Thursday, February 26, 2009
5 Easy Ways to Save and Build Wealth
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Learn How to Bank Like a Banker
The business of banking has changed dramatically over the last decade. Because the cost of doing business the old-fashioned way is no longer effective, banks are interested in changing their customers' behavior by encouraging electronic banking alternatives whenever possible. They have done this by charging high fees for services that were once free. If you pay $200 or more in annual fees for banking, it's time to do some competitive shopping.
Before becoming furious with your bank, it may be that the products you're using no longer meet your personal needs. If you have an established relationship with your bank, inquire about the other types of lower-cost checking and savings account products.
By understanding the rationale of why a bank charges fees for different services will allow you to be a savvy banking customer. If human contact is required to serve you, such as a teller or personal banker, this is very expensive for the bank. The incentive is for banks to encourage more high-tech, "low-touch" methods of meeting your needs. This is accomplished by servicing as many customers as possible with automated telephone services, cash machines, and online self-service banking.
Since the bank needs to train their employees, provide a paycheck and benefits, pay for the branch building, in some cases supply uniforms etc., it is conceivable that your one banking transaction per pay period could cost the bank $3 or more for your one banking transaction.
If you conduct your banking via an automated telephone system, the cost of this type of transaction is much less expensive. However, if you then require assistance from a telephone banker, the price goes from $1 for the automated process to as much as $2 for human contact. For the same reasons stated above, the training, location, computer equipment, etc. become more expensive when human interaction is needed.
Now it is clear why electronic banking methods are preferred by financial institutions. In fact, most banks are rewarding their customers with lower fees the more the customer does his/her banking electronically. For example, even though Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) costs the bank around $100,000 each plus the cost of the computer network and maintenance, the cost of these type of transactions drop to $0.50 - $1 each. Not only are these machines more cost effective, the 24-hour availability to customers is very convenient.
With the ease and convenience of Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payments, this "checkless" process drops the price to around $0.25 each. And finally, the Internet drops the expense even further to less than $0.10 a transaction. I realize that there is still some fear of banking electronically, but the security that banks have instilled with computer technology far surpasses the current security of traditional banking methods. If you lose your checkbook and wallet, the cost and worry of canceling these checks is very tedious. It's very possible that a thief could forge your name and deplete your accounts in a matter of hours. The sophisticated computer technology, however, although not perfect, has a far more secure system to protect you and your money.
Avoid being the bank's best customer. Attempt to cut your annual bank fees in half by educating yourself. Inquire about the options and products available to you with your banker. By asking about the alternative banking methods, you may find that your bank fees will drop considerably.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Before becoming furious with your bank, it may be that the products you're using no longer meet your personal needs. If you have an established relationship with your bank, inquire about the other types of lower-cost checking and savings account products.
By understanding the rationale of why a bank charges fees for different services will allow you to be a savvy banking customer. If human contact is required to serve you, such as a teller or personal banker, this is very expensive for the bank. The incentive is for banks to encourage more high-tech, "low-touch" methods of meeting your needs. This is accomplished by servicing as many customers as possible with automated telephone services, cash machines, and online self-service banking.
Since the bank needs to train their employees, provide a paycheck and benefits, pay for the branch building, in some cases supply uniforms etc., it is conceivable that your one banking transaction per pay period could cost the bank $3 or more for your one banking transaction.
If you conduct your banking via an automated telephone system, the cost of this type of transaction is much less expensive. However, if you then require assistance from a telephone banker, the price goes from $1 for the automated process to as much as $2 for human contact. For the same reasons stated above, the training, location, computer equipment, etc. become more expensive when human interaction is needed.
Now it is clear why electronic banking methods are preferred by financial institutions. In fact, most banks are rewarding their customers with lower fees the more the customer does his/her banking electronically. For example, even though Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) costs the bank around $100,000 each plus the cost of the computer network and maintenance, the cost of these type of transactions drop to $0.50 - $1 each. Not only are these machines more cost effective, the 24-hour availability to customers is very convenient.
With the ease and convenience of Automatic Clearing House (ACH) payments, this "checkless" process drops the price to around $0.25 each. And finally, the Internet drops the expense even further to less than $0.10 a transaction. I realize that there is still some fear of banking electronically, but the security that banks have instilled with computer technology far surpasses the current security of traditional banking methods. If you lose your checkbook and wallet, the cost and worry of canceling these checks is very tedious. It's very possible that a thief could forge your name and deplete your accounts in a matter of hours. The sophisticated computer technology, however, although not perfect, has a far more secure system to protect you and your money.
Avoid being the bank's best customer. Attempt to cut your annual bank fees in half by educating yourself. Inquire about the options and products available to you with your banker. By asking about the alternative banking methods, you may find that your bank fees will drop considerably.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 4
At any time in history, no matter what the current state of the economy, no matter what the current trends, no matter what the unemployment rate is or where interest rates lurk, some money-saving ideas stay true.
Some of you may have heard of these ideas before, others may be entirely new to you. But whether you are familiar with these super secrets or not, it will be well worth your while to put them into effect in your own life. The magic they will work on your financial life is guaranteed. I urge you to put them to work - any one of these could change your life! Big changes come from small steps. One plus one does equal two, so if you add one from eleven different places, you will see big results.
This is a four part series giving you advice on saving your hard-earned money in a variety of down-to-earth ways. Nothing here is anything that anyone can't do on a daily basis.
Amazing Money Tip #9 You must set short-term goals and long-term goals. If you don't know where you are going, how do you expect to get there? It's simple but powerful logic. When you have a target sitting out there somewhere in the future, a target which is your goal, it can almost act like a magnet that pulls you toward it.
Setting solid goals which are attainable, yet still a challenge, have proved time and time again to be one of the most powerful methods of achieving wealth and success ever developed. It has been demonstrated in corporate training schemes. It has been used successfully again and again by countless individuals. Setting both short term goals and long-term goals has the effect of focusing your mind like a laser beam. It pulls you along toward higher and better things. It gives solidity to what you are trying to accomplish, and thus makes that which you want more real and likely to come into your life.
As you have probably heard, it is best to write your short- term and long-term goals down on paper and then post them somewhere in your workplace and home. The first thing you should do every morning is look over your goal list, and then put together your Top 10 to do list which will move you toward your goal. The last thing you should do every evening is review your short-term and long-term goals, and tell yourself as you go to sleep that you are going to do everything in your power to make those goals a reality in your life. Amazing Money Tip #10 Invest your money and make it work at multiplying itself. Saving money in a savings account is important as we said above, but the 2.3 percent interest rates most banks give you is not even enough to keep pace with inflation.
You must do more than save your money -- you must invest it. That means financial vehicles with super-high rates of return, such as mutual funds and stocks, or the more risky commodity markets.
A $5,000 investment in commodities can return you 10 times that amount -- $50,000 --in just a few weeks, although you could easily lose it as well. Invest your savings into a long term certificate (CD). You can often get one with an interest rate up 4.5-5%. They are 100% safe, and still give you a much better return than normal savings accounts.
The bottom line is, you should take a portion of your savings and put it in a high interest or high risk investment plans. That's the way to really get ahead. Amazing Money Tip #11 Have fun! Yes, this tip easily makes my list because it is so essential to your success. The great writer Ray Bradbury once said in an interview: "If you are not having fun, you might as well forget it. Do everything you do with joy and you'll be successful." You need to be having fun to stay positive, and you need to stay positive to make money. So come on! Get out their: laugh, clap your hands, live! Have a blast and rake in the cash! The world is waiting for you!
I hope you have learned many new ways to save your hard- earned money, and enjoy your day-to-day life more. Remember, nothing discussed in this 4 part series is anything that you can't do. If you put this information to good use, it is guaranteed that you will benefit from it.
Copyright © by Palyn Peterson
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Some of you may have heard of these ideas before, others may be entirely new to you. But whether you are familiar with these super secrets or not, it will be well worth your while to put them into effect in your own life. The magic they will work on your financial life is guaranteed. I urge you to put them to work - any one of these could change your life! Big changes come from small steps. One plus one does equal two, so if you add one from eleven different places, you will see big results.
This is a four part series giving you advice on saving your hard-earned money in a variety of down-to-earth ways. Nothing here is anything that anyone can't do on a daily basis.
Amazing Money Tip #9 You must set short-term goals and long-term goals. If you don't know where you are going, how do you expect to get there? It's simple but powerful logic. When you have a target sitting out there somewhere in the future, a target which is your goal, it can almost act like a magnet that pulls you toward it.
Setting solid goals which are attainable, yet still a challenge, have proved time and time again to be one of the most powerful methods of achieving wealth and success ever developed. It has been demonstrated in corporate training schemes. It has been used successfully again and again by countless individuals. Setting both short term goals and long-term goals has the effect of focusing your mind like a laser beam. It pulls you along toward higher and better things. It gives solidity to what you are trying to accomplish, and thus makes that which you want more real and likely to come into your life.
As you have probably heard, it is best to write your short- term and long-term goals down on paper and then post them somewhere in your workplace and home. The first thing you should do every morning is look over your goal list, and then put together your Top 10 to do list which will move you toward your goal. The last thing you should do every evening is review your short-term and long-term goals, and tell yourself as you go to sleep that you are going to do everything in your power to make those goals a reality in your life. Amazing Money Tip #10 Invest your money and make it work at multiplying itself. Saving money in a savings account is important as we said above, but the 2.3 percent interest rates most banks give you is not even enough to keep pace with inflation.
You must do more than save your money -- you must invest it. That means financial vehicles with super-high rates of return, such as mutual funds and stocks, or the more risky commodity markets.
A $5,000 investment in commodities can return you 10 times that amount -- $50,000 --in just a few weeks, although you could easily lose it as well. Invest your savings into a long term certificate (CD). You can often get one with an interest rate up 4.5-5%. They are 100% safe, and still give you a much better return than normal savings accounts.
The bottom line is, you should take a portion of your savings and put it in a high interest or high risk investment plans. That's the way to really get ahead. Amazing Money Tip #11 Have fun! Yes, this tip easily makes my list because it is so essential to your success. The great writer Ray Bradbury once said in an interview: "If you are not having fun, you might as well forget it. Do everything you do with joy and you'll be successful." You need to be having fun to stay positive, and you need to stay positive to make money. So come on! Get out their: laugh, clap your hands, live! Have a blast and rake in the cash! The world is waiting for you!
I hope you have learned many new ways to save your hard- earned money, and enjoy your day-to-day life more. Remember, nothing discussed in this 4 part series is anything that you can't do. If you put this information to good use, it is guaranteed that you will benefit from it.
Copyright © by Palyn Peterson
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Monday, February 23, 2009
The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 3
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Friday, February 20, 2009
The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 2
At any time in history, no matter what the current state of the economy, no matter what the current trends, no matter what the unemployment rate is or where interest rates lurk, some money-saving ideas stay true.
Some of you may have heard of these ideas before, others may be entirely new to you. But whether you are familiar with these super secrets or not, it will be well worth your while to put them into effect in your own life. The magic they will work on your financial life is guaranteed. I urge you to put them to work - any one of these could change your life! Big changes come from small steps. One plus one does equal two, so if you add one from eleven different places, you will see big results.
This is a four part series giving you advice on saving your hard-earned money in a variety of down-to-earth ways. Nothing here is anything that anyone can't do on a daily basis.
Amazing Money Tip #4
Ben Franklin said it long ago: "A penny saved is a penny earned." Yes, it's still true, and still one of the most powerful money-making tips in all history.
Implied within Franklin's famous statement is the difficulty of saving. It's tough to save and easy to spend! You know that! That's why every penny saved truly is earned - because it takes so much effort to hold on to that cash! But if you can do it, it will work magic in your life. Having a savings account will de-stress your life. Imagine being ahead of your bills, rather than behind. When you are ahead of your bills, you entire life comes under your control. You sleep better at night. Your mind is freer to come up with new ways to make more money and save more. Saving is contagious - once you let it get started!
Here are some tips to help you save:
Don't settle for interest checking. Have a separate savings account that can't be as easily accessed as a checking account.
Keep your savings in another bank - one that's off your regular route, or perhaps even in another town. That way you won't be tempted to dip into it every time you visit the bank to make a checking deposit.
Buy short-term savings bonds, which have 6-month to one- year maturity dates. That way you will get a higher rate, while at the same time keeping your money close in case of real emergencies.
If you can, open the account under two names and require that both signatures be required to make a withdrawal. Two people can debate each withdrawal and keep each other in line.
When you get your paycheck, immediately put a minimum of 5% in your savings account. After just a year, you'll be surprised by how much you have actually saved and feel great about it.
