Finance

I have found that a large group of those who attend one of my events, are living paycheck-to-paycheck AND carrying debt. In fact, statistics from a recent survey I conducted show that 57% of people are living paycheck-to-paycheck and 73% of people are in debt (excluding the mortgage). When asked how people are doing with managing their money, 45% said that they were barely keeping their head above water or drowning! Only 9% of people feel like they are winning with their money!

No matter where I go, I see the footprint of debt on people’s lives – marriages failing, stress and depression taking over, and hopelessness closing in. And all of this is happening in the wealthiest country on the planet! This is entirely unacceptable!

I WANT YOU TO BECOME DEBT-FREE!! It changes your life! It enables you to accomplish far more than you ever thought possible with your personal finances! It allows you to do exactly what you were put on earth to do – regardless of the income! In this series, I’m going to share the process that I followed to become debt free. Are you ready?

STEP 1 – Understand the WHY before the HOW
I believe this is the most important step in becoming debt free! In the hundreds of financial coaching sessions that our team has led, it’s amazing how many people do not have a plan for their lives. We ask them the “why” and they stare at us like we’re speaking a different language.

Unfortunately, this is the first time that many of these people have ever seriously thought about what they want to accomplish with their lives. As a result, they are bumbling through life just trying to make it through the day. What a miserable way to live!

I cannot overstate this fact – YOUR LEVEL OF EXPECTATION DETERMINES YOUR LEVEL OF PREPARATION!

When Jenn and I wrote down our plans, hopes & dreams on paper, we realized that our lack of money management proved we had no real expectations of accomplishing these plans, hopes & dreams. We wanted to move back to South Carolina to take a job that paid way less than what we were making, but every single dinner at Outback was robbing us of that opportunity. Every single debt payment went off to make the bank wealthy while at the same time robbing us of our God-given dreams!

That made me MAD! It made me FURIOUS! It made me realize how incredibly stupid I was to be managing our money so crazily! I had a significant amount of our income going to pay car debt, credit card debt, and student loan debt. Add in the stupid house payment, and I had thousands of dollars per month running off to make the bank wealthy!

By writing out our plans, hopes, & dreams on paper, Jenn and I were motivated to manage our money differently. It caused us to view debt differently.

Take your first step today by writing down your plans, hopes & dreams. If you are married, you need to do this separately and then take time to discuss it with each other. By the way, one of my plans, hopes, & dreams is for you to become debt-free!

Why do you want to be debt free? It’s not easy! After you get started, it might be easier but it’s not going to be easy. There are so many things that compete for your money. So, why do you want to break free from debt? One of the most common responses I get is, “so I can do whatever I want”. I don’t believe this is the best response. I believe a better response is, “so I can live a fully funded life doing exactly what I’ve been put on this earth to do!”

What has kept you from attacking your debt?

Investing! This is consistently given as one of the most confusing topics individuals face. In this series, I wanted to share some basic investing fundamentals. My goal is to help you understand this topic better and walk away with practical steps.

STEP ONE  Evaluate & Diversify 

STEP TWO  Automate Your Investments 

STEP THREE  Get the Free Money

STEP FOUR  Unleash the Power of Compound Interest

STEP FIVE  Continue to Learn about Practical Investing Opportunities
There are so many different types of investment opportunities, so I’ve broken down a few of them.

Stocks – When you own stock in a company, you technically become a part owner of that company. You have some claim to the assets and earnings of the company. Stocks are foundational to most investment portfolios. They are known to be very volatile in the short term but have historically outperformed other investments in the long run. 

Mark Twain has famously said this about investing in stocks: “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to invest in stocks. Other dangerous months are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.”

There are two major types of stocks:

• Common Stock: Common stock allows the holder to vote in the shareholder meetings (depending on the amount of stock owned) and provides access to dividends or profit sharing produced by the company.
• Preferred Stock: Preferred stock holders have priority over common stock holders. This applies in many areas including when dividends are being paid to shareholders.

Bonds – A bond is a large debt owed by a company, government, or even a school, where the borrowing institution has agreed to repay an established amount of interest payments for a set period of time. When this time expires, the borrower then returns all of the principal back to the lender(s). Bonds can vary in maturity times anywhere from 1 year to 30 years. I like to think of my personal residence as a bond investment. A bond is generally less risky.

Mutual Funds & Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) – Mutual funds and ETFs let you accumulate a wide variety of investments that couldn’t normally obtain without consuming large amounts of time and money. Mutual funds and ETFs are funded “mutually” by you, me and millions of our closest friends. Our money is pooled together and then used by the “mutual fund managers” to invest in hundreds of other company stocks, bonds, and other sorts of investments. Usually, mutual funds and ETFs have specific charters that direct their investments. Our mutual fund might only focus on established companies in the USA while another could focus on investing in up-and-coming companies in third world countries.

Other Investing Opportunities – People so often hold themselves to these common types of investing and never branch out. Investing opportunities are all around you! You can invest in a small home and rent it out. You could invest in small businesses in your community. When you are investing, you can think outside the box. Some of the greatest returns can be found when investing in unorthodox ventures.

