What Do Multiplication, Leverage and Delayed Gratification Have in Common?

What would you rather have, a brick of gold or a small seed?

Gold is shiny. Gold has value and is worth thousands of dollars because of its special qualities. On the other hand, a seed you must plant. You must pour time and energy into creating a fertile environment. Then, you must wait. But over time, the seed will create an abundance, far beyond the investment of resources.

"While most men would value the gold, I value things that bear fruit."

When we work ourselves, we add up the contributions from each day in a year, to get our total contributions at the end of the year.

On the other hand, when we spend our time pouring into the lives of other people, growing and developing leaders, we multiply the contributions over time, to get our total contributions at the end of the year.

The power of multiplication has been demonstrated time and time again in history. An idea sparked, in one man, who recruited a small team, delivering that message to the multitudes.

What will you deliver?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/what-do-multiplication-leverage-and-delayed-gratification-have-in-common/, originally written on December 21st, 2013.

How to Prepare When Business is Going Well

Thousands of times I have heard the same story. Business was great, we had more work than we knew what to do with. But then, everything changed. The market crashed, the economy took a dive, my family had an illness.

Stories like these should make your ears perk up, because they may just save your future. So what do you do when your real estate properties are cash flowing or your small business is booming.

The life story of Joseph is amazing in and of itself but we focus on one particular piece of advice he gave the pharoah during emense prosperity in Egypt. He told the there would be seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. This in and of itself is a given, just through the natural cycle of life. And many times, pride comes before the fall.

He advised to put away one fifth of each harvest to use during the years of famine. It is not a season of life that makes a difference. It is the accumulation of small decisions compounded over a long period of time. Anyone can have a successful run in real estate or business but to truly have success, you must have the discernment to prepare for troubling times. This gives you the staying power needed to realize true profit.

Do you agree one fifth is an accurate amount to be stored? What strategies do you use?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/how-to-prepare-when-business-is-going-well/, originally written on September 2nd, 2013.

One Thing You Need to Do if You Want to Get a Raise

Do you want to get a raise at work? What steps can you take today to make that happen tomorrow?

The story of Laban and Jacob from the bible provides good insight on how to make this happen. Have you ever had a boss that is unappreciative of your work efforts? Ever had one that did not give you what you deserved or took from the wages or rewards you felt you rightfully earned?

Well, this is the situation of Jacob. He worked for his uncle for seven years, working as hard as he could to see to it that his uncle, Laban became properous. During this period, Laban would constantly fail to deliver on his promises and put Jacob through difficult working conditions. But nevertheless, Jacob continued to perform the best of his ability. How many of us could continue to work hard despite feeling cheated or underappreciated?

After seven years, despite the work conditions, Jacob promised to work another seven years. When Jacob decided it was time to move on, he was so valuable that Laban asked, "What wages do you require?" He was so valuable that Laban would pay him whatever he wanted.

If you want a raise, you need to demonstrate the capability to perform the duties required before you get the raise. In fact, taking a step back, you need to provide so much value to either your boss or your organization, that if you were to leave, they would ask, "What wages do you require?"

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/one-thing-you-need-to-do-if-you-want-to-get-a-raise/, originally written on August 29th, 2013.

3 Tips to Leverage Your Financial Situation

Everyone admires the lone wolf in a sense.  The desire to be unique, to walk against the common crowd, to be something special.

The truth is that everyone is naturally special, each of us with God given talents and strengths that no one else in the world has.  However, to truly achieve what we are capable of we need to learn to utilize the strengths of others.  In a sense, this helps us to overcome our individual weaknesses.

Here are some tips about things you can do to improve your currently financial situation, by leveraging the resources of those around you.

1.  Contribute ten percent of your earnings to your local community.

When you put others first, you build are building social capital.  It feels good to know that five years from now, whether your financial situation improves or not, your community's financial situation will improve.  Your goal should be to succeed on both a personal level and a group level.  When you support your community, the community, in turn, will desire success for you because they know you are contributing to the success of the community.

2.  Read and listen to stories about other people's lives.

In this day in technology, you have access to the biographies of thousands of leaders and success stories.  Rather than waiting for your life to have the experiences, why not benefit from leveraging the experiences of others.  In this sense, you will leverage their life's work, to help identify major financial pitfalls or gold mines.