Amazing Money Tip #5
Visualize wealth and abundance everyday. Am I actually suggesting that you practice some sort of airy-fairy mysticism that will make you into a "money magnet"? Maybe yes, maybe no. Call it what you will - a mind game, mysticism, New Age ga-ga -- but the solid fact is that behind every wealthy man and woman is a positive attitude toward money. Here's a quick demonstration:
(1) Person One with a negative money attitude has daily thoughts which go this way: "Jeez! $20 bucks is hard to come by! I seem to work so hard and get so little for it. Money just slips through my fingers. It's amazing how much money you have to earn to just get by these days. I'm never going to be able to afford that new car on my limited salary, but this job is still the best thing going for me right now. It's easy for some people to make a lot of money, but I'm not one of those people ..." and on and on.
(2) Person Two with a positive money attitude has daily thoughts which go this way: "You know, I bet if I work my butt off I can get a raise next month, and then I'll take half of the extra money I make and toss it in a savings account. There must be a 100 other ways I can bring in some extra cash. Money is not all that hard to earn if you work hard, watch your spending and save a little at a time. There's enough wealth for everybody in this country, and I can easily get my share, and more ..." and on and on.
Okay. Which person do you think will have a better chance of success? You don't need to be a Rhodes Scholar to see how Person One is dragging himself down with his thoughts, and how Person Two is giving himself a fighting chance.
Look at it this way: It costs nothing one way or the other to have either negative or positive thoughts. So why not have positive thoughts?
There have been many studies done on the thought patterns and the frames of mind of some of the richest, most successful people in the world. The one thing they all had in common was a positive attitude toward money and their ability to earn it.
The next of the 11 best money saving ideas of all time will be discussed in part 3. Until then, take note of what you have learned so far and put this information to good use. Read and reread this article; I bet you will notice a difference sooner than you think.
Copyright © by Palyn Peterson
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Some of you may have heard of these ideas before, others may be entirely new to you. But whether you are familiar with these super secrets or not, it will be well worth your while to put them into effect in your own life. The magic they will work on your financial life is guaranteed. I urge you to put them to work - any one of these could change your life! Big changes come from small steps. One plus one does equal two, so if you add one from eleven different places, you will see big results.
This is a four part series giving you advice on saving your hard-earned money in a variety of down-to-earth ways. Nothing here is anything that anyone can't do on a daily basis.
Amazing Money Tip #4
Ben Franklin said it long ago: "A penny saved is a penny earned." Yes, it's still true, and still one of the most powerful money-making tips in all history.
Implied within Franklin's famous statement is the difficulty of saving. It's tough to save and easy to spend! You know that! That's why every penny saved truly is earned - because it takes so much effort to hold on to that cash! But if you can do it, it will work magic in your life. Having a savings account will de-stress your life. Imagine being ahead of your bills, rather than behind. When you are ahead of your bills, you entire life comes under your control. You sleep better at night. Your mind is freer to come up with new ways to make more money and save more. Saving is contagious - once you let it get started!
Here are some tips to help you save:
Don't settle for interest checking. Have a separate savings account that can't be as easily accessed as a checking account.
Keep your savings in another bank - one that's off your regular route, or perhaps even in another town. That way you won't be tempted to dip into it every time you visit the bank to make a checking deposit.
Buy short-term savings bonds, which have 6-month to one- year maturity dates. That way you will get a higher rate, while at the same time keeping your money close in case of real emergencies.
If you can, open the account under two names and require that both signatures be required to make a withdrawal. Two people can debate each withdrawal and keep each other in line.
When you get your paycheck, immediately put a minimum of 5% in your savings account. After just a year, you'll be surprised by how much you have actually saved and feel great about it.
Amazing Money Tip #5
Visualize wealth and abundance everyday. Am I actually suggesting that you practice some sort of airy-fairy mysticism that will make you into a "money magnet"? Maybe yes, maybe no. Call it what you will - a mind game, mysticism, New Age ga-ga -- but the solid fact is that behind every wealthy man and woman is a positive attitude toward money. Here's a quick demonstration:
(1) Person One with a negative money attitude has daily thoughts which go this way: "Jeez! $20 bucks is hard to come by! I seem to work so hard and get so little for it. Money just slips through my fingers. It's amazing how much money you have to earn to just get by these days. I'm never going to be able to afford that new car on my limited salary, but this job is still the best thing going for me right now. It's easy for some people to make a lot of money, but I'm not one of those people ..." and on and on.
(2) Person Two with a positive money attitude has daily thoughts which go this way: "You know, I bet if I work my butt off I can get a raise next month, and then I'll take half of the extra money I make and toss it in a savings account. There must be a 100 other ways I can bring in some extra cash. Money is not all that hard to earn if you work hard, watch your spending and save a little at a time. There's enough wealth for everybody in this country, and I can easily get my share, and more ..." and on and on.
Okay. Which person do you think will have a better chance of success? You don't need to be a Rhodes Scholar to see how Person One is dragging himself down with his thoughts, and how Person Two is giving himself a fighting chance.
Look at it this way: It costs nothing one way or the other to have either negative or positive thoughts. So why not have positive thoughts?
There have been many studies done on the thought patterns and the frames of mind of some of the richest, most successful people in the world. The one thing they all had in common was a positive attitude toward money and their ability to earn it.
The next of the 11 best money saving ideas of all time will be discussed in part 3. Until then, take note of what you have learned so far and put this information to good use. Read and reread this article; I bet you will notice a difference sooner than you think.
Copyright © by Palyn Peterson
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 1
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Don't Work for Your Money, Make it Work for You!
Well, the New Year is around the corner and so are New Year’s Resolutions! It’s such a great time of year to consider what the past year has brought us and what we want to create in the coming year.
To help you get started thinking about the coming year, we are publishing a series of articles on top wealth creating habits. This series of articles will feature simple and practical ways that you can begin easily creating wealth in your life, no matter what your current situation. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you’re not wealthy yet. Chances are also that you are an employee, working for someone else, or you are a business owner but your business has not yet made you wealthy. In either case, haven’t you dreamed of being a wealthy business owner, whose business generates continuous wealth and income? Most of us have…but most of us also run up against the brick wall of not knowing how.
The best way to get started becoming a business owner with very productive employees is to get a business and hire some great employees. Now, most of us aren’t able to do that overnight, or we would have done it already, right? Wrong!
If you consider your money (assets or cash) as your employees, then you are an instant business owner. Voila! Think about it. When you invest your money or apply it toward a productive entrepreneurial venture, your money works just as hard to produce an income as you do when you go to your daily job. In fact, it works harder than most employees do – money has no family or personal problems and doesn’t argue with you. When you put what available money you have to work for you, you are now a business owner with employees (your money). When you realize that money has the potential to work just as hard as you do, then you’ve just enlightened yourself with one of the top wealth creating habits!
Now, to get a productive business that earns a good return for you, you need to keep adding “employees” to your business by saving your money and investing it. Whether it’s a dollar or twenty dollars, every “employee” counts. The wealth creating habit you want to cultivate in this regard is to save and invest your dollars rather than spending them on things that will give you short term pleasure but no long term benefit. Remember that every dollar you turn into an “employee” rather than spending in the moment will work for you for the rest of your life! Think about that the next time you feel tempted by some new trendy thing you’ve just got to have!
How can you get started on building this wealth creating habit in your life? It’s easy. At the beginning of each day, spend a few minutes experiencing what it would be like not to have to go to work every morning, but to be able to choose whether you want to work or not. During the day, as you are faced with spending choices, bring that experience back into focus to help yourself choose wisely. At night, keep a journal of your spending decisions for that day and note what percentage of the time you chose wisely. Your goal? To increase that percentage gradually to 100%.
Most experts say that it takes 21 to 40 days to create a solid new habit. That’s not long when you think about it. All you have to do is get started – now. Good luck!
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
To help you get started thinking about the coming year, we are publishing a series of articles on top wealth creating habits. This series of articles will feature simple and practical ways that you can begin easily creating wealth in your life, no matter what your current situation. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you’re not wealthy yet. Chances are also that you are an employee, working for someone else, or you are a business owner but your business has not yet made you wealthy. In either case, haven’t you dreamed of being a wealthy business owner, whose business generates continuous wealth and income? Most of us have…but most of us also run up against the brick wall of not knowing how.
The best way to get started becoming a business owner with very productive employees is to get a business and hire some great employees. Now, most of us aren’t able to do that overnight, or we would have done it already, right? Wrong!
If you consider your money (assets or cash) as your employees, then you are an instant business owner. Voila! Think about it. When you invest your money or apply it toward a productive entrepreneurial venture, your money works just as hard to produce an income as you do when you go to your daily job. In fact, it works harder than most employees do – money has no family or personal problems and doesn’t argue with you. When you put what available money you have to work for you, you are now a business owner with employees (your money). When you realize that money has the potential to work just as hard as you do, then you’ve just enlightened yourself with one of the top wealth creating habits!
Now, to get a productive business that earns a good return for you, you need to keep adding “employees” to your business by saving your money and investing it. Whether it’s a dollar or twenty dollars, every “employee” counts. The wealth creating habit you want to cultivate in this regard is to save and invest your dollars rather than spending them on things that will give you short term pleasure but no long term benefit. Remember that every dollar you turn into an “employee” rather than spending in the moment will work for you for the rest of your life! Think about that the next time you feel tempted by some new trendy thing you’ve just got to have!
How can you get started on building this wealth creating habit in your life? It’s easy. At the beginning of each day, spend a few minutes experiencing what it would be like not to have to go to work every morning, but to be able to choose whether you want to work or not. During the day, as you are faced with spending choices, bring that experience back into focus to help yourself choose wisely. At night, keep a journal of your spending decisions for that day and note what percentage of the time you chose wisely. Your goal? To increase that percentage gradually to 100%.
Most experts say that it takes 21 to 40 days to create a solid new habit. That’s not long when you think about it. All you have to do is get started – now. Good luck!
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
You Deserve To Retire Early
The fact is that most people continue to work for a living, because they don’t have the means to live without that income. Do not get me wrong. You may enjoy doing what you do. If you do not have to worry about making a living out of this, could you do better, on your own terms?
Perhaps work fewer hours and spend more time with your family? Perhaps choose to take a few days to travel, without worrying about needing to ask for permission. Maybe spend a little time helping out your favorite charity?
There are a great many people who would not go to work, if they did not have to earn a living. Total Financial Freedom is about having that choice. If you quit your job, the organization will not shut down. They will find a replacement to do your job. They will continue their business. However, if you quit working for yourself, nobody will replace you. You owe it to yourself and the ones near and dear to you. When you have the choice, you may still continue to work. The big difference is in knowing that you have a choice.
Sometimes, we get so busy with our work and lives that we forget the potential within. You may be able make a huge difference in your community. You may be able to touch a lot of lives in a way that only you can. If you had the choice, you could explore this possibility. As I have already stated, your net worth is directly in line with the number of lives that you have positively affected.
I could be totally boxed in my profession of software engineering, management etc. I love that side of me. I had to take the time to write this book. I know that this book is going to make a difference in many lives. Why do I know that? I know that, because I firmly believe that I have something to offer. I know that, because I started this work with the steadfast desire to write a book that will have such impact. Above all, I know so, because I prayed that I be the instrument to deliver such a powerful message.
You have a purpose in life. You have tremendous potential. Don’t let the power of a paycheck hold you back from becoming all that you can be. You deserve to retire early, so that you may spend your time fulfilling your dreams.
Do you need a Million dollars to retire? Not necessarily. You may choose to retire a lot sooner than that. No, I am not asking you to shrink your dreams. You may still go on to gain wealth far beyond a Million dollars. That is entirely possible. But, when you have made it possible to replace your current income from some other means, you can retire and pursue your dreams full time.
Get out of that bondage. Have the choice. Then do what you choose to. Retire early and enjoy your life.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Perhaps work fewer hours and spend more time with your family? Perhaps choose to take a few days to travel, without worrying about needing to ask for permission. Maybe spend a little time helping out your favorite charity?
There are a great many people who would not go to work, if they did not have to earn a living. Total Financial Freedom is about having that choice. If you quit your job, the organization will not shut down. They will find a replacement to do your job. They will continue their business. However, if you quit working for yourself, nobody will replace you. You owe it to yourself and the ones near and dear to you. When you have the choice, you may still continue to work. The big difference is in knowing that you have a choice.
Sometimes, we get so busy with our work and lives that we forget the potential within. You may be able make a huge difference in your community. You may be able to touch a lot of lives in a way that only you can. If you had the choice, you could explore this possibility. As I have already stated, your net worth is directly in line with the number of lives that you have positively affected.
I could be totally boxed in my profession of software engineering, management etc. I love that side of me. I had to take the time to write this book. I know that this book is going to make a difference in many lives. Why do I know that? I know that, because I firmly believe that I have something to offer. I know that, because I started this work with the steadfast desire to write a book that will have such impact. Above all, I know so, because I prayed that I be the instrument to deliver such a powerful message.
You have a purpose in life. You have tremendous potential. Don’t let the power of a paycheck hold you back from becoming all that you can be. You deserve to retire early, so that you may spend your time fulfilling your dreams.
