October 16, 2009

How To Improve Your Credit Score One Day At A Time

There are many misconceptions about credit scores out there. There are customers who believe that they don’t have a credit score and many customers who think that their credit scores just don’t really matter. These sorts of misconceptions can hurt your chances at some jobs, at good interest rates, and even your chances of getting some apartments or investing in real estate.

Every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply for some more exclusive types of apartment living, your credit score is checked. In fact, your credit score can be checked by anyone with a legitimate business need to do so. Your credit score is based on your past financial responsibilities and past payments and credit, and it provides potential lenders with a quick snapshot of your current financial state and past repayment habits.

In other words, your credit score lets lenders know quickly how much of a credit risk you are. Based on this credit score, lenders decide whether to trust you financially - and give you better rates when you apply for a loan. Apartment managers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted to pay your rent on time. Employers can use your credit score to decide whether you can be trusted in a high-responsibility job that requires you to handle money.

The problem with credit scores is that there is quite a bit of misinformation circulated about, especially through some less than scrupulous companies who claim they can help you with your credit report and credit score - for a cost, of course. From advertisements and suspect claims, customers sometimes come away with the idea that in order to boost their credit score, they have to pay money to a company or leave credit repair in the hands of so-called “experts.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It is perfectly possible to pay down debts and boost your credit on your own, with no expensive help whatsoever.

Reserve a copy of this newly released book that will show you how to:

* Define a credit score, a credit report, and other key financial terms
* Develop a personalized credit repair plan that addresses your unique financial situation
* Find the resources and people who can help you repair your credit score
* Repair your credit effectively using the very techniques used by credit repair experts

Plus, unlike many other books on the subject, this book will show you how to deal with your everyday life while repairing your credit. Your credit repair does not happen in a vacuum.

For only an investment of $5.99, this book will teach you the powerful strategies you need to build the financial habits that will help you to a keep a high credit risk rating. It really is that simple.

==> http://tinyurl.com/ykg8eev

Go now and start reading and be prepared to start taking small but powerful steps that can have a dramatic impact on your financial life!

August 22, 2009

Teaching Teens About Money Management

Most of the times parents complain about their teenagers and their expenditure habits. As “difficult” it may seem to you, it is important to teach them early about money and money management. Having a constant allowance, source of income and their savings account can teach them about the importance of savings, how to manage their resources, and to make financial decisions about their expenditures, since they will see the impact of their decision on their account.

In addition to teaching them about saving, it is important to educate them about the difference between good and bad debt. In today’s environment, teenagers are exposed to credit card marketing enticing them to register for a credit card. It is important for them to learn early about the use of credit cards and the impact of the bad use of them.

Kids these days are becoming more and more aware of their family's source of income and financial status. They apply these money-spending principles when they venture out on their own. Thus, it becomes more of a parent’s responsibility to start “training” their teenage kids to use their money wisely.

Here are five tips on how to teach your teenagers about money management:

1. Lead by example - This in my opinion is the most important step. With your lifestyle, the children will see how you spend your money. If they see you allotting a certain amount for a specific household need, they will eventually do the same when they get to earn their own keep.
2. Open a savings account – Help your teen open a savings account. It is important that the account is in THEIR name. This will give them an instant financial responsibility. Many banks offer starting accounts, many geared to minors, where there are no monthly fees. The idea here is to get them motivated about the saving process. When they receive their statements and see their balance, they will be able to see the impact of their decisions. As they see their account growing, it may motivate them to continue saving. 
3. Teach them how to manage their money – Show them how; do not make the decisions for them. Sit down and explain to them how to manage their own account, and the rewards that they get from saving. Help them review their savings account statement, so they can see how much money was deposited into the account and how much money was spent and where. This will help a teenager later in life with the management of a checking account.
4. Construct a “spending plan” – I suggest that you do not call it a budget, unfortunately many people feel that a budget is restricting their lives. The idea is to make it fun, educational, and for the teenager to gain a sense of responsibility. Instead call it a spending plan, this can be fun for the teenager to think of the ways they can wisely spend their savings.This will help them feel better about saving money since they will have a target to work toward.
5. Develop a “saving plan” – Now that you have helped your teenager to develop a series of goals on how they could wisely spend their money, you need to show them how much money they need to save monthly to achieve their goals. This is a learning experience for the teenager since it may be their first savings account.