3.  In your workplace, find a mentor.

You should constantly be on the lookout for building a network of people who have a vested interest in your success.  When someone pours time into you, you become like their child.  Your successes become their successes.  Find people who are willing to coach you and bring you to the next level in your workplace and you will be delightly suprised when your raise gets pushed through because they wanted to see someone they advised break barriers.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/3-tips-to-leverage-your-financial-situation/, originally written on August 26th, 2013.

Three Levels To Increase Your Earnings

Do you want to make more money? Have you ever wondered why some people make more than you or why you make more than other people? Have you ever wondered why money is so important?

Money is a key factor in our capitalistic society. According to Maslow's Pyramid, there are a variety of needs that money can help satisfy, anywhere from keeping food on the table all the way to funding your life's purpose.

In Rick Warren's "A Purpose Driven Life", he talks about living a life of purpose.  In this sense, money can fuel a mission for your life based on your specific talents and abilities. To do this, you must realize that every single person you meet will be better than you at something and the reverse is also true.  Just realizing this will improve your own self image as well as your valuation of other people.

As we, travel up Maslow's Pyramid and think about living a life of purpose, we see the answers to our question above. When a person is focused solely on putting food on the table, their outlook on life is highly focused on themselves, so they typically make just enough to get by. When a person starts to see that they have control over improving their own situation, they start a journey of improving their own capabilities, indirectly providing more value to others and earning more.  Finally, the most valuable of all is the focus on serving others and helping them to accomplish their goals.  From this standpoint, you will surely be forced to improve yourself, which in turn will make you more valuable, therefore, receiving higher compensation.

In summary, here are the three levels of focus:

1. Focus on making more money
2. Focus on improving yourself
3. Focus on serving others

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/three-levels-to-increase-your-earnings/, originally written on August 15th, 2013.

Building a Residual Income

In an earlier post, A Simple Way to Assign Value to a Company we discussed how to valuate a business based on the income generated by the business.

This concept was used in the article How Do You Include Residual Income in Your Net Worth? to explain why a business which generates $100/month is worth $24,000.

In fact, the same concept underlies Izu's 100/200 Property Valuation Rule, which is the valuation of a specific type of residual income, mainly a rental business.

Some critics, express concern that the concepts and rules in the above articles are over simplified.  In fact, they may appear to be elementary.  However, there is a lot of thought behind these simple concepts, so don't take them for granted.  Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."  The purpose of a mathematical model is never to make perfect predictions about the future.  On the contrary, the purpose of a mathematical model is to make educated predictions about the future.

While 95% of people focus on saving $120,000, 5% of people will focus on creating a business which generates $500/month.  Some will succeed, some will fail.  However, the wisdom gained is always relative to the effort put in.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/building-a-residual-income/, originally written on July 25th, 2013.

4 Ways to Look at Your Business

What is the product of McDonalds?

Most people would say, "Hamburgers."

But it is not just hamburgers. Plenty of diners serve hamburgers. When it comes down to it, a business must offer value to their clients in order to stay in business.

So some people, might extend this answer to, "Hamburgers that are made on demand, quickly and affordably."

But the truth is, McDonalds would not be as big as it is today, by just selling hamburgers. It was Ray Kroc, who decided to stop McDonalds from selling hamburgers as its main product and start selling business opportunities as its main product. According to www.franchisedirect.com, "McDonalds franchise business has not only survived but thrived through boom times and recessions and has successfully reacted to consumer trends."

So, some people would more rightfully say, "Businesses."

But the truth is, not just anyone could turn McDonalds into a franchise business. It takes perseverence, rejection, overcoming obstacles. Thousands of stories exist. For instance, with respect to KFC, according to franchises.about.com, "However, Sanders persevered, and after a little over 1,000 visits, he finally persuaded Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah to partner with him."

So, I might say, "Ray Kroc." McDonalds, sells people, relationships underly everything.

So here are the four ways to describe what your business sells:

1. Your fundamental product

2. Your valuable service

3. Your business

4. You

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/4-ways-to-look-at-your-business/, originally written on June 26th, 2013.

3 Personal Tips to Avoid Losing Money from a Get Rich Quick Scheme

This article continues the discussion from 5 Organizational Issues for a Pyramid Scheme.  In general, people often lose money when chasing opportunity.  How can you avoid this trap?

