The Seven Secrets of Extremely Prosperous People
Robert G. Allen
Let’s talk about the seven secrets of extremely prosperous
people. I call them secrets not because very few of us are aware
of them, but because very few of us practice them. The secrets
are, in reality, skills….essential money skills that all wealthy
people practice. I believe that if you learn these skills, wealth
can also flow into your life....multiple streams of increasing
prosperity. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? Money to buy whatever
you want.... houses, cars, travel, freedom. Surplus to share with
the people you care most about. Security. Peace of mind. That's
what these skills will bring you. There are at least 5 things I
hope to teach you in this special report:
_____How to gain control of your finances quickly and easily
_____How to cut your living expenses by 20% in 30 seconds.
_____How to invest your extra money at 20% plus.
_____How to earn an extra $40,000-$100,000 this year.
_____How to become a lifetime multimillionaire.
Well, let's get started. With the fundamental skills of money.
Remember the 80/20 principle. 20% of the things you do give you
80% of your results. Well, the same holds true for money. Only
about 20% of the things you hear are really critical for you to
understand. And that should be comforting.....because there is a
blizzard of financial information swirling around us every day.
How can you make sense of it? It's only been in the last five
years that the average person even understood what a mutual fund
is...and think about all of the other new words derivatives,
aggressive growth fund, foreign markets, drawdown. Almost every
day I hear words on the television that even I am not sure
of......and I've been studying these things for years. It's got
to be almost overwhelming to so many people....and intimidating.
It seems as if we'll never catch up, or to be able to just
understand what is being said, let alone do anything....and then,
to be successful at it.
Well, you can relax....because in this one special report you're
going to learn what you need to know about finances so you can
cut through that blizzard of financial information out there to
find exactly what you need to know and discard the rest. The
bottom line is that there are only 7 essential money skills that
will take you to financial security. Seven things that wealthy
people are good at.....that take them with certainty toward
financial success. You only need to do seven things well. I call
these Money Skills. And they are:
Money Skill #1. Value it
Money Skill #2. Manage it
Money Skill #3. Save it
Money Skill #4. Invest it
Money Skill #5. Make it
Money Skill #6. Shield it
Money Skill #7. Share it
Money Skill #1: Value It.
So lets get right into it.
Money Skill #1 is to learn how to
value each and every dollar that flows into your life. Because
you can achieve Financial Freedom on just a Dollar a Day! That's
right. A dollar a day. When you think about it, financial freedom
all starts with a single dollar.
Dig one our of your wallet or purse and examine it. This simple
piece of paper doesn’t appear to be worth much. Buys you a soda.
A chocolate bar. A bad hamburger. So what if you waste one, or
lose one or throw one away? It’s just a dollar. Losing value
every second. It's just a dollar. Use it or lose it.
Or is it? Is this ordinary dollar bill more than what it appears
to be? Could it be a magic ticket to a fuller more abundant life
of anywhere/time/thing you want? I promise, when you've finished
done with this tape, you'll never think of a dollar bill in the
same way ever again. Ever.
You see, prosperous people don't think a dollar "is just a
dollar." They imagine it is a seed....a money seed...that has the
power to grow into a huge money tree, giving off fruit to fulfill
every one of their dreams.
And they are absolutely right.
Every dollar is a money seed. Just like a tiny acorn contains the
power to grow into a mighty oak tree, each dollar has the power
to grow into a mighty money tree. If you destroy an acorn, the
oak tree inside also dies. So, too, with a money seed.
You can grow one of these money trees....on as little as a dollar
a day. Could you afford that?
In a few short years, your money tree will be full grown and
majestic, growing right in the center of your future dream home.
Imagine that! Branches of your money tree spreading along the
ceiling into every room of the house. Every few feet or so is a
nodule which pops open once or twice a day....and releases the
fruit of the tree.....a crisp one hundred dollar bill. That
hundred gently floats down and lands in the strategically placed
basket. All night long you hear the pop, pop, pop as these
nodules open and release their fruit. It takes only a few minutes
to collect the fruit in the morning. 24 hours a day, your money
tree is producing fruit. While you sleep. While you work. While
you play. While you eat. It never stops. An endless stream of
cash flow. Get the picture? That's why it is so important to
preserve and protect each of these money seeds. Every time you
waste one of those silly, green pieces of paper, it's just like
throwing away a money seed. No seed? No tree.
So, how much is one those seeds really worth? That depends on how
long you let it grow and at what rate of growth. Let's suppose
you take one dollar and put it into a special bank account that
will let the dollar grow, untouched by taxes and fees. How long
will it take for this ONE SINGLE DOLLAR BILL to grow into a
MILLION DOLLARS? That depends on what interest rate the bank
account pays. If it's like ordinary bank accounts....paying 3 to
6% interest....then it's going to take a long, long time.
