Friday, January 28, 2011

Reasons to Become Financially Independent

Have you ever noticed that frequently fellow employees will want to turn your company into a concentration camp? I think things will get worse before they get better when it comes to concentration camps.

What reasons drive you to escape the rat race? Remind yourself of your specific reasons to escape the rat race. Your real reasons to become financially independence drive you. What are they?

Friday, January 21, 2011

Escape the Rat Race: Tips for Joining the Power Elite

Living from paycheck to paycheck. Running the children to school, getting to work, taking the children to practice, picking them up, getting dinner, going home, catch up on work from the office, go to bed, and then wake up the next morning to do it all over again. It's called the rat race by some, living hell by others, but many people find common ground when they say that they want out.

Reasons for the rat race

It doesn't really matter why things are the way they are to those who don't really want to change the way things are. People who are content to run the rat race day-in and day-out might be satisfied to complain or use cute sayings like "another day, another dollar," or - better yet - "another day, another doughnut." For many, however, that just isn't acceptable. The rat race is like history: those who do not know it, understand it, and learn from it are doomed to repeat it.

Supply and demand

A universal law exists that suggests that people demand things that are of insufficient supply. For example, no one would want gold if it was as plenteous as ordinary dirt because it would be like dirt to us. It would be worthless to us and we would not be special for having it. Gold is rare, however, meaning that people want it to enrich themselves and show themselves ant the world that they are special.

Inevitably, things that are in short supply come at a higher cost. An ounce of gold costs more than $1,000 for an ounce, but twenty pounds of dirt can sell for $5 or less. Imagine if there were as many 84" high definition television sets as there are aluminum cans. If this were the case, the TVs would cost about five cents and no one would feel special if they had one.

The excess demand for things that are in short supply makes prices high which in turn makes those things hard to get. There just isn't enough of everything good for everyone to have everything they want. That's why there is a rat race.

Human nature

Supply and demand is a direct result of human nature. People want good things. They want better things than they now have, and they tend to want them now. The problem is that a supply of a key ingredient of life is also in short supply: money.

The time/money continuum

Whoever made up the saying, "Time is money," was incredibly wise and succinct. To get more things, people need more money. To get more money, people need more time. Because of this we find workaholics who practically work around the clock trying to make more and more money. Of course the problem with that type of person is that they do not have the time they need to enjoy their money and the things they can get with it.

The Power Elite

The rat race gets even more complicated because of the existence of a group of people in the country and in the world called the Power Elite. These are a small group of people who have the enviable position of having more money than they know what to do with and can therefore enjoy life without any of the burdens associated with the rat race.

Unfortunately, the existence of the Power Elite makes the rat race more difficult and more commonplace for everyone else. This is because of supply and demand.

A small piece of the pie

The Power Elite are the 10% of American families that control more than 68% of American wealth. This means that 90% of American families are fighting each other for less than one-third of American resources. This means that - by the time those who can have all that they want actually get all that they want; there is only a tiny piece of the pie left for everyone else.

Getting out of the rat race

Politicians (who are almost all part of the Power Elite class) enjoy pitting the "rich" against the "poor" in order to build their power and to distract people from understanding one thing: the Power Elite do not want everyone to be as wealthy as they are and they will not yield their wealth or their power to anyone that is not in their class. This is why no matter how much politicians claim to raise taxes on the rich; the number of rich people never decreases and the rat race becomes more intense for most people.

This is because of supply and demand: if everyone had as much money and power as the Power Elite class has, than there would be nothing special about the Power Elite and they would neither have power nor be elite!

The answer is not to look to the government to "equalize" things because the Power Elite control the government and the "Power Elite" always look out for themselves first.

