If You Think You Have Job Security … Think Again!

On January 6, 2016June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class Revolution, Quit Your Job, Work From AnywhereLeave a comment

Now, more than ever it’s vital to your future to quit your job and become your own boss.

It’s inevitable … technology is eliminating job security.

So much has changed in the last thirty years and it’s changing at a more rapid pace as technology replaces the human services we once relied on.

Look around …

We now scan our own items at self-checkouts;

we use ATMS for banking transactions;

we pump our own gas;

we pay bills online rather than use the postal service;

we call TeleDoc for a diagnosis and prescription;

we buy airline tickets, reserve hotel rooms and rent cars online.

The list goes on and on. The services that used to be performed by humans are no longer needed.

Technology, outsourcing, a growing temp staffing industry, productivity efficiencies, have all replaced the middle class.The working class. Most jobs that existed 20 years ago aren’t needed now. [Source}

W. Brian Arthur, a visiting researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center’s intelligence systems lab and a former economics professor at Stanford University, calls it the “autonomous economy.” It’s far more subtle than the idea of robots and automation doing human jobs, he says: it involves “digital processes talking to other digital processes and creating new processes,” enabling us to do many things with fewer people and making yet other human jobs obsolete. [Source}

“Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses … it’s progressing. … Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set. – Bill Gates [Source]

One recent study by academics at Oxford University suggests that 47% of today’s jobs could be automated in the next two decades. [Source]

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Become an entrepreneur. Be your own boss. Take control.

Everyone is an entrepreneur. The only skills you need to be an entrepreneur: an ability to fail, an ability to have ideas, to sell those ideas, to execute on those ideas, and to be persistent so even as you fail you learn and move onto the next adventure.
– James Altucher

WHERE DO YOU START?

1. Make the decision to create your own job security by using technology for your gain – become an internet marketer.

2. Realize you will need to invest time and money to launch your new career.

3. Avoid the “easy money” opportunities that will flood your search. It’s not easy, it takes work and commitment and perseverance. Not easy, but so worth it.

4. Never stop learning. Learn from leaders, learn from your experiences, learn from those who are doing what you are doing.

5. Have a support system in place of people who will guide you, train you and most of all be there to help you navigate through this journey.

6. Grow yourself personally. Being successful in building your own job security is an inner game; it’s about the person you have to become in character and mind in order to be successful.

7. Be patient and steadfast. This is not a lottery ticket, this is the rest of your life. Every decision you make to act in spite of fear, or worry, or doubt, or inconvenience or even when you’re not in the mood will push you faster towards your success.

If you are still reading this, it means what I’ve shared has triggered a “knowing” within you that something has to change in your life. You see the writing on the wall. Good for you!

Here’s to your freedom … you job security … the best of your life.

Oh, and by the way …

We took that big step nine years ago. It was exciting and scary.

Now, we are living our dream and teaching as many people as possible how to create their own cash flow online so they can build real freedom and job security for themselves and their families.

If you are ready to begin to create something purposeful and something that could change the landscape of your family forever…

let me introduce you to what we do … that anyone can learn … to create the financial stability and job security you desire. Click the banner below.

Trisha Barnes
Let’s Connect:
s: Subscribe to the Naked Hippies newsletter
c: 573-881-6715
f: On Facebook
t: Follow me on Twitter
p: Follow me on Pinterest

P.S. Highly recommend these articles and ebooks:
How the Middle Class Got Screwed
Ten Reasons Why You Have to Quit Your Job This Year

Illinois Tollways has the most frustrating, outdated, and backwards way to collect tolls. It's a scam, it's extortion.

Illinois Tollway Runs a Lucrative Tourist Scam

On December 7, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class Revolution, Travel9 Comments

Illinois Tollway has greatly diminished any further Naked Hippies roadtrips to the state.

As you know, we are full-time RVers who spend our lives traveling across the U.S., taking in the incredible scenes of Nature offered in this beautiful country … to the tune of 18 states and 21,000 miles in 2014 alone.

Most states have understood that with the advent of debit cards, travelers don’t always carry cash and thus, have adapted and updated their systems to make use of technology to make things simpler for tourists.

All you have to do is go to their website, enter your license plate number, see the tolls owed, enter your card number … paid … done … simple.

Welcome to the state of Illinois … that touts”mile after magnificent mile” in its tourism promotions.

