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Wealth Wheel

Unfortunately, many folks start off with the wrong step or mix up strategies. Example, they invest in stocks for growth, when what they really want is cash flow. Cash flow to augment a job or even replace a job. Everyone should have multiple sources of cash flow (just in case). You need a CASH FLOW strategy in the stock market, not a growth strategy. Most advisors talk about growth strategies, like buy and hold, or fundamental analysis. That does not pay the bills.

There are several cash flow strategies for the stock market. Strategies like: credit spreads, options, covered calls, 3 day pop, best 6 days of the month to invest, 6 week system, daily gap trades, and more. You should check it out. In fact later we will talk about these strategies. They are cool.

Many investors buy real estate for cash flow, and end up with growth (appreciation). When they were expecting to flip the property and make money. There are specific cash flow strategies in real estate and separate growth strategies. You need to know the difference.

Or even worse, folks try real estate, business or stocks without education or a specific plan. The best thing you can do before going on any adventure, is buy a MAP. Know the territory, and path before walking it. Otherwise you get lost.

Key 1: Mentors and Education


In fact, if I see one common mistake for most folks traveling the path to financial freedom, it is going into situations blind. Deciding they are going to invest in real estate or the stock market with out education FIRST. Or worst they decide to use trial and error as their teacher. Ignorance is an expensive lesson. It is always cheaper to buy the MAP. Getting lost can cost you time and money.

I would much rather take the advice of two of my mentors, Napoleon Hill and Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn kept encouraged me to learn more. Because as you learn more you earn more. Become more valuable to the people around you, your employer, the marketplace and self. Education, and following a Mentor are absolutely the path to Riches. Get GREAT mentors in your life and your life will become a master piece in short period of time.


jim rohn

Jim Rohn Guidance:


“You are the sum total of the 5 people you
spend time with on a regular basis”


“If you work hard on the job, you will make a living,


If you work hard on yourself you will make a fortune”

Unfortunately, even if you work hard at your job, there is no guarantee they will keep you. Cut backs and layoffs are a common occurrence. What would you do if you lost your job today? Are you like the average person? The average person goes through their savings and checking in 3 months, then credit cards, and are BROKE. That is scary. You must have more than one source of income, hopefully many! More importantly, build a retirement nest egg, that will take care of you. At least 2 million dollars. Lots of folks 2 Million is enough.

It time for you to step up and grab the gold ring. To become worth more, earn, more and build financial freedom. Take Jim Rohns advice. WORK on YOURSELF. Dedicate some time, money, and effort to improving your skills in: buying real estate, managing your money, picking stocks, cutting taxes, opening a business, and protection your assets.

Napoleon Hill was right too. In your life you must pay the price for specialized knowledge, whether you buy it, become an apprentice to a master craftsman, or tap a master mind group. Find those experts, and put them on your team. The simplest way is to buy their time and knowledge. I loved most of Napoleons book “Think and Grow Rich”. Many of the concepts I live today. All successful people have at the base, the characteristics from his book. You must have:

Desire. Maintain your desire, even in the face of obstacles.

Faith. Faith in God. Faith in self. Faith in General.

Organized Planning. Set your goals, build a plan, follow your action steps.

Specialized Knowledge. When you learn you earn. Find a mentor & educational plan.

 

DREAM. Thoughts are things. Whatever we can conceive (DREAM), and believe we can achieve. By the way, would you like a free copy of his book Think and Grow Rich? If so, you can download it from my www.m2book.com web site.  FREE! My gift to you for visiting my site.

I have spent time with 50 plus millionaires and at least 2 billionaires. People ask, how do you know some many authors, lectures, business people, and success coaches. Well, let me tell you, I have begged them for an hour of their time, paid for their workshops (just to get time with them), gone to work for them, offered them FREE work to get time with them, bought golf games (at special courses), and just plain bought their time. I once paid a guy $15,000 for a few days of his time. The nice thing about buying their time, whether an hour or a day, they focus just on you. Pure focused time on task, or skill absolutely will get you to success quicker. I will pay anything for knowledge and coaching. I know, how much time and money a mentor or some good education can save.
Each and every time I am with “Rich” folks, I quiz them for information. A concept, an idea, a belief system, or specific strategies they use in: business, stock trading, real estate and even life.