1.  Avoid making an emotional decision.  Some people associate music, celebration, suits and recruiting with an illegitimate organization.  However, in reality, when looking at an opportunity it is important for a person's will power, mind and heart to align.  One must not only be emotionally motivated by an opportunity, but must also be able to have a thought out plan as well as the will power to see the plan through.

2.  Stop thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  When you jump around from opportunity to opportunity, you may develop various skills but you will never achieve excellence.  Discipline, time and focus will lead to success.

3.  Focus on developing your talents.  In the book Outliers, it is mentioned that it takes 10,000 hours to become success in any given area.  There are no short cuts to developing your character.

Sometimes when people fail, they will point the blame everywhere else but at themselves.  What do you think?  Have you had a bad experience?  Can you describe it?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/5-personal-issues-for-a-pyramid-scheme/, originally written on March 28th, 2013.

5 Organizational Issues for a Pyramid Scheme

This is a follow up to the post What is a Pyramid Scheme?  The basic issue encountered was that many organizations have a pyramid shape, such as government, military, churches, schools and businesses.  So, how can we determine whether one of these organizations is legitimate?

Here are five questions to make sure the organization is legitimate:

1. Can you clearly identify the product or service being offered?  Every business offers either a product or service.
2. Is the organization using deceptive practices?  While no organization would welcome criticism and negativity, a legitimate organization generally welcomes questions arising from interest and curiousity.
3. What are the chances of a new peson acheiving the exceptional financial success in an organization?  Small businesses fail 90% of the time so if 1% of an organization acheives exceptional financial success, this is a good indicator.
4. What is the wealth distribution of the organization?  The more transparent an organization, the better.
5. What risk does the organization have if resources are wasted on a new person who does not produce profits either directly or indirectly?  In general, a legitimate business whose product or service is not related to training or education should take a definable risk, losing an investment in the form of time or money.

Continue reading the article 3 Personal Tips to Avoid Losing Money from a Get Rich Quick Scheme.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/5-organizational-issues-for-a-pyramid-scheme/, originally written on March 27th, 2013.

What is a Pyramid Scheme?

The term pyramid is synonymous with pyramid scheme or ponzi scheme.  But what is a pyramid, really?

This is an interesting question that comes up in the world of multi level marketing.  Practically everyone you know has probably been touched in one way or another by a multi level marketing company.

At factsaboutherbalife, the site actively speaks against the multi level marketing company Herbal Life.  Here, they state, "The organization is deemed a pyramid scheme if the participants obtain their monetary benefits primarily from recruitment rather than the sale of goods and services to consumers". – Dr. Peter J. Vander Nat, senior economist at the FTC, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Vol 21-1, 139-151, (2002)

The site also states, "In a pyramid scheme, the money at the top is made from the losses of the people at the bottom."

Here, perspective's may differ.  For instance, some people might say, relationships underly all businesses.  Therefore, to see the vision of a company come to pass, the business must actively recruit the talent necessary to accomplish that vision.  Whether directly or indirectly, I would say every big business obtains its monetary benefits primarily from recruitment.

Imagine a store purchases products from a manufacturer to stock a shelf.  If the store goes out of business, the store may take a loss while the manufacturer made a profit.  Likewise, imagine a franchise company convinces a business owner to purchase the franchise.  If the franchise then goes out of business, the business owner takes a loss while the franchise company made a profit.  Lastly, imagine a college convinces a student to start a diploma program.  If the student drops out or doesn't get a return on the investment, the student takes a loss while the college made a profit.

The manufacturer may recruit as many stores as desired, the franchise company may recruit as many business owners as desired and the college may recruit as many students as desired.

The only thing that is clear to me is that it is very difficult to define a pyramid.  It is also hard to argue that services are not being provided since education and experience are valid services.  I have to say, I am stumped.  Any help?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/what-is-a-pyramid-scheme/, originally written on March 21st, 2013.

3 Quotes To Discourage Middle of the Road Thinking

The underlying truth in capitalism is that money flows to those who solve other people's most pressing problems.  This is true whether you work at a job as an employee or whether you own your own business.  Most likely your solution will not be accepted easily.  However, this is a very good thing.  The more resistance your solution renders, the more valuable the solution is and the more valuable you become if you have the endurance to see your solution implemented.  The fact that you see something that no one else sees, makes you valuable.