Do you need a Million dollars to retire? Not necessarily. You may choose to retire a lot sooner than that. No, I am not asking you to shrink your dreams. You may still go on to gain wealth far beyond a Million dollars. That is entirely possible. But, when you have made it possible to replace your current income from some other means, you can retire and pursue your dreams full time.
Get out of that bondage. Have the choice. Then do what you choose to. Retire early and enjoy your life.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Monday, February 16, 2009
Virtual Millionaire
Let's begin this lesson with a definition of the term Virtual Millionaire. This is an expression, known to the CPAs, but unknown to the general public. Why? It's because the bank does not want you to know. Here is why...
Virtual Millionaire - An individual that has zero debt and a passive or near passive income of at least 60,000 a year.
For example, if you had $2,000,000 in the bank earning 6% interest, you would have $120,000 of yearly income. This income is known as PASSIVE income. It is called passive because you weren't active I the production of this income. In other words, you did not work to get it. Yes, you worked to save the $2,000,000, but the income from the $2,000,000 keeps coming in without work.
A person with $2,000,000 in the bank could spend 6 months traveling the world and they would still make $120,000 each and every year and still have their $2,000,000 in the bank.
Before developing this further, there is one other critical point to make. Most folks have ZERO concepts of millionaire and their lifestyles. If you were a retired multimillionaires with $2,000,000 in the bank and this money was your entire life savings, would you spend your $120,000 yearly income and ALSO spend part of the $2,000,000?
If you are like most folks, you might have the conception that millionaires that spend money hand over first as if there no limit to how much they could spend!
The person with the $2,000,000 in the bank knows that if they spend more than their $120,000 income, next year they won't have $2,000,000 to produce an income for future years. It will be less. Guess what? If they don't have $2,000,000 to produce income, then they will no longer have the $120,000 in income, unless the interest rate goes up.
For some time, I tried to get my mind around this while concept of wealth as it relate to quality of life. I have determined, without question, that it isn't having an immerse amount of money to throw away that provides a high quality of life. It is known that you would always have a very good income and that you could virtually anything you would ever want to do with your time and your life that produces the very highest quality of life (This doesn't take into account spiritual or health issues.
My friends, that is true wealth, or as a mentioned in the introduction, this is Financial Wellness. In my previous experience with my wealthy clients, I didn't appreciate the fact that multimillionaires, for the most part, don't spend all that much money in a year. Their FREEDOM come and go almost at will has a near- magical impact on quality of life. That's really living Well.
Based on my observations and experiences of working with the wealthy, I made a decision to focus my business in a different direction. I decide that I would pursue the creation of passive. INCOME, not the Creation of wealth or Assets.
You see, if you can produce $60,000 in a year in dependable passive income, this would be the equivalent of having $1,000,000 in the bank at 6%.
I determined that it would be much easier to create the lifestyle of a millionaire by focusing on creating income. So, I have done my best to become an expert in this very different way of thinking about the financial independence.
There are four ways to achieve financial independence. There is the traditional way, which is to work and save in a attempt to accumulate assets that will one day take care of your income needs. Some inherit it from someone else. A handful will win the lottery. And, finally the Virtual millionaire or income approach.
I want to suggest to you that the Virtual millionaire approach is not only far easier, but much more enjoyable in the process.
Consider this for a moment. If you are going to stay in the traditional way of thinking about financial independence, recognize that as folks work and save, they far too frequently deprive themselves of enjoying their life NOW.
I have seen folks so obsessed with saving money for some future unknown use that they become slaves to the future and have virtually no life, here and now. However the vast majority of people can't save. They go deeply in debt and the high cost of interest makes it almost impossible for them to dig out of debt in order to finally begin a savings and investment program.
I want to suggest that for many of you it is far better to hire yourself and invest in your own company instead of buying stock in someone else's company. Instead of trying save and invest to grow assets that you can some day live off, build your own business to produce an income that you can live off NOW and later.
My contention is that it is far easier to become a virtual millionaire than it is to achieve financial independence the traditional way. When you make a serious effort, you can achieve the extremely fast. By fast I mean a few years.
The virtual millionaire advantages are many. At the end of one year you won't need any encouragement to continue. You will be so excited that you will be unstoppable.
In summary, I want to encourage you to concentrate on becoming a virtual millionaire. It is far easier to produce the income of a millionaire than it is to create the assets of a millionaire. Remember… millionaires DON'T spend their assets, they spend their income. It is the income that provides that quality of life.
I want you to think what your life would be like if you were totally debt free and you have at least $60,000 a year coming in year after year. You would be amazed at how much more joy you would have in your life.
The exciting thing is that there is nothing to stop you from working as hard as you choose to continually grow your income. With my approach, you still get to enjoy your life NOW while also preparing for early retirement.
Just for the record, if you develop your own business to the point that it is providing with a dependable $60,000 annual income then YOU ARE ALSO AN ASSET MILLIONAIRE.
The reason that is true is that, in the world of accounting, you don't just place values on things; you also place value on stream of dollars.
This is exactly what annuities are all about. Every day millions of dollars are given to annuity companies in exchange for an income for life. These people purposely save their savings for an income the they can't outlive.
The virtual millionaire approach places all the emphasis on creating a Business Annuity. Let your business produce the income stream you will need for debt elimination and for early retirement. When you do you will join the ranks of those who have achieved true financial wellness.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Virtual Millionaire - An individual that has zero debt and a passive or near passive income of at least 60,000 a year.
For example, if you had $2,000,000 in the bank earning 6% interest, you would have $120,000 of yearly income. This income is known as PASSIVE income. It is called passive because you weren't active I the production of this income. In other words, you did not work to get it. Yes, you worked to save the $2,000,000, but the income from the $2,000,000 keeps coming in without work.
A person with $2,000,000 in the bank could spend 6 months traveling the world and they would still make $120,000 each and every year and still have their $2,000,000 in the bank.
Before developing this further, there is one other critical point to make. Most folks have ZERO concepts of millionaire and their lifestyles. If you were a retired multimillionaires with $2,000,000 in the bank and this money was your entire life savings, would you spend your $120,000 yearly income and ALSO spend part of the $2,000,000?
If you are like most folks, you might have the conception that millionaires that spend money hand over first as if there no limit to how much they could spend!
The person with the $2,000,000 in the bank knows that if they spend more than their $120,000 income, next year they won't have $2,000,000 to produce an income for future years. It will be less. Guess what? If they don't have $2,000,000 to produce income, then they will no longer have the $120,000 in income, unless the interest rate goes up.
For some time, I tried to get my mind around this while concept of wealth as it relate to quality of life. I have determined, without question, that it isn't having an immerse amount of money to throw away that provides a high quality of life. It is known that you would always have a very good income and that you could virtually anything you would ever want to do with your time and your life that produces the very highest quality of life (This doesn't take into account spiritual or health issues.
My friends, that is true wealth, or as a mentioned in the introduction, this is Financial Wellness. In my previous experience with my wealthy clients, I didn't appreciate the fact that multimillionaires, for the most part, don't spend all that much money in a year. Their FREEDOM come and go almost at will has a near- magical impact on quality of life. That's really living Well.
Based on my observations and experiences of working with the wealthy, I made a decision to focus my business in a different direction. I decide that I would pursue the creation of passive. INCOME, not the Creation of wealth or Assets.
You see, if you can produce $60,000 in a year in dependable passive income, this would be the equivalent of having $1,000,000 in the bank at 6%.
I determined that it would be much easier to create the lifestyle of a millionaire by focusing on creating income. So, I have done my best to become an expert in this very different way of thinking about the financial independence.
There are four ways to achieve financial independence. There is the traditional way, which is to work and save in a attempt to accumulate assets that will one day take care of your income needs. Some inherit it from someone else. A handful will win the lottery. And, finally the Virtual millionaire or income approach.
I want to suggest to you that the Virtual millionaire approach is not only far easier, but much more enjoyable in the process.
Consider this for a moment. If you are going to stay in the traditional way of thinking about financial independence, recognize that as folks work and save, they far too frequently deprive themselves of enjoying their life NOW.
I have seen folks so obsessed with saving money for some future unknown use that they become slaves to the future and have virtually no life, here and now. However the vast majority of people can't save. They go deeply in debt and the high cost of interest makes it almost impossible for them to dig out of debt in order to finally begin a savings and investment program.
I want to suggest that for many of you it is far better to hire yourself and invest in your own company instead of buying stock in someone else's company. Instead of trying save and invest to grow assets that you can some day live off, build your own business to produce an income that you can live off NOW and later.
My contention is that it is far easier to become a virtual millionaire than it is to achieve financial independence the traditional way. When you make a serious effort, you can achieve the extremely fast. By fast I mean a few years.
The virtual millionaire advantages are many. At the end of one year you won't need any encouragement to continue. You will be so excited that you will be unstoppable.
In summary, I want to encourage you to concentrate on becoming a virtual millionaire. It is far easier to produce the income of a millionaire than it is to create the assets of a millionaire. Remember… millionaires DON'T spend their assets, they spend their income. It is the income that provides that quality of life.
I want you to think what your life would be like if you were totally debt free and you have at least $60,000 a year coming in year after year. You would be amazed at how much more joy you would have in your life.
The exciting thing is that there is nothing to stop you from working as hard as you choose to continually grow your income. With my approach, you still get to enjoy your life NOW while also preparing for early retirement.
Just for the record, if you develop your own business to the point that it is providing with a dependable $60,000 annual income then YOU ARE ALSO AN ASSET MILLIONAIRE.
The reason that is true is that, in the world of accounting, you don't just place values on things; you also place value on stream of dollars.
This is exactly what annuities are all about. Every day millions of dollars are given to annuity companies in exchange for an income for life. These people purposely save their savings for an income the they can't outlive.
The virtual millionaire approach places all the emphasis on creating a Business Annuity. Let your business produce the income stream you will need for debt elimination and for early retirement. When you do you will join the ranks of those who have achieved true financial wellness.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Friday, February 13, 2009
10 Wisdom-Based Wealth-Building Strategies
“It’s the business of your life…
and you’re the CEO!” Dennis Zabawa
Imagine that you’re Noah and God is telling you that you need to build the ark. You might suspect that Noah was a bit skeptical. Could it actually rain for such an extended period of time that a small ship would be required to survive the storm? According to the Bible, the answer is “Yes!”
So, when I suggest you build an ark of your own – one of the financial variety – how much convincing will you need? Fortunately, this ark won’t require a that you assemble a seemingly useless structure in your backyard and it won’t require a 1,000 year flood to come in handy either. This ark will be something you can be proud of and it will provide you with financial security every day of your life.
While any approach to creating financial security must suit the values and needs of the individual, these are the Top 10 Wealth-Building Strategies that I believe will ensure that you can weather any storm life sends your way.
1. Use the A-R-KTM Technique.
A. A is for Accumulating Assets. This may seem like a simple concept but in today’s challenging circumstances it is much too easy to spend everything you make and more.
B. R is for Retiring Debt. Debts aren’t called liabilities for nothing. You need to work towards reducing and eliminating debt when everyone else is focused on using every ounce of equity.
C. K is for Keeping Commitments. Once you make a commitment to yourself to apply the A-R-K TechniqueTM, you need to keep it! You build confidence in yourself and others this way.
2. Prepare for the inevitable rainy day.
A. Understand life’s cycles. It is a fact of life that you will experience challenging times – in a way times like these are meant to adjust your course. Life’s challenges are much easier to face with financial security.
B. Maintain a positive AND realistic attitude. It might not seem like positive thinking to plan for a rainy day. I believe planning and preparation are the most valuable tools you can use to deal with life’s problems.
C. Develop plans for your A-R-K. You need a plan. God gave Noah a “blueprint” to build from. You need a financial blueprint. What will your ark look like when it’s completed?
3. Acknowledge where your wealth comes from.
A. GUS is the source. Some call it "God", some "Spirit", others "the Universe", and still others have developed their own term to relate to. The acronym GUS (God's Universal Spirit) honors all the wisdom traditions.
B. Give back to those who gave to you – spiritually and otherwise. You might consider this tithing. Tithing is your way of demonstrating your faith in an endless supply.
C. Subscribe to the Universal Law of Use. This universal law applies to every department of your life. Get rid of clutter and anything else that isn’t serving a purpose. One person’s junk is another’s treasure.
4. Develop sufficient liquid resources.
A. Cash is King! I can’t stress enough the value of having funds readily available that can be accessed without a significant reduction in value. This is the “hull” your ark is built on.
B. Calculate your cash reserve requirement. Do you know how much you would need to meet your minimum financial responsibilities for a period of six months?
C. Define “liquid”. Liquid resources are assets that can be converted to cash without penalty or market fluctuation. You need a six month cash infusion plan that is easy to execute in an emergency.
5. Understand real estate investments.
A. Own your home “free and clear”. Mortgage brokers encourage you to borrow every dollar you can – especially with interest rates at historical lows. With this approach, you’ll forever make house payments!