At 3% it will take 468 years for a single dollar bill to grow
into a million dollars.
What? Not planning on living 468 years? Relax. We're not done
with that dollar bill yet. We've got to supercharge it, so those
nodules can start popping in your lifetime. How can we do this?
Rather than just planting one money seed, could you plant them
more often? Could you afford to put away a dollar a day? Just a
dollar a day. $30 bucks a month! You can do that.
Well, a dollar a day at 3% grows into a million dollars in only
147 years. That's still not fast enough, is it?
What if we raised the interest rate from 3% to 5%. That cuts the
time down to about 100 years. Still not fast enough. How about
ten percent interest? Only 56 years.
Hmmm. Not bad. A dollar a day becomes a million dollars in only
56 years. Let that sink in for a minute. A measly dollar day can
grow into A MILLION DOLLARS in a the span of a normal lifetime.
If you put just a dollar a day away for each of your children or
grandchildren on the day they were born, they could all be
lifetime millionaires.
But what about you? Is it too late for you? Could you still be a
millionaire on a dollar a day? It's going to take some fancy
work, but I think there's even hope for you. First of all, we'll
have to find ways to fertilize your dollars so that they grow
even faster. Suppose someone had put a dollar a day away for you
...stuck it under the mattress...the day you were born and every
day thereafter. By the time you were to reach retirement
age.....there would be $25,000 waiting for you. Now, what if they
stuck it in a bank at 3%. There would be about $75,000. At 5%
there would be just under $200,000. At ten percent interest,
there would be $2.7 million. At 15% there would be $50,000,000.
That's right. Fifty million dollars. And at 20% there would
be......One Billion Dollars!. That's one thousand million
dollars. All from one dollar a day.
I hope that sinks in deep. Most of us waste dozens of dollars a
day without even thinking. No big deal. It's just a dollar. But
extremely prosperous people know the real truth about dollar
bills. Each dollar bill is a million dollar money seed. After
all, it only takes a dollar- a-day.......JUST A DOLLAR.....to
grow into a fortune.
Now, it's no small feat to make your money grow at 20%, year
after year. I'll show you several ways to do this later. But for
now, I want you to just become aware that a single dollar bill
has incredible power.
You could be a millionaire in about 30 years on JUST A DOLLAR A DAY!
Still not fast enough for you? OK, there's a way to speed things
up. Could you plant two or three seeds a day? Or five? Or ten?
What does that do? We'll let's cut right to the chase. If you put
ten lousy bucks a day away every single day and put it in the
right mutual funds, or stocks or real estate and let the clock
tick at 20 %, you're a millionaire in just 20 years! (Pop, pop,
pop, pop) Excited yet?
What makes a few dollar a day grow into such huge amounts of
money? It's the power of compound interest. You've heard of this
before but I want you to really understand the concept because
it's going to power you on to your dreams. Einstein himself,
said, "The most powerful invention of man is compound interest."
Compound interest is a magic money magnifier. Compound interest
works for you while you sleep.
Remember, money that's compounding never sleeps. Every second of
every day. 24 hours a day. 365 days a year. You've got to figure
out a way to get money working for you instead of you working for
money. And all it takes is a few lousy bucks a day! You don't
have to be a financial genius. You don't have to own a big
company. You can do it from your kitchen table using the money
that you're now foolishly throwing away. If you just re-divert a
few of your ill-spent dollars and funnel them to some well-timed
investments, you can achieve financial success. It's within your
grasp.
Look again at that dollar bill. Take care of it. It's a money
seed. I'll bet you'll think twice before you throw away one of
those silly, green pieces of paper. It's like throwing away the
seed to a million dollar money tree. (maybe even a billion dollar
tree.)
Every time you save one of those money seeds, you start your way
to wealth. The real key is to keep socking away the money, even
if it’s only a dollar. Let the numbers whisper their silent but
relentless message. Consistency. Day in. Day out. Save. Save.
Save. Invest. Invest. Invest. It doesn't much matter what
investment you choose. Low yielding government securities are
fine.....just as long as you invest consistently for the long
haul.
Constantly save. Consistently Invest. Like clockwork. Old
Faithful. It might be boring. It might be dull. It might be hard.
It might take discipline, persistence, sacrifice. No matter. Just
do it.
I met a young man in Chicago who had made the decision to make
his future bright by dimming his desires today. He worked full
time as did his spouse. If they had been like the normal (broke)
young married couple, they would have pooled their two paychecks
and bought a new car (with a fat monthly payment) stretched
themselves into "too much house" and stressed out for the next 30
years. Instead, this young couple make an uncommon decision. They
decided to live in "too little house." Then they disciplined
themselves to get by on her paycheck and to save his entire
$2,000 a month income. They put the money into well-selected
mutual funds and watched the cash begin to pile up.