Be aware … driving mile after mile in Illinois could end up costing you hundreds, thousands … could end up bankrupting you … and even get your license and registration revoked!

Recently, while traveling through Illinois, as we followed ‘Siri” our GPS, we saw the signs that informed us we could easily pay the tolls online within 3 days.

No worries, we’ve done this many times before. We were scheduled to leave the state before the first tolls were due, so we naturally thought that when we were finished with our roadtrip, we would log-on to the website and pay all of the tolls in one simple transaction.

WRONG!

Upon arriving at the Illinois Tollway website, we were greeted with this message:

IMPORTANT: There is no capability to search for your unpaid tolls by entering your license plate. You are responsible for reporting each toll you did not pay. You must continue by following the instructions to enter the unpaid toll information in order to avoid violations.

After three days of wandering around the state of Illinois, we were supposed to tell THEM every time we entered and exited a toll road.

Perhaps in days gone by, when you had to map out your trips, that might have been possible … difficult, but possible. But today, when navigating by listening to a computerized voice telling you when and where to turn, it becomes completely impossible.

After multiple attempts at using the Illinois Tollway website, calling the customer service line and reaching only recordings that told us the same thing…“we are not going to tell you what you owe,” we simply gave up, seeing no other alternative.

We FINALLY received a bill in the mail and were informed that our exact tolls had been $7.97, but because of fines – we now owed $87.97.

Funny how they couldn’t tell us how much we owed at the time, but they sure as heck can once the fines have been added.

It’s is a common occurrence.

“Total Amount Due or this or that other threat: $62.60!
$62.60 for $2.80 tolls!

CAN YOU SAY HIGHWAY ROBBERY?

I wasn’t out to rip off the Illinois Tollway but it appears this “road rage” – this outrageous and exorbitant fine – is meant to take advantage of drivers unfamiliar with Illinois road ways. It appears the Illinois Tollway have worded the bill to completely cover themselves and offers no understanding or compromise.” [Source]

Read Kim’s unbelievable story here of being charged $2,300 for toll violations which prompted a reader to share her nightmare below:

$12,000 Fine – Pay it our lose your license!

There was also a phone number included with our letter to actually contact a live person at Illinois Tollways. This live person informed us that even if we had been able to contact a live person at the time, it wouldn’t have mattered – since they are not allowed to tell you how much is owed.

She also informed us that we now owed $287.97 plus the threat of having our drivers license and registration for our vehicle revoked if not paid.

This “we’re not going to tell you what you owe, but if you don’t pay the amount (that we’re not going to tell you) you will be royally screwed” sounds very much premeditated and with malicious forethought.

The State of Illinois is willfully and intentionally scamming tourists.

We’re fighting this with every means we can. If you are outraged at yet another story of the government digging its claws into every thing that you do … then share this blog post.

The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry. – William F. Buckley, Jr.

If tourists just avoid Illinois in order to keep from getting ripped off like this, how much money will the state lose from sales tax and hospitality taxes from the restaurants, motels, and other tourist venues?

Because the only way the world can ever truly be a better place is if the people who make it a worse place no longer have the means to do so. – Simon Black

Stay tuned. This isn’t over for us. We’ll keep you updated on what happens next. But this you can be sure of … we won’t be traveling through Illinois.

Trisha
c: 573-881-6715
f: Connect with me on Facebook
t: Follow me on Twitter

P.S. It’s not just the Illinois Tollway system that is screwing us and many many others … it’s happening everywhere. Can you fight back? You bet! Download this free ebook “How the Middle Class Got Screwed” to get a clearer picture of who, what, when, where and why you’re being screwed … and most of all, how you can fight back.

No one wants to hear it or believe it, but Social Security is going to fail. What can you do to protect you and your family?

No longer a conspiracy theory – Social Security is going to FAIL

On November 4, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class Revolution, Quit Your Job, Work From AnywhereLeave a comment

Social Security is going to fail.

We’ve been dancing around this issue for years, not wanting to believe it will happen, hoping it was just all a conspiracy theory but in this recent report, Simon Black gives the grim news.

Black writes:

Social Security’s various trust funds currently hold about $2.7 trillion in total assets; yet the government itself estimates the program’s liabilities to exceed $40 trillion.

In the 2015 report of the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees they state very plainly:

“Social Security as a whole as well as Medicare cannot sustain projected long-run program costs…”, and that the government should be “giving the public adequate time to prepare.”