Teens can learn at an early age about money management. If you implement the plan above you will provide your teenager a lesson in life that will prevent future financial failures and something that they won’t learn in any textbook in high school. It is important for them to understand purchase decisions, and the management of the money they earn. It will teach them that they do not have to waste money on expensive stuff that they don’t really need. You will help your teenager to grow up being a responsible adult at least money wise.

August 5, 2009

Accomplish Your Goals



Have you ever wondered why some people make dramatic changes in their family, community, and/or business by their achievements? Why some people never take off, they never get passed the dreaming stage?

I think all of us have the ability to have great ideas, to have big dreams. However, many of us fall victim to fear or lack of confidence which freezes us in the accomplishments of our dreams. The purpose of this posting is to motivate you to take action and not to let your goals fall by the wayside. However, many people struggle in the passing from the dreaming stage into the action or implementation stage.

Here I share with you six steps for the effective implementation of your goals:

1. Desire – You must deeply desire the goal. As Napoleon Hill stated in his book “Think and Grow Rich” “The starting point of all achievement is desire”. Therefore, the first step in goal setting and achieving your dreams is to have, what Napoleon Hill describes, “burning desire” to achieve the goal.
2. Visualize – Lee Iacocca said “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind”. Visualize yourself achieving the goal. Visualize yourself successfully completing the negotiation, giving the speech, landing the perfect jump, etc. The power of this step is in your ability to make a clear representation of your goals. The more detail you have in the representation the better. The better you can experience being in the desired situation, the more power the representation gets. As Stephen Covey says “You begin with the end in mind”
3. Commit – Make a plan for the path you must follow to accomplish your goal. Develop a work plan with target milestones, dates, and important steps that must happen for the goal to become a reality. Write down the plan, the action steps and the critical path. When you write down your goals, the plan, the steps and timeline you transmute your ideas/dreams from the something metaphysical into physical.
4. Take Action – Now that your dreams have been converted into a written plan, you must take action. As Anthony Robbins has been quoted “A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided.” Here is where many of us fail to convert our dreams into reality, we do not take ACTION.
5. Perseverance – Perseverance is defined as “steady persistence in a course of action or purpose in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragements”. Just the fact that you have an idea, have the burning desire to achieve the goal, you visualize it, you commit to a plan of action, you have taken action, guarantees that your idea will become true. Sometimes you will face difficulties, opposition, naysayers, pessimists that all they want is to destroy your dreams. You must persevere. For example, when Walt Disney had the dream of building Disneyland on a orange grove field, he didn’t have money, over 200 banks turned him down, once the project started it was plagued by problems, the press constantly criticized the project until it opened, Mr. Disney faced daily challenges, opposition, naysayers. He didn’t give up and persevered on his dream.
6. Review - No matter how positively you are thinking, you need to assess your progress. Take a look at all of the factors that are keeping you from accomplishing your goal and develop a plan to overcome them. Make sure you are making progress. If you are not making progress, hire a coach, tap into the support of loved ones, analyze why the goal is not being met. Don’t allow the goal to just fade away. Figure out what you need to do to accomplish it.
You have to have the passion for your dream or it will never come true. Life is now, so do it now. When your goal seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller steps. Avoid negative people. Stay clear of the energy-sucking vampires that are around. Don’t let people flood your environment with negative karma/energy. Just keep working on your goals, following your dreams, a little every day, and before you know it your dreams will be reality!

June 21, 2009

Dreams the Beginning of Reality






"If the why is strong enough, the how becomes easy." - Jim Rohn

What do you want from life? Do you know, or do you just drift from day to day without any particular aims or sense of direction? It might even be that you feel defeated, or stuck in a rut from which there seems to be no escape. This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the routine of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

We have allowed the current financial situation in the world stop us from dreaming and in many cases destroy them. As far as I can tell, the current climate is ideal for entrepreneurs. The time to launch businesses and to invest in the real estate market is now. To launch your business and be successful, you must have a vision, a viable product or service to sell, a global outlook and a smart experienced team.The beginning of your success is in your vision, your dream.