This is true prosperity.
Live on less than you earn.
Invest the surplus.
Avoid debt.
Build long term security
It's my not be get rich quick. But it's get rich sure.
It's not the exciting rabbit.
But the tortoise laughs slowly all the way to the bank.
But there will be no billions, no millions, no thousands, no
nothing at all unless you get started with this plan....... you
need to start today. Because waiting even one day can be
extremely expensive as I shall now demonstrate.
Suppose you could sock away $200 per month. You set a target to
have it grow at 20% per year for the next 20 years. Now, 20% is
no small feat.....but with some fancy stock picks, some real
estate and perhaps a small business on the side, you think you
can pull it off. According to my calculator, $200 per month at
20% for 20 years grows into $632,000. Not bad!
Now, suppose, instead of starting now, you wait a year to get
started. This leaves you only 19 years of growth instead of 20.
How much is in your bank account in 20 years from today? Only
$516,000. That's $116,000 less than what you could have had if
you had started on schedule. In other words, your procrastination
cost you $116,000 future dollars! Procrastination is expensive.
For each of the 365 days that you waited, your future portfolio
was shrinking by over 300 dollars. (116,000 / 365= $317.81) In
other words, every day you put this plan off, costs you $300
future dollars. Every hour you wait costs you more than $13. You
are wasting 13 dollars an hour, 24 hours a day.
What if you were to invest the same $200 per month over thirty
years? The cost of waiting that extra year is now a whopping
$842,803. That's right! Waiting an extra year cost you almost a
million future dollars. That's over two thousand dollars a day.
Or almost $100 per hour!
Let me say this again for emphasis. Every day you wait, every
hour you delay, is like burning up your financial future. Do it
now. Yes, it will take sacrifice. It means deferring
gratification for a while to allow your money tree to grow. When
you prematurely pick the fruit from your money tree, you stunt
it's growth and this can dramatically slow down the time for you
to enjoy a fully matured, fruit bearing money tree.
Now, why do all of this money multiplying? In the truest sense,
money is a spiritual concept. With proper planning, you can not
only take care of yourself and the ones closest to you but you
can leave a positive legacy for your posterity. If you won't do
it for yourself, at least do it for them.
Now, look at that dollar bill one more time.
This simple money seed contains the power to bless you and
countless future generations...if you'll start now. A wealthy
future is awaiting you. It's worth the sacrifice. Let nothing
divert you from your task. As we continue, I'm going to share
with you the six other secrets or skills of that will make this
bright financial future become a reality for you.
Remember, it all starts with a single dollar bill.
The Rockerfeller Rules
As I said earlier, money is a game. If you know the rules, you
win. And if you don't know the rules, you don't win. Warren
Buffett, who became the world’s wealthiest stock market
multi-billionaires has two important rules. Rule #1. Never lose
money. Rule #2. Never forget rule #1. And here are some other
simple rules to the Money Game..
Every dollar is a money seed.
You can grow rich on the money you're now wasting.
You can't make poor decisions today and expect to be rich tomorrow.
The longer you wait to get started the steeper the climb.
A dollar squandered today destroys a hundred thousand future dollars.
And since you are planning on spending a lot of time in the
future, it would be nice to have plenty of money there waiting
for you when you arrive. Wouldn't it? So if valuing money is
skill #1. What are the other 6 skills? Let just say, that a
couple of the skills are hidden in the following quote from a
book called Kids and Cash about the Rockerfeller family. Let's
see if you can pick them out.
According to Nelson Rockerfeller, the one time Vice President of
the United States, his father John D. Rockerfeller, Jr, gave each
of his five sons an allowance "We got 25 cents a week, and had to
earn the rest of the money we got." To earn part of that extra
money he raised vegetables and rabbits........"We always worked.
All the boys were required to keep personal daily account books.
They were required to give 10 percent of their income to charity,
to save 10 percent, and to account for all the rest." They had to
balance their account books every month and to be able to tell
what happened to every penny they earned. (From the book, Kids
and Cash Ken Davis and Tom Taylor 1979 Oak Tree Publications)
The Rockerfeller kids were taught a specific pattern for dealing
with their money. I call them the Rockerfeller rules.
Work for all you get
Give away the first 10%.
Pay yourself the next 10%.
Live on the rest.
Account for every penny.