The natural progression of life is to become a leader.  We are naturally blessed with children and live in communities where we are called to lead.  As we provide valuable solutions, we will find challenges to our way of thinking.

According to www.success.com, "The price of leadership is criticism. No one pays much attention to the last-place finishers. But when you’re in front, everything gets noticed."  I always say, "The first sign you are on the right track is that you run into your first critic."  Other quotes include:

Winston S. Churchill said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

Aristotle said, "Criticism is something you can avoid easily—by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing."

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Revelations 3:16

You were not created to please everyone else.  In fact, the more you try the less you will please others because you will have very little positive impact in their life.  Find your passion, find your purpose.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/3-quotes-to-discourage-middle-of-the-road-thinking/, originally written on March 18th, 2013.

The Leadership Equation, L=2S

At some point in your life, you will probably need to apply leadership principles.  Maybe this will be through work in a management role.  Maybe this will be in church, through a volunteer position.  Or maybe, this will be at home as you become a leader to your children.

Many people see the fame and power associated to leadership roles and for this reason want to lead a team or an organization.

However, people in leadership roles have earned the respect and trust to obtain that leadership position.  How, was this respect and trust built up?  What did the leader do over time to demonstrate their value to others?  Remember that the amount we get paid is directly proportional to the value we bring to the table.

Some people think that a leader earned this respect and trust through service.  That is true, this is the first piece of the puzzle.  A leader spends their time serving others because through service, they provide the most value to solve other people's most pressing problems.  However, this is not all.  People will not just follow a leader who is a great servant.  There is one other important piece of the puzzle.

That is the other 'S' word, skill.  Leadership is service plus skill.  A leader can not just dictate and tell other people what to do.  People do not like to be told what to do.  They might take the advice and recommendations of a leader based on respect and trust.  However, the leader must also be constantly growing and improving strengths to hone a particular skill.  That skill may be being able to identify or relate to people.  That skill may be working with software.  That skill may be the ability to find and cultivate the skills of others.

What do you think?  Is it possible to create wealth without leadership?  What have you done in the past week to improve your leadership skills?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/the-leadership-equation-l2s/, originally written on February 22nd, 2013.

From Eric Silverman...

This is topic near and dear to my heart.

You’ve touched on something that a lot of people don’t understand: the difference between a manager and a leader. The prior comes for a title, and can be gotten via different avenues; only one of which is moral and ethical behavior. The latter cannot be given, only earned. Another way to think of it is the difference between pride and honor. Pride is something we tend to bestow on ourselves, e.g., “Southern Pride”, “Black Pride”, or pride in our workmanship; whereas honor is an attribute that a person earns, and is then considered to be “an honorable person.” In this analogy Pride is to Manager as Honor is to Leader. (Sorry for the SAT exam flashback.)

My point is, as with honor, being considered to be a leader is something that must be earned. And it is the derivative of a Skills (“S”) that has been obtained during the way, and the correct Application (“A”) of those skills. As such I would initially have written the equation as L=A+S. But that seems too simple. If it was that easy, we would have many more leaders amongst us. There’s something missing. And to be honest, I haven’t a clue as to what it is; but I do know that it raise the value of A+S to a level that the two combine would never obtain.

My final equation would then look more like this, L = (A+S)^x.

A Dream, Inspired by Martin Luther King

This next month, another friend of mine is losing a home.  Another friend of mine is burdened with over $15,000 of credit card debt alone.

Another story of losing over $750,000 on a bad real estate investment.  Another story of a marriage gone in shambles because of financial struggles.  When will this madness end?  Is it really true that slavery was abolished years ago?

Today, I want to share my dream.  I have a dream of promoting financial literacy to the families across America.  A dream of increasing awareness and opening people's eyes to the marketing and influences that bombard them on a daily basis, keeping them in the shackles of debt.  A dream where a family is properly advised through programs held by businesses, communities and church organizations.  Safe havens where early morning and late evening classes are held.  A society where couples open dialog about their financial issues and stresses and once again have hope.

In sharing my dream, in promoting this dream, I have faced road blocks and closed ears, closed minds.  People not willing to even spend a half hour to sit down and hear what I have to say.  But I fear not, for as Albert Einstein stated, "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."  We all have the choice to live a good life or commit to something greater.  As John Mason puts it, "Until you give yourself to some great cause, you haven't begun to fully live."

