Secret Tools to Stretch Your Paycheck Part 1

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 | Investment, Money, Safety, The Economy | 4 Comments

Here is a quick and easy secret tool to stretch your paycheck. Many people are finding that they can’t seem to save any money or lower their debt. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are at record highs. Unemployment looks like it is going to get worse before it gets better.

There are several tools that you can use to take control of the cash you have coming into the household. When I began showing my clients some the these tools they are amazed that they didn’t know that they didn’t know. They all believed that they were doing all they could do with the money they made.  They are always surprised to see just how much more they could do with just one or two secret tools and how far it stretched their paycheck.

One well hidden secret is YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT IS NOT A GOOD TOOL!  A personal line of credit PLOC or LOC is a tool that can give considerable flexibility in stretching the paycheck to those wage earners with a good payment history.  The easiest LOC  to get is usually with the same bank as your checking account. An example of how to use this tool is shown on the video; If you can’t get a line of credit we will be showing alternatives that will give your the ability to stretch your paycheck too.

Getting Started in High Return Real Estate Investing

Monday, March 23rd, 2009 | Investment, Money, Real Estate, Safety | 1 Comment

From my years in consulting with small businesses, I know the most important part of building any type of business is to identify your destination. Another word for this starting point is write down where you want to go and what you are willing to do to get there.

This destination must be specific and have a date attached to it. I suggest looking ahead five years. Put yourself there and write down what you see. If you are not familiar with this concept, there are a host of resources available to fill in any blanks you might have. Score, Brian Tracy, Ziglar, or any resource on writing a business plan will give you more than enough material to complete this task. One famous quote should help you with this starting point. “What the mind can conceive and believe the body can achieve.”

Put this vision in your head with reminders in key places to help your mind work out the details for you. If you believe what the movie “The Secret” describes,  do what the movie suggests.

Here is a great place for great financial information

Friday, May 16th, 2008 | Investment, Money, Real Estate, Safety, Statistics, The Economy | No Comments

If you have read some of my earlier posts you probably asked yourself where do I get some of the data I use. As an example, the statistics in the article “Why haven’t your mutual funds made you rich.” I found on the net. I gave Crestmont their credit and even linked their web site on this post.

I was back there again today and was amazed at some of the great stuff these folks have compiled. Using their information and by adding in costs and inflation, I came up with the realization that the money I put in mutual funds in 1997 has generated NO wealth for me in more than ten years!

I admit that some of the information at their site is a little deep. But they have some great graphs that help a lot. One place I looked today was the volatility of the market and another great chart was “Interest rates and inflation.” Now that was an eye opener!

Most of us think we are so busy that we don’t have time to do any research. We don’t pay any real attention to our IRA or 401k. We think that the professionals are doing a better job than we can. We just glance at the numbers when we get in our quarterly report. Most of us don’t know where to start even if we were interested. That is one of the reasons I have this blog. If I find something I want to share it.

While you are watching “Dancing with the stars,” go to Crestmont – http://www.crestmontresearch.com/ and have a look around during the commercials. As an older person I want to make sure I put my money where it is safe and work HARD for ME!

Cheryl moved her retirement funds into cash last November. She is just getting back into mutual funds and missed a 25% drop in the value of her nest egg. The real estate market has some exciting places where I can meet and exceed my financial needs. I feel this is the most exciting time to invest in the last 30 years. “Buy low sell high!”

Tags: inflation, investing, Phoenix real estate, Real Estate, return on investment

Six Huge Mistakes Investors Make

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 | Investment, Money, Real Estate, Safety | 1 Comment

1. Too much risk: Banks and other lenders have historically provided special programs to residential real estate purchases. 30 – 40 – and even 50-year mortgages are common in the residential real estate market. The investor purchasing a property is promising to make up to 600 payments!!!! What are you going to be doing in 50 years? FHA will guarantee 97% of the purchase price of a home to the banks.

The news is full of today’s mortgage crisis. Everyone seems to forget the mortgage crisis in the early 90s or the RTO crisis in the early 80s. The small investor usually takes a very hard economic hit during these times.

Here is a fact that few small investors know. “You don’t have to have all that risk!”

2. Too little return: The short term is the safest types of investment simply because changes in the real estate market usually take time. If the investment brings a return in a few months, economic pressures are usually limited. The problem with short term investments is there are so many costs involved with the purchase, finance, repair, selling and holding costs that a small miscalculation can wipe our all the profits. A decent return for a flip is usually no more than 5-10%.The longer term investor compounds the investment returns but liability, repairs, administration and liquidity hold down returns. Much of the gain in long term investments are appreciation and tax incentives.

Here is a fact that few small investor know. “You can get the best benefits of both types of these investments while getting better returns.”

3. Not having a team: The small investor is usually swimming the difficult economic waters either alone or with an imbalanced small team. Usually, an investor will have one or two money guys, a Realtor® and maybe a handyman. A well-rounded team makes fewer mistakes and brings a better return. Normally what hurts the investor are decisions made while the investor did not know what he did not know. The more common phrase is “Learning from the school of hard knocks!”

Here is a fact that few small investors know. “You shouldn’t do it all yourself to make more profit!”

4. Paying too much to the government: When the investment is lucrative the government steps in with self employment tax 15.3%, federal and state income tax up to 53%. There is little left for the risk taking investor. Even the longer term investor is stuck on a merry-go-round avoiding capital gains tax.

This compounds as profits are taxed which restricts investment and the returns of those investments are taxed etc. in a never ending cycle.

Here is a fact that few small investors know. “You don’t have to pay all that tax!”

5. Having infinite liability: We here in the United States live in a litigious society. Three percent of our total gross national product is siphoned off by the trial lawyers! If you don’t own anything, you have little to fear from predatory trial lawyers. Become successful and you immediately increase the probability of a lawsuit. The odds are 1 in 3 if you have a successful enterprise that you will be the target of a lawsuit. Feeling protected by having insurance is similar to having a large piece of raw meat strapped to your back in a hungry lion’s den. The insurance policy ensures the attorney that he will get paid. When you are called to give a deposition during a court disclosure process expect to be asked about everything you own.

Here is a fact that few small investors know. “You don’t have be at risk!”

6. Your business owns you: The small real estate investor usually takes on tasks that require time and effort. Frequently, the time and effort becomes a problem and negatively impacts the investor’s lifestyle. The investor becomes an employee of the investments running errands and completing tasks at inconvenient times. In other words the small investor has purchased a job.

Here is a fact that few small investors know. “You don’t have be owned by your investment!”

Tags: Glendale real estate, investing, Phoenix real estate, real estate investor, Surprise real estate