your Finances from Scott Davis.

You either have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) or know someone who does. Over the last few years, the number of consumers who chose an ARM in lieu of a Fixed Rate Mortgage grew to nearly two out of five people in some months, as short term interest rates were at all time lows.

Concern is growing in Washington and among many mortgage lenders regarding whether those with ARMs will be able to handle the payment increase they’ll experience when their loan resets to the new minimum payment required. CNBC reported last week that over $1 TRILLION in mortgages are scheduled for adjustment in 2007 alone. Are you one of the several million homeowners who will suffer this fate?

Many ARM programs, particularly those with Option ARMs, offer the ability to make interest-only payments or payments that are less than the full amount of interest due each month. In these cases, the mortgage balance will either remain the same or increase with each payment a homeowner makes. According to Wall Street experts, 70% of homeowners opted to make the minimum payment required when given the option to do so.

What does this mean to me?

Those with ARMs that are scheduled to reset in the next 12 months could see minimum payment increases of anywhere from 50% to over 100%! According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the nation’s largest lender is now alerting borrowers by letter to the potential payment shock they could soon experience. The letter reportedly explains that a borrower with a hypothetical loan amount of $402,000 and a fully indexed interest rate of 7.60%, could be making a minimum monthly payment of $1,348.47. If this loan were to be reset at today’s rates, the full payment required would increase to $2,887.50. This borrower’s payment would increase by more than 114%! If you have a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC), the interest rate in effect for this loan has increased 4.25% in the last two years, more than doubling the required payment for some homeowners. Those with a HELOC balance of $50,000 have seen their payment increase nearly $200.00 in that time frame.

What should I do?

Pull out your mortgage statement. Examine not only the payment requirements but also the interest rate that’s currently in effect. If you have an ARM, you need to know the index and the margin. These will determine the interest rate you’ll be charged when your loan is scheduled to adjust. Those with Option ARMs could soon see their interest rates increasing to over 8.00%. Interest Rates for Fixed Rate Mortgages are very attractive!

Fixed interest rates are the lowest they have been in six months. If you were waiting for rates to dip before considering refinancing, THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!

How Adjustable Rate Mortgages Work from Michelle Alessi.

During the last decade, Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) have increased in popularity among consumers. These days, few homeowners (especially first-time buyers) remain in their homes for more than seven years. In this case, it often makes sense to get an adjustable rate mortgage with a lower rate, especially one with a 5-year or 7-year fixed portion, since they won’t have the loan long enough to be concerned about rate fluctuation.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages have three main features: Margin, Index, and Caps. The Margin is the fixed portion of the adjustable rate. It remains the same for the duration of the loan. The Index is the variable portion. This is what makes an ARM adjustable. Margin + Index = Interest Rate. It’s important to understand that there are many different indices: The 11th District Cost of Funds (COFI), the Monthly Treasury Average (MTA), The One Year Treasury Bill, the Six Month Libor, etc. Each index has its own strengths and weaknesses; some are slow moving, others are more aggressive.

The third and final component of Adjustable Rate Mortgages is Caps. Caps limit how much the rate can fluctuate over time. Annual Caps limit changes to the annual rate, whereas Life Caps provide a worst case scenario over the life of the loan.

More more information, please read this article.

So, is your mortgage one of the 15 million that will adjust this month? If not, it will adjust soon and you have some planning to do. So, don’t forget that if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, it needs to be managed, especially now.

I never recommend moving into a new house, launching a new website, and changing your custody schedule all the same week your child starts first grade. See, what happens is you get stuck in a snowball effect where each thing affects the next and the next thing you know everything is all backwards and confused. The one good part is that I’ll get it all over with at once and about two weeks from now I’ll wonder what all of the excitement was about.

My daughter is starting first grade this week and her school requires that we carpool. And, we have to carpool even if the kids have an after school activity. My daughter’s after school activity happens to be located 5 minutes from her school and it starts 15 minutes after school gets out. In a world where things were easy, my babysitter would go pick her up from school and bring her to her martial arts class. But, because of the carpool requirement, we either have to have another child in the car with us when we leave campus or Kaia has to go in another parent’s car who would then have to drop her off at martial arts. You would think that this wouldn’t be too difficult, just find a parent to drop Kaia off at her class. Not so simple because of the two families we carpool with in the morning, one of the families’ kids go to their grandmas in the other direction and the child of the other family has her own after school activity to get to and dropping Kaia off would require two left turns adding at least 5 minutes to their drive in a situation where 5 minutes means the difference between the other child making it to her dance class in time. You get the picture.

The beauty is that I know it will all work out just fine and I’m really not stressing out about it. I probably would be stressing about it if I didn’t attend service at Agape today. Need a reminder that it’s all good? Check out AgapeLive.com and download one of Reverend Michael’s sermons. No matter what religion you are, you will absolutely love the message here. Agape is an international spiritual center that is trans-denominational and if you’d like to be able to live through times like this without fear, I suggest you check it out.

I’d love to hear from you as to how you juggle the insanity in your life. Do you have something like Agape? Or do you have a favorite book that always helps to get you out of your head? Or maybe you call a best friend who helps you stop taking yourself so seriously. Let me know; I’d love to hear. And, check out the new website when you have a minute. MartinNeely.com. Oh, and did I mention that this is the week my personal and marketing assistant is out of town? And, that I’m scheduled to speak at an event on Wednesday night? Something else to laugh about.

In a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on August 22, 2006, the Court upheld a lower court’s ruling granting visitation to a grandparent of a child whose parent was the child of the grandparent and had died. The substance of the case is not as important as what it teaches us about how important it is to make a clear record of our wishes for the care of our children if something happens to us and this is equally important whether one or both parents die.

In the referenced case, the mother died and the surviving father attempted to disallow visitation with the child’s grandparent, the deceased mother’s mother. Can you imagine if you died and your spouse didn’t allow your parent’s to see your kids? Maybe you can’t imagine that happening in your family, but when you have not specified your wishes all sorts of craziness can ensue during a time of grief. In this case, the dad claimed that he and his wife had discussed limiting access to the kids and now that mom has died there is no way to know what’s true and what’s not because she left no record.

Document your wishes so that there is no question about the best interests of your child in the event of your death.