Next Steps
– Review your investments and know what you are invested in
– Start to think OUTSIDE of the stock market when you’re investing
– Start investing!
– Recommended Resource ==> OXEN: The Key to an Abundant Harvest – Learn how to maximize your money through investing

Investing! This is consistently given as one of the most confusing topics individuals face. In this series, I wanted to share some basic investing fundamentals. My goal is to help you understand this topic better and walk away with practical steps.

STEP ONE  Evaluate & Diversify 

STEP TWO  Automate Your Investments 

STEP THREE  Get the Free Money

STEP FOUR  Unleash the Power of Compound Interest  
Have you ever heard the say, “my money is working for me”? This is exactly what compound interest does for you! When you utilize the power of compound interest, you’re allowing the interest you’re making to also earn interest.

For example, let’s say we have $100 in an investment account that grew to $105 in one year. This is the equivalent of 5% interest. Now suppose the $105 is left alone for another year and continues to grow at a rate of 5%. Will it be paid another $5 interest when the second year is up? No! It will be paid $5.25 because interest was received on $105 – not just $100. Interest earning interest!

Take a look at the below example of a $100/month investment growing at an annual compound rate of 12%.

Remember,  you are only investing $100 each month! After 40 years, you’ve only invested $48,000 BUT your account balance is $1,176,477! This means that $1,128,477 is the interest you have gained!

Now do you see the POWER of compound interest?

Where do you find investments that offer 12% return? I have found no investments that constantly return 12% every single year, but I have found several mutual funds that average over 12% return over the past 50 years. Some years could lose 15% while others gain 30%. You can see a list of my current investments HERE.

How to maximize your investment growth:

1. Invest enough to receive the entire company match: By investing in an employer-sponsored retirement plan that matches a portion of your contributions, you could even receive a 50% or 100% return!
2. Monitor your investments at least every six months: I track my investments at the end of every single month. This helps me understand how each one is performing and allows me to make necessary adjustments.
3. Consider investments beyond the stock market: The stock market is just one place to invest. Consider investing in a small businesses, real estate, and intellectual property – like patents and licensing rights. Remember, a higher interest rate almost always means a higher risk.

Next Steps
– Establish a consistent investing habit. Invest into your retirement account every paycheck for the rest of your working life. Even if you can only invest a small amount, it will add up to more than you can imagine!
– Recommended Resource ==> OXEN: The Key to an Abundant Harvest – Learn how to maximize your money through investing

Investing! This is consistently given as one of the most confusing topics individuals face. In this series, I wanted to share some basic investing fundamentals. My goal is to help you understand this topic better and walk away with practical steps.

STEP ONE  Evaluate & Diversify 

STEP TWO  Automate Your Investments 

STEP THREE  Get the Free Money 
Yes, I said FREE money. Many employers will match a portion of your contributions into a self-directed retirement plan! I encourage you to go to your human resource department and sign up for the retirement plan. Start investing money into it immediately! Contribute enough money to obtain the entire employer match. Remember, this is really just FREE money!

Each company is different, but most companies will usually match up to a certain percent of your pay. I worked for an employer that matched me dollar-for-dollar up to 8% of my pay (100% automatic rate of return!!). Another matched dollar-for-dollar up to 6% of my pay. Still another matched dollar-for-dollar up to 3% of my pay. Whatever your employer is willing to give you is FREE MONEY!

It is baffling that many people don’t take advantage of this opportunity. I have heard several excuses about why people choose not to, excuses like:

• “I can’t afford to contribute.”
• “I’m living paycheck-to-paycheck already.”

These people are basically saying they can’t afford to be given free money. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. This is an opportunity to receive 100% return on your investment! DO NOT WASTE THIS CHANCE!

Next Steps:
– Talk to your employer TODAY and sign up for your company’s retirement plan. Start contributing something – at least enough to get the full match.
– As quickly as possible, increase your investing contribution to at least 10% of your gross income. I know this is a lot of money, but you will NEVER regret this decision.
– Recommended Resource ==> OXEN: The Key to an Abundant Harvest – Learn how to maximize your money through investing

Investing! This is consistently given as one of the most confusing topics individuals face. In this series, I wanted to share some basic investing fundamentals. My goal is to help you understand this topic better and walk away with practical steps.

STEP ONE  Evaluate & Diversify 

STEP TWO  Automate Your Investments 
Make your investments automatic! Your bank account can be set up to auto draft money into different investment plans (401k or a child’s 529 college-savings plan).

When your investments are automated, it prevents you from forgetting to transfer money each month. It also eliminates the possibility of using that money for splurge purchases. This is awesome for those of us who are highly susceptible to spend any and all extra money! You’ll also see your net worth increase every single month.

One thing to note, if you have to ever switch banks, you’ll need to set up the auto-drafting again at your new bank. I would try to do this ASAP! I know from firsthand experience how hard it can be to write a check to your savings account or 529 college-savings plan when the auto-drafting isn’t set up. There are moments where you will think, “Wow! I could really use this money elsewhere!”

If I had to write a check every month to my investments accounts, there is a good chance that my investing plan would be seriously off-track. Make it automatic!!

Next Steps
– Set up auto-drafting with your bank (via phone or online) and start automating your investment account(s) , such as a 401k, retirement account, or 529 college-savings plan.
– Recommended Resource ==> OXEN: The Key to an Abundant Harvest – Learn how to maximize your money through investing