To do something special, by definition means that you must rock the boat a little.  You must challenge the status quo, for this is the only way to bring about change.

Thank you to all the readers.  Thank you to all the people who continue to support, continue to bring words of encouragement and enlightenment.  Thank you to my mentors.  If you believe in this cause and the need for financial literacy, please share the message.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/a-dream-inspired-by-martin-luther-king/, originally written on February 21st, 2013.

25 Reasons Financial Literacy is Important

Have you ever wondered why someone might change careers all of a sudden?  Have you ever seen someone do something and you thought it would be great if you had the talent to do something like that?  Do you feel that your talents are being utilized to the best of your ability?

Today, we will explore the importance of financial literacy.  Perhaps, you will feel an area that you can relate to and possibly have the desire to jump in and make a career change or pitch in enough to make a difference.  Here are 25 reasons why you might help promote financial literacy in your community:

1. The number one related cause of health issues is stress, often caused by finances.
2. Divorces occur in today's society at an extremely high rate, most often due to financial struggles.
3. People are thousands of dollars in debt which affects their health and relationships.
4. Students are accumulating large amounts of debt before graduating college.
5. Young couples and families are starting their lives together in debt bondage.
6. People are suffering in the shackles of debt, lost without a plan.
7. People are losing their homes, with foreclosures happening on every street corner in the US.
8. Middle class families continue to be left out in the cold.
9. People do not have enough money saved for retirement.
nasal polyps treatment
10. People are losing their hard earned retirement money on real estate investments.
11. The banks and brokerages continue to grow as families continue to suffer.
12. People are gambling away thousands of dollars on stock investments.
13. People are allowed to invest with the click of a button and without a solid investment strategy.
14. Families haven't spent enough time thinking about their future and communicating their goals.
15. The middle class is being taxed to death and slowly shrinking.
16. Loop holes in the system allow people making double the salary to have one third the taxes.
17. People are being ripped off left and right by unethical business contracts.
18. People are typically overinsured or underinsured when it comes to life insurance.
19. Despite lawsuits and years of lobbying, predatory practices continue to be affluent in our society.
20. Families and siblings are left to fight and clean up the mess after their parents pass away.
21. Without adequate estate planning, children are at risk to become lost in the system.
22. Small businesses continue to fail at alarming rates.
23. Business schools continue to be taught by amateurs rather than successful leaders.
24. The lack of mentorship for young people and people in mentorship programs is dwindling.
25. The ability of our communities to negotiate deals fundamentally affects our global economies.

Thank you for visiting!  Remember to spread the word through social media sites such as facebook, twitter and linked in!

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/25-reasons-financial-literacy-is-important/, originally written on February 13th, 2013.

2 Things You Need to Know About Contracts

According to www.law.cornell.edu, "A standard form contract drafted by one party (usually a business with stronger bargaining power) and signed by the weaker party (usually a consumer in need of goods or services), who must adhere to the contract and therefore does not have the power to negotiate or modify the terms of the contract."

What does this mean?  This means that most of the contracts you sign are contracts of adhesion, meaning that you sign a contract where all the stipulations were determined by the person writing the contract.

According to www.inc.com, "Although lots of contracts are filled with mind-bending legal gibberish, there's no reason why this has to be true. For most contracts, legalese is not essential or even helpful."  Unfortunately, the more clear you try to make something, the more complex it becomes.  If your goal is clarity, the contract should be short and simple.  As an example, see whatis.techtarget.com, which shows how difficult it could be to define the number 0.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/2-things-you-need-to-know-about-contracts/, originally written on February 10th, 2013.

3 Areas of Finance Where Paperwork Pays Off

Have you ever noticed that processing paperwork is a high paying skill?  For example, the automobile and home insurance companies all fight for your business.  Once they have it, they will slowly increase costs on you and sneak in fees from any angle they can.  After a few years, you decide to compare rates again.  You might spend five hours switching companies to save $400.  That equates to $80/hr.  My point.  Paperwork is a high paying skill.

What about taxes?  What if you have to write a letter to the IRS and jump on the phone to possibly reverse a fee of $1,500.  If this takes you 15 hours of phone time and research, then you have just made $100/hr.