Isn’t it interesting that Rockerfeller made his kids learn the
habit of work? But why do you think Mr. and Mrs. Rockerfeller
taught their kids to give the first 10% to charity? Now, if
you're an atheist or an agnostic, or in any way squeamish about
the subject of God, you'd better skip over this section. It's
just going to make you all grumpy. But if you believe there is a
Supreme Being, then, read on. The Rockerfellers, like almost all
of the great American billionaires, looked upon their wealth as a
sort of spiritual stewardship. They believed that God gave them
the money. It wasn't theirs....they just were caretakers over it.
They felt a duty to manage it for the betterment of
others......while thoroughly enjoying it themselves, of course.
If every dollar they received was a gift from God, they were glad
to pay 10% of it back. (Andrew Carnegie gave all of his wealth
away before his death.) You'd be surprised how many very
successful and very wealthy people today and throughout the past
200 years have felt the same. God, for them, was always the best
silent partner. And they didn't do too badly for God and his
children, either. Today, the Ford Foundation gives away hundreds
of millions of dollars PER YEAR to various charities. The
Rockerfeller foundation gives away almost 50 million dollars.
I wonder if God knew this was going to happen. Looking down on
the earth in the late 1800's did he say to himself. "To whom
shall I give the idea for the automobile? And which lucky person
is going to end up with the concept of oil? Hmmmm...let's see.
There's that Rockerfeller fellow. He's going to end up pretty
decent. And most of his money is eventually going to go to help
others. I think he should get a big chunk of oil. There's that
scrappy Henry Ford down there in Michigan. He's got a few glaring
blemishes but eventually, the money he makes with this idea is
going to belong to his foundation and will bless millions of
people. Let's give him a big chunk of the automobile."
How did Bill Gates end up with the computer? Or Andy Gove with
the silicon chip? Or the guy (what was his name anyway?) who
started Amazon.com? These days, billions can be made and lost in
a single day in the stock market. Who's going to get the next
billion dollar concept? Do you deserve to get it? What would you
do with it if you got it? Could God trust you with it? Would you
squander it? Or would you be a wise steward over it? Would there
be anything left to bless the lives of others? Tough questions. I
would encourage you that, no matter what your financial
circumstances, invest 10% right off the top in your favorite
charity or church. If you don't know where to put it, follow your
heart. One day, all the money in the world, will not keep your
heart beating. Sharing 10% with others will remind you that God
owns everything and we're transients here.
Now, after you pay the first 10% to your "Silent Partner" you
need to pay yourself next. In the classic, "The Richest Man in
Babylon," George S. Clayson tells the story of the wise investor
whose primary rule was, "A part of all you earn is yours to
keep." (If you haven’t read this book yet, buy it today and read
it.) And then, when these two items are taken care of, Live on
the rest. Make the decision that, starting today, you will no
longer go into debt to support your lifestyle. You’re going to
live below your means....no matter what. It may take you months
to turn your spending patterns around (for an oil tanker to
change course 180 degrees takes many, many hours and hundreds of
miles to accomplish....you're like that tanker, it will take time
to turn your financial bad habits into good ones....so be patient
with yourself.
And finally, Account for every penny.
This is the part that all of us seem to hate so
much.....accounting for every penny. I remember when I was doing
my initial research, I looked, in vain, for a way out of this
requirement. It seemed every successful money manager I
interviewed was scrupulously meticulous about knowing where every
penny went. And, of course, this was the exact opposite of my
personality. Although my father was an accountant, I just didn't
seem to be blessed with the same genes. I knew how to spend money
really well.....but I couldn't save a dime. One day I woke up and
realized that in my business career I had literally gone through
millions of dollars in profits and royalties. If I had
religiously saved 10% of that income....if I had lived the
Rockerfeller rules....I should have had a bank account filled
with millions of dollars. But I didn't. I asked myself....of all
the millions that had gone through my life, couldn't I have lived
on 10% less. Of course, and that's when I started to live this
rule.
Now, I know that the subject of budgeting and saving and penny
pinching seems tedious to most Americans (as it did to me for
most of my adult life), yet, I can also attest to the fact that
these skills or habits must become part of your life if you ever
hope to achieve any measure of financial success. Don't give me
your old excuses. I used all of them myself at one time or
another and not one of them every made me richer. Don't you dare
tell me you're not good at math, or that you hate to balance your
checkbook, or that you don't have a head for numbers, or that you
never went to college, or that you don't know how to work a
calculator, or that your spouse takes care of that stuff, or that
you don't have the time, or that life is short and that you'd
better enjoy it while you can. Odds are, you're going to live to
a hundred years old.......that's thirty five years past
retirement..... and you must plan for it by taking charge of your
finances NOW.
You can't delegate this to anyone. You've got to do it. Truth is,
nobody can watch over your money like you can. (Farmers have a
saying that the best fertilizer is the farmer's own shadow.)
