The Quiet Millionaire Wins the Financial Game
January 16, 2008
Being a millionaire is a realistic aspiration if you are knowledgeable and diligent about becoming one. Today, people are required to accumulate greater amounts of money to fund their lifetime goals and objectives than was necessary by previous generations. This book covers what should be included in a comprehensive financial management program for people of all ages who want to live a financially independent and secure lifestyle. It shows reliable ways to plan and manage the emotional aspects of money, cash flow, assets, liabilities, taxes, investments, employee benefits, insurance, health care, business ownership, college financing, accumulated estate wealth, and, most critical, how not to run out of money during retirement.
In today’s often confusing and contradictory world of information overload, the reader is informed how to discern and distinguish what information is beneficially useful or harmful to his or her financial well-being. Moreover, if professional assistance is desired, guidance is provided for how to select and work with a financial advisor as well as how and when paying for an advisor’s help is justified.
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The Four D’s of Financial Success
June 1, 2007
More than eighty percent of self-made millionaires in America began with nothing or in many cases, less than nothing. I can certainly relate to that because when I was 
growing up and right into my early 30s, I never had any extra money with which to start a fortune. It seemed to me that there was always enough, if not more than enough bills, to absorb every penny I earned. I was always in debt.
Be Ready for Your Opportunity
And even if a great business opportunity did come along, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything with it. As I began studying financial success and self-made millionaires, I noticed that almost everyone around me was in pretty much the same boat. The idea of becoming really wealthy was a distant dream with very little possibility of coming true. You may be in the same situation, with more bills than money or assets.
Look at the Numbers
The statistics are a little scary. Of 100 people who reach retirement age, according to insurance industry statistics, only one will be wealthy. Four out of the hundred will be financially independent; fifteen will have some savings put aside. And the other 80 will be dependent on pensions, still working or broke - this after a lifetime of well-paid work in the most affluent society in human history. Now why does this happen?
Why People Retire Poor
There are two main reasons why people retire poor. First, they never decide to retire rich. They wish and hope and pray, but they never make a firm, unequivocal decision that they’re going to do it. Second, even if they do decide to retire rich, they procrastinate until it’s too late. They always have some good reason for putting it off.
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Creating A Money Mind-Pattern
May 18, 2007
Do you want more money right now? Do you have the mind-pattern to attract it? This is the key that only the wealthy know! They always have plenty because their mind-patterns only know wealth. There is not a doubt in their minds of who they are, what they have, and what they will have.
Do you live with a mind-pattern of scarcity and lack? What did your parents tell you when you were a child? Things like, “Money doesn’t grow on trees, we cannot afford it, it is too expensive”? These kinds of words imprint you with scarcity and lack.
Do you have abandonment issues? While this may seem entirely unrelated, be aware that “money” can abandon you as easily as people. Working through any abandonment issues with people strengthens the mind-pattern that holds onto money and all that money buys.
People can abandon you emotionally as well as physically. If you felt emotionally abandoned by either parent, there is a good chance that your financial wealth abandons you also, leaving you feeling stranded in life.
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Social Lending Networks : Loans Without Banks That Change Lives
May 6, 2007
Wow, so there is a new thing that I just discovered this evening, called Social Lending.
According to Wikipedia:
Person-to-person lending[peer-to-peer lending] is lending done between individuals circumventing the bank’s traditional role in this process.
Community lending had the advantage that people’s interpersonal relationships fostered increased fiscal responsibility. The risk was that without the benefit of diversification, when something went awry the entire community could suffer.
Lending through banks has benefitted from scale and diversity. By pooling the available money supply and lending it out again, the impact of any one default would be trivial in light of the timely payment of the vast majority of the notes. The downside to this model is that it has introduced greater transaction overhead and removed community loyalty from the equation.
New ventures are seeking to blend traditional practices with new scale economies via online marketplaces. The marketplace serves many functions. Most notably it facilitates bringing borrowers and lenders together. Furthermore, it simplifies what might otherwise be a cumbersome process to properly document and service the resulting loans.
It is hoped not only that these new markets will be more efficient by removing the bank as middleman, but that factors leading to default can be mitigated by reintroducing a social component to the mix.
The leader in this industry is the UK’s Zopa.com, which loans to only UK residents that pass a credit rating requirements. But, the company that seems to be the most altruistic is Kiva.org. Kiva community loans money to poor residents of some of the poorest countries in the world. Helping entrepreneurs worldwide. Such a wondrous deal!
There is also Prosper.com, which can loan you up to 25,000 for your personal use, payable back with whatever % you qualify for.
So, now more than ever, if you have a good idea, in which you wish to cultivate greatness, you may do so by finding people to help you finance your dreams!