Although everyone cannot become part of the Power Elite class in either America or in the world, you can, but it's going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of cutting against the grain of society, and a lot of planning. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

A few tips to get started

The transformation from being a person chasing after the crumbs left behind by the Power Elite to enjoying the life of abundance that the Power Elite have is not simple, easy or fast, so it's important to get started now with some simple tips:

1. Understand your predicament. Assess your debt, your income. Consider your skills and your talents. Think about how much your employer is gaining from your work and find ways to become your own boss. Put your income in your hands, under your control, not under the control of someone else.

2. Make goals. The reason why many people do not accomplish anything is because they never aim for anything. You might be busy. You might be tired. The rat race may have gotten the best of you, but things will never change until you set some goals and make some plans for achieving them.

3. Stop spending so much. As you plan ways to increase your income, find ways to cut costs too. Remember: you are not the government. You must be responsible for and careful with everything you have.

4. Save money, become flexible. By building up some wealth of your own, you can minimize the impact emergencies have on your life. You also reduce the control other people have over what you do, putting control back in your life. As long as you depend on someone else for your livelihood, you will be in the rat race. Turn the tables, become the boss, and see how good life can be!

Get out of your comfort zone today. Escape the rat race through goal setting and planning. You will be surprised at how great life can be!

Bruce Tyson writes about financial planning and other topics at the TIW Blog.
http://word.truthintheword.org/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bruce_Tyson

How to Become a Millionaire - 5 Tips

Do you want to know how to become a millionaire? If your answer is yes, then the first thing you need to realize is that becoming a millionaire is an exact science. By this I mean that you can follow the path of other millionaires and achieve the exact same results. However, for most people, the formula to becoming a millionaire remains elusive mainly as a result of taking in too much information from too many sources and failing to act on it.

The formula to becoming a millionaire can be likened to a cake recipe. If you gave the same recipe to 10 different chefs around the world, they will come up with the exact same cake. To become a millionaire, you need to find the right recipe and follow it to the letter until you start seeing results.

Here are 5 tips to guide you along the way:

1. Get a Mentor

Getting a mentor who has already been there and done that will cut down your learning curve significantly. It will save you the trial and error which could lead you to make very costly mistakes that could wipe you out before you develop the momentum to bounce back. Note however that most self-made millionaires are very busy and guard their time jealously. Identify their current interests and find a way to attach yourself to their top priorities to get noticed.

2. Be solution oriented

To become a millionaire, you have to learn to be the kind of person that looks at the silver lining in every cloud. Be a problem solver and look for opportunity where others see obstacles. Learn to see with your mind and suddenly you will see so many money-making ideas around you. Start each day by asking yourself how you can create value for as many people as possible.

3. Start thinking about working for yourself or through others

If you think you can become rich working for someone else, think again. It is almost impossible to become a millionaire as an employee. This is mainly because you do not have control over the sustainability of your income. Furthermore, a millionaire mindset in most cases conflicts with that of an employee. However, when working for yourself, you have to learn to get work done through others which in turn will leverage your time and resources.

4. Picture your success

Clearly imagine that you already have what you hope for, and that you have already reached your goals. One proven way is to practice back to the future thinking. This is where you imagine yourself as being a millionaire, and outlining the steps you took to get your there. Work your way backwards until you arrive at where you are, and then take action. This will keep you motivated.

5. Face your fear and take action

If you believe that you cannot do become a millionaire, then you are right. You will never achieve anything in life if you so not believe in yourself. Money is attracted to great ideas but you need to overcome your fear of failure to be able to pursue these ideas to a point at which you start making money.

Ask yourself how much value you create for every hour you spend working. This will help keep you accountable for your time.

Remember, you are your wealth. The Money that flows to you is just a by-product of your non-financial resources. That is why most self-made millionaires can lose their entire fortunes and rebuild their empires in record time.

Looking for more wealth creation secrets? Visit http://www.secretformulaforwealth.com today and download a FREE eBook "7 Wealth Secrets of The Rich Finally Revealed!"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Augustine_Mwanje

Saturday, January 15, 2011

People Ask for a Blueprint for a Billion

Come on, there is no blueprint for a billion dollars.