Time to prepare? What does that mean for you and your family?

Pretty much, it’s time to take control of your future.

It doesn’t matter if you are twenty, thirty or sixty … Social Security should not be your plan for financial support when you retire.

The average monthly benefit for someone who starts taking Social Security at age 62 in 2014 is roughly $1,992 — not even enough to keep them above the federal poverty line.
[full article here]

It was never designed to be a main income source, but according to the U.S. Social Security Administration, nearly one in five married retirees and one in two unmarried retirees say they rely on Social Security for the bulk of their income.

It is definitely time to do something to protect your future.

But what?

Create your own streams of income that are not dependent on the government or job security or 401ks or pensions.

We call that entrepreneurship.

Becoming your own boss. Creating your own income.

It’s never too late or never too early to start.

Must Read

25 Percent of Americans Have No Net Worth

How to Be An Entrepreneur late in Life and Why You Should

Why Most People Die Young

Over 50? According to the Kauffman Foundation’s Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 23.4 percent of entrepreneurs are between the ages of 55 and 64, up from 18.7 percent a decade earlier. [full story here]

In your thirty/forty something years? According to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s 2013 United States Report, the best time to become an entrepreneur is between 35-44. [full story here]

In your twenties? Hold on, this will motivate you. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs started in their 20s:

Founders of Google Sergey Brin (25) & Larry Page (25)
Founders of Apple Steve Jobs (21) & Steve Wozniak (26)
Founders of Microsoft: Bill Gates (20) & Paul Allen (22)
Founder of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg (20)
Founder of Wal-Mart: Sam Walton (26)
[full story here]

No matter your age, just do it.

Forget what’s happening with Social Security. That’s a done deal, it’s going to fail.

Instead, step into your greatness and create, design, innovate and build a business to fund all that you desire in life.

Here’s a great way to get started now:

Social-Security — It’s the only way to protect you and your family’s future.

Whatever you dream of doing when you retire … do it now. Life is too short to wait.

Trisha
c: 573-881-6715
f: Are we connected on Facebook?

Alarming statistics ... what can we do? Plenty! Start here: http://freedownload.nakedhippiesteam.com

25% of Americans Have No Net Worth

On October 22, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class Revolution, Work From AnywhereLeave a comment

25% of Americans have no net worth is an alarming statistic.

So that means …

“If you’ve no debts and have $10 in your pocket you have more wealth than 25% of Americans. More than 25% of Americans have collectively that is.” -Simon Black

Read full article here.

But, hey … look at the example set by our government:

The U.S. has a net worth of NEGATIVE $60 TRILLION.

(How many zeros is that?)

It’s an unfathomable amount.

Unfortunately, it’s also become an accepted and expected way of life … consumer debt.

Here are the latest statistics of what American consumers owe as of October, 2015:

$11.85 trillion in debt
- An increase of 1.7% from last year
$890.9 billion in credit card debt
$8.17 trillion in mortgages
$1.19 trillion in student loans
- An increase of 7.1% from last year
  [Source]

And the wheels just keep on turning. Or maybe it’s more like Americans stick their heads in the sand to ignore or avoid the grim reality.

We can’t do much about the stupidity of the government.

But we can do something for our own families.

First: GET RID OF CREDIT CARD DEBT.

The average U.S. household credit card debt: $16,140.

Stop buying STUFF. Start paying off your cards.

Second: RENT, DON’T BUY

This goes against the American dream, doesn’t it? You were taught to invest in a home to build equity. It DOESN’T work that way now.

Investing in a home is a financial drain. James Altucher, editor, Top 1% Advisory states: “Besides mortgage debt (most of which can’t be written off), property maintenance, taxes (which go up with inflation and are almost never considered in the price of the house), closing costs, buying costs, title insurance, property upgrades, etc.,you’ll spend close to $1 million in the lifespan of the $500,000 house. Or even twice that.”

Third: Don’t Take Out Student Loans for a College Degree

(Heck, reconsider college)

Again, when I advise young people to NOT go to college, people look at me like I’ve lost my mind. After all, how will you get a decent job without a college degree? Again, what USED to work, DOESN’T work that way now.

The average U.S.household owes $31,946 in student loans. Young college graduates are sucked into a lifetime of being owned by the government. These debts are not dismissed by bankruptcy. If you owe student loans, the government OWNS you.

