In today’s Monday Money Tip, I share a great parable on the topic of PERSISTENCE. This applies to far more than money so be sure to take 5 minutes to watch it right away. I truly believe this particular tip could change your life TODAY.
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In today’s Monday Money Tip, I share one of the ways I had FUN while I attacked my debt – coloring! It made our Debt Freedom March much more visual and enabled us to see the progress we were making.
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The I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. Team takes great joy in being able to provide practical personal finance tools that help people win with their money. Over the past month, we’ve been working on a “How To Budget” series of videos, emails, and tools to help with this vision.
The series contains approximately 10 videos/emails that will be received over the course of a few weeks. If you have been struggling with your budget, I really encourage you to sign up for this helpful series. It even includes a special announcement about our Core Coaching Program – our intensive 12-month personal finance class.
Learn more and register HERE.
Can’t see the link? Copy & paste the following link in your favorite browser: http://iwasbrokenowimnot.com/freebudgetdownload
In this Monday Money Tip, I share how compound interest works – and how it can be your greatest friend or enemy.
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There is a phenomenon that seems to happen during every person’s financial journey. It’s called the “fantastic opportunity.”
Here’s how it usually rolls out:
By the way, this is a cycle. Along the journey to any financial goal, you will be required to navigate this decision process multiple times. Knowing this fact as you make your financial commitment will help prepare you to resist each “Fantastic Opportunity.”
This phenomenon is also known as the “Look! A squirrel!” or “Greener pastures” phenomenon. Resist. Don’t chase it. Stay the course. You’ll make much swifter progress toward a fully funded life.
Think your investments are appropriately diversified? In this Monday Money Tip, I share a common mistake many investors make, and how to address it.
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This post is for the person who needs encouragement in their financial journey right now.
You may have experienced tremendous challenges recently. Perhaps you’ve encountered an unexpected lay-off. Maybe an illness. The car may have broken down and a child fell and broke his arm. Maybe an investment tanked or your small business that once thrived is now on life-support.
Whatever the case, you can do this “money thing”!
In fact, I’ve discovered that financially challenging moments are where I’ve learned new financial skills.
You see, if I had never experienced an empty bank account, I would never have saved money during times of plenty.
If I had never experienced car and credit card debt, I would not have known how important it was to avoid this type of debt in the future.
You can do this!
If I had never experienced a broken down car, I would not know the joy of driving a paid-for brand new one.
If I never had credit card bills beat me home from vacation, I would not know the luxury of paying cash for vacations.
You can do this!
When you are faced with a discouraging financial situation, remain steadfast in employing the financial fundamentals of:
You can do this!
After being able to serve more than 1,000,000 people with personal financial teaching and resources, it has become very clear to me that most people are just one or two major decisions away from completely changing their financial future.
Not twenty. Not forty. Just one or two.
And these key decisions are usually far easier to implement than most people think.
Consider the 23 year-old young woman who just obtained her first full-time “career” job earning $40,000 per year. Since she has just exited college, a $20 bill is like a million dollars. So she makes a decision in the human resources office to max out her contribution to the company retirement savings plan which is 13-percent of gross income at her place of employment. The company matches her contribution with an additional 3-percent. Even if she never receives a raise over her 44 year career, she will end up with over $5 million for retirement. Just one decision made the difference.
Or the 55 year-old couple who decided to eliminate their debt, including their home mortgage, by the time they retire at age 66. By doing so, they lower their monthly cost of living from $5,000 per month to $2,500 per month. This will allow their retirement nest egg to last more than twice as long. Just one decision made the difference.
Another person decided to invest in rental homes beginning at age 40 and managed to purchase and pay off 25 of them by age 70. With average rent of $500 per month, her investments are delivering $12,500 per month in gross income plus the homes are worth a combined total of $2 million. Just one decision to embrace the awkwardness of learning the rental investment business changed the trajectory of her retirement.
In my case, my pathway to financial success began with the simple implementation of a monthly budget. It allowed me to be very intentional with each and every dollar I received. As a result, I was able to prioritize giving, saving, and investing. It allowed my family to move into living a fully funded life. Just one decision made the difference.
QUESTION: What are one or two decisions you need to make to completely change your financial future?
This is definitely a step you can take with your finances – checking your FREE credit report. The federal government has required the “Big 3″ credit reporting agencies to provide access to our own credit reports at least once per year. You can do this with www.AnnualCreditReport.com. I encourage you to watch the short Monday Money Tip video where I will share some helpful tips you will want to know when pulling up your credit report.