B. Use conservative values for planning purposes. With real estate, values can fluctuate dramatically based on factors completely out of your control. How much would you realize if you HAD to sell?
C. Are you prepared to run a business? Owning real estate (unless it’s your personal residence) requires you to run a business that you may not consider a valuable use of your time.
6. Understand equity market investments.
A. Evaluate your risk tolerance. Investment advisors typically discuss the concept of risk with their clients, but don’t face reality. Investments come with a significant chance that value will decrease significantly.
B. Accept that the stock market is illogical. There are many “systems” available today that purport to make the market predictable. The truth is there isn’t much logic behind market values.
C. Fund managers are paid even when they’re wrong. Most mutual funds underperform the market by 3%. This is in part due to the fact that fund managers are paid handsomely whether they perform well or not.
7. Know the value of your income stream.
A. Build a sellable business. When you’re ready to “retire” will the work you’ve done to build your business have lasting value, with or without you there? With proper planning, your business is a valuable asset.
B. Create lasting value from your career/job. If you aren’t working in your own business, you can make the most of the income stream from your paycheck and benefits. Take advantage of employer-sponsored programs.
C. Supplement with investment income. Your investment strategies can generate additional cash flow if required. Depending on the phase of your financial plan, you have the option of adding to useable resources.
8. Limit your “use” assets.
A. Depreciating assets are necessities or luxuries – maybe both. In most geographical locations, a vehicle is a necessity. Does your vehicle meet your transportation needs or does it satisfy a desire?
B. Know the hidden costs of expensive “toys”. We all have them – assets that are nothing more than grown-up toys. You need to know what those toys really cost to maintain.
C. Money buys experiences. When people are surveyed about what makes life more satisfying, the answers vary. Consistently, people agree that they enjoy traveling, dining and the outdoors. It takes money to have fun!
9. Set goals.
A. Have a target you’re moving towards. Without a comprehensive plan, you will have difficulty adjusting when you face life’s challenges – financially or otherwise.
B. Define your wealth-building strategy. Once you know where you want to end up, you can determine which strategies should be implemented to meet your goals.
C. Embark on the journey. Just get started! Realize that you will have setbacks, but you will never get there unless you start rowing in the direction you’ve determined you want to go.
10. Protect what you’ve built.
A. Buy insurance for predictable losses. Property insurance protects some of your assets, but you should also consider the risk of losing your income stream. Life and disability insurance can provide added protection.
B. Add layers of protection for unpredictable losses. There are many ways to protect assets from the uncommon disaster – a lawsuit or other occurrence. Asset protection tools can help you rest easy.
C. Create a succession plan. Whether you own your own business or want to provide for your family in the event you are unable to do so, any effective financial plan should consider succession.
You might be feeling like a sound financial plan leaves no room for fun or enjoying life’s pleasures. On the contrary, your plan should serve your individual needs and put you on the path to financial freedom. If you dream of driving a luxury vehicle or taking a cruise around the world, your plan should factor in the costs so you know you are creating a financial future that is real and lasting – not just a “mirage”.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) called compounding interest the 8th wonder. It can work for you, or against you. When you invest it works for you. When you borrow it works against you! There is a reason God told Noah to take a male and female of each species aboard the ark…to multiply. That is what compounding interest does for you and your financial ark. Creating a wisdom-based financial plan can help you put the 8th wonder to work for you.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
and you’re the CEO!” Dennis Zabawa
Imagine that you’re Noah and God is telling you that you need to build the ark. You might suspect that Noah was a bit skeptical. Could it actually rain for such an extended period of time that a small ship would be required to survive the storm? According to the Bible, the answer is “Yes!”
So, when I suggest you build an ark of your own – one of the financial variety – how much convincing will you need? Fortunately, this ark won’t require a that you assemble a seemingly useless structure in your backyard and it won’t require a 1,000 year flood to come in handy either. This ark will be something you can be proud of and it will provide you with financial security every day of your life.
While any approach to creating financial security must suit the values and needs of the individual, these are the Top 10 Wealth-Building Strategies that I believe will ensure that you can weather any storm life sends your way.
1. Use the A-R-KTM Technique.
A. A is for Accumulating Assets. This may seem like a simple concept but in today’s challenging circumstances it is much too easy to spend everything you make and more.
B. R is for Retiring Debt. Debts aren’t called liabilities for nothing. You need to work towards reducing and eliminating debt when everyone else is focused on using every ounce of equity.
C. K is for Keeping Commitments. Once you make a commitment to yourself to apply the A-R-K TechniqueTM, you need to keep it! You build confidence in yourself and others this way.
2. Prepare for the inevitable rainy day.
A. Understand life’s cycles. It is a fact of life that you will experience challenging times – in a way times like these are meant to adjust your course. Life’s challenges are much easier to face with financial security.
B. Maintain a positive AND realistic attitude. It might not seem like positive thinking to plan for a rainy day. I believe planning and preparation are the most valuable tools you can use to deal with life’s problems.
C. Develop plans for your A-R-K. You need a plan. God gave Noah a “blueprint” to build from. You need a financial blueprint. What will your ark look like when it’s completed?
3. Acknowledge where your wealth comes from.
A. GUS is the source. Some call it "God", some "Spirit", others "the Universe", and still others have developed their own term to relate to. The acronym GUS (God's Universal Spirit) honors all the wisdom traditions.
B. Give back to those who gave to you – spiritually and otherwise. You might consider this tithing. Tithing is your way of demonstrating your faith in an endless supply.
C. Subscribe to the Universal Law of Use. This universal law applies to every department of your life. Get rid of clutter and anything else that isn’t serving a purpose. One person’s junk is another’s treasure.
4. Develop sufficient liquid resources.
A. Cash is King! I can’t stress enough the value of having funds readily available that can be accessed without a significant reduction in value. This is the “hull” your ark is built on.
B. Calculate your cash reserve requirement. Do you know how much you would need to meet your minimum financial responsibilities for a period of six months?
C. Define “liquid”. Liquid resources are assets that can be converted to cash without penalty or market fluctuation. You need a six month cash infusion plan that is easy to execute in an emergency.
5. Understand real estate investments.
A. Own your home “free and clear”. Mortgage brokers encourage you to borrow every dollar you can – especially with interest rates at historical lows. With this approach, you’ll forever make house payments!
B. Use conservative values for planning purposes. With real estate, values can fluctuate dramatically based on factors completely out of your control. How much would you realize if you HAD to sell?
C. Are you prepared to run a business? Owning real estate (unless it’s your personal residence) requires you to run a business that you may not consider a valuable use of your time.
6. Understand equity market investments.
A. Evaluate your risk tolerance. Investment advisors typically discuss the concept of risk with their clients, but don’t face reality. Investments come with a significant chance that value will decrease significantly.
B. Accept that the stock market is illogical. There are many “systems” available today that purport to make the market predictable. The truth is there isn’t much logic behind market values.
C. Fund managers are paid even when they’re wrong. Most mutual funds underperform the market by 3%. This is in part due to the fact that fund managers are paid handsomely whether they perform well or not.
7. Know the value of your income stream.
A. Build a sellable business. When you’re ready to “retire” will the work you’ve done to build your business have lasting value, with or without you there? With proper planning, your business is a valuable asset.
B. Create lasting value from your career/job. If you aren’t working in your own business, you can make the most of the income stream from your paycheck and benefits. Take advantage of employer-sponsored programs.
C. Supplement with investment income. Your investment strategies can generate additional cash flow if required. Depending on the phase of your financial plan, you have the option of adding to useable resources.
8. Limit your “use” assets.
A. Depreciating assets are necessities or luxuries – maybe both. In most geographical locations, a vehicle is a necessity. Does your vehicle meet your transportation needs or does it satisfy a desire?
B. Know the hidden costs of expensive “toys”. We all have them – assets that are nothing more than grown-up toys. You need to know what those toys really cost to maintain.
C. Money buys experiences. When people are surveyed about what makes life more satisfying, the answers vary. Consistently, people agree that they enjoy traveling, dining and the outdoors. It takes money to have fun!
9. Set goals.
A. Have a target you’re moving towards. Without a comprehensive plan, you will have difficulty adjusting when you face life’s challenges – financially or otherwise.
B. Define your wealth-building strategy. Once you know where you want to end up, you can determine which strategies should be implemented to meet your goals.
C. Embark on the journey. Just get started! Realize that you will have setbacks, but you will never get there unless you start rowing in the direction you’ve determined you want to go.
10. Protect what you’ve built.
A. Buy insurance for predictable losses. Property insurance protects some of your assets, but you should also consider the risk of losing your income stream. Life and disability insurance can provide added protection.
B. Add layers of protection for unpredictable losses. There are many ways to protect assets from the uncommon disaster – a lawsuit or other occurrence. Asset protection tools can help you rest easy.
C. Create a succession plan. Whether you own your own business or want to provide for your family in the event you are unable to do so, any effective financial plan should consider succession.
You might be feeling like a sound financial plan leaves no room for fun or enjoying life’s pleasures. On the contrary, your plan should serve your individual needs and put you on the path to financial freedom. If you dream of driving a luxury vehicle or taking a cruise around the world, your plan should factor in the costs so you know you are creating a financial future that is real and lasting – not just a “mirage”.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) called compounding interest the 8th wonder. It can work for you, or against you. When you invest it works for you. When you borrow it works against you! There is a reason God told Noah to take a male and female of each species aboard the ark…to multiply. That is what compounding interest does for you and your financial ark. Creating a wisdom-based financial plan can help you put the 8th wonder to work for you.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Residual Income - Part Three Finding Leaders
In my last article on Creating Residual Income I mentioned that employees are a pain.
That wasn't completely accurate. To be more accurate I should have said, "MOST employees are a pain."
In addition to the "regular" problems of payroll, sick time, legal issues, etc., there is the bigger issue that EMPLOYEES ARE LOOKING OUT FOR THEMSELVES, NOT FOR YOU.
Which means they need constant supervision and encouragement to make you the largest amount of money possible. It's just the way it is.
But there is a better way...
I went to college selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Yup, door-to-door. I didn't do it because I always enjoyed it-- sometimes it was raining or cold or BOTH--I did it because of this wonderful little thing called COMMISSION.
Every time I sold a vacuum cleaner I got paid $120. Not bad for a college student in 1982. Most weeks I sold 2, some weeks 3. Part-time, maybe 20 hours a week.
I knew I had the skills, and I was motivated by the money. No one had to tell me to work. No one had to tell me to not spend my day sitting in a coffee shop. The only way I made money was to sell, so that's what I did.
What would it mean to your online business if you had super motivated people selling your products or services? People who ALREADY KNEW how to sell? People who ALREADY had built a loyal following of visitors and subscribers?
Let me tell you: Just one of those people will sell more products for you than 100 "regular" people. And they will do it with half the time commitment on your part.
In the online business we call them SUPER AFFILIATES.
Recruit enough of these SUPER AFFILIATES and you can retire.
But what if you don't have your own product or service to sell?
This can be even easier...but I will save that for my next article.
In the mean time I have put together a page with four tools anyone can use to find these PRICELESS individuals. One of them is so OBVIOUS you will be amazed you didn't think of it yourself...one of the others is so POWERFUL I was able to identify 127 super affiliates for my own site in just 10 minutes.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
That wasn't completely accurate. To be more accurate I should have said, "MOST employees are a pain."
In addition to the "regular" problems of payroll, sick time, legal issues, etc., there is the bigger issue that EMPLOYEES ARE LOOKING OUT FOR THEMSELVES, NOT FOR YOU.
Which means they need constant supervision and encouragement to make you the largest amount of money possible. It's just the way it is.
But there is a better way...
I went to college selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Yup, door-to-door. I didn't do it because I always enjoyed it-- sometimes it was raining or cold or BOTH--I did it because of this wonderful little thing called COMMISSION.
Every time I sold a vacuum cleaner I got paid $120. Not bad for a college student in 1982. Most weeks I sold 2, some weeks 3. Part-time, maybe 20 hours a week.
I knew I had the skills, and I was motivated by the money. No one had to tell me to work. No one had to tell me to not spend my day sitting in a coffee shop. The only way I made money was to sell, so that's what I did.
What would it mean to your online business if you had super motivated people selling your products or services? People who ALREADY KNEW how to sell? People who ALREADY had built a loyal following of visitors and subscribers?
Let me tell you: Just one of those people will sell more products for you than 100 "regular" people. And they will do it with half the time commitment on your part.
In the online business we call them SUPER AFFILIATES.
Recruit enough of these SUPER AFFILIATES and you can retire.
But what if you don't have your own product or service to sell?
This can be even easier...but I will save that for my next article.
In the mean time I have put together a page with four tools anyone can use to find these PRICELESS individuals. One of them is so OBVIOUS you will be amazed you didn't think of it yourself...one of the others is so POWERFUL I was able to identify 127 super affiliates for my own site in just 10 minutes.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Residual Income - The Myth
"Join our program and retire in 3 months..." yeah, right.