Strangely enough, when you make the commitment to watch every
penny, the dollars start to add up quicker. If compound interest
can make a single dollar bill grow into a million dollars....then
it can also make a single penny grow into a million pennies.....
and that's ten thousand dollars. From a single penny? Have you
ever walked by a penny on the sidewalk and not picked it up
because it was just a penny? The truth is, that hidden beneath
that penny is a pile of a million pennies. Pick up that penny and
invest it right.
Money Skill #2. Control It.
So, having said this, I want to teach you a simple, easy and
extremely powerful way to think about your money. What
Rockerfeller was teaching his kids was how to control their
money. And that's the second of the 7 money skills. Controlling
every penny that flows through your life. Let me show you how to
control your money by teaching you a theory I created called the
Bathtub Theory of Economics..
Most people have one simple faucet or main source of
income...their job. This income flows into the bathtub of their
life and flows out through the drains at the bottom. Most
everyone spends every penny their earn....and then some. They
never retain any money in savings. They spend it all. Obviously,
the only way to have an overflowing prosperity in your life is to
plug up those holes and to turn on more faucets...to have
Multiple Streams of Income.
How many leaks are there? I have simplified the many ways you can
spend money into ten categories. It's easy to remember the
categories. Each one flows in order of their priority. According
to Rockerfeller, where should the first dollars go? That's right,
to your partners. Who are your partners? God, first. Yourself,
next. And Uncle Sam, third. Then, you can live maintain your
lifestyle with what's left over.
Therefore, the first category is called Tithing or Charity(which
represents your contribution toward God, church, God, charity,
others, giving, etc.) I have given this category the number of 1.
The next category in order of priority is called Self. Take the
next 10% of your money and put it into the Self category...with a
number of 2.
Next, comes your partner, Uncle Sam. The third category, then, is
taxes....and I give it a number of 3.
What's the next most important expense of your life? Category 4
is your shelter....in the form of house payments or rent
payments. What comes next? The fifth category is for household
expenses such as food, clothing, television, normal living
expenses attributed to living in your place of residence. This
will amount to your largest category. Then comes category
6....Auto. Gotta have a car. Every time you pay for gas,
transportation, repairs to your vehicles, or car payments, you
should put it in the category 6. Next is Category 7 for Fun or
entertainment. Usually, whenever you spend money out of the home
on movies, fast food, travel or toys, you should think of these
expenditures as happening in Category 7. Seven is the number for
fun....that's how I remember it. Then, comes Category 8; for all
forms of insurance; health, life, disability, liability, house,
homeowners, etc.
Miscellaneous expenditures (including payments toward debt) come
under category 9 Debt/Miscellaneous.
And finally, there is Category 10....for business expenditures.
Let’s review:
Category 1 Tithing
Category 2 Self
Category 3 Taxes
Category 4 Shelter
Category 5 Household
Category 6 Automobile
Category 7 Entertainment
Category 8 Insurance
Category 9 Debt/Miscellaneous
Category 10 Business Expenses
Now, I want every dollar you spend to be labeled into one of
these ten categories. I've kept the categories simple and broad
because if it gets too complicated, you won't do it. Even when in
using a computer finance program, like Quicken, which I use, I
have all my categories simplified into these 10 categories.
You'll see why in a minute.
So, let's examine a money transaction....which I call a Money
event. How many times a day do you spend money? 5 times? Ten
times? Rarely more. Think of it. You only spend money a few times
a day. And yet, those few decisions make all of the difference
between poverty and wealth. Actually, the millionaire spends
approximately one minute more per money event than the poor
person. And that one minute makes a huge difference.
Let's explore what I call the Millionaire's Minute. If I could
show you a simple one minute exercise that you performed every
time you spent money....that would almost guarantee that you'd
become a millionaire....would you do it? Let's examine a typical
money event.
Average people go to the store to buy something. They are in a
rush, running late. They quickly snatch up the desired item
without comparing prices. While they're waiting in the check out
stand they see a few impulse items they pick up. They pay for the
items but don't record the event because other people are waiting
in line and besides, they're running late. They rush off "a day
late and a dollar short."
Millionaires, on the other hand, take a few extra steps which
take less than a minute. First of all, before they enters the
store they decide only to buy the planned item and nothing else.
Life is full of things to buy. They can't allow their impulses to
derail their decisions or to control their life. Then, they spend
a few extra seconds to compare prices and to pick the best value.
If appropriate, they locate a sales clerk and ask if there is a
possibility of obtaining a discount in price. They make a quick
mental calculation of their savings. This makes them feel good.