In addition, college degrees are no longer a guarantee of a better job. There has been a steady increase of “underemployed” college graduates since 2001.

“There’s a word for someone who has a job that does not require the degree they hold: “underemployed.” In 2008, over 35% of college graduates were underemployed; by June of last year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that a whopping 44% of graduates were underemployed.”

It used to be an advantage to get a college degree. But what happens when more and more degrees are earned? The market is flooded and graduates have to take jobs that are nowhere near their specialty or interest … in order to pay back the student loans.

It’s been the unofficial policy of many leaders, political and otherwise, to champion higher education as a universal good. Not because they’d studied the demand for certain types of educated workers, but simply as a catch-all solution. The market has long since adjusted to this, but the advice hasn’t: it’s still selling people indiscriminately on a level of education that employers don’t seem to be asking for.

[Source]

Not convinced yet? Take time to watch this:

FOURTH: Start Creating Your Own Cash Flow

Now is the time for everyone of us to begin to take back our lives. We’ve been suckered into building someone else’s dream; we’ve been financially strapped by taxes; we’ve seen layoffs, pensions disappear, social security vanishing …

it’s time to rise up:

It’s time. It’s YOUR time. It’s MY time. It’s time to say, “enough is enough.”

25% of Americans have no net-worth, but I’m betting that there are more than 25% of Americans who have enough self-worth to rise up and take back their freedom.

Which 25% group do you belong to?

Trisha
c: Text me here 573-881-6715
f: Find me on Facebook

P.S. Click the picture below to download this free ebook that will help you see HOW to begin the change.

how-the-middle-class-got-screwed.1 — Are you fed up? Me, too!

corporate-america-distrust-naked-hippies-roadtrip

Corporate America Has Created a Plague of Distrust

On October 7, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class Revolution1 Comment

Corporate America has done this … created a massive plague of distrust among us.

It’s no wonder that everyone is leery of everyone and everything these days when greed is the driving force of Corporate America.

Every time you turn around, we’re getting financially gouged from all sides.

I know that’s a pretty strong statement, but my experience yesterday was a clear example of this greed.

Let me tell you the astonishing chain of events.

I recently contacted Verizon customer service for assistance in reducing our monthly bill which has become prohibitive. Granted, we are paying for internet as well, since we live fulltime on the road and fund our lifestyle with the income we generate online.

The customer service rep was genuinely helpful. She clearly understood that we worked online and went to work to find some savings, but there wasn’t much to be had.

In the end, we decided to suspend the use of our two tablets for a whopping $10 monthly savings on each device; and, we decided to downsize our data usage from 30GB to 20GB for another $10/month savings. It’s important to note this: she was aware that we weren’t sure 20GB would be enough.

Our total savings added up to $30/month … definitely not a whole lot to get excited about, but it all adds up.

Imagine my surprise at this text message received yesterday:

You’ve used about 75% of your 20GB data (cycle ends the 20^th.) To increase your plan data by 5GB for $55 more per month, reply YES.

I admit, I was not the top math student in school, but I think Verizon’s math is a little off base. We cut data by 10GB and saved $10; to add 5GB, we will spend $55. It just doesn’t add up.

This is how we get screwed by Corporate America.

We have become so dependent on cell phones and internet to the point that we will be forced to pay whatever “they” deem necessary for these services.

It may appear there’s competition among the providers … but here’s the bottom line that affects all of us:

wherever there is a profit to be made, they’ll find it, and they will suck it out of us.

Anyway, back to Verizon. I immediately called customer service and asked that she review our plan change, then tell me what cost savings we were receiving.

She confirmed the suspension of our tablets which would save a total of $20/month; but, she informed us that a suspension fee of $15 per tablet had been added to our bill.

“WAIT A MINUTE!” I said. “Why on earth, if I initiated the call because I wanted to save money would I not be told it’s going to cost me to suspend the tablets?”

Fortunately, she saw my point and immediately credited my account.

She then confirmed that we had changed from 30GB to 20GB on the data plan and would save $10/month.

As calmly as I could, I asked why now it would cost us $55 to add 5GB, as per the text message received.

corporate-america-creates-plague-of-distrust — I understand what you’re saying …

I know she was reading from a script. I know, too, that I was causing her to rethink her career.

She was doing the best she could to answer a question that had no reasonable answer because …

If there’s a way to screw people, Corporate America will.