We all want to get to a place where we have ongoing, hands-off income that continues without us having to work for it. These ads play into that desire by offering us the promise of "easy continuing income."
The reality is often far from the sales pitch.
The first step in developing an ongoing, residual income is to dispel some of the myths surrounding the sales hype.
Here are some of the most common myths about creating a residual, ongoing online income:
Myth One: Put up a Website and Sit Back and Collect the Checks.
Those of us who have run Internet businesses for a while can tell you: Making a good living on the Internet requires marketing, customer service and order fulfillment. Either you have to do it yourself or you need to hire someone to do it.
Either way, having a website and selling your own products is often far from the "laying around on the beach while collecting your checks" image.
Myth Two: MLM/Networking Income is Residual Income.
Almost always a part of the sales pitch in networking is "creating residual income." While that is *possible* with MLM, it is very difficult to maintain. Here's why...
MLM income is built on three basic factors: new purchases by retail customers, the recruiting of new *wholesale* customers and the ongoing purchases by both groups.
In order to have an ongoing "residual" income, you need to recruit, train and motivate a sufficient number of *leaders* who will then continue the process in growing numbers.
This is rarely the case.
Instead, top leaders have found it is easier to build a large list of MLM "junkies" who they then take into one program after another. If you stopped joining new programs, your income would also dwindle within a few months.
Myth Three: Just Build Your Business and Hire People to Run It for You.
This does work, but it is often more of a nightmare than a dream.
At various times I have had anywhere from 0 to 15 employees. I have had many friends and clients with much numbers up to 1,000 employees. We all have the same opinion: Unless you have enough employees and profits to hire top quality managers, employees are a constant headache.
If you DO build a big enough, profitable enough, business and if you have the right personality, then building your business and hiring people to run it is a great idea.
Myth Four: Developing A Residual Income is Easy.
I don't want you to fall for this one, either. Developing a residual income will take some perseverance. The steps to getting it done are not difficult, but it requires one thing many people will not put in--consistency. If a person does the right things, day after day, they will create an ongoing, growing income. If they try today, then one day next week, then one day a month later, they are unlikely to ever get there.
Developing a residual, on-going, hands-free income is worth the effort. Avoid trusting in these four fantasies, get ready to work and you can have a supplemental income in no time at all. Keep it up long enough and you can eventually retire.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
We all want to get to a place where we have ongoing, hands-off income that continues without us having to work for it. These ads play into that desire by offering us the promise of "easy continuing income."
The reality is often far from the sales pitch.
The first step in developing an ongoing, residual income is to dispel some of the myths surrounding the sales hype.
Here are some of the most common myths about creating a residual, ongoing online income:
Myth One: Put up a Website and Sit Back and Collect the Checks.
Those of us who have run Internet businesses for a while can tell you: Making a good living on the Internet requires marketing, customer service and order fulfillment. Either you have to do it yourself or you need to hire someone to do it.
Either way, having a website and selling your own products is often far from the "laying around on the beach while collecting your checks" image.
Myth Two: MLM/Networking Income is Residual Income.
Almost always a part of the sales pitch in networking is "creating residual income." While that is *possible* with MLM, it is very difficult to maintain. Here's why...
MLM income is built on three basic factors: new purchases by retail customers, the recruiting of new *wholesale* customers and the ongoing purchases by both groups.
In order to have an ongoing "residual" income, you need to recruit, train and motivate a sufficient number of *leaders* who will then continue the process in growing numbers.
This is rarely the case.
Instead, top leaders have found it is easier to build a large list of MLM "junkies" who they then take into one program after another. If you stopped joining new programs, your income would also dwindle within a few months.
Myth Three: Just Build Your Business and Hire People to Run It for You.
This does work, but it is often more of a nightmare than a dream.
At various times I have had anywhere from 0 to 15 employees. I have had many friends and clients with much numbers up to 1,000 employees. We all have the same opinion: Unless you have enough employees and profits to hire top quality managers, employees are a constant headache.
If you DO build a big enough, profitable enough, business and if you have the right personality, then building your business and hiring people to run it is a great idea.
Myth Four: Developing A Residual Income is Easy.
I don't want you to fall for this one, either. Developing a residual income will take some perseverance. The steps to getting it done are not difficult, but it requires one thing many people will not put in--consistency. If a person does the right things, day after day, they will create an ongoing, growing income. If they try today, then one day next week, then one day a month later, they are unlikely to ever get there.
Developing a residual, on-going, hands-free income is worth the effort. Avoid trusting in these four fantasies, get ready to work and you can have a supplemental income in no time at all. Keep it up long enough and you can eventually retire.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Residual Income - 3 Ideas for Long Term Profits
A residual income is one that comes in no matter what--even when you are not working (or can't work.) It's something all of us will someday want and possibly need.
There are several paths to creating a residual income. I am going to quickly give you three ideas on how to get it done:
1. Invest small amounts of money over a long period of time.
Doesn't sound to exciting, huh? Well, just take a trip in a time machine with me...
Imagine your parents had begun putting away just $1 a day into a fund for you since the day you were born. If they had followed some simple rules, here is what you would have:
• At age 20 - $ 38,171.10
• At age 30 - $ 161,834.23
• At age 40 - $ 662,120.60
• At age 45 - $ 1,334,221.99
• At age 50 - $ 2,686,057.96
• At age 55 - $ 5,405,082.95
I think we'll stop there--you get the point.
What if you're 30 and haven't been doing this? Start today and you will have another $327K by the time you hit 65--put away $3 a day and you could have an "extra" million.
If you want to really see how exciting this concept can be, I have a report by Bob Allen on the specifics you can download as my gift by Bob Allen Report
2. Use other people's money to leverage wealth.
If you never use other people's money to help you build wealth, you will limit your wealth potential.
The amount of money you have to invest in a new venture is always limited--the amount of money other people have to invest in that same venture is virtually UNLIMITED.
Gary Halbert, the master copyrighter, uses this technique. Whenever he takes on a new client, he gets an up-front fee and 5% of the gross revenue from the promotion. So, he gets the benefit of the sales generated by a huge investment of capital on his client's part--and it continues to come in after he has already completed the work.
Keep in mind that 5% of $1,000,000 in sales generated by his work is much more than 100% of his $15,000 fee.
3. Create strategic alliances.
Have you ever noticed that the same people seem to be on the "inside track" when it comes to new products online--and that often you seem to be the last to know? Here's why:
There are a relatively small group of people who have large lists and have created strategic alliances with one another. When a new product is about to be launched, they get on the phone and put together a promotion that allows them to be first to the marketplace and get the lion's share of the profits.
But before you think, "Well, I can't get into THAT club," let me point something out: Joe Kumar, a kid from Singapore, did what almost no one does--he simply asked for admission.
And he got in, resulting in about $100K in sales his first full month of promoting.
Get on the phone, give a call to some "big names" on the Internet. You might just develop an alliance that will put you on the *inside* rather than out in the cold.
There are many ways to build a passive income. Three are detailed above--there are many others. Find one that fits you and pursue it. It's worth the effort.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
There are several paths to creating a residual income. I am going to quickly give you three ideas on how to get it done:
1. Invest small amounts of money over a long period of time.
Doesn't sound to exciting, huh? Well, just take a trip in a time machine with me...
Imagine your parents had begun putting away just $1 a day into a fund for you since the day you were born. If they had followed some simple rules, here is what you would have:
• At age 20 - $ 38,171.10
• At age 30 - $ 161,834.23
• At age 40 - $ 662,120.60
• At age 45 - $ 1,334,221.99
• At age 50 - $ 2,686,057.96
• At age 55 - $ 5,405,082.95
I think we'll stop there--you get the point.
What if you're 30 and haven't been doing this? Start today and you will have another $327K by the time you hit 65--put away $3 a day and you could have an "extra" million.
If you want to really see how exciting this concept can be, I have a report by Bob Allen on the specifics you can download as my gift by Bob Allen Report
2. Use other people's money to leverage wealth.
If you never use other people's money to help you build wealth, you will limit your wealth potential.
The amount of money you have to invest in a new venture is always limited--the amount of money other people have to invest in that same venture is virtually UNLIMITED.
Gary Halbert, the master copyrighter, uses this technique. Whenever he takes on a new client, he gets an up-front fee and 5% of the gross revenue from the promotion. So, he gets the benefit of the sales generated by a huge investment of capital on his client's part--and it continues to come in after he has already completed the work.
Keep in mind that 5% of $1,000,000 in sales generated by his work is much more than 100% of his $15,000 fee.
3. Create strategic alliances.
Have you ever noticed that the same people seem to be on the "inside track" when it comes to new products online--and that often you seem to be the last to know? Here's why:
There are a relatively small group of people who have large lists and have created strategic alliances with one another. When a new product is about to be launched, they get on the phone and put together a promotion that allows them to be first to the marketplace and get the lion's share of the profits.
But before you think, "Well, I can't get into THAT club," let me point something out: Joe Kumar, a kid from Singapore, did what almost no one does--he simply asked for admission.
And he got in, resulting in about $100K in sales his first full month of promoting.
Get on the phone, give a call to some "big names" on the Internet. You might just develop an alliance that will put you on the *inside* rather than out in the cold.
There are many ways to build a passive income. Three are detailed above--there are many others. Find one that fits you and pursue it. It's worth the effort.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Monday, February 9, 2009
Is Accumulating a $1,000,000 Net Worth Easy? Yes and NO
Is accumulating wealth as easy as following a 3-step plan? Yes it is and no it isn't. As with many things in life, accomplishing a goal such as accumulating one million dollars (or even $100,000) depends on your desire, your personal choices and your daily actions.
Let's start with one example on how you might miss this goal. One of the first components of successfully meeting any goal is to have the desire (or a compelling reason). You've probably thought about losing weight, running a marathon or accumulating a great deal of wealth.
However, the 'want', 'wish', 'dream' or 'thought' is often not enough to propel you to take continuing action steps to successfully attain your goals. Even if you take the first action step, your ability to sustain enough motivation to meet your goal may soon disappear after a few months or possibly after a few days. Until you create and internalize a 'compelling reason' (true desire) to meet a specific goal, it will be difficult to meet your goal. You have to make this desire a 'must-have' instead of just a 'want'; you need a compelling reason to meet your goal. You need to create a true desire.
The simple part of accumulating wealth is many people have already succeeded in meeting their wealth accumulation goals. I have personally accomplished my net worth goals on two separate occasions and in 3 years I expect to reach my next net worth goal. I started with a net worth of a negative $10,000, mostly consisting of personal credit card debt. Meeting my net worth goal wasn't easy; but I created a compelling reason, made some personal financial choices & took specific, daily actions to make these goals.
Many other people from all walks of life, with all types of educational backgrounds are also very successful in meeting their net worth goals. Since it has been done many times before, setting and making your own personal wealth accumulation goal can be very attainable.
Let's say you determined that accumulating a $100,000 net worth is one of your personal goals. If you've created a compelling reason (a true desire), then you're ready to proceed forward to accumulating $100,000 and probably, much more. If you've not made it a 'must' goal and you are still only dreaming about accumulating $100,000, then you're not ready to start. You're not ready to take the second action step. This first step is critical - you must have a "compelling reason" to make your goal.
Anthony Robbins has made a living by proving that success starts with a strong desire. Check out a product review of his latest - Get the Edge program at www.your-key-to-success.com.
Ok, let's say you have now created your own personal compelling reason to attain your goal. You're ready to get started with the second action step. What are the key elements in meeting your wealth-accumulating goal?
1. Your income must exceed your expenses
2. You will invest your excess funds
3. You will be patient and let the magic of compounding work
1. Your income must exceed your expenses: This is a simple mathematical statement. However for many people, this is the most difficult step to overcome on a consistent basis. It is all about your choices. If your income does not exceed your expenses, you have to make a choice. You will need to cut your expenses, increase your income or if you are really ambitious and have that 'compelling reason' to accumulate wealth, you'll choose to do both.
In my personal situation, I focused about 70% of my energy on cutting expenses & 30% on increasing my income. I decided to spend less on clothing, entertainment, dining out and I also cut coupons to help reduce grocery bills. I decided to live within my personal financial situation. I decided to spend less than I earned. Remember, you have a choice.
A. Do you have a compelling reason & discipline to accumulate wealth?
OR
B. Do you lack the discipline and have an immediate gratification need so strong that to satisfy your need, you need to purchase the newest fashion, go to all the home football games, dine out 4 nights a week, etc? It's all about choice.
2. The second step to accumulating wealth is to invest your excess funds. You need to invest your excess funds to meet your personal financial goals. Investments can range from real estate, stocks & bonds, CDs or possibly investing in a small business. Whichever route you choose, create a systematic approach to investing, change direction if necessary, but don't stop.
