Investing

Oxen

There was a point in my life where I came to the realization that I needed to find oxen in my life and start getting my money to work for me. From an average bank balance of $4.13, I have since acquired multiple oxen and experienced a truly abundant harvest. In my book, Oxen, I share these principles along with step-by-step instructions so that you too can win with your money. Check out this excerpt from my book and make sure you grab a copy for yourself.

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.” Proverbs 14:4

Imagine a farmer who was responsible for farming a full section of 640 acres, which is one square mile of land. Imagine if he decided to “do it all on his own” and attempt to plow all the ground without oxen. It doesn’t matter how strong and energetic the farmer is, it would be an impossible task. For me, just hoeing a small garden in my backyard wears me out! The farmer might be able to do enough work to produce food for the family to eat, but the potential for an abundant harvest would be impossible.

Don’t miss the point here because it is vital to understanding oxen ownership. A farmer knows it is impossible to reap an abundant harvest without oxen. The same is true for all of us even if we aren’t farmers.

If I continued managing my money without the help of financial oxen, the opportunity for an abundant harvest would be greatly limited. After all, there was only so much I could accomplish on my own. Like most people, I was working a “Work, get paid. Don’t work, don’t get paid.” job. Even if I worked twelve hours every day, there was a limit to how much I could earn on my own. My earnings would allow me to feed my family, but without a serious change to the way we managed our money, the income would probably only be enough to maintain our household. We would continue to be stuck in the “empty manger” cycle cleaning out the manger each month and then standing around waiting for the next paycheck to arrive. The worst realization of all was knowing that even if I worked the next fifty years of my life, my income would cease the moment I chose to retire. It became imminently clear that I needed oxen in order for my family to experience abundance.

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Do you want to learn more about how you can acquire and maintain oxen? You can get my book Oxen for 20% off plus free shipping by clicking HERE. Offer valid through the month of October of 2018

Is This Mutual Fund A Good Investment?

Many people are hesitant to begin investing because they think that it is some incredibly complicated venture that is only for the uber wealthy. I am here to tell you that it is not that difficult and you can (and should!) get started today at some level.

Most people feel this apprehension towards investing because they do not really know how to tell if they are making a sound investment. There is some research that you can do to make this decision. In fact, I have a process that I go through when deciding if a mutual fund, specifically, is a good investment. Here are the questions I ask when I get ready to make an investment:

  1. Do I like the product or service they are delivering? Do my children like it? I want to like a product that I am going to invest in first and foremost. If I like a product there is a good chance other people will like it as well. The same holds true for if I dislike a product or service.  
  2. Is the company profitable? Does the company share those profits with shareholders in the form of dividends? I do not typically invest in companies that are not profitable although there are a lot of people that have made a lot of money off of their stock. When I invest in a company I want to see that they can move an idea towards profitability.
  3. What is the P/E? Once I know if a company is profitable, I next look at the P/E or the price to earnings ratio. This is calculated by finding the earnings per share (the total profits of the company divided by the total number of shares) and the current price of the stock. The P/E is calculated by dividing the price by the current earnings per share. I want to see a P/E that is less than 20 and ideally less than 10. Now, do not freak out about having to calculate this number every time you want to invest. You can simply google the company name followed by P/E ratio and easily find out.
  4. What is the vision of the company? Do I like the leadership and the direction they are headed?

To find this information, I typically utilize several different websites including finance.yahoo.com, money.cnn.com, and schwab.com.

As you can see, investing does not have to be super complicated or involve a lot of intense research. When picking mutual funds it can be as simple as checking out their products, leadership and vision and then doing a quick check to make sure they are profitable. If you can put a check mark next to those four boxes, you can probably say that you are making a good investment.

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Do you want to learn more about how you can acquire and maintain oxen? You can get my book Oxen for 20% off plus free shipping by clicking HERE. Offer valid through the month of August of 2018

Want more tips like this one?  Subscribe to the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE.