Then, they take the item to the check out stand. Once again, they
are not sidetracked by impulse buying. They select one of the
three methods of payment: cash, credit card or check. They
exchange the money for the items, collects their receipt, examine
it for accuracy and put it in their wallet or purse for filing
later. Then, they make the most important step...they record the
event by writing down the purchase, determining which category of
spending it was made in, calculate the remaining balance in their
account. Later, at home that day, they file the receipt in a well
organized manner for easy retrieval.
All told, on average, the millionaire spends about an extra
minute per transaction than the poor person. But look at the
savings in time and money. The millionaire saves from 10-20% in
comparison shopping. (What if you could lower your annual
spending by 20% without a lot of sacrifice?) Then, by investing
an extra minute to record the transaction and to file it
properly, she has at her fingertips a vast source of information.
She knows her current account balances. She can compare he
spending to previous months and notice trends. She is more aware
of her actual spending which gives her much greater control of
her finances. She can calculate her tax consequences in minutes
not days. She can back up her tax decisions with instant
documentation. In a case of dispute, she knows where, when and
how she spent her money and has the receipt to prove it. She is
in control. And the resulting peace of mind creates a feeling of
power. This increases her confidence, creativity and judgment.
She makes fast, correct, decisive decisions. This gives her that
secret millionaire's advantage.
So, from now on, every time you spend money take an extra minute
to do these simple things....
1. Plan your needs and procrastinate your wants
2. Shop for value
3. Ask for and expect a discount
4. Examine your receipt. Categorize your receipt. Actually write
a number from one to ten on the receipt....so that you mentally
decide which area of your life you are spending money on.
6. Balance your accounts....whether it's cash, check or credit
card. File your receive when you get home.
It's simple. Get ten manila folders and number them from one to
ten. Don't throw your loose receipts into a shoe box. File them
daily. This will get you in control of your finances in a few
short weeks. Now, there are lot of advantages of doing it this
way......but let me give you one big one. Taxes. Most of us don't
get receipts, and when we do, we forget what it was for. Suppose
you buy a box of pencils for your small business.....and everyone
in America should have their own small business. This is a tax
deductible expense. Uncle Sam lets you take this expense off the
top before you calculate your taxes. Well, if you're in the 30%
tax bracket, then every dollar you categorize as a tax deduction
gives you a 30% return on your money. Did you get that? Hello?
Where can you, today, get an instant 30% guaranteed return on
your money? From Uncle Sam. When you get and keep the receipt for
a tax deductible expense and then deduct that expenditure on your
taxes, you're making 30% on your money.....30% return on your
money is the kind of return that makes millionaires....fast.
I heard once, I don't know if it's true but I believe it, that
because of tax deferred or tax free investments the billionaire
Ross Perot only pays 6% of his total yearly income in taxes. He
understands the value of money and how to plug those leaks....and
that's why he's a billionaire and you and I aren't...yet.
The key to financial planning is cash flow management. You've not
only got to get the cash to flow into your bathtub. You have to
manage the leaks so that there is money left over at the end of
the month (profit.) With this profit you buy stuff....assets. You
may also buy stuff by going into debt. The object of the money
game is to accumulate enough assets so that eventually the income
from your personal assets will support you instead of your
personal skills.
Are you good at turning on faucets? Gotta get those multiple
streams of income flowing into your bathtub.
Are you good at plugging leaks? Gotta plug those leaks.
Are you good at getting stuff? Are you accumulating assets?
Are you good at repaying debts? Gotta stay out of debt.
The better you are at managing and controlling these four
activities, the wealthier you'll become.
Wealth Skill #2. Control your money. Start today to gain a
greater control over your money by doing the millionaire
minute....you'll be amazed.
Money Skill #3
Save it.
Wealth Skill #3 is to save money. Wealthy people love to save
money......you know, to buy things at wholesale. They never like
to pay retail for anything. And now, you know why. But they don't
stop there. You see, anyone can save money by buying at a
discount....but do they save the money that they save? That's the
hard part. A friend of mine quit smoking and was bragging about
the $50 a month she was saving by not smoking. I asked, "Where is
the $50?" She didn’t know. She had saved the money but she hadn't
saved it....put it away. When you save money by changing your
buying habits, take the money out of your purse or wallet and get
it out of your spending grasp. Put it into a savings jar, and
frequently deposit this money into your savings account. That’s
when you’ve truly save/saved it.
And here’s another tip. Would you like to learn how to cut your
living expenses by 30% in 30 seconds? You would? Well, take out
your credit cards, put one away for emergencies, and cut up the
rest. Statistics have proven that this simple exercise will
automatically and almost effortlessly cut your living expenses by
an average of 30% over the next 12 months.
