Financial Freedom?
When talking about financial freedom, different people can mean entirely different things. For some it means getting to do what they want because they have enough money. For others it means having enough income from investments that they are free of any financial concerns.
Of course, few people are actually unconcerned about financial matters regardless of how much income they have. Some even get more worried about their finances as they get wealthier. And few people get to do everything they would like to do no matter how much money they make. Time and health can limit us as much as a lack of money.
Nonetheless, if used properly money certainly can buy more security and more freedom, to the extent that those things are possible in this world. So lets look at how we can actually use money more effectively.
How do we actually achieve financial freedom?
This article is not about the “making money” part of the equation. That’s covered in a thousand good books. Money does not bring the freedom automatically though, so this is about some of the problems we run into once we start making more, and what to do about them.
Freedom From Financial Worries?
First, if you want greater security you want it for the obvious reasons as well as to “feel” more secure. Setting up streams of investment income helps with the physical needs. Once you have enough income from enough sources you are free from needing a job. Of course that only happens if your lifestyle remains within the means of your income.
We often grow our lifestyles along with our rising incomes. This makes sense if you were eating cheap noodles and driving rusty old cars before. It resolves itself in time if income rises faster than the new expenses. But it’s a lot easier to escape the “rat race” and relax with your investment income if your expenses are lower, so watch your changing habits.
If you notice that there seems to be no natural level of comfort where you are content, and that you just continue to “need” more as you make more, the problem might be one that requires some self-reflection and self-work rather than more money. Even millionaires go broke feeding their habits, tastes, and the needs of the ego.
Also, be aware that you can feel insecure no matter what your level of income. Often with more money you will feel more afraid of losing that money. The resolution to this is again not in money itself, which only buys the little bit of physical security available to us. To feel free of worry over money, you have to look beyond money to whatever psychological and spiritual practices help you.
Freedom To Do What You Want?
Money can buy a lot of freedom of choice in this world. With enough you can live how you choose, go where you like to, help who you want, and buy what you desire. But it only accomplishes these things if used properly.
Often people get so caught up in the process of making money that they forget why they wanted to make it in the first place. Meanwhile, they adopt a new lifestyle that eats up all the income which could have paid for their goals if they happened to remember them at some point. Some people really do want that big home and several new cars, but others just fall into that life as a consolation prize for a dream life they just couldn’t figure out how to achieve.
If you want to travel the world, and for you that’s what financial freedom means, you have to plan for that. You may even have to quit your job at some point if it gets in the way. And why not? If it is supposed to help you towards your goal, it better not do the opposite, right?
Whatever the term financial freedom means to you, think about it more specifically. Then start making plans. Money alone can come and go by the millions without offering freedom of any sort. You have to learn how to use it wisely rather than just chase it blindly.
Tags: financial, financial freedom, freedom, money
Concepts Behind Wealth Building
Building wealth includes a slew of different concepts that can only contribute positively to your life. In the hustle and bustle of a fast lifestyle, people seem to forget the different methods that make individuals successful. For some people, they just lose the perspective to apply the different success methods. When people lose focus and tend to view the small details as part of their success pattern, then the goal loses its value. That is why it is important not to forget the different personal concepts that govern wealth creation.
Having a Wealthy View
Financial abundance and wealth creation is a real and tangible idea. But there is a significant condition to it. In order to grasp the ideas of wealth creation, one must take the view of the rich and the wealthy. To have a wealthy view is to have the mindset of a millionaire.
Wealth creating mindset sees the world in a distinctive light. That fundamental principle allows successful people to adapt to different problems while finding fresh methods to attack the blocks that hinders them from achieving their financial goals. They find optimism when an ordinary optimist says no. They also find encouragement in defeats. Most importantly, they find opportunities when it is most invisible. The key to create wealth is therefore to master personal concepts to develop a wealthy perspective.
Where most people find nothing, wealth creation entails finding value in things. However, the most successful wealth creators not only find value. Instead, they create it! In order to create or increase one’s value, wealth creators increase their own individual value first. Wealth creators realize that in order to succeed, one must always exceed even their own expectations. An adaptive mindset that creates value wherever he goes will find himself very important element in a successful enterprise.
Building wealth also includes seizing opportunities. In leadership terms, we call it initiative. Individually, we can call it being proactive. A proactive person finds things to do when others see it as free time. They do not wait for breaks to bite them. Instead, they come biting at opportunities. Once you become a proactive person, you will suddenly find that opportunities come at you at a much faster rate, giving you way to create more wealth.
If you do not follow your passion, building wealth is not fun. Wealth creation is hard enough of a process. If you think that these activities are routine and boring, you will be gasping for air before you get halfway there. The most successful people will normally tell you that they like what they are doing. They will even go far as saying that they will do the things that they love even though they won’t get paid for it. Once we find our passion, everything becomes simple and you will be on the top of the wealth creation chain in no time.