Investment diversification is important to help ensure that you can ride through the normal up-and-down cycles of the stock market or the real estate market. Personally, I started with investing in a 401K, then stocks and bonds and eventually real estate. While other young people decided to spend all their weekly paycheck, I made a choice to first, put a few dollars away each week into a 401K and other investment vehicles. I 'paid myself' first and then I spent money on the other entertainment activities. See some of the investing books at the end of this article.
3. The last step is the magic of compounding. You'll often hear the phrase, "The rich get richer." While this phrase can mean different things in different situations; in the context of compounding it has a major impact. Let me share a few examples on how you can accumulate $1,000,000, based on average investment return of 10% (stock market average).
Let's say you are 40 years old and you have $20,000 to invest. To accumulate $1,000,000 by the age of 65, you would need to contribute $567 per month.
If you're 30 and have $5,000 to invest, you'll need $218 per month to reach $1,000,000 by age 65.
Let's say you are only 20 years old and you have no money to invest. You can start with absolutely $0 and still only have to add $94 per month to reach that same $1,000,000 goal by age 65.
Wealthy individuals understand the benefits of compounding. Here are examples that show how the rich get richer.
A. If you have accumulated $10,000 and your investments yield a fantastic 20%, you will have earned $2,000 for that year.
B. If you have accumulated $100,000 and your investments don't do as well and you only earn 10%, you still outpace the person with only $10,000 and you'll earn $10,000 for the year.
C. OK, let's say you met your goal of accumulating $1,000,000 and your investments do even worse at 3% for the year. You will still make over $30,000 for the year. If your investments performed well (10%) you will have made an unbelievable $100,000 for that year.
There it is. The 3-step plan for meeting your own personal wealth accumulation plan. Whether it's $100,000 or $1,000,000; you have the potential to attain your personal wealth accumulation goal as long as you have a compelling reason (a true desire), you make the right personal choices and you take daily actions towards this goal.
Is it easy? - Not necessarily
Is it possible? - Absolutely yes!
Take Action Today!!
First, set aside 30 minutes or 3 days and create a compelling reason to set your own personal net worth goal.
Then, set a specific net worth goal for 3 months, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. Not sure what your goal should be. It doesn't matter right now. Just set a goal and change it as needed - you'll probably change it upward.
Next, take $10 out of your wallet or purse - TODAY - and deposit it into your new "Wealth Accumulation" account. You've just now taken the first steps and are now on your way to meeting your goal. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish!
To start your wealth building education, there are many great books on the specific subject of accumulating wealth and you can search your local library as an inexpensive and resourceful first action step. In addition, check out some of these titles listed below. You can find these titles and many more online at Amazon.com, Books-a-Million or Barnes & Noble.
The Automatic Millionaire, The Finish Rich Workbook, Smart Couples Finish Rich, Smart Women Finish Rich - by David Bach
Multiple Streams of Income, Creating Wealth, One Minute Millionaire - by Robert Allen
Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dads Guide to Investing, Own Your Own Corporation, Rich Dads Retire Young Retire Rich, Real Estate Riches - by Robert Kiyosaki
The Laws of Money, 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, The Road to Wealth, The Courage to be Rich - by Suze Orman
The Truth about Money, Ordinary People Extraordinary Wealth - by Ric Edelman
Secrets of Six Figure Women - by Barbara Stanny
The Savage Truth on Money - by Terry Savage
The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need - by Andrew Tobias
The Millionaire Next Door, The Millionaire Mind - by Thomas Stanley
The Intelligent Investor - by Benjamin Graham
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Let's start with one example on how you might miss this goal. One of the first components of successfully meeting any goal is to have the desire (or a compelling reason). You've probably thought about losing weight, running a marathon or accumulating a great deal of wealth.
However, the 'want', 'wish', 'dream' or 'thought' is often not enough to propel you to take continuing action steps to successfully attain your goals. Even if you take the first action step, your ability to sustain enough motivation to meet your goal may soon disappear after a few months or possibly after a few days. Until you create and internalize a 'compelling reason' (true desire) to meet a specific goal, it will be difficult to meet your goal. You have to make this desire a 'must-have' instead of just a 'want'; you need a compelling reason to meet your goal. You need to create a true desire.
The simple part of accumulating wealth is many people have already succeeded in meeting their wealth accumulation goals. I have personally accomplished my net worth goals on two separate occasions and in 3 years I expect to reach my next net worth goal. I started with a net worth of a negative $10,000, mostly consisting of personal credit card debt. Meeting my net worth goal wasn't easy; but I created a compelling reason, made some personal financial choices & took specific, daily actions to make these goals.
Many other people from all walks of life, with all types of educational backgrounds are also very successful in meeting their net worth goals. Since it has been done many times before, setting and making your own personal wealth accumulation goal can be very attainable.
Let's say you determined that accumulating a $100,000 net worth is one of your personal goals. If you've created a compelling reason (a true desire), then you're ready to proceed forward to accumulating $100,000 and probably, much more. If you've not made it a 'must' goal and you are still only dreaming about accumulating $100,000, then you're not ready to start. You're not ready to take the second action step. This first step is critical - you must have a "compelling reason" to make your goal.
Anthony Robbins has made a living by proving that success starts with a strong desire. Check out a product review of his latest - Get the Edge program at www.your-key-to-success.com.
Ok, let's say you have now created your own personal compelling reason to attain your goal. You're ready to get started with the second action step. What are the key elements in meeting your wealth-accumulating goal?
1. Your income must exceed your expenses
2. You will invest your excess funds
3. You will be patient and let the magic of compounding work
1. Your income must exceed your expenses: This is a simple mathematical statement. However for many people, this is the most difficult step to overcome on a consistent basis. It is all about your choices. If your income does not exceed your expenses, you have to make a choice. You will need to cut your expenses, increase your income or if you are really ambitious and have that 'compelling reason' to accumulate wealth, you'll choose to do both.
In my personal situation, I focused about 70% of my energy on cutting expenses & 30% on increasing my income. I decided to spend less on clothing, entertainment, dining out and I also cut coupons to help reduce grocery bills. I decided to live within my personal financial situation. I decided to spend less than I earned. Remember, you have a choice.
A. Do you have a compelling reason & discipline to accumulate wealth?
OR
B. Do you lack the discipline and have an immediate gratification need so strong that to satisfy your need, you need to purchase the newest fashion, go to all the home football games, dine out 4 nights a week, etc? It's all about choice.
2. The second step to accumulating wealth is to invest your excess funds. You need to invest your excess funds to meet your personal financial goals. Investments can range from real estate, stocks & bonds, CDs or possibly investing in a small business. Whichever route you choose, create a systematic approach to investing, change direction if necessary, but don't stop.
Investment diversification is important to help ensure that you can ride through the normal up-and-down cycles of the stock market or the real estate market. Personally, I started with investing in a 401K, then stocks and bonds and eventually real estate. While other young people decided to spend all their weekly paycheck, I made a choice to first, put a few dollars away each week into a 401K and other investment vehicles. I 'paid myself' first and then I spent money on the other entertainment activities. See some of the investing books at the end of this article.
3. The last step is the magic of compounding. You'll often hear the phrase, "The rich get richer." While this phrase can mean different things in different situations; in the context of compounding it has a major impact. Let me share a few examples on how you can accumulate $1,000,000, based on average investment return of 10% (stock market average).
Let's say you are 40 years old and you have $20,000 to invest. To accumulate $1,000,000 by the age of 65, you would need to contribute $567 per month.
If you're 30 and have $5,000 to invest, you'll need $218 per month to reach $1,000,000 by age 65.
Let's say you are only 20 years old and you have no money to invest. You can start with absolutely $0 and still only have to add $94 per month to reach that same $1,000,000 goal by age 65.
Wealthy individuals understand the benefits of compounding. Here are examples that show how the rich get richer.
A. If you have accumulated $10,000 and your investments yield a fantastic 20%, you will have earned $2,000 for that year.
B. If you have accumulated $100,000 and your investments don't do as well and you only earn 10%, you still outpace the person with only $10,000 and you'll earn $10,000 for the year.
C. OK, let's say you met your goal of accumulating $1,000,000 and your investments do even worse at 3% for the year. You will still make over $30,000 for the year. If your investments performed well (10%) you will have made an unbelievable $100,000 for that year.
There it is. The 3-step plan for meeting your own personal wealth accumulation plan. Whether it's $100,000 or $1,000,000; you have the potential to attain your personal wealth accumulation goal as long as you have a compelling reason (a true desire), you make the right personal choices and you take daily actions towards this goal.
Is it easy? - Not necessarily
Is it possible? - Absolutely yes!
Take Action Today!!
First, set aside 30 minutes or 3 days and create a compelling reason to set your own personal net worth goal.
Then, set a specific net worth goal for 3 months, 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. Not sure what your goal should be. It doesn't matter right now. Just set a goal and change it as needed - you'll probably change it upward.
Next, take $10 out of your wallet or purse - TODAY - and deposit it into your new "Wealth Accumulation" account. You've just now taken the first steps and are now on your way to meeting your goal. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish!
To start your wealth building education, there are many great books on the specific subject of accumulating wealth and you can search your local library as an inexpensive and resourceful first action step. In addition, check out some of these titles listed below. You can find these titles and many more online at Amazon.com, Books-a-Million or Barnes & Noble.
The Automatic Millionaire, The Finish Rich Workbook, Smart Couples Finish Rich, Smart Women Finish Rich - by David Bach
Multiple Streams of Income, Creating Wealth, One Minute Millionaire - by Robert Allen
Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dads Guide to Investing, Own Your Own Corporation, Rich Dads Retire Young Retire Rich, Real Estate Riches - by Robert Kiyosaki
The Laws of Money, 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, The Road to Wealth, The Courage to be Rich - by Suze Orman
The Truth about Money, Ordinary People Extraordinary Wealth - by Ric Edelman
Secrets of Six Figure Women - by Barbara Stanny
The Savage Truth on Money - by Terry Savage
The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need - by Andrew Tobias
The Millionaire Next Door, The Millionaire Mind - by Thomas Stanley
The Intelligent Investor - by Benjamin Graham
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Friday, February 6, 2009
How To Get Investors And Bankers To Part With Their Money For Your Business
Time and time again entrepreneurs are losing out on getting the capital they need because of making basic mistakes in their pitch. It's great to have a magic product and tons of enthusiasm, but it's not enough. Follow these five rules and see your success rate climb.
1. Look like someone who can make money.
At the start of the presentation walk in vigorously and shake hands. Look them in the eye. Look at all people on a panel. Dress formally - dark suit, white shirt/blouse, black clean good-quality shoes and smart accessories. For men a yellow/red tie with no patterns and women – good quality jewellery – not overdone. Forget the crap about being yourself. You may be a creative or software or artistic genius and work in your shorts and t-shirt. If you dress like this in the presentation you’ll loose.
2. Show tons of energy and excitement.
It’s not naive or stupid to show excitement – you must. First of all investors are buying you and your belief that the venture will work. They’re looking for passion – that burning desire that will carry you through when times get tough. Do not memorise a set speech. Talk from the heart – explain why you love what you’re doing. Talk quickly and loudly (but not too quickly and loudly). Gesticulate and smile. Move about a bit. Take the time to set up your display, visual aids – don’t rush. If you’re afraid of presenting get help.
3. Tell and show exactly what your product/service is.
Explain clearly what your product/service is or does in one sentence. More importantly, explain exactly in one sentence why people will buy it. What benefits does it give purchasers? Use samples – give them something to see/touch. Do not use jargon, acronyms or technical terms. Keep slides and posters simple and limit to three. Give some numbers regarding market size and expected sales.
4. Listen, listen and listen and be polite
During question time show you are listening. Acknowledge good points/comments and show you can take criticism. You’re asking people for money so be polite. Do not interrupt. Don’t show them you think they’re stupid. Avoid responses like “You are entitled to your view”. Investors are looking to see if you can take advice.
5. Give confidence by explaining away problems.
Every new venture will have problems. Prepare by thinking of all the things that could go wrong or could hinder progress. Have answers/solutions. Pick the top three problems and raise these in your talk. Investors want to know you have your head screwed on and feet on the ground.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
1. Look like someone who can make money.
At the start of the presentation walk in vigorously and shake hands. Look them in the eye. Look at all people on a panel. Dress formally - dark suit, white shirt/blouse, black clean good-quality shoes and smart accessories. For men a yellow/red tie with no patterns and women – good quality jewellery – not overdone. Forget the crap about being yourself. You may be a creative or software or artistic genius and work in your shorts and t-shirt. If you dress like this in the presentation you’ll loose.
2. Show tons of energy and excitement.
It’s not naive or stupid to show excitement – you must. First of all investors are buying you and your belief that the venture will work. They’re looking for passion – that burning desire that will carry you through when times get tough. Do not memorise a set speech. Talk from the heart – explain why you love what you’re doing. Talk quickly and loudly (but not too quickly and loudly). Gesticulate and smile. Move about a bit. Take the time to set up your display, visual aids – don’t rush. If you’re afraid of presenting get help.