In fact, one of my best marriage strategies (staying married) came from golfing with Ken Blanchard (Author of the One Minute Manager) at the Board of Trade in Toronto. OK. I know you are dying to know. He called it 90 seconds of passion. At first, I thought he was going to express a problem, that the little blue pill might fix. BUT what he shared with me really works, and is one of the reasons, I have stayed married for over 25 years. Ken (like I) travels a bit. So he is not always home. No matter where he is in the world. He stops for 90 seconds, calls his wife and tells her how much she means to him. Awe.... Isn’t that sweet. And it works. I did the same with my wife. It is not much time but over the years, those 90 seconds, once a day while away, add up. They can be the difference between a successful marriage and not. Small strategies applied over time, can make a huge difference.

Reminds of the 10% solution, that I learned form Charles J Givens. Take 10% of your pay and put it way for your future. Then live on the 90%. I have run the numbers, it makes sense. Even more important it makes DOLLARS. In my M2 Book, I run some of the numbers. 10% over 15 yrs, 25 yrs, with X ROR (Rate of Return). The numbers are compelling. Combine a few beginning dollars with the right rate of return, and you future can be guaranteed. Let me give you and example from my financial success workshop. If we start with 10k, and get a good rate of return (see below the different annual rates of return), over time (36 years), the effect can be huge. Taking even a small amount, like 10k and putting it away for 36 years at 15%, means 1.5 MILLION in your future. The trick is to use the 10% solution, to get the 10k in an account, and get 15% per year. Did your mutual earn 15% last year, or year before? Not likely.

Here are just of a few of the Mentors in my life. Folks that were kind enough to share their philosophy and strategy. I have dozens more, some well known (Warren Buffet, William O’Neill), others that are just quietly making money on the internet (Armand Morin-50 Million a year) or stock market. At last count, several years ago, I spent over 81K on training’s, mentors, education and books and tapes. Now I can in turn share my experience and strategies you!

Key 2:  Cash Flow. Is King!

People get greedy. People get sold on products and investments. People don’t think through their long term, short term, cash flow, growth, risk , reward, speculation  investments.
After a few mistakes myself, and hundreds (if not thousands) of students, and clients questions, and complaints, I came up with a simple thought process, that keeps MOST folks safe. Now is a good time for a disclosure.  I don’t know your financial background, whether you are young, old or ancient. This approach is just a balance concept for the average person.
One of the biggest mistakes folks make is they speculate or are heavy on growth, when what they really need is CASH FLOW. Or speculate way too much. So follow this plan.
Strategy: 45/45/10 Plan—A balanced approach to investing.
45% Cash Flow. Focus on cash flow strategies first. This builds multiple sources of cash flow. If we have more than just job income it keeps us safer. And or allows extra money to build wealth, or leverage. Strategies to consider are:

    • Get a job. A good start, but not the only solution.
    • Credit Spreads. Monthly income from the stock market.
    • Covered Calls. Rent your stocks out and get paid.
    • Rental Real Estate. Single residence, duplex or triplex.
    • Commercial Real Estate. Mobile Home Park. Bill Boards. Storage.
    • Small Business Income. Web sites, services, retail, & professional
    • Intellectual property. Write it once, get paid forever.
    • Referral fees. Match products and databases, take a small percentage each and every month. 2% can make you rich.

45% Growth. Once we have multiple sources of income working. We can turn our attention to longer term growth. Long term growth makes us rich. One strategy I heard early in my real estate investing career was “buy one rental property a year, for 10 years and in year 15 you will be a millionaire. Run the numbers, it is true if the appreciate rate is about 6 percent or great. Simple growth strategies can make us rich. But it all about the ROI. See growth section on time, roi and compounding. We may consider strategies such as:

  • Real estate appreciation. Long term growth.
  • CANSLIM
  • Buffet Approach
  • Dogs of the Dow
  • Bi weekly mortgage payments

10% Speculation. We can speculate and get a better pay day. But we must understand the realationship between, risk and reward. Only a small part of our investing should be speculation. Unfortunately, many investors speculate too much. They gamble on the long shot, when they should be making small amounts of money consistently over time. A few examples of speculation maybe:

  • Land options.
  • Buying homes on Speculation.
  • Development.
  • Naked options.
  • Forex (large positions).

