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John Self asked:


What does wealth mean to you? Salary? Lifestyle? Money?

Most people are too busy with bill bills life, bills, life and some more bills. Our everyday existance has become a long slog at work to return home at night in order to pay our bills to keep us going.

Wealth is truely more than money- Money is the vehicle to allow us to do the things we like! Money in itself can make you rich. But here is a poser- when you earn more money, you tend to be able to spend it on more expensive things- but as these things cost you more you end up with the same thing- less money as your spending it. Therefore your path to true wealth should not rely purely on a job or salary- where you trade your time for money.

When you work for a company as an employee remember one key thing- They are paying you the bare minimum to keep you- they wont say oh that John Self he is a good guy lets pay him £50k more.

As I see it there are 3 main levels of financial evolution-

1) Pay Check Existence

This is where the majority of brits and the rest of the western world live. Main source of income= You bet, thier J.O.B.’s. Here you get paid for working the 9-5 (longer if your lucky )You hope your money lasts the month/2 weeks/ week that your paid for untill you get that golden paycheck- Here, another one of my NLHWH GEMS- Buy relying on this you get so dependent on it it makes you believe that work is the only way to create income, if you lost your job how would you cope????? What happens when that golden paycheck doesnt arrive??

Trouble is these people are usually scared as they have spent all of their money and Mr Mastercard/Visa comes into play-we can put it on the good ole credit card. We wont have to pay later. This adds to the building snowball of debt- but dont worry that paycheck should arrive……. soon

2) Passive Income

The Next tier is one that over 90% of the world miss out on- so if this is you congratulations your in the top 10% of the global population! You have heard that 10% of the world control 90% of the wealth??

Here money is earned passively- so that you earn money whether you want to or not! So go to bed, earn some money. Mainstream sources of this are shares, property, businesses, royalties etc.

What is important here is to get out of the mindset that the only way to bring in money is through a job! Imagine going to bed and waking up richer, not having to do the commute to work but stay in bed, spend time with the family, doing things you want.

3) Wealth

So  very few people get to this level and this is for many reasons- too many for this post, but into that basket go mindset, fear, unclear goals, poor education (financial) .

This stage is where you have enough passive income you can lead the lifestyle you want. There is no magical number here, it can be as extravagant or as frugal as you like. Warren Buffet lived in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500!! He is possibly one of the biggest wealth creators of the modern age yet lives a fairly frugal lifestyle.

This does not have to be you- at this level you will have invested carefully, created multiple streams of income and therefore you can do as you please! People like Bill Gates, Michael Yardney all have massive passive incomes but also spend their money on what they want- Michael Yardney travels the globe, Jamie McIntyre has an amazing waterfront property in one of the most sought after areas in Australia along with a huge country retreat in country New South Wales.

My questions for you

* What level of financial evolution are you in?

* Do you live beyond your means?

* How many investments do you have?

* Where does your income from?

* How financially educated are you?

Happy wealth creation

John Self

www.buildingnlhwh.com



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Diamond Kiang asked:


Dealing with financial issues is a common experience for most people. Indeed, most people do not earn enough to financially provide for the family’s needs. Therefore, clearly identifying your choices as to which ones you need to include in the family budget is of utmost importance. In fact, handling personal finances has been a cause of major stress for some individuals and families.

Dealing with Financial Stress

Stress over personal and family finances has been a part of day-to-day living. After all, almost everything involved in one’s everyday life involves handling finances in some sort. Dealing with finances alone is quite stressful, but it becomes more difficult if you are experiencing financial crisis.

When this happens, you lose control over your finances and making both ends meet nearly becomes impossible. Add to that a few other unexpected scenarios that could further ruin your financial standing. Unless you do something about it, you will not be able to eliminate that stress.

Your first step towards dealing and fixing financial stress or crisis is to get rid of any source of stress. Living with stress is generally unhealthy. Especially when it comes to money matters, there is tremendous pressure since it is a valuable resource that you need to survive daily living.

Understanding The Root of the Problem

There are several reasons that could lead to financial stress such as losing your job, poor financial management and planning, overwhelming debts, and many more. Even tiny and seemingly unnoticeable gaps in your finances can lead to major financial risks. What is more threatening about experiencing financial trouble does not involve money itself – going through financial difficulties cause anxiety, stress, fear, or panic. This will then go on a vicious cycle and creates a negative disposition.

Therefore, it is important for you to recognize what actually causes this tremendous level of stress. Getting to the root of your problem will enable you to formulate ways to reverse your situation. Most people become too overwhelmed with their current financial distress that they fail to consider any existing factors that could help alleviate their condition. It is all about being able to cope and the sooner you understand what must be done, the sooner you can get out of that financial slumber.