You have to do the research, testing, the business plan and marketing plan. If you see a business where the guru provides a blueprint for a business that will make you a billionaire or millionaire, I would walk away.

Its great if you find a guru that will hold your hand. But if you want serious money, you are going to do the work and handle the risk yourself if you are going to make it big.

Next time you see a book or hear about a book that entrepreneurs rave about, give it a chance. Listen to what the writer has to say. You need to do your own lateral thinking, creative thinking, and gain the experience necessary to swing for the fences.

The books at your right and the books at www.renegadeuniversity.net will help you set a foundation. There is a lot of good free information posted at www.renegadeuniversity.net also.

If You're Still Living at Home

If you're still living rent free with your parents, save as much money as possible.
If you are not spending $600+ on rent, put $600 plus a month into a brokerage account.

Let's say after you move out funds become very limited. At least you have $20K or so that will grow until you raise your income.

If you saved enough, there would come a point where saving more wouldn't move your net worth that much.

Take a look at www.renegadeuniversity.net and start applying the hard learned lessons I posted there.

Most young people wouldn't bother. But you should. And forget what "they" say.

You Have to Shut Out Negativity

This year, begin shutting out negative people, news and talk from your life.
Focus on your goals. I know many of you want to start a side business or maybe you have grander schemes. Close your mind to negativity. Do the initial work you need to do. Starting a business is initially very tough and time consuming. You don't need naysayers around.

Start or join a master mind group for support and collaboration. It helps if you know people who have been where you are.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Money Follows the Leader

Were you a leader in high school or college? You need to become a leader again. As Robert T Kiyosaki says, "Money flows to the leader."

You have a lot of options, unless your work makes life impossible. There are many different business organizations, political organizations, the Freemasons, civic groups, Toastmaster's, etc. You could start your own forum or your own business and wham, you're a leader.

Being a leader takes practice. If you are serious about becoming financially independent, leadership is essential.

Start a master mind group and get ideas, inspiration and strategy going.

Tasks You and Your Master Mind Should Do

If you and the members of your master mind want to be rich or establish a new source of income, you should do these things:

Boundary spanning. What demographic, political, legal, social, or economic developments will affect your business in the future?

Test Unique Sales Propositions (USP's).

Evaluate Marketing plans.

Evaluate Business plans.

SWOT analysis. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).


Pay your master mind if you need to.

Some of this is covered in the Black Book of the Master Mind. More will be written in BBOTMM part 2.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Financial Independence Quote

"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."
-- Japanese Proverb

Financial Independence - Just Take Action

Last year I read the 4 Hour Work Week. Incredible book.
One take away was to take action on your biggest and most exciting goal.
Your exciting goals will motivate and drive you. What you should want, you might not really want.

What do you really want? What big challenging goal excites you?

Take action on it! Now!!

Financial Independence in the Wake of the Crisis

I was listening to the audio of Why We Want You to Be Rich, but Trump and Kiyosaki.
It is strange that the progressives slammed that book when it first came out.
The book isn't bad at all.

The usual message from these guys was partially about social security and medicare costs skyrocketing after the Baby Boomers retire. Maybe the commies were and are just playing the delay game with us. Maybe they want a bigger crash so the kind of money that they have will buy even more shares, like many were able to do in 2008.

The price of a used copy of Why We Want You to be Rich is worth it.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Beat the Money Game and Retire Early

You have probably heard the idea that you can beat the game or beat the system and enjoy the fruits of success while you are young. I have some ideas that can help you retire much earlier than at age 59 ½. These ideas will require a lot of initial effort, but I bet they will pan out.

First, the government should allow people to opt out of social security. What if each taxpayer could contribute an extra $100 or more every month towards their Roth IRA? We would be responsible to make good investments. But this idea is far better than the social security generation X and Y will get.