Now if you have the right education, and experience these “speculative” strategies can be more safe. As experience, can give you higher probability of success. As the forex investor, that knows support, resistance, world economy, an Elliott Wave, or Gartley pattern. He will tell a hundred to one leverage, is not risky, but profitable. The key here being EDUCATION, STRATEGY and EXPERIENCE.


Key 3: Growth—the tools of long term wealth.

Strategy: Use The Power of Compounding

What is compounding? Simply stated, it is the act of making money from the money you made on money, or interest on your interest. As with all investments, there can be calculated a definite rate of return that has already been realized over a period of time.

Hopefully, you invest wisely and this rate of return is a large positive number. Once your investment has realized a profit, you are faced with a dilemma and must choose between one of two options. You may either take the profit and spend it, or reinvest your profit and experience the power of compounding first hand. Consider the following:

Investor “A” purchased a $1,000 position in mutual fund XYZ one year ago. Today, mutual fund XYZ posted a $50 cash dividend. Investor “A” used the $50 to take his wife on a date and plans to do the same each year when the dividend is paid.

Investor “B” purchased a $1,000 position in the same mutual fund on the same date as Investor “A”. He, however, has chosen to purchase additional shares of the XYZ fund with the $50.

If each of the two investors continue to do the same for 20 years, and the mutual fund has a 10% increase in value annually, plus pays a 5% cash dividend here is how each investor will end up at the completion of the 20 years:

Investor “A”

$1,000 grows at a rate of 10% (the annual increase in share value) to become $6,727.50.

Investor “B”

$1,000 grows at a rate of 15% (the annual increase in share value plus the reinvestment of the cash dividend) to become $16,366.54.
As you can see, Investor “B” has more than double the amount of Investor “A” simply by reinvesting the profits of the investment. Imagine for just a moment how dramatic the difference would be if the return were only slightly improved to 18% - 20%. The effects can be staggering.

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Let us look at something simple 10k and see what can happen over 36 years, at different rates of return. 5, 8, 10 and 15 percent per year. The differences are very interesting.

Strategy: Earn 15% per Annum (minimum)

I STRONGLY recommend the minimum annual return you must have on your investments is 15% (without risk). Most financial advisors will say, “well if you want those returns,, there will be a lot of risk, and you have to be prepared to ride out the losses”. What a lie. You can get 15% or more, fairly safe. Ever hear about Tax Liens? Banks buy them. Trusts buy them. 18%, 25% or greater per year, and every once and a while you can pick up a property for pennies on the dollar. I cover how to buy them, easily and simply form the comfort of your home and computer. And you can even buy them in to your retirement program.

Strategy: Diversification can help with growth

Diversification provides a means of reducing risk. A diversified portfolio includes securities from different asset classes. Since bonds or real estate tend to do well when stocks don’t, you could construct a portfolio that includes a certain percentage of stocks  bonds, tax liens, real estate and business enterprises. This helps ensure that at least a portion of your holdings is always doing well.
Another way to diversify is to buy securities in the same asset class that are not affected by the same variables. For instance, entertainment companies, utilities, grocery stores, and airlines are completely different businesses. Depending on the country’s economy, one or more of these industries might tend to perform better than the others. If you build a portfolio that includes securities from a number of sectors, chances are that one or more would always be doing better than average.

When you diversify, you try to ensure that at any given time, the value of some of your holdings might be down, and some might be up, but overall you’re doing fine. The trick is to find securities, or assets that don’t have tendencies to increase or decrease in price at the same time.  Or look for the right balance of cash flow vs growth.
The trade-off for the balancing of risk and return in a diversified portfolio is that your overall return might be somewhat lower than you could get in an un-diversified portfolio. However, along the way, a diversified portfolio will have less volatility, and steadier returns.  But often safer, and well balanced.
The bottom line for growth is high rates of return 15% or greater over time. It really does not matter if the vehicle is real estate, business or stocks. However, if you use all the vehicles of wealth, there should be lower risk.

Key 4: Big Hits—nothing like a win fall.

If you are on the right path, if you are following the plan to wealth, and building your cash flow, growth and speculation strategies, every once and awhile you will have a BIG HIT. A Win Fall. It may take the form of a stock running long (like Google), with huge profits. It may take the form of a real estate deal that you sell for 100k, when you thought you would get 25k. Or a business opportunity, that just drops in your lap. These are BIG HITS. The reason, you get them, is because you are looking for general opportunites. As you look for solid opportunites, every once and a while you fall into a GREAT deal. Thank your stars and keep going.