It has been said that dreams are the seedlings of reality. Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big, achieve great things. Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, many times our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

I know, right now seems impossible to think positive and think big. There lies the problem. The word “impossible”. One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the familiarity with the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can't do this. It's too hard. It's too impossible. No one can do this.

Now think about this, if everyone thought that way, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment. If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. Have you heard of Dr. Robert Schuler? He dreamt of a Crystal Cathedral in Santa Ana, California, which is an earthquake area. In the 80's he invited a famous architect to plan the Cathedral for him. The architect was skeptical that such a large glass structure could be built there and if possible, would cost a fortune. "Do you have that type of money?" he asked Dr. Schuler. "No" was the answer. "Well, then it's absolutely impossible!" the architect retorted. Dr. Schuler showed him his dictionary. The word impossible was cut out, as it was in all his literature. For him, impossible did not exist and a few years later the Crystal Cathedral was built and today his "Hour of Power" is broadcast to the world every Sunday. Can you imagine if he would have listened to the architect and would have given up on his dream?

What he did, you can do! Be outrageous! Think big!

Here is a poem I came across recently, written by Marianne Williamson and used by Nelson Mandela in his inauguration speech in 1994...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be!
Our playing small does not save the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking,
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
You are born to make manifest to the glory of God that is within us;
it is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates others."

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be hard work and discipline. But take note that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Dr. Schuler, Edison, Mandela, and thousands of other extremely successful people all have these 3 things in common:

1. They knew exactly what they wanted and started with the end result in mind.
2. BELIEF - People who do the impossible believe they can do it and eventually do!
3. They act in spite of their fears; in spite of their doubts and in spite of what their family and friends might tell them.

Much of what we hope for in life starts out as a dream, whether it is a wonderful family home with a large garden, a successful and stimulating career, or a trip around the world. It is important to have a dream. Through our dreams we can visualize what we want in life. We can turn that visualization into a plan and start taking steps that will take us closer to our dream. Visualizing is also essential, allowing us to see how things could be, see what we really want and then begin the process of making it a reality. If you can dream, visualize and plan it then you can bring it into your life.

So dream on, my friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Be like Dr. Robert Schuler and think big and work hard to attain those dreams and remove the word “impossible” from your life. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.Stay tuned, next week we will share simple steps to accomplish your dreams.

June 15, 2009

The Perfect Business

Today I would like to share with you a video of Robert Kiyosaki, entrepreneour and self-made millionaire. His Cashflow Quadrant message had a profound impact on my thinking of money and people. As you will see on this video there are many ways to earn income and build wealth. I would like to review one in particular Network Marketing. I know what you are thinking right now, SCAM!. Well, Network Marketing like any other business model has its validity and I will share with you my views on it.

I had my first experience with MLM industry back in 1989 when I was in the university and I was presented this wonderful business that would make rich overnight. As you can imagine it was a total failure and I lost my initial investment. I have discarted all MLM since then and considered them scams myself, so I understand your feelings when people talk to you about MLM. Then a couple of weeks ago I was approached again with another network marketing opportunity. Now older and wiser I decided to study the reasons why many time people fail at this business model and the validity of the model. Based on my observations of the reasons why people fail on the Network Marketing Business Model are:

1. The choose the wrong businesses to promote. Not all of the networking marketing programs are designed equal. They do not do enough research about the company and the products before they get involved.

2. Lack of understanding of how the products work. You do not have to be an expert of the molecular composition of the products you are selling. I think you need to have a clear understanding of the benefits of the products and why the potential customer should buy this product as opposed to the competition. For example, become a consumer of the products first. Become a believer of the product before you sell it to others.

3. Lack of understanding of how the compensation plan works. After all we are doing this to make money, we all need to understand how we will be compensated for our efforts. I have read the last couple of days many MLM Hate blogs and websites, criticizing the fact they did not make the money they expected, blaming the company of lying. I am certain that many of them did not ask the right questions and did not have a clear understanding how they were to be compensated. It is easier to blame others for our failures than accept responsibility for our actions.

4. Unrealistic expectations. People get excited at first with the illusion of becoming a gazillionaire in 30 days and dreaming of the new car you will be driving. Like any business, network marketing requires faith, effort, desire, dedication, passion, and perseverance.