Saving is involved in wealth creation, and that means foregoing what we can spend now for later. While the idea of “delayed pleasure” seems easy, only a few people can thoroughly apply it. Delaying gratification allows us to see into the future and believe that there is a better value for happiness if you save gratification. With the savings compounded over time, wealth is created. Removing instant gratification from our habits will ensure that money always goes wherever they need to go.
Finally, creating wealth involves moving forward. Improving oneself in every aspect and knowing that are different ways to be a better person is a mindset that will help people in the long run. As people say, Rome is not built in a day. We must learn to account each little action and look for ways to improve ourselves.
Wealth creation is not an exercise or a method. Instead, it is a overhaul of your current standard of living to a life that produces a sense of accomplishment. This way we are able to move forward feeling very confident. Wealth creation is a journey not only of our economic standing but also of our overall happiness.
This article was brought to you by financial freedom education, your helpful guide that helps you learn how to invest.
Tags: 21st century academy, 21st century real estate, financial freedom, forex options trading, freedom financial group, money makin, prosperity automated system, real estate courses, steps to financial freedom, wealth creation, wealth creation education, wealth education
Really Get Out Of Debt NOW!
But How?…
Don’t “Repair” your credit, Don’t “Consolidate” your loans (What a joke!) and Don’t get on your knees and “Beg” your creditors to forgive part of your debts. Get RID of That Debt!
OK How do I really do it?…
These three methods are the most suggested ways, when asking about, how to get out of debt. Let’s look at each of them.
1. Repair your credit
I’ve always wondered how the fact you repair your credit helps
you OUT. While correcting mistakes, explaining a problem or
challenging an enntry on your credit report is worthwhile, even
needed, it still doesn’t get you OUT.
Use it only after getting out of debt and then don’t pay someone to
do it. There is too much free information out there on the web not to
do it yourself. So why loose more money?
2. Consolidate your loans
Now this one really IS a joke! Let me see…you take your 5 loans
totaling $30,000 and move them to one loan with a balance of
$30,000. NOW you’re getting out of debt. NOT! This math/thinking
only works in Washington D.C..
Some of you are saying, but wait… I have moved the older loans to
one loan with a lower interest rate and this lowers my payments to
where I can afford them. While a few (very few) are saved by doing
this there are some hidden problems that make this method not as
golden as the advertising would make you believe.
Your payment is lower but is it for a longer time? In most cases I’ve
seen, longer is the answer (How do you think they got the payment
down?). Longer payments mean that compounding interest is
working against you and eating up most, if not all the interest
savings. All you really did was lower the payment. But paid it back
over a longer time (that equals more payments).
Where’s the savings?
Oh Yeah…by the way. My 30+ years of working with folks and their
money tells me that most (read: no one) takes the savings from the
lower payment and adds it to the unpaid balance to get it paid off
sooner. So where is the benefit to you? The bank loved the deal,
because they made more money. They make more – you have less.
3. Beg your creditors to forgive part of your loan
The ads we see and hear use the term “settle” or “debt settlement.” That’s just a marketing friendly way of saying cheating the creditor out of his money (back home we called that ‘stealing’.)
You used your credit to get something. You agreed to pay it back.
Why should you expect the creditor to not expect ALL his money
back? Would YOU expect it ALL back if you were the creditor? Stand
up and pay your debts.
Did you know that “settling” a debt for less than the total amount
due is reported to the credit reporting agencies and is reflected as a
very bad mark on your credit?
I have also seen where the creditor reports the amount written off as
income to you. Yes…the IRS will look at that “forgiven” amount as
income to you and you will be taxed at the highest rate possible rate for your situation.
So…if these ways don’t work…what does?
Here are the 4 steps to doing it. They are not easy. They will take time. There will be pain. But they DO WORK.
1. Stop adding to your debt. “It’s hard to drain the tub when the spigot is still open.”
2. Do an inventory of ALL your debts.
3. Set up a plan to systematically pay off those debts. Start and
finish
4. Determine it’s worth it and then JUST DO IT!
No matter which method you use this last point is the most important. You must decide WHY you want to get out of debt. Imagine what your life will be like when you are free from debts deep dark dungeon.
There are techniques you can learn to get you out faster, but you can’t just say… “I want out of debt”…and be successful, you must COMMIT to doing what it takes to get it done, no matter how long and painful it is. Sorry no easy out here.
Grant H. Lynn, CFP, CSA has 30+ years of experience helping people with their money. With a degree in Financial and Estate Planning and 2 professional designations {Certified Financial Planner (CFP) & Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)} he is uniquely qualified to counsel individuals and families on how to get out of debt.
He has turned his presentation on how to get out of debt (developed over 20 years ago) into a simple understandable video. The video lets you look over his shoulder and watch as he walks you through, step-by-step the process of Getting Out Of Debt Really!