Are You Suffering from Financial Stress?

Since it has become such a common scenario, many people do not even realize that they are already suffering from financial stress. They create this idea that families with limited income typically go through that phase. However, you need to realize that even with minimal budget, you can possibly come up with a specific financial plan that will suffice for your family’s needs. It is all about coming up with a flexible financial budget.

Here are crucial signs that tell you are suffering financial stress and must do something about it:

*It is impossible to meet all your necessary financial obligations, thus you can’t even make both paychecks meet.

*Not having to clearly track all your accounts, expenditures, and the flow of cash.

*Failing to attend to important financial needs such as securing insurances due to lack of money.

*Lack of preparedness for the future since you are mostly concerned about surviving for today.

*Constant worry about important bills.

*Increased level of anxiety when it comes to discussing money matters.

Debt Relief

After realizing what the source of your financial problems is, your next step is to find ways to eliminate any source of debts or causes of financial risks. Since debt is one of the major causes of financial problems, you need to look for ways to help you get rid of debt burden and be on your way to financial relief.

One option for you is to avail of debt consolidation services. This type of services will enable you to roll all of your pending debts into one to make handling your debts more manageable. When you have multiple debts that you need to settle monthly payments for, it most often eats up most of your monthly budget. Therefore, you end up running short of your finances. With debt consolidation, you can reduce your monthly payment into a single payment plan and you’d have more budget left for your other needs.

You also need to practice self-discipline in order to ensure prompt payment for your debts. As soon as you receive your paycheck, promptly send out your payments so you can allocate the rest for your other expenses.

Steps Towards Better Finances

The good thing about financial stress is that there are ways to resolve your problems. Here are tips you can try:

*Set specific short- and long-term financial goals.

*Create a sound financial budget plan. If possible, list down all of your monthly expenses to identify whether you can afford to buy something or not.

*Find debt relief measures or seek help from debt counselors.

*Cut down on your expenses. Moreover, avoid impulsive buying.

*Identify your ‘wants’ from your ‘needs’.



Kansieo.com

Your Financial Resource asked:


So you have a job and you make money. Is it enough to cover all your expenses? Is it enough to put aside some money towards your retirement? What about those credit card debts, home mortgages, and travel expenses coming up? What about starting a family, paying for your children’s education? Have you already started planning for retirement? What steps have you taken? Perhaps you have consulted with retirement planning services and professionals or found some online sources for financial planning software and retirement planning tools.

Ok, so we have raised a number of questions and hopefully sparked some ideas and thoughts in your mind. Our last podcast introduced the topic of financial freedom and how the resources learned from our community can be shared with our listeners. The ultimate goal being that we can use this information to achieve financial success in our lives.

Well, here’s a little preview of our next several episodes about a Retirement Planning Guide, which will be sold in the future through leading book sellers like Amazon for $29.99. However, for a limited time, we are giving away this eBook as a FREE download along with a five part course which will be emailed to you. In addition, we know your time is valuable and as a service to our listners we have created this book as a audiobook which can also be downloaded for free by signing up now. To get this and other exclusive content now, sign up to our email list by going to http://www.financialresource.org We dont like spam either and respect your privacy.

Our next several episodes will dive into the contents of this Retirement Planning Guide. You don’t want to miss this series of podcasts if you are looking to personally manage your finances or are searching for a retirement planning guide, including retirement planning calculators and retirement planning software. All this valuable information along with tips and tools for retirement and financial planning are in this eBook to aid you with your own personal financial planning.

What is covered in this Retirement Planning book?

1. Things you should think about when starting your retirement plan.

2. How to determine how much money you’ll need now and in the future.

3. Maximizing your employer’s retirement plans while you can

4. How to find FREE MONEY in your employer’s retirement plans

5. Investing in the stock market to grow your retirement savings

6. What you need to know if you have to work after the age of 65

7. How to plan your will

8. The best way to use your home in your retirement plans

9. How to find health insurance in retirement

10. If you need to purchase long-term care and life insurance

Lots more…

We look forward to sharing this with you in the upcoming podcasts. Once again, sign up to our email list to get the FREE eBook and the five part course. Also if you want to get ready to listen to the podcasts on your iPod, visit us at http://www.financialresource.org click the iTunes link in the left sidebar. It will take you to the Financial Resource iTunes store. Click on the Subscribe button once you are in iTunes. With that final click, you are all set to automatically receive the latest FREE audiobooks and podcasts on this book.



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