 

MONDAY MONEY TIP PODCAST: Making a Good Investment

The Monday Money Tip Podcast is back! Investing can be such a complicated venture so this week, Joe is sharing how he determines if an investment is a good deal or not. For those who are new to investing, Joe has some helpful mobile apps that you can download to learn more of the basics of investing. In addition, Megan shares a success story from someone who went from hopeless on her money journey to hopeful.

It’s our goal at the end of each episode that you gain hope and encouragement in your financial journey, you’re equipped to take a next step, and that you’ve had FUN with us!

Find the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE. Please let us know what you think by leaving us a rating!

NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD:
iTunes
Stitcher
Spotify
Website

Email info@iwbnin.com to ask questions or share success stories.

Show Notes

About the Episode:

  • Hear Joe answer the question, “What things do you look at when investing to determine if it looks like a good deal or not?” He explains his process in looking at things such as the companies profitability and price to earnings ratio.
  • Get some important information about mortgage rates and bank savings rates.
  • Megan shares a success story about a person that found hope in their money journey.
  • Joe shares some helpful tools that you can use if you are new to investing and want to learn more before diving in head first.

Resources:
IWBNIN Tools
Online Savings Accounts
Oxen Book
Joe’s Investments

Quote of the Day:
“There is no harvest if you do not invest.” – Joe Sangl

Links
Yahoo Finance
CNN Money
Charles Schwab
Robin Hood
Acorns

 

The Basics of Oxen

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest. Proverbs 14:4

This verse had a profound impact on me as I went through my financial freedom journey. From this verse, I realized that I could either live a life with an empty manger or with an abundant harvest and the choice was up to me. In the pursuit of financial abundance, I could choose to rely on myself and my own abilities, or I could acquire oxen to help me. Which do you think I chose?

In my book, Oxen, I have outlined the different types of oxen, how to acquire oxen and how to lead oxen. These principles will help you maximize your financial resources and experience an abundant harvest, just as I did, so that you can fund your biggest and wildest dreams.

Most people earn money by showing up to work and in turn they get paid. If you do not show up to work, you do not get paid. Oxen can allow you to earn money whether you are working or not! There is only so much time in a day and therefore there is only so much work that one person can physically put in. This is why oxen are so important: they allow you to eliminate the time barrier.

Oxen can do things you cannot do. They have the ability to carry a load that you cannot carry and can endure more than you can endure. Oxen can be trained and can work together and accomplish even more. They work rain or shine, night and day so that you do not have to. They can multiply and take you places you may have only dreamed about. Oxen can provide.

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Do you want to learn more about how you can acquire and maintain oxen? You can get my book Oxen for 20% off plus free shipping by clicking HERE.

Want more tips like this one?  Subscribe to the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE.

Investment Value Calculator Tool

Are you ever tempted to pull money out of your investment accounts? Sometimes it can sound like a good idea to withdraw money from retirement funds or other accounts to pay a debt or even go on a vacation. However, most of the time taking money out of the market is not a good idea! The one thing you will never be able to get back is TIME! If you take money out of an account or wait to start investing, it could be a decision that you really regret in the future when you see the value of your accounts. In most cases, people wish they had started investing sooner. I have never heard anyone say, “I should’ve waited ten more years before I started saving for retirement”.

It can be encouraging to get an idea of what your investments will be worth five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years down the road. I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. has a tool that can help you illustrate just that! The Investment Value Calculator Tool takes the current amount of the investment, the annual rate of return, the amount of time you plan to invest, and your monthly contribution and calculates the value of the investment. It also shows a range of your investment value from five years all the way to sixty years! While, of course, these returns cannot be guaranteed, the tool can allow you to imagine what these accounts have the potential to grow to. This can keep you from making an unwise decision to withdraw funds and can even tempt you to add more money to your accounts! Check it out today!

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Want more tips like this one?  Subscribe to the Monday Money Tip Podcast HERE.