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People are crazy. We know that. I’m crazy. You’re crazy. We’re all crazy. When it comes to money, some of our “crazy” becomes amplified. With this post, I thought I would share three crazy statements people make about money.
What are some other crazy statements you’ve heard people say about money?
I have a question for you:
Are your investments appropriately diversified?
Before you answer this question too quickly, let me ask the question in a more extended version:
Are your investments appropriately diversified – both within and outside of the stock market?
This is a very important addition to the question. Let me explain.
When the entire stock market goes up, it tends to drag the stocks of lower performing companies up with it. However, when the entire stock market goes down, it tends to drag down the stock price of companies that continue to perform very well. This is why it is vitally important to diversify your investments – both within and outside of the stock market.
Many people only have investments within their company retirement plan where they are offered various stock market investment options. As a result, their investments are subject to the greater market’s performance.
Ecclesiastes 11:2 provides this great wisdom: Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
This is why I have invested in both market-based investments as well as non-market-based opportunities.
Here are some great non-market-based investments to consider:
I’ve found Ecclesiastes 11:2 to be very helpful in my money journey. As I’ve invested in a variety of assets, some of them have encountered struggles. By having a widely diversified set of investments, my other assets have helped carry the load until a struggling investment improved.
Today we wrap up our five day celebration of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.‘s 5th birthday!
SPECIAL NOTE: The special $5 book offer ends tonight at midnight, so be sure to GET YOUR COPY before this one-time offer ends.
As we finish our celebration, I want to share some final “behind the scenes” moments that have happened that have helped shape our organization.
ONE: The day we were invited guests to sit with Dave Ramsey during The Dave Ramsey Show.
My first question for Dave was, “I’ve written a book. Should I self-publish or seek a publisher.”
Dave’s response helped me greatly. He said, “Stay away from vanity press. Do print it and do sell it. It’s worth it man!”
Just five month’s later, we released I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. It is amazing what has happened since!!! Thank you, Dave, for everything you have done for me and my family.
TWO: That time when my story was shared in Money Magazine.
Thank you, Donna Rosato, for including my story. It helped fuel the dream more than you know.
THREE: When a church parodied the “FreeCreditReport.com” commercials with “I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.com”
The 1 min 9 sec YouTube video is still funny for me to watch!
FOUR: The “surprise” that happened 16 days after launching IWBNIN full-time on June 1, 2009 – And the encore 4 years later
On June 1, 2009, I left my full-time job with some saved money and a dream. Sixteen days later, we discovered a miracle was on the way, and I shared the news with the world. Now, four years later, we’ve even had this little miracle join us.
FIVE: Serving more than 1 million people over the past 5 years.
Through the live events all over the U.S. and Canada, our books and resources, free financial tools, and this website, we’ve encountered people from all walks of life and financial backgrounds. The stories you’ve sent to us through the years have been nothing short of AMAZING. We’re grateful to serve each and every one of you.
Can’t wait to reveal what’s coming next … Here’s a hint: It’s a game-changer – coming This Fall!
Today, my bride and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage.
Count them. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years.
What an amazing journey it has been:
There are so many more great moments, and it is awesome to know we get to start our 18th year at the beach.
I love you, Jennifer Sangl!
Have you ever had a “WOW” moment? Last Sunday, I experienced just such an occasion when this crazy dream to help people win with their money officially turned 5 years old! That’s right, it was five years ago when I left my full-time job and gave I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. my total attention. Statistics routinely show that 9 out of 10 new organizations fail within the first 5 years. I’m so thankful and grateful that we are one of the “1 out of 10″ who succeeded!
And you have been a part of this success story! Whether you have attended a live event, downloaded one of our free tools, or purchased a resource, you have been a part of reaching more than ONE MILLION people with practical and relevant personal finance tools.
It’s time to celebrate!
To celebrate this milestone and your part in it, I want to do something very special. My finance guy is out of the office this week, and he may not be happy when he hears about this, but for the next 5 days, I’m making my two top-selling books available at a price we’ve never offered before. Just $5 each.
If you’ve ever wanted a copy of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. and What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter The Real World NOW is the time to grab your copies!
Purchase Joe’s 2 top-selling books for $5 each HERE!
It has been a distinct honor to be a part of your financial journey, and I can’t wait to share what’s coming in the next year. It’s game-changing!
As the month draws to a close, it is time to once again prepare your monthly budget! I’m passionate about preparing a budget every single month because it is a huge reason that my family is no longer broke. I want to help you get your budget working well for you and your family so you too can live a fully funded life.
5 Budgeting Tips To Remember
BONUS TIP: Use our FREE budgeting tools located HERE.
What other budgeting tips have helped you make your budget work well?