What is another great area where paperwork pays off?  Funding.  This might include grant work for a business, request for proposals or funding a college education.  Imagine you take two weeks or 80 hours learning a new skill.  This skill is the art of applying for funding.  Imagine that you complete application after application, building up your capability to demonstrate value and win contracts or grants.  After several rejection letters, you finally score some funding.  If the funding amounts to $75,000, you just made close to $937/hr.

Do you have a story where paperwork put a lot of money into your pocket?

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/3-areas-of-finance-where-paperwork-pays-off/, originally written on February 7th, 2013.

Do You Know Your Net Worth?

If I were to sit down with you and ask you how much was in your retirement account, how long would it take to dig up this number?

If I were to ask you what were the estimated values of your assets, how long would it take to get these numbers?  Do you even know what the difference between an asset and liability is?

If I were to ask you the amounts of your various loans were, do you know these amounts?  Do you know your minimum payments, actual payments and various interest rates?  Do you know how much you owe on your mortgage?

Suppose you have calculated your net worth, do you know what it was a year ago.  Do you know if you are improving from year to year?  Are you letting time slip away like most Americans?  When is enough, enough.  Do something about it.  Now!

The fact that you are reading this means you are ahead of 90% of Americans.  If you could only take some action, you will start beating half of the remaining 10%.  Check out Paul and Donald's race to a million dollars at www.blogtoamillion.com.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/do-you-know-your-net-worth/, originally written on January 29th, 2013.

What is Napolean Hill’s QQMA Formula?

Napolean Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich, a book that has influenced leaders in many areas, anywhere from leadership to mixed martial arts (check out teamlovatobjj.com). You can watch Napolean Hill videos below.



Is the business you are in long term?  Do you want to do what you are doing for 20 or 30 years?  Do you believe your natural gifts and talents are being utilized in what you do?  If you want a successful business or career, you must feel this way about what you do.  You must have an extreme passion to the point where people may think that you are a little crazy or extreme.  When you hold a conviction or a position that has opposing views and find not everyone agrees, you know you are on the right track.  For instance, our own president must have close to 50% of the population opposing his views.  Resistence is one of the first signs of success.

Napolean Hill's QQMA Formula states this:  "The quality of service you render plus the quantity of service your render plus the mental attitude in which you render service determines the space you occupy in your chosen calling and the compensation you get from your services."

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you enjoyed reading!

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/what-is-napolean-hills-qqma-formula/, originally written on January 29th, 2013.

Have You Ever Heard of Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant?

In 2000, Robert Kiyosaki released his book Cash Flow Quadrant, an amazing follow up to Rich Dad Poor Dad.  You can follow the cash flow quadrant blog at www.richerdaddy.com. Have you read this book?

This book has been very controversial over the past few years as people flock by the dozens searching for a way to create a successful venture in the business or investor arena. Many will try, many will fail, few will succeed.

One thing is clear.  You must be in one of the four quadrants.  Which quadrant are you in?  More importantly, those people around you, which quadrant are they in?  Out of the people you know who are poor, middle class, upper middle class, rich and wealthy, which quadrant are they in?

Remember, learn from someone who's situation is better than your own, in a particular area.  The difficult thing is that most of your friends and family will act like they are doing really well, but the statistics say that about 50% of them have less than $10,000 in their savings account and less than $25,000 in their retirement account.  Don't be fooled by the new house and car.

Read more from my earlier post.

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/have-you-ever-heard-of-robert-kiyosakis-cash-flow-quadrant/, originally written on January 28th, 2013.

Are You a Business?

The truth is, you are constantly selling yourself to other people whether you like it or not.  You are constantly running a business whether you like it or not.  At the end of the month, you have either sold yourself well and brought in a good revenue stream or you have not sold yourself well and have little to show for your efforts.

Your revenue is either greater than your expenses, meaning that your run a profitable business or you are spending more than you make and you are running your business into the ground.

The question becomes, do you sell yourself in a way that generates the highest revenue?  I think most of us can answer "No" to that question, since morals, ethics and values also come into play.

The next question becomes, which style of business do you run?  Are you an employee, relying on others to handle all aspects of your life?  Are you self employed, meaning that you are quite independent but are not leveraging your time and money to accomplish more?  Or are you a business owner and investor with a system in place to leverage the resources at your disposal.

Listen to how Robert Kiyosaki describes the cash flow quadrant in the traditional sense of the word business.



This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/business/are-you-a-business/, originally written on January 2013.