3. Tell and show exactly what your product/service is.
Explain clearly what your product/service is or does in one sentence. More importantly, explain exactly in one sentence why people will buy it. What benefits does it give purchasers? Use samples – give them something to see/touch. Do not use jargon, acronyms or technical terms. Keep slides and posters simple and limit to three. Give some numbers regarding market size and expected sales.
4. Listen, listen and listen and be polite
During question time show you are listening. Acknowledge good points/comments and show you can take criticism. You’re asking people for money so be polite. Do not interrupt. Don’t show them you think they’re stupid. Avoid responses like “You are entitled to your view”. Investors are looking to see if you can take advice.
5. Give confidence by explaining away problems.
Every new venture will have problems. Prepare by thinking of all the things that could go wrong or could hinder progress. Have answers/solutions. Pick the top three problems and raise these in your talk. Investors want to know you have your head screwed on and feet on the ground.
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Lesson 2 - The Commodity Of Kings!
What is "The Commodity of Kings"
"Power is simply "the ability to act." Since ancient times, power has been the commodity of kings. Power originally came to those who were strongest physically. Later, it came to those who had a special heritage through royalty. More recently, it came to those who had the greatest wealth or capital. Today, those who possess specialized and valuable knowledge have the greatest capacity for power." Anthony Robbins - from his book Unlimited Power
Specialized and valuable knowledge.
In lesson 1, we learned that there are only two things that can prevent you from becoming wealthy. You don't know how, or you are unwilling to apply what you know. Today we will dive into reason number one.
Simply put, chances are, you were never taught how to become wealthy. Think for just a moment, what is it that separates you from the Donald Trumps of the world or for that matter any mega-wealthy person?
Is it time? No! we all have the same 24 hours in each day. As you will learn, how you spend your 24 hours will make all the difference however.
Is it a privileged background? Not at all. Remember rags to riches require rags to begin with.
Ah Ha! It must be education! Absolutely not! At least not in the traditional sense. When we think of education most of us think about going to school, graduating, possibly attending college or graduate school so we can graduate and get a good "JOB". Traditional education teaches us to become a productive part of the workforce, but in no way teaches us the basics of wealth! You may remember going to algebra class, or studying a foreign language, or history, or economics.
How many times have you gone to Wealth Building 101, or advanced personal financial success? Never we suspect, and if you happen to have attended classes you feel were teaching wealth building, doesn't it make sense that your instructors should have been wealthy? Were they?
Did you know that Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express, received a "D" on his term paper. The one that outlines the worlds first overnight package delivery service! AKA Fed_Ex
Avis of AVIS car rental, McDonald of McDonald's hamburgers, Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Lear of Lear Jets, Henry Ford, and Abraham Lincoln all have one thing in common - They never graduated HIGH SCHOOL!
So much for traditional education!
The fact is, the specialized and valuable knowledge of wealth building is self taught. The good news is it's simple to understand and enjoyable to learn, and if you apply that knowledge, you will begin to create wealth.
Welcome to your first day of class, wealth building 101.
How did the majority of people who are wealthy get that way?
If you knew you had a 74% chance of wining would you buy a lottery ticket? Millions of people line up each week to purchase lottery tickets for their chance to become wealthy. However, according to the U.S. department of Health and Welfare, less than 1% of all wealth in America was created by lottery winners.
What if you could Beat The Odds!
74% of all wealth in America was made just one way; by starting and owning your own business. If you own your own business, the chances of you becoming wealthy are 284% grater than any other way wealth is created. This includes all other methods of becoming wealthy, from Pro sports figures, to astute investors, to lottery winners! It makes absolute sense that if you goal is to become wealthy, you must have your own business!
So we have now learned that the greatest opportunity to become wealthy is through owning your own business.
The second set of specialized and valuable knowledge is an entirely new way to look at your personal finances.
Robert Kiyosaki in his blockbuster #1 best-selling book developed a completely new and simplified way to understand your personal spending and earning patterns, and how they lead you closer to or farther away from becoming wealthy. To explain these cash flow concepts in more detail.
The following information is gathered from his book Rich Dad Poor Dad - What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not! and Robert's website: http://www.richdad.com
Financial Statements
Rich Dad said, "The riskiest investor of all is a person who is out of control of his or her personal financial statement. These are people who have nothing but liabilities that they think are assets and as much in expenses as they have in income and whose only source of income is their labor."
Understanding your Financial Statement is the foundation for taking control of your personal finances. Rich Dad believes the relationship between the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet was everything. What is the first step to financial freedom? Take control of your Financial Statement.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Poor (or a young person still living at home): The poor spend every penny they make and they have no assets or liabilities, only expenses. The cash flow is limited to income and expenses and the cash flow pattern of the poor reflects income from a job that is used to pay expenses like rent, food, clothes, transportation and taxes.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Middle Class: Individuals in the middle class accumulated more debt as they become more successful. A pay raise qualifies them to borrow more money from the bank so they can buy personal items like bigger cars, vacation homes, boats and motor homes.
Their wage income comes in and is spent on current expenses and then on paying off this personal debt. As their income increases, so does their personal debt. This is what we call the Rat Race.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Rich: The rich have their assets work for them. They have gained control over their expenses and focus on acquiring or building assets. Their businesses pay most of their expenses and they have few, if any, personal liabilities.
An individual's cash flow pattern may show a combination of these three types. Which pattern does your financial statement reflect? What story does your financial statement tell? Are you in control of your expenses?
As you can see, the poor, middle class and rich, have dramatically different cash flow patterns. The poor and middle class work for income and either spend their money on necessities or servicing and ever increasing debt load; while the rich have their money or assets work for them, and re-invest their income into additional income producing vehicles.
Part of becoming financially fit it to get the ball rolling. You may be asking yourself, "How can I invest the income I make into income producing assets when I spend most or all of my income already on necessities and debts?"
In tomorrow's lesson we will show you how to immediately put additional cash in your pocket, this month, without changing your job, asking for a raise, or taking profit from any business you choose to start! In fact tomorrow we will show you how it's possible to fund your first income producing asset with cash left over to help with the monthly budget!
That's all for today's Lesson.
Here are the key points to remember from today's lesson:
Where building wealth is concerned, a formal education is not necessary, and does little to prepare you to become wealthy. 74% of all wealth in America was made just one way; by starting and owning your own business.
Your greatest opportunity to become wealthy is through owning your own business.
The poor, Middle Class, and the Rich, have dramatically different cash flow patterns and spending habits
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
"Power is simply "the ability to act." Since ancient times, power has been the commodity of kings. Power originally came to those who were strongest physically. Later, it came to those who had a special heritage through royalty. More recently, it came to those who had the greatest wealth or capital. Today, those who possess specialized and valuable knowledge have the greatest capacity for power." Anthony Robbins - from his book Unlimited Power
Specialized and valuable knowledge.
In lesson 1, we learned that there are only two things that can prevent you from becoming wealthy. You don't know how, or you are unwilling to apply what you know. Today we will dive into reason number one.
Simply put, chances are, you were never taught how to become wealthy. Think for just a moment, what is it that separates you from the Donald Trumps of the world or for that matter any mega-wealthy person?
Is it time? No! we all have the same 24 hours in each day. As you will learn, how you spend your 24 hours will make all the difference however.
Is it a privileged background? Not at all. Remember rags to riches require rags to begin with.
Ah Ha! It must be education! Absolutely not! At least not in the traditional sense. When we think of education most of us think about going to school, graduating, possibly attending college or graduate school so we can graduate and get a good "JOB". Traditional education teaches us to become a productive part of the workforce, but in no way teaches us the basics of wealth! You may remember going to algebra class, or studying a foreign language, or history, or economics.
How many times have you gone to Wealth Building 101, or advanced personal financial success? Never we suspect, and if you happen to have attended classes you feel were teaching wealth building, doesn't it make sense that your instructors should have been wealthy? Were they?
Did you know that Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express, received a "D" on his term paper. The one that outlines the worlds first overnight package delivery service! AKA Fed_Ex
Avis of AVIS car rental, McDonald of McDonald's hamburgers, Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Lear of Lear Jets, Henry Ford, and Abraham Lincoln all have one thing in common - They never graduated HIGH SCHOOL!
So much for traditional education!
The fact is, the specialized and valuable knowledge of wealth building is self taught. The good news is it's simple to understand and enjoyable to learn, and if you apply that knowledge, you will begin to create wealth.
Welcome to your first day of class, wealth building 101.
How did the majority of people who are wealthy get that way?
If you knew you had a 74% chance of wining would you buy a lottery ticket? Millions of people line up each week to purchase lottery tickets for their chance to become wealthy. However, according to the U.S. department of Health and Welfare, less than 1% of all wealth in America was created by lottery winners.
What if you could Beat The Odds!
74% of all wealth in America was made just one way; by starting and owning your own business. If you own your own business, the chances of you becoming wealthy are 284% grater than any other way wealth is created. This includes all other methods of becoming wealthy, from Pro sports figures, to astute investors, to lottery winners! It makes absolute sense that if you goal is to become wealthy, you must have your own business!
So we have now learned that the greatest opportunity to become wealthy is through owning your own business.
The second set of specialized and valuable knowledge is an entirely new way to look at your personal finances.
Robert Kiyosaki in his blockbuster #1 best-selling book developed a completely new and simplified way to understand your personal spending and earning patterns, and how they lead you closer to or farther away from becoming wealthy. To explain these cash flow concepts in more detail.
The following information is gathered from his book Rich Dad Poor Dad - What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not! and Robert's website: http://www.richdad.com
Financial Statements
Rich Dad said, "The riskiest investor of all is a person who is out of control of his or her personal financial statement. These are people who have nothing but liabilities that they think are assets and as much in expenses as they have in income and whose only source of income is their labor."
Understanding your Financial Statement is the foundation for taking control of your personal finances. Rich Dad believes the relationship between the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet was everything. What is the first step to financial freedom? Take control of your Financial Statement.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Poor (or a young person still living at home): The poor spend every penny they make and they have no assets or liabilities, only expenses. The cash flow is limited to income and expenses and the cash flow pattern of the poor reflects income from a job that is used to pay expenses like rent, food, clothes, transportation and taxes.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Middle Class: Individuals in the middle class accumulated more debt as they become more successful. A pay raise qualifies them to borrow more money from the bank so they can buy personal items like bigger cars, vacation homes, boats and motor homes.
Their wage income comes in and is spent on current expenses and then on paying off this personal debt. As their income increases, so does their personal debt. This is what we call the Rat Race.
Cash Flow Pattern of the Rich: The rich have their assets work for them. They have gained control over their expenses and focus on acquiring or building assets. Their businesses pay most of their expenses and they have few, if any, personal liabilities.
An individual's cash flow pattern may show a combination of these three types. Which pattern does your financial statement reflect? What story does your financial statement tell? Are you in control of your expenses?
As you can see, the poor, middle class and rich, have dramatically different cash flow patterns. The poor and middle class work for income and either spend their money on necessities or servicing and ever increasing debt load; while the rich have their money or assets work for them, and re-invest their income into additional income producing vehicles.
Part of becoming financially fit it to get the ball rolling. You may be asking yourself, "How can I invest the income I make into income producing assets when I spend most or all of my income already on necessities and debts?"
In tomorrow's lesson we will show you how to immediately put additional cash in your pocket, this month, without changing your job, asking for a raise, or taking profit from any business you choose to start! In fact tomorrow we will show you how it's possible to fund your first income producing asset with cash left over to help with the monthly budget!
That's all for today's Lesson.
Here are the key points to remember from today's lesson:
Where building wealth is concerned, a formal education is not necessary, and does little to prepare you to become wealthy. 74% of all wealth in America was made just one way; by starting and owning your own business.
Your greatest opportunity to become wealthy is through owning your own business.
The poor, Middle Class, and the Rich, have dramatically different cash flow patterns and spending habits
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lesson 1 - Why Aren't You Wealthy?
We will start the Financial Fitness System with the assumption that you are out of shape financially or you would not have decided to subscribe to the course. So, again, why aren't you wealthy? There are some exceptions, but for the majority of the world it's the same reason. You did not choose to be wealthy, that's it, end of story. We told you this would be simple!
Now for those of you reaching for the mouse to delete this lesson, stop a minute and think about it, why aren't you a doctor assuming that you are not a doctor, or for that matter why aren't you a sanitation worker, broker, baker, or candlestick maker assuming those aren't your professions? It's because you chose to be something else. Sometimes this choice happens on a whim or by default when we fail to choose. Even if your chose not to decide what you will become, you still have made a choice!
The simple truth is there are no secrets to becoming wealthy. There are however a set of specific steps to becoming wealthy that are sometimes so obvious they get overlooked. If you decided to read 10 biographies of 10 of the wealthiest people you have ever heard of, and outlined the steps they took to become wealthy, you would soon discover the common denominators of their success. Wealth is available to everyone, regardless of education, background, age, race, or any other excuse you may have heard in the past. Wealth plays no favorites, it only responds to a specific set of actions.
