This is a book written by a privileged middle class person who never had to do back breaking, mind numbing work. He worked at various entry level jobs and seemed surprised at the physical requirements, endurance, mental challenges and skills/dexterity that were needed. Welcome to the working class world.
The thing is, I know too well is that a lot of people get caught up in surviving and are unable for various reasons to take the necessary steps to learn advanced skills and knowledge to raise themselves or their children out of this type of work and into a better situation. A high school education is not a good preparation for the current working environment. I would say it's more geared to maybe prepare kids for college. You need to continue your education either formally or informally. That's all I will say.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Millionaire Maker by Loral Langemeier
I like this book a lot and recommend it. This book teaches you how to build your wealth by first knowing where you are and where you want to go. Discusses the wealth cycle and how to participate in it where ever you are in your financial life.
To find out where you are you have to determine
Financial freedom day is when you achieve your following goals:
I also read two of her other books which go into more detail:
To find out where you are you have to determine
- monthly income (gap analysis, financial baseline, entities, conditioning)
- monthly expenditures (gap analysis, financial baseline, forecasting)
- assets (gap analysis, financial baseline, assets)
- liabilities (gap analysis, financial baseline, debt management)
- what else (gap analysis, financial baseline)
- what do you want (gap analysis, freedom day)
- what skills do you use to make money (gap analysis, cash machine, teamwork)
- are you willing to create and execute the wealth cycle process. (gap analysis, leadership)
- Gap analysis, Financial Baseline, Freedom Day
- Assets, cash machine, entities, forecasting, debt management, wealth account
- Teamwork, conditioning, leadership
- Put a portion of your earnings into a "wealth building account"
- Invest the above money after due diligence based on your visions & values
- Reinvest the earnings
- set up entities to protect these assets
- maximize tax strategies
- create a cash machine, a business, to make more money of which a portion goes into the wealth building account. This cash machine uses a known skill set to allow you learn business skills which you can then apply in any arena
Financial freedom day is when you achieve your following goals:
- desired monthly cash flow
- desired net worth
- Specific date you want this to occur
I also read two of her other books which go into more detail:
- Cash machine for life
- Guide to wealth cycle investing
Monday, August 9, 2010
Your Money Ratios, 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security by Charles Farrell, J.D., LL.M.
This book details a savings strategy to help you progress from your early years as a laborer to your retirement years as a capitalist where you live off the income from your savings.
Starting at age 25 and ending at age 65 he specifies what your ratios should be in the following areas based on age 65 & 80% income replacement.
He believes that Social Security will exist in some form but with changes. The sooner the changes are made the less painful they may be. Need to be fair and not penalize high earners. You should get out what you put in or otherwise it is a welfare program.
Discusses good debt such as for house & education versus bad debt such as car loans and credit cards. Credit card debt causes you to pre-spend income not yet earned and at a higher cost due to interest.
He uses stocks such as an S&P index fund to help grow your savings and bonds such as US treasurer to maintain your savings. Need the combination to keep up with inflation and taxes yet not lose everything when the stock market dips. He notes that the stock market cannot be predicted by mathematical models because humans are not rational based on history. He has plan A- stocks, plan B-bonds, plan C-dividends from stocks and plan D is dollar averaging since you investing the same amount over time instead of on how the market is performing. Ignore Wall Street. Manage the investing risk by being balanced and patient.
Look for the following in a financial advisor; technical competence, independence & strong ethics. An independent third party custodian should hold your investments, not your advisor.
Starting at age 25 and ending at age 65 he specifies what your ratios should be in the following areas based on age 65 & 80% income replacement.
- Capital to income ratio
- Savings ratio (He recommends saving 12-15% of your income, using 401k, then IRA, then taxable investment account.)
- Mortgage debt to income ratio (Own an affordable home in an affordable area. Use a fixed mortgage. Pay off your home mortgage before you retire so you have a cheap place to live.)
- Education debt to average income ratio (don't incur an education debt of more than 75% of your next 10 years predicted income. Parents fund your retirement before funding your kids education. Can always gift the money to them later.)
- Investments split between stocks & bonds
- Disability insurance as % of monthly income
- Life insurance to income ratio
- Projected income to LTC (Long term care costs) (start looking for LTC insurance at age 55)
He believes that Social Security will exist in some form but with changes. The sooner the changes are made the less painful they may be. Need to be fair and not penalize high earners. You should get out what you put in or otherwise it is a welfare program.
Discusses good debt such as for house & education versus bad debt such as car loans and credit cards. Credit card debt causes you to pre-spend income not yet earned and at a higher cost due to interest.
He uses stocks such as an S&P index fund to help grow your savings and bonds such as US treasurer to maintain your savings. Need the combination to keep up with inflation and taxes yet not lose everything when the stock market dips. He notes that the stock market cannot be predicted by mathematical models because humans are not rational based on history. He has plan A- stocks, plan B-bonds, plan C-dividends from stocks and plan D is dollar averaging since you investing the same amount over time instead of on how the market is performing. Ignore Wall Street. Manage the investing risk by being balanced and patient.