Money Skill #4
Invest it
With the money you’re save/saving plus the 10% of the money you
pay yourself off the top, you must learn how to invest your money
at billionaire rates. Anyone can park their money at 3%. The
trick is to get it to grow at 10 to 20%. There are many
traditional investments that are ideal to park your money. At the
low end of the interest scale are bank savings accounts and
certificates of deposit. Then, you have government treasuries and
bonds. Up the ladder are corporate bonds......then the stock
market.....and some of the most popular investments these
days.....Mutual Funds. You should have money in all of these
areas. Imagine a series of buckets where money is siphoned off
from your bathtub. The first bucket should be your emergency
bucket. Let your 10% flow there first until you have at least
three months worth of living expenses saved. You'd be surprised
how many people in this country are only one paycheck away from
bankruptcy. Don't let that be you. This money should be in the
safest place possible....probably in an insured bank
account....at the highest interest rate you can find where you
can access to your money within 30 days. Once this first bucket
is filled up, the stream of 10% will overflow into one of three
additional buckets---labeled, conservative investments,
moderately risky investments and very risky investments. If you
are older, you should have more of your money in the conservative
bucket. The younger you are the more risk you can take.
(Put graphic of the investment buckets here)
The best way to invest for average people is in Mutual Funds. A
mutual fund is a collection of individual stocks purchased by a
major company and managed by professionals. You give them a small
amount of money, they add it to that of thousands of other
investors and they watch over it for you. You'd have to have
lived in a cave for the past 5 years not to have heard at least
something about Mutual Funds.
Here are a few rules about investing.
The longer you invest (leave your money in the market) the lower
your risk.
Don’t invest unless you’re willing to leave it for 5 years or
more. It's sole purpose is to grow and compound. Anything shorter
than a year is gambling.
Remember, it's almost impossible to buy low and sell high in the
short run. So don't play the market.
The key is long term dollar cost averaging.
Dollar cost averaging simply means, you should invest every
single month, regardless of where the market is heading. Don't
even read the newspapers....just buy month in and month out. Over
the long run, this is the best strategy. Do it automatically.
Inform your mutual fund company to automatically withdraw the
funds from your account each month. If you have to decide each
month, eventually you will stop the program and your future will
suffer. Do it every month.
When you finish reading this report, if you're not already doing
so, I want you to go to a news stand, and buy a financial
magazine like Money Magazine or Smart Money or Kiplinger's. Look
for an ad for a Mutual Fund company that is No-Load...which means
no commissions. Look for ads where they will let you get started
for $50-100 per month. Sign up for the automatic monthly
withdrawal.....and get started. If you're new at this, you'll
learn a lot by just doing it. This will turn up your awareness of
the entire process. Soon you'll start noticing ads for Mutual
fund families that really fit you. Then, you can shift your
growing nest egg to the new company and start to watch your money
grow. Once you have gotten your mutual fund investing program
funded and on automatic pilot, you should read some great books
on the stock market like Peter Lynches classic, Beating the
Market. And then, you can start putting extra cash toward a
concentrated program of investing in individual stocks.
Speaking of that, would you like the richest investor in the
world to manage your money? His name, by the way, is Warren
Buffet. He started in the mid 50's with just a few thousand
dollars and some money from a small group of partners. Over the
next 40 years he turned his initial few dollars into tens of
billions of dollars. His yearly compounded rate of return on his
money is about 20%. If you'd like to buy into Warren Buffets
brains, you can buy into Buffets empire....where he has about 90%
of his own money. It's a stock traded on the New York Stock
exchange.....called Berkshire Hathaway. It trades at many tens of
thousands of dollars per share and is the most expensive stock on
the NYSE. Buffet doesn't believe in splitting his stock
price....so it just keeps getting higher and higher....as he
continues to pile more and more money in it. (Your stock broker
can show you how to buy Baby Berkshires…at a much more reasonable
price.) There are several excellent books on the market about
Warren Buffet. If you love the stock market, you'll love to read
about how this man did it. At the very least, your goal is to get
some of your surplus money siphoned off into mutual funds and
forget them.
Money Skill #5
Making Money
Making money is an entirely different skill from investing money.
Investing is passive. Someone else does the work for you.....like
money growing in a bank. Making money, Skill #5, is the
entrepreneurial side of money. Are you an entrepreneur? You
should be. Everyone will need to create multiple streams of
income in the future. Families used to be able to survive on one
income in the 50's and 60's. Then, in the 70's and 80's it became
necessary for there to be 2 income earners per family. In the
90's, with the stability of those 2 incomes in question, with
corporate downsizing, re-engineering, or whatever you want to
call it, you need to take matters into you own hands. You must
learn the skills of being your own boss.....even if you're
working for a solid corporation and plan on retiring there. The
world is just too insecure to make long term plans with one
company.