What if it were that simple? Good news, it is!
So why aren't you and the majority of the population wealthy? Remember wealth is available to everyone, and creating wealth is simple, however, creating wealth is not easy, or everyone would be getting wealthy.
Creating an absolute abundance of income in your life is not some specially guarded secret formula that only a select few are clued in on. In fact the bookshelves are lined with true stories written by wealthy people who cant wait to tell you how they did it! In this course, we have drawn from the top minds and mentors among the wealthiest people in the world, to bring you a concise summary of the basics of becoming wealthy.
There are only 2 things that can prevent you from becoming wealthy:
1 - You don't know how - (Yet!)
2 - You are unwilling to apply what you know.
In the next 9 days we will take care of the "I don't know how" but only you can take care of reason #2.
Success leaves clues. Over the next few days, the Financial Fitness System will simply point out the common denominators of creating wealth, then show you how you can immediately apply that knowledge. Before we are through, you will have the ability to act on this new knowledge and be well on your way to creating financial abundance in your life.
Here are the key points to remember from today's lesson:
Wealth is a choice, not a chance.
There are no secrets to wealth.
Wealth follows rules.
The rules are simple, but not easy.
You can learn the rules.
You can follow the rules, or choose not to.
Realize that it's your choice.
Your Next Step!
What You Need to Do NOW
A dream without action is a fantasy... a dream with action becomes a goal!
Today's lesson has been brief, you now know you have the power to choose to become financially fit. Before we dive in to wealth strategies in the next lesson, it's important to determine if you want to create wealth and why.
Again we will assume you have the desire to better yourself financially or you wouldn't be here. We will provide the knowledge but only you can provide the action. So with that in mind, in each day's lesson you will have very short Action Steps to complete, and a daily audio lesson to listen to as homework assignments. Today you will complete your first Action Step. Don't panic it's simple, but like building wealth, some of the answers may not be easy. You see how this works?
Today we begin at the beginning, your present Financial Condition. Just like stepping on the scale or staring into the mirror, it may be slightly unpleasant, or not what we would like, but it is, what it is!
The sooner you have an accurate picture of where you are financially the sooner you will be on your way to becoming financially fit.
Take out a sheet of paper and spend some time answering the questions in the Action Steps Area below. Put some real thought into your answers. This exercise will help begin to create the determination you will need to finish the course. If you are one of few who are financially fit, you should find your answers satisfying. However, if you are like the other 97% of the population, you may find your answers somewhat disturbing. That's okay... a little discomfort often fuels bigger change.
Tomorrow we learn the "Commodity of Kings" the fundamentals of wealth. Just like every good coach we are starting with the fundamentals, that's where we will begin your wealth training. For today just complete the action steps and rest easy. Nine days from now, your entire financial outlook will be much healthier!
Action Step 1:
After you finish Lesson #1 sharpen your pencil and write down the answers to the following Financial Fitness questions. Start a FFS journal for your daily action steps and notes. Designate a separate notebook for all your FFS content. You may want to print each lesson and include them in your FFS journal for future reference. On day 10 you can look back and see just how much you have accomplished in just 10 days.
"The most important questions are
those we are afraid to ask ourselves."
Q: What is the total amount of assets that you have accumulated so far in your life?
Include cash, savings, checking, money market accounts, the current value of any stock or mutual funds you may own and the dollar amount of the equity in your home.
Q: What is the total amount of liabilities that you have accumulated so far in your life?
Include your mortgage balance, your credit card balances, student loans, personal loans from family or friends, automobile loans, overdraft protection, loans against insurance policies or any other money that you have borrowed but have not yet paid back.
Q: Subtract your total liabilities from your total assets, and write down your "Net Worth." (this number can be, and sadly all too often is, a negative number)
Q: Assume you lost your job or primary source of income today, and you were unable to find work of any kind, and had no friends or relatives to depend on for help or support of any kind. How long would it be before you become homeless?
Q: Assume that you earn income, save money, spend money, and borrow at the same rate you do today. At that rate how soon can you retire and maintain the same lifestyle you have today?
Q: Are you where you thought you would be at this point in your life financially?
Q: Why or why not?
Q: Where would you like to be financially?
Q: What are your currently doing to get there?
Q: Without change, how do you expect to achieve your financial goals? (the lottery or inheritance, are not valid answers)
Q: If money were no object, where would you live, and why?
Q: If money were no object, how would you spend your time each day?
Q: If things stay just the way they are today, financially, is that good enough?
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Now for those of you reaching for the mouse to delete this lesson, stop a minute and think about it, why aren't you a doctor assuming that you are not a doctor, or for that matter why aren't you a sanitation worker, broker, baker, or candlestick maker assuming those aren't your professions? It's because you chose to be something else. Sometimes this choice happens on a whim or by default when we fail to choose. Even if your chose not to decide what you will become, you still have made a choice!
The simple truth is there are no secrets to becoming wealthy. There are however a set of specific steps to becoming wealthy that are sometimes so obvious they get overlooked. If you decided to read 10 biographies of 10 of the wealthiest people you have ever heard of, and outlined the steps they took to become wealthy, you would soon discover the common denominators of their success. Wealth is available to everyone, regardless of education, background, age, race, or any other excuse you may have heard in the past. Wealth plays no favorites, it only responds to a specific set of actions.
What if it were that simple? Good news, it is!
So why aren't you and the majority of the population wealthy? Remember wealth is available to everyone, and creating wealth is simple, however, creating wealth is not easy, or everyone would be getting wealthy.
Creating an absolute abundance of income in your life is not some specially guarded secret formula that only a select few are clued in on. In fact the bookshelves are lined with true stories written by wealthy people who cant wait to tell you how they did it! In this course, we have drawn from the top minds and mentors among the wealthiest people in the world, to bring you a concise summary of the basics of becoming wealthy.
There are only 2 things that can prevent you from becoming wealthy:
1 - You don't know how - (Yet!)
2 - You are unwilling to apply what you know.
In the next 9 days we will take care of the "I don't know how" but only you can take care of reason #2.
Success leaves clues. Over the next few days, the Financial Fitness System will simply point out the common denominators of creating wealth, then show you how you can immediately apply that knowledge. Before we are through, you will have the ability to act on this new knowledge and be well on your way to creating financial abundance in your life.
Here are the key points to remember from today's lesson:
Wealth is a choice, not a chance.
There are no secrets to wealth.
Wealth follows rules.
The rules are simple, but not easy.
You can learn the rules.
You can follow the rules, or choose not to.
Realize that it's your choice.
Your Next Step!
What You Need to Do NOW
A dream without action is a fantasy... a dream with action becomes a goal!
Today's lesson has been brief, you now know you have the power to choose to become financially fit. Before we dive in to wealth strategies in the next lesson, it's important to determine if you want to create wealth and why.
Again we will assume you have the desire to better yourself financially or you wouldn't be here. We will provide the knowledge but only you can provide the action. So with that in mind, in each day's lesson you will have very short Action Steps to complete, and a daily audio lesson to listen to as homework assignments. Today you will complete your first Action Step. Don't panic it's simple, but like building wealth, some of the answers may not be easy. You see how this works?
Today we begin at the beginning, your present Financial Condition. Just like stepping on the scale or staring into the mirror, it may be slightly unpleasant, or not what we would like, but it is, what it is!
The sooner you have an accurate picture of where you are financially the sooner you will be on your way to becoming financially fit.
Take out a sheet of paper and spend some time answering the questions in the Action Steps Area below. Put some real thought into your answers. This exercise will help begin to create the determination you will need to finish the course. If you are one of few who are financially fit, you should find your answers satisfying. However, if you are like the other 97% of the population, you may find your answers somewhat disturbing. That's okay... a little discomfort often fuels bigger change.
Tomorrow we learn the "Commodity of Kings" the fundamentals of wealth. Just like every good coach we are starting with the fundamentals, that's where we will begin your wealth training. For today just complete the action steps and rest easy. Nine days from now, your entire financial outlook will be much healthier!
Action Step 1:
After you finish Lesson #1 sharpen your pencil and write down the answers to the following Financial Fitness questions. Start a FFS journal for your daily action steps and notes. Designate a separate notebook for all your FFS content. You may want to print each lesson and include them in your FFS journal for future reference. On day 10 you can look back and see just how much you have accomplished in just 10 days.
"The most important questions are
those we are afraid to ask ourselves."
Q: What is the total amount of assets that you have accumulated so far in your life?
Include cash, savings, checking, money market accounts, the current value of any stock or mutual funds you may own and the dollar amount of the equity in your home.
Q: What is the total amount of liabilities that you have accumulated so far in your life?
Include your mortgage balance, your credit card balances, student loans, personal loans from family or friends, automobile loans, overdraft protection, loans against insurance policies or any other money that you have borrowed but have not yet paid back.
Q: Subtract your total liabilities from your total assets, and write down your "Net Worth." (this number can be, and sadly all too often is, a negative number)
Q: Assume you lost your job or primary source of income today, and you were unable to find work of any kind, and had no friends or relatives to depend on for help or support of any kind. How long would it be before you become homeless?
Q: Assume that you earn income, save money, spend money, and borrow at the same rate you do today. At that rate how soon can you retire and maintain the same lifestyle you have today?
Q: Are you where you thought you would be at this point in your life financially?
Q: Why or why not?
Q: Where would you like to be financially?
Q: What are your currently doing to get there?
Q: Without change, how do you expect to achieve your financial goals? (the lottery or inheritance, are not valid answers)
Q: If money were no object, where would you live, and why?
Q: If money were no object, how would you spend your time each day?
Q: If things stay just the way they are today, financially, is that good enough?
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Before There Was Wall Street, There Was Gold.. & when Wall Street is gone, there will still be Gold
Paper burns and large companies can go bankrupt, but if you want a piece of the solid rock, go for Gold. Financial experts agree that the rising value of gold, which has climbed since 2001 to a 16 year high of $456 (U.S.) an ounce, is going to be spurred on in 2005. Precarious world situations, from political turmoil to flailing currencies, are taking a toll on the trade markets. The cry for stability and future security is high on the priority list for North Americans and can also be heard pulsating around the globe. Gold, along with the precious metal industries, is emerging as a reliable anchor for many investors at home and abroad.
In his well documented publication '15 Reasons To Own Gold' analyst John Embry, from the Sprott Gold & Precious Metals Fund, states that on a global scale, "Gold as Money is Gaining Credence." Indeed, many countries including India, China, Russia and the Middle East are moving towards a secure hold on gold supply and a serious interest in the incorporation of gold into their monetary systems.
Economist Dr. Gary North overviews the many ways to buy gold, and advises people that when looking to invest, "Promises to pay are never as reliable as gold in hand." Whether conscious or subconscious the public mind seems to agree with this persuasion. The growing trend towards gold can be seen at the grass roots level with the consumer demand for fine jewelry. According to The World Gold Council, the demand for jewelry is rising faster than the production of gold.
The jewelry industry, though generally steady in its revenues, has been more of a 'buyers market' in past years, with highly competitive price war campaigns and marketing strategies. These tables may now be about to turn, as the increasing demands on the gold market are expected to affect retail prices within the year. Tom McDonald of
goldmisers.ca says, "Now is the time to buy!" Gold Misers is an online jewelry outlet which sells high quality fine jewelry at wholesale prices to the public. "Being at the root level of the jewelry industry it's easy to see the coming market trend. I would advise anybody to invest in a little golden nest egg."
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
In his well documented publication '15 Reasons To Own Gold' analyst John Embry, from the Sprott Gold & Precious Metals Fund, states that on a global scale, "Gold as Money is Gaining Credence." Indeed, many countries including India, China, Russia and the Middle East are moving towards a secure hold on gold supply and a serious interest in the incorporation of gold into their monetary systems.
Economist Dr. Gary North overviews the many ways to buy gold, and advises people that when looking to invest, "Promises to pay are never as reliable as gold in hand." Whether conscious or subconscious the public mind seems to agree with this persuasion. The growing trend towards gold can be seen at the grass roots level with the consumer demand for fine jewelry. According to The World Gold Council, the demand for jewelry is rising faster than the production of gold.
The jewelry industry, though generally steady in its revenues, has been more of a 'buyers market' in past years, with highly competitive price war campaigns and marketing strategies. These tables may now be about to turn, as the increasing demands on the gold market are expected to affect retail prices within the year. Tom McDonald of
goldmisers.ca says, "Now is the time to buy!" Gold Misers is an online jewelry outlet which sells high quality fine jewelry at wholesale prices to the public. "Being at the root level of the jewelry industry it's easy to see the coming market trend. I would advise anybody to invest in a little golden nest egg."
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
Monday, February 2, 2009
Natural Marketing For Lone Rangers
Dennis Zabawa is an Leading Authority in Business Funding. Dennis is available to come and be a speaker at your next event. He has a great topic, "Why are you not wealthy?" For further information, please visit the website, www.creditiswealth.com
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