The challenge for many people, is that they look for the BIG deal first. Often getting eaten in the process.
I know a body shop owner, that was hitting doubles and singles. Making money with a duplex, triplex, and his business. One day, out of the blue, he decided to focus on the home run. A big million dollar property, with carrying cost of 11k per month. His thinking in 6 months, he would make a killing. Well someone got killed….. Him. After 2 years of paying the 11k, and going broke in the process, he had to let it go back to the bank. Don’t focus on the big deal, and never need it. Just let them come to you every once and a while, and never risk it all.
Big Hits can be:

  • Foreclosures. Bank owned or Short Sales.
  • Stocks that run long. Big wins.
  • Taking a company public. As I did in 1996. Huge win fall.

Key 5: Leverage—tool of the rich.

Nearly every one of us uses the power of leverage at least once in our lives, whether you realize it or not. At some point, almost all of us buy a house for our families. And it is very rare when a person pays cash for their home. Instead, buyers go to their banks, credit unions, or other financial institutions to obtain a mortgage (or deed of trust) for the purchase of their new home.

Lets say for example that your new home will cost $150,000. Your bank reviews your good credit and agrees to give you a loan for the purchase of the house. They do require you, however, to pay the first 10% from your personal savings. So, you pay $15,000 and the bank pays the remaining $135,000 to the buyer and obligates you to a $135,000 loan. You now control a $150,000 investment in real estate for $15,000 out of your pocket. Of course you will have to make monthly payments to your lender, but if you do not buy a house, you will have to make monthly payments to a landlord. This is using leverage.

Now lets take a look at the power leverage provides us as investors. For this example, we will compare two investors that purchase 100 shares in ABC Corporation. The first investor decides to fully pay for his investment, while the second investor purchases his shares using leverage (commonly referred to as using “Margin”). For this example, lets assume shares of ABC Corporation were purchased at $100 per share and appreciate 20% over the course of 1 year.

Therefore: $100/share x 100 shares x 20% appreciation = $12,000 for the value of the shares after that year. Each investor made $2,000, but:

  • Investor “A” invested $10,000 ($100/share x 100 shares), therefore realized a 20% return on his money.
  • Investor “B” invested $5,000 ($100/share x 100 share x 50% Margin), therefore realized a 40% return on his money.

 

That is the power of leverage! Leverage can be used for investing in stocks, bonds (if you leverage tax free municipal bonds, they are no longer tax-exempt), and mutual funds (once they have been owned for at least 30 days) through the use of brokerage margin accounts. Bear in mind however, that leverage is a double-edged sword. It amplifies your investment results, whether they are good or bad, so use this wealth-building tool wisely.

Any time we can borrow money, to buy and asset, and we get a high return on the asset value over time, we have HIGH leverage. Here are some place to gain leverage:

  • Real Estate. We borrow money from a bank or even from the owner (seller financing), to buy a big asset and we see the asset appreciate (grow) over time.
  • Business. We build an inexpensive web site, and build a data base, and back end products. Over time we get a system of sales working. A steady income. We then sell the Asset or Income stream to others for cash.
  • Intellectual leverage. You write a book. Sell it. Now you get paid forever. That is leverage.
  • Options. Stock options are a form of leverage. Controlling an asset for a few dollars.

Strategy: Use Options for leverage

What is an Option? An option is a contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset (a stock or index) at a specific price on or before a certain date. An option is a security, just like a stock or bond, and constitutes a binding contract with strictly defined terms and properties. Listed options are all for 100 shares of the particular underlying asset.

Listed options have been available since 1973, when the Chicago Board Options Exchange, still the busiest options exchange in the world, first opened. Options give you, the investor, more opportunities and investment choices.

Prior to the founding of the CBOE, investors had few choices of where to invest their money; they could either be long or short individual stocks, or they could purchase treasury securities or other bonds. But once the CBOE opened, the listed option industry began, and investors now had a world of investment choices previously unavailable.

Options vs. Stocks

 

In order for you to better understand the benefits of trading options, you must first understand some of the similarities and differences between options and stocks.