I’ll fight back all day long on principle.

Realizing that my argument had been stated clearly, I simply asked to speak to someone who would switch our plan back to the 30GB for the same price we were paying.

She hesitated, she scrambled to find a reply on her screen and gave me a rote explanation of the data plans. I repeated the request to speak to someone who would change the plan back.

She put me on hold and returned within a few minutes saying, “your plan has been changed back.”

Chalk one up to Trisha for standing her ground.

I’m not an activist. I’m not camping out at courthouses to protest. I’m just a grandma who gets pretty riled up over stuff like this that is happening to people all over this country.

Oh, the frustration of being charged fees and taxes and surcharges and access charges, upgrade fees, and downgrade fees by the cell phone companies. You can’t make any change to your plan without it costing you. Can you say ChaChing in Corporate America’s pockets?

No wonder people have a distrust of everyone and everything.

Must Read

Why the Middle Class Can’t Afford Vacations

Are You a Fan of Simon Black?

We the people believe in integrity and honesty and fairness. But, we’ve been screwed from every angle so much so that now we don’t trust anyone or anything …

We don’t trust the news, the politicians, the commercials, the religious leaders, the pharmaceuticals, the education system, the banks, the federal reserve …

Heck, even reality shows are scripted.

The saddest outcome of all this distrust is that we don’t even trust our fellow man. We doubt, we second-guess, we think everything is a scam.

Corporate America wins when we lose all trust in humanity.

Here’s to fighting back. Here’s to trust and integrity.

simple-freedom-hippie — I wear this shirt proudly!

Trisha Barnes
c: Text me! 573-881-6715
f: Are we connected on Facebook?

STAY CONNECTED. Join the hundreds of readers of our Naked Hippies eNewsletter. You’ll receive our free ebook “How the Middle Class Got Screwed” and get a daily dose of tips, insights and strategies designed to wake people up and create cash flow and wealth to protect you and your family. To subscribe for free, just click on the “Simple Freedom” pic below. Then check your email inbox for your first ebook and newsletter.

living-off-the-grid-on-your-own-land-illegal-naked-hippies-roadtrip

Living Off the Grid – On Your Own Land – Illegal??

On October 6, 2015June 4, 2016 By Trisha BarnesIn Middle Class RevolutionLeave a comment

Living off the Grid can be rewarding as well as challenging.

Those of us who choose this lifestyle are very aware of this. However, a new challenge seems to be appearing….Your Government Doesn’t Like It!

Here in the LAND OF THE FREE – people are being evicted off of their OWN PROPERTY for choosing to live off the grid.

In the Land of the Free, you are unfit to decide for yourself how you want to live. And the government has all the power in the world to forcibly bend you to its will, even if it means terrorizing citizens into using public utilities.

Collecting rainwater now constitutes a crime. Being free and independent gets you threatened with eviction and hauled into court.

Read the full story here.

Must Read

Why the Middle Class Can’t Afford Vacations Obama’s Gun Control Msg is Front and Center Again
Are You a Fan of Simon Black?

Via: TheFreeThoughtProject.com

“We’ve been regulated out of life,” homesteader Robin Rutan told Colorado Public Radio

The vilification of people who choose to live an alternative lifestyle is extremely commonplace in modern America.

. . . people have a right to use land that they own in the manner they see fit. To use the technicalities of the law to essentially evict people from land they own reeks of tyrannical overreach and oppression of personal liberty.

Read the full story here

Ready to Read More?

Are You, Your Family, Your Future Really Protected?

Click here to access Free Download

It seems preposterous that this is happening in the United States – especially since there is great concern over the deteriorating environment.

Off the grid living should be encouraged by the government, not condemned. After all, it reduces the carbon footprint.

Does this outrage you, too? What are you thoughts about the rights of landowners to live off the grid if they choose?

Leave a comment below and most importantly share this article to raise the awareness of what is happening to our freedom.

Trisha Barnes
c: Text me! 573-881-6715
f: Are we connected on Facebook?

STAY CONNECTED. Join the hundreds of readers of our Naked Hippies eNewsletter. You’ll receive our free ebook “How the Middle Class Got Screwed” and get a daily dose of tips, insights and strategies designed to wake people up and create cash flow and wealth to protect you and your family. To subscribe for free, just click on the “Simple Freedom” pic below. Then check your email inbox for your first ebook and newsletter.