When it comes to choosing the perfect home based business, use
the MoneyTree Formula you learned in the Audio Cassette, Multiple
Streams of Income. The full program from Nightingale/Conant will
show you 7 extremely profitable home based business you can start
with little capital investment. Any of them could take your to
financial freedom. But, when you are doing several of them
simultaneously, you can accelerate your prosperity curve
dramatically. You’ll love the program. Or your money back. It
consists of 8 jam packed audio cassettes (or CD’s if you prefer)
plus a bonus audio and a special Study Guide. Call 1-800-525-9000
to find out you can start on the road to wealth today.
In the meantime, if you’re going to start your own business,
remember these rules:
Rule # 1. Get on purpose. Do what you love and the money will
follow.
Get into a business that is in alignment with your purpose and
values. Here are the purpose questions:
What are you good at? What do you like to do? What is important
to you? What is your destiny?
Answer these questions before you begin.
Rule # 2. Decide on your ideal lifestyle, then choose a business.
Rule # 3. Become the best in your field.
Rule # 4. Ride a trend that is on the wax not on the wane
Rule # 5. Be a copy cat. Don't be the first in. Don't start a
trend. Copy others....legally, of course.
Rule # 6. No se habla employees. Be slow to hire and fast to
fire.
Rule # 7. Constantly economize.
Rule # 8. Avoid overhead like the HIV virus. Rich people don't
buy fancy office equipment to impress. Warren buffet manages his
entire empire from a corner desk in small office. He has no
computer.....as he once said, "I am a computer."
Money Skill #6
Shield It.
Making money is one set of skills Keeping it is another. As you
work toward your financial goals, you will need to learn how to
preserve the wealth you are creating. The new millennium is an
infinitely more dangerous environment for wealth creation that
were the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s or 90’s. New kinds of street gangs roam
the streets seeking prey.....hoards of attorneys looking for
victims to represent. The worst mistake one can make today is
leave large amounts of personal assets unprotected. You must
learn how to get your homes, cars and business entities out of
sight through corporations, trusts and family partnerships to
build a financial fortress around your assets. This information,
which used to be available only for the super-rich, must be put
to use by everyone. Why? Because if you're practicing your money
skills, sooner or later there is a 100% probability that you will
be sued....and any smart attorney will be able to look in the
public record to find out what assets you have in your name.
Therefore, the secret to smart money is to learn to live like a
millionaire but be a pauper on paper. You used to be able to brag
about your money. Not any more. Today, you don’t want to be a
millionaire.....just to live like one. I, myself, am not a
millionaire. Or even a multi-millionaire. I used to be. But not
any more. That doesn't mean that I don’t know where it is....and
how to get to it. But the public will never know. You must
protect yourself today against the catastrophes of tomorrow.
Here are the eleven basic commandments of financial protection.
1. Thou shalt avoid conspicuous consumption
2. Thou shalt avoid putting assets in your name.
3. The shalt never co-sign a loan for anyone, ever.
4. Thou shalt carry adequate liability insurance.
5. Thou shalt not serve on a board of directors.
6. Thou shalt avoid all "recourse" debt.
7. Thou shalt operate thy business from a corporate entity.
8. Thou shalt not go into business without a detailed business
plan.
9. Thou shalt never enter a partnership without a simple, fool
proof plan for getting out.
10. Thou shalt never put all of thy eggs in one basket.
11. Thou shalt always assume the worst. You'll probably be
optimistic.
Money Skill #7
Share It.
Finally, skill seven is to share your money. And this really is a
skill. Remember what I said about the Rockerfellers. They
believed that giving their money was essential to their wealth.
And so should you. The secret is that money multiplies fastest
when it's divided. It's all God's money, anyway. You're just a
temporary steward. When you share freely, you prime the pump of
the universe. I encourage you to establish a legacy that will
outlive you. Plant money trees from which others will harvest the
fruit. This is true prosperity.
I have a belief which I have learned from the great billionaires
over the past century. Almost without fail, each of them has been
guided by the following principle:
"Ultimately, the only purpose for having money is to help
others."
So, to review. First you must Value money....then, Control
It....then Save It.....then Invest It.....then, Make It......
then Shield It.....and finally Share It. I don’t think it's
possible to make and keep a lot of money without being good at
these things.
Now, look at that dollar bill one more time. This simple money
seed contains the power to bless you and countless future
generations...if you'll start now. The future is counting on you.
A wealthy future is awaiting you. It's worth the sacrifice. Let
nothing divert you from your task.
It all starts with a single dollar bill
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