 

Similarities:

  • Listed Options are securities, just like stocks.
  • Options trade like stocks, with buyers making bids and sellers making offers.
  • Options are actively traded in a listed market, just like stocks. They can be bought and sold just like any other security.

Differences:

  • Options are derivatives, unlike stocks (i.e., options derive their value from something else, the underlying security).
  • Options have expiration dates, while stocks do not.
  • There are not a fixed number of options, as there are with stock shares available.
  • Stockowners have a share of the company, with voting and dividend rights. Options convey no such rights.

Some people remain puzzled by options. The truth is that most people have been using options for some time, because option-ality is built into everything from mortgages to auto insurance. In the listed options world, however, their existence is much more clear.
To begin, there are only two kinds of options: Call Options and Put Options.
A Call option is an option to buy a stock at a specific price on or before a certain date. In this way, Call options are like security deposits.

If, for example, you wanted to rent a certain property, and left a security deposit for it, the money would be used to insure that you could, in fact, rent that property at the price agreed upon when you returned.

If you never returned, you would give up your security deposit, but you would have no other liability. Call options usually increase in value as the value of the underlying instrument increases.

When you buy a Call option, the price you pay for it, called the option premium, secures your right to buy that certain stock at a specified price, called the strike price.
If you decide not to use the option to buy the stock, and you are not obligated to, your only cost is the option premium.

Put options are options to sell a stock at a specific price on or before a certain date. In this way, Put options are like insurance policies.
If you buy a new car, and then buy auto insurance on the car, you pay a premium and are, hence, protected if the asset is damaged in an accident. If this happens, you can use your policy to regain the insured value of the car. In this way, the put option gains in value as the value of the underlying instrument decreases.

If all goes well and the insurance is not needed, the insurance company keeps your premium in return for taking on the risk.

With a Put option, you can “insure” a stock by fixing a selling price.
If something happens which causes the stock price to fall, and thus, “damages” your asset, you can exercise your option and sell it at its “insured” price level.

If the price of your stock goes up, and there is no “damage,” then you do not need to use the insurance, and, once again, your only cost is the premium.
This is the primary function of listed options, to allow investors ways to manage risk.
Options can be used  for several reasons:

  • Play a stock up or down.
  • Buy stock a little cheaper (buy a stock and sell a call).
  • Earn cash flow from existing stocks. Monthly income.
  • Protect positions.  A protective Put. Locking in profits.

 

All for pennies on the dollar. A great use of Leverage.

Key 6: Tax and Asset Protection.

Strategy: Invest for Retirement-Defer, Deduct, and Divert

Many investors put off starting their retirement plans simply because they’re confused and overwhelmed by the options. Just figuring out the abbreviations of the many available retirement plans can be a challenge. You might be able to invest through an IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other type of plan, depending on a number of factors, including your income, whether or not you’re self employed, and whether or not you can participate in a retirement plan sponsored by your employer.

A retirement plan is a special type of account that you can establish at a bank, brokerage, or any other financial institution, either on your own or through your employer. The U.S. government wants to encourage you to save for your own retirement, so they’re willing to give you some pretty nice tax breaks to encourage you to save in these accounts, as long as you agree not to take out the money before you retire.
Once you put money into a retirement fund, the funds grow on a tax-deferred basis. That just means you won’t be liable for paying taxes on any of the profits earned in your retirement account, generally until you retire and start withdrawing money.

Did you catch that? You don’t have to pay taxes on the profits that you earn in a retirement account, at least until you retire when (presumably) you’ll be in a lower tax bracket. Since you don’t have to worry about taxes in the meantime, all your earnings will compound in the account and lead to higher returns (remember the discussion about compounding?). The end result is that your retirement account can grow and grow and grow at a faster rate than it would otherwise.

If that is not enough to compel you, there is more incentive. You can even get a tax break in every year that you contribute to a retirement plan. Want a way to cut your taxes? The government will give you a tax break right now if you’ll contribute to your retirement plan.


What could be better than postponing taxes on your future profits and lowering your current taxes at the same time? Well, how about not paying taxes at all? Yes, some retirement accounts allow you to forget about paying taxes on the profits you earn in the account now or when you retire!

Never mind all the tax savings, though, since the real purpose of retirement plans is to let you slowly build wealth. During all your working years, you’ll contribute to your plan. When you retire, you’ll be able to enjoy your golden years free from financial worries.