5. Lack of business skills. When you start a network marketing business, the most important skills you will learn are business skills. Skills such as managing people, understanding the needs of your customer, how to invest your time and money wisely and lots of self-improvement, mindset changing awareness that will take your business skills to the next level. You need to work at improving your skills to become successful at it.

6. They do not want to spend time on the business. They want everything to be digested for them, the work to be done for them, and to be compensated to do nothing. Please be real, if someone sold you that idea of the “Lazy Man Get Rich Quick Program” and you bought it and failed at, it you deserve it.

7. Thinking that MLM is easy. Once again, network marketing is simply a business model that facilitates your success.

Robert Kiyosaki, the famous author behind the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series of financial books has talked about network marketing as one of the most perfect business models on the planet. But why has one who has never been involved in network marketing seem to endorse it as a good business model? When he first heard about network marketing, he was against it. However, after opening his mind, he began to see the advantages of the business model. Some may say that this is a hypocritical endorsement. I found that Mr. Kiyosaki's findings to be solid business building principles.

I invite you to see the video and make your opinion about it. I would like to hear your opinion about the information on the video and your thoughts of network marketing.

June 8, 2009

Are Rebates Worth Your Time?

Rebates have become increasingly popular in the last few years on a lot of items and certainly on electronic items and computers. Rebates of $20, $50 or $100 are not uncommon. I’ve even seen items advertised as “free after rebate”. Do these rebates come under the heading of “too good to be true”? Some of them do and there are “catches” to watch out for but if you are careful, rebates can help you get some really good deals.

The way a rebate works is that you pay the listed price for an item then mail in a form and the bar code to the manufacturer and they send you a refund thus reducing the price of what you paid for the item except with a time delay of several weeks.


Rule #1. Rebates from reputable companies are usually just fine.
You can be pretty sure you will get the promised rebate from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you should probably not count on getting one from a company you’ve never heard of. If you really want the product and are OK with paying the price listed then buy it but don’t count on actually getting the refund.


Rule #2. Check rebate expiration dates.
Many times products will stay on the shelf of a retailer after the date for sending in the rebate offer has expired so check that date carefully.


Rule #3. Be sure you have all the forms required to file for the rebate before you leave the store.
Rebates will almost always require a form to be filled out, a receipt for the purchase and a bar code.

Rule #4. Back up your rebate claim.
Make copies of everything you send in to get your rebate including the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail all the time and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the trouble to back up your claim.

May 29, 2009

The Miracle of Compunding

The greatest minds in the world have marveled over the simple and yet extraordinary concept the power of compounding. Einstein called it “the greatest mathematical discovery of all times” and the “eight wonder of the world”. There is a good reason for such an importance to something so simple. See many fortunes have been built on this simple concept.

For example, Ben Franklin used the power of compound interest. Back in 1783, when he was 77, he added a new section to his will. He set up a codicil that was to last 200 years after his death. Ben allotted $5,000 Boston and Philadelphia each. The money was to provide loans to the needy young people. The borrowers were to pay back these loans at 5% interest over a 10 year periods.

Ben’s $5,000 investment over a period of 200 years grew to well over $20 million dollars and that is after each city took out half-a-million dollars for public works.

Given enough time, even little sums of money, invested wisely, can turn into sizable sums. The earlier you start in the process, the more benefit you derive from the snowball effect of compounding since not only do you achieve growth on your original investment but also on all of the growth it has achieved in earlier years.

Here are four tips to help you maximize the power of compound interest:

1. Start as soon as possible. The best friend of compounding is time. Getting rich is easier and less painful the earlier you start.
2. A little bit goes a long way. If you do not think that you have enough to invest, think about this if you invest $50 a month for a period of 20 years into a mutual fund earning an average of 10% annually, you will accumulate $528,000.
3. Be patient. Good things come to those who wait. You must be patient for compounding to work its power.
4. Don’t spend your earnings. Compounding works if you do not spend your earnings as you receive them, but reinvest all of those returns back into your account.

The effects of compounding are difficult to achieve in the short-term. The final lesson about the miracle of compounding is that time matters, so do not delay in starting your own investment plan.