Look for the following in a financial advisor; technical competence, independence & strong ethics. An independent third party custodian should hold your investments, not your advisor.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Rich Like Them by Ryan D'Agostino isbn978-0-316-02146-3
This book is about interviews of a random sampling of people who live in the richest zip codes in the US believing that if they lived there they knew how to make money. The author knocked on doors without even knowing if the people would be home and asked to interview them if they answered the door. Quite a few people did answer the door and they gave very interesting interviews.
Keep your goal in front of you so you will notice opportunities.
Connect with the people you meet and meet new people to open up new avenues in your life.
Identify the things you don't want to do. Identify what you love and be committed to whatever it is you're going to spend your money on. Make up a rule or rules that will help you reach your goals and post it everywhere you look.
Be willing to take measured, rational, calculated risks. Curiosity is one of the defining features of risk takers.
Carefully manage your money and thoughtfully give to worthy causes.
Know yourself, your limits and limitations.
When things don't work out, figure out why. Don't give up. Thank people who take time for you.
Go after what you want. The more info you have the better prepared you are for opportunities
Keep your goal in front of you so you will notice opportunities.
Connect with the people you meet and meet new people to open up new avenues in your life.
Identify the things you don't want to do. Identify what you love and be committed to whatever it is you're going to spend your money on. Make up a rule or rules that will help you reach your goals and post it everywhere you look.
Be willing to take measured, rational, calculated risks. Curiosity is one of the defining features of risk takers.
Carefully manage your money and thoughtfully give to worthy causes.
Know yourself, your limits and limitations.
When things don't work out, figure out why. Don't give up. Thank people who take time for you.
Go after what you want. The more info you have the better prepared you are for opportunities
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
How to get started Selling Your Art by Carole Katchen isbn:0-89134-685-6
This book starts with exercises to conquer your fears and build your goals.
Then it discusses setting up a support structure of people, space, time and money. Once you've prepared your mind and set up an environment conducive to producing art then she discusses how to price your art and the tools needed to sell it. Tools such as mailing list, newsletter, business cards, pictures, artist statement, resume, brochures to name a few.
She then discusses what is needed to sell art at various venues. Art can be sold in your home, your studio, group show, art fairs, festivals and galleries. Marketing is discussed both in preparing for a show and ways to market your art.
Then it discusses setting up a support structure of people, space, time and money. Once you've prepared your mind and set up an environment conducive to producing art then she discusses how to price your art and the tools needed to sell it. Tools such as mailing list, newsletter, business cards, pictures, artist statement, resume, brochures to name a few.
She then discusses what is needed to sell art at various venues. Art can be sold in your home, your studio, group show, art fairs, festivals and galleries. Marketing is discussed both in preparing for a show and ways to market your art.
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Million Bucks by 30 by Alan Corey
A Million Bucks by 30, How to overcome a crap job, stingy parents, and a useless degree to become a millionaire before (or after) turning 30, by Alan Corey.
This is basically a story of how he decided to become a millionaire despite living in an expensive city and working at a moderate income job. It's very entertaining. First he studied and read about rich and famous people. He found out there is no one way to get rich. So he decided to focus on first saving through a very frugal lifestyle and then investing to reach his goal. His main investment areas were a 401k, a mutual fund and real estate.
He made a plan, followed a budget, looked for ways to make and save money in order to reach his goal. As he progressed he planned rewards and people who heard of his successes wanted to know how he did it. However, they were disappointed that his plan required some sacrifice and that there was no easy trick to getting rich.
This is basically a story of how he decided to become a millionaire despite living in an expensive city and working at a moderate income job. It's very entertaining. First he studied and read about rich and famous people. He found out there is no one way to get rich. So he decided to focus on first saving through a very frugal lifestyle and then investing to reach his goal. His main investment areas were a 401k, a mutual fund and real estate.
He made a plan, followed a budget, looked for ways to make and save money in order to reach his goal. As he progressed he planned rewards and people who heard of his successes wanted to know how he did it. However, they were disappointed that his plan required some sacrifice and that there was no easy trick to getting rich.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Guide to Investing, What the Rich Invest In, that the poor and middle class do not by Robert T. Kiyosaki
This is a very thorough book and goes into detail about the various levels of investors and an overview of the processes he followed. The most important things that I got out of the book that you need to have a plan to get you from where you are to where you want to be. People invest for the following 3 reasons, security, comfort and to be rich. You should have an simple, basic automatic plan in place that you understand to be secure and comfortable before you invest in becoming rich. You should also have a plan on what to do with the money that you make before you make it. By having a dream, the dedication and drive you can get the data and dollars. Today it easier than ever to convert ideas into assets.
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