Balancing The Badge To Make A Difference What Every Law Enforcement Professional Should Know About Managing Money And Life

Balancing the Badge to Make a Difference is a holistic approach toward balancing a law enforcement career with a purpose-driven retirement. Balancing the Badge to Make a Difference is based on a relationship with God and family, and a solid financial plan. Jim's passion for creating the Balancing the Badge concept and writing this book began while working alongside peace officers and providing financial services to them. He quickly recognized the importance of Balancing the Badge to provide financial information for officers to plan for retirement and also for developing a purpose-driven retirement to keep retirees motivated, healthy, productive, and most importantly, happy in retirement. Research for this book includes more than 36 years of police experience as an officer and a manager, providing financial services to officers and the public for over 20 years, raising a family, his relationship to God, teaching financial planning and life planning for over seven years to officers and cadets, and conducting extensive interviews with law enforcement professionals regarding their life goals during their career and into retirement. The goal for this book is about transforming law enforcement personnel to embrace the concept of Balancing the Badge because a purpose-driven retirement is critical for law enforcement survival. The objective of this book is to provide the tools to cross the bridge from achieving financial wealth, to also achieving life wealth. Building a life portfolio is as important as building a financial portfolio. This is a must-read book for all officers at any stage of their career including retirees that wish to live a life worth living. This book can easily by applied to all other careers as well. Reviews include: "Jim's classes were valuable to both me and my wife as we planned for our retirement. It caused us to have realistic goals and expectations and to formulate a plan to keep everything in line with God's plan for our lives, as well as meeting our financial goals." - Eric Fagan, Houston Police Officer (retired). "Jim has an enormous heart and unyielding energy to help officers and anyone in need to live a life worth living. Jim's vast police experience and extensive financial experience coupled with his faith and charity work guide him to help others live a balanced life. This book is a must read for all law enforcement personnel at any stage of their career, including retirees. I also recommend this book to anyone searching for their purpose." - James Bollig, Houston Police Sergeant (retired) & Army Veteran. "Balancing the Badge is a great 'How To' book on achieving Financial Freedom as well as genuine freedom. Everyone wants to be successful financially, but most of us never attain it. The reason is because we either don't know how or are not willing to do what it takes. This book gives you the knowledge and the motivation. Remove the handcuffs and start living a life free from bondage. Thank you, Lt Jim, for writing this book!" - Terry Farrar, CFP. "The value of a plan integrating the priorities of career, finances, family, and spiritual well-being cannot be understated. This book provides a road map in establishing your long-term plan to achieve personal success, happiness and financial security, geared specifically to law enforcement." - Dan Murphy, Inspector, NYPD (retired).

Ever since Brett Calman was a little boy, he dreamed of becoming a police officer. But over the decades the ordinary progress of life seemed to get in the way of that dream. As an adult, he found himself working as an upholsterer; he maintained a successful business for a few years, but, despite the name he'd made for himself and how far he'd come, something was missing from his life, and he knew exactly what it was. He just had to figure out how to get it. Brett didn't know anything about the process of becoming a police officer or about policing itself. He didn't know any cops. But he did know that he wanted to be one, and that he'd do whatever it took. It was ten years ago that Brett came to this critical decision in his life, and, within a short period of time, he realized his dream and became an active member of an Ontario, Canada, police force. My Road to the Badge is the story of how he got where he is today and the incredible insights, experiences, and information he collected along the way.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

The Personal Side of Policing is the ultimate guide to maneuvering through and understand how a career in law enforcement will affect and shape your life. The book tackles the perceived misconceptions associated with policing. The book is beneficial to individuals in any branch of law enforcement, from local police and corrections to the FBI and Homeland Security. The information will address questions and provide the inside track on what to expect while working in law enforcement. The book details the financial aspects, the effects on family, the public sentiment, the camaraderie, the dangers and risks, and the way a career in law enforcement will change you as a person. The final chapter provides critical, life-changing, and life-saving advice and insight for the current and future law enforcement professional.

Armor Your Self (TM) is about "Saving the Lives of the People Who Save Lives" This book is for all law enforcement professionals and other first responders. Police work is the most toxic job on the planet, and if the members of the law enforcement community don't take measures to protect themselves, this job will eat them up! If law enforcement officers did a true threat assessment of their careers, they would realize that the real dangers lie not with the bad guys, but within the stresses of the job. High rates of suicide, depression, alcoholism, domestic violence, PTSD, heart attack and cancer are the real cop killers. Armor Your Self (TM) How To Survive A Career In Law Enforcement helps law enforcement professionals armor themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This book is also for law enforcement family members to use to learn how to help your family survive this career as well. In this book you will learn about: - Blue Trauma Syndrome - The 7 Key Factors of Tactical Resilience (TM) - Comprehensive Survival Skills to Save Your Life and Your Health - Critical Concepts for Stress Reduction - How to Armor Your Agency (TM) - The Concept of True Blue Valor (TM) This book is filled with practical exercises, tactics and techniques to help you build your resilience intentionally! Many people who serve, and who have served, in law enforcement bear the scars of the cumulative stresses that accompany the career. The Law Enforcement Survival Institute (LESI) and CopsAlive.com work tirelessly to assemble strategies, tactics and best practices to help anyone working in this profession successfully survive their career. LESI and CopsAlive.com work with agencies and families to create environments that support healthy, happy and effective law enforcement professionals both on the job and at home.