For free information on how to get this video go to http://getoutofdebtreally.com You’ve never been taught many of these things and it shows. To chat about this and other financial topics go to his blog at http://ImagineDebtGone.com you’ll be glad you did.
It CAN be done. You CAN do it. I’ve done it. You Can too.
You Will Never Obtain Financial Freedom!
The title of this article is not very appealing, is it? The truth is that it is does not have to be true for you. Financial freedom is obtainable, but not unless you are thinking about the components of reaching that goal from a bird’s eye viewpoint of your financial life.
Financial goals and what freedom means obviously varies from person to person. For some people just having the freedom to take a vacation every year is their idea of freedom. More likely however, the goal is a bit higher for many people, and the focus to obtain it needs to be a bit more intense.
One factor that is often overlooked in trying to build wealth is the large portion of your income that is required to service the interest due on your borrowing. If you can lower or eliminate your cost of borrowing, obviously you can make a much more vigorous effort at building your net worth.
Even if you are very conservative in your efforts to really build a life of freedom financially, you have to invest and make decisions that will leverage your efforts. So, it is hard to avoid borrowing money, and even unwise if you are using it to grow your business or investments.
So, hopefully you can agree that the cost of growth is a big factor in accomplishing your desire for financial independence.
Even if you are taking a “no-debt at any cost” philosophy, you are still not really getting the full efficiency your assets could be delivering for you.
The reason for this statement can be demonstrated in the following example. If you buy a vehicle for your business and pay cash, you have lost the benefit of that cash to earn you money. Most people refer to this as the lost opportunity to earn. So, in essence you have slowed down your quickest route to financial independence.
These are just some of the challenges you should be thinking about if you are truly on the quest to remove the bonds of financial need. There are answers, but you have to explore your options to find them.
If you’ve enjoyed all the exciting information you read hear about, you’ll love everything else you find at financialfreedom9.xanga.com/
Tags: financial freedom
You Will Never Obtain Financial Freedom!
The title of this article is not very appealing, is it? The truth is that it is does not have to be true for you. Financial freedom is obtainable, but not unless you are thinking about the components of reaching that goal from a bird’s eye viewpoint of your financial life.
Financial goals and what freedom means obviously varies from person to person. For some people just having the freedom to take a vacation every year is their idea of freedom. More likely however, the goal is a bit higher for many people, and the focus to obtain it needs to be a bit more intense.
One factor that is often overlooked in trying to build wealth is the large portion of your income that is required to service the interest due on your borrowing. If you can lower or eliminate your cost of borrowing, obviously you can make a much more vigorous effort at building your net worth.
Even if you are very conservative in your efforts to really build a life of freedom financially, you have to invest and make decisions that will leverage your efforts. So, it is hard to avoid borrowing money, and even unwise if you are using it to grow your business or investments.
So, hopefully you can agree that the cost of growth is a big factor in accomplishing your desire for financial independence.
Even if you are taking a “no-debt at any cost” philosophy, you are still not really getting the full efficiency your assets could be delivering for you.
The reason for this statement can be demonstrated in the following example. If you buy a vehicle for your business and pay cash, you have lost the benefit of that cash to earn you money. Most people refer to this as the lost opportunity to earn. So, in essence you have slowed down your quickest route to financial independence.
These are just some of the challenges you should be thinking about if you are truly on the quest to remove the bonds of financial need. There are answers, but you have to explore your options to find them.
If you’ve enjoyed all the exciting information you read hear about, you’ll love everything else you find at financialfreedom9.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/you-will-never-obtain-financial-freedom/
Tags: financial freedom
You Will Never Obtain Financial Freedom!
Possibly with all the economic upheaval we are seeing in the economy you are becoming more concerned about your own economic future. However, if you have a solid financial plan you do not have to be in a state of ongoing worry.
The title of this article is not very appealing, is it? The truth is that it is does not have to be true for you. Financial freedom is obtainable, but not unless you are thinking about the components of reaching that goal from a bird’s eye viewpoint of your financial life.
Financial goals and what freedom means obviously varies from person to person. For some people just having the freedom to take a vacation every year is their idea of freedom. More likely however, the goal is a bit higher for many people, and the focus to obtain it needs to be a bit more intense.
One factor that is often overlooked in trying to build wealth is the large portion of your income that is required to service the interest due on your borrowing. If you can lower or eliminate your cost of borrowing, obviously you can make a much more vigorous effort at building your net worth.
Even if you are very conservative in your efforts to really build a life of freedom financially, you have to invest and make decisions that will leverage your efforts. So, it is hard to avoid borrowing money, and even unwise if you are using it to grow your business or investments.
So, hopefully you can agree that the cost of growth is a big factor in accomplishing your desire for financial independence.
Even if you are taking a “no-debt at any cost” philosophy, you