ounds like the title of a self-help book, doesn't it? Well, in a way, it is. When we all started this line of work, we never expected we¹d be doing it so long, we never thought about things as mundane as retirement, health insurance, benefits. Most of us thought "I get paid to do this? Wow, am I lucky!" And we were. Still are. But as the profession has grown up, we have grown with it, out of what some have called the "Clueless Years" into knowledgeable, educated, certificated, licensed, seminared, tested, professional‹guides. We set the standard for the industry, but unfortunately for some of us our wages and benefits have not followed to the same level. We¹ve heard over and over from so many of you: "Why aren¹t you working for better wages, health insurance, benefits?" "What are you doing to better the plight of the guides?" As part of an attempt to do just this, we will be offering articles in this and upcoming bqr¹s about things you can do yourself to plan for the future. It is in largely up to us to do this for ourselves‹unfortunately, part of the responsibility of choosing this great lifestyle means learning to take care of ourselves, no one else is going to do it for us. And you can and should go talk to your outfitters.

Gcrg may be a guides' organization, but we are not a union. We met with representatives from the outfitters¹ association (gcroa) to discuss various issues and they will not speak with us about these topics (see Mark Grisham¹s letter in this issue). Individual outfitters would rather hear from you‹their employees. It may be frightening to think of going to your boss and saying you feel you deserve to be paid more, but you have to do that‹he or she is the only one with the power to help you in that way. So guides, go talk to your outfitters, and outfitters please listen when they do. No one is saying they don¹t like working for you‹just that they want to be allowed to plan for their future and be compensated for the professional job they do. Probably the easiest thing to do for yourself at first is to start an ira, so we¹ve started with this subject. Future articles will go to more complex issues. If you have questions for Mary Ellen, please drop us a line or give us a call. We¹ll pass them along and try and answer them in future issues of the newsletter. Happy saving!

Christa