Second, end unemployment insurance. Your employer has to send the government a sizable percentage of your pay to the unemployment department. What if the unemployment plan were eliminated? What if the worker and employer split the money 50/50 and the worker could save and invest the difference? Again, you would be adding at least a few hundred dollars a month to your brokerage account.

Third, allow all citizens to invest in hedge funds and IPO's. Yes, these investments are more risky, but what if your broker or 401(k) administrator found you a great one? It could make all the difference.

Fourth, identify and thoroughly research and study your objective, whether it is a business or career, etc. It doesn't matter what your objective is, just thoroughly research it and make an organized plan for reaching this goal. Read the pertinent rules and regulations and look for any advantages and loopholes. Read books about or talk to the people involved in reaching this goal. This will help you uncover more facts that will help you. If your major business or career objectives lead to serious money, I would suggest serious research and work.

When you know enough of the facts you will have an easier time planning and doing the work involved in getting the money to retire early. You will also find that creative and lateral thinking are easier when you know what you are doing.

Fifth, join a master mind group and multiply your intelligence, your contacts, and mental resources. We don't know everything. This makes good master mind groups valuable. A guide in territory that is new to you is very advisable.

Now you have a few ideas that can help you retire early. To find more ideas for escaping the rat race see http://www.renegadeuniversity.net. Don't reinvent the wheel, visit this site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Drews

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Commit to Becoming a Billionaire in 2011

First, resolve never to quit. Never, ever quit. Sleeping on a big decision is OK. Going to the beach for inspiration is an idea. But never quit your quest. Don't talk to people who tell you to give up on your goal. This is important. You cannot afford to have negative people drain you. Don't slack off on your goals. Slacking off is pretty much like quitting.

Second, go to places where there are millionaires and billionaires in the making. Here and there, you will have problems with dunces wasting your time. When this happens, cut your losses and move on. If you have to quit a lot of jobs, you have to quit a lot of jobs. Few jobs will really lead you to millions or billions of dollars. Focus on your side businesses or your side projects. Move if you need to.

Get around people who are going places and people who have similar goals.

Third, learn what you need to learn to do business, invest, create your product, and anything else you need to learn. Stay up 'til 2AM if you have to. If you need to learn HTML, then learn it. If you need to practice IRR calculations or something you learned in a class, do it.

Fourth, practice frugality. This one is unpopular. But I'll tell you what. If you can't get seed money together for a business, even a web based business, you are doomed to fail. If you want a billion dollars and are starting from scratch, you are really swinging for the fences. Swing for the fences with individual stocks. Get a good broker if you need help. Ultimately, you will have to learn to manage your finances. Anyway, you can't buy any growth stocks with no money.

Don't listen to people that tell you to part with all your capital. The guy saying, "Oh, we'll make 100K a month when we do this deal..." is probably full of it. Remember to associate with people who are going places and can do basic math.

Fifth, learn to think creatively. Whether you call it thinking outside the box, or lateral thinking, just do it. Be observant and use the assets you already have. Whatever you do, question. What behind what the guru says? Who pays him? Research and read the fine print. Look at news sources that aren't for sheeple.

That's enough for now. Stick with practicing these ideas for a few days and see if you can handle it. Be a one man, kick butt think tank. Then join forces with others much like you, in a closed master mind group. Your master mind needs to be completely closed to negativity and outside influences.

David K Drews runs http://www.renegadeuniversity.net. You can meet other people that are serious about becoming financially independent at RU. Check out the chat room and the forum. Be sure to take a look at the best financial books for you to read on this journey. One of the books available is The Black Book of the Master Mind, by David K Drews. David is an MBA candidate and has been an investor for 21 years.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Drews

Sunday, January 2, 2011

In 2011, Let's...

...go from either or to both and.

Just like Tim Ferris says.

I will release a new book (Black Book of the Master Mind Part 2) and at least one subliminal MP3 (Lateral Thinking) early this year.

2 articles will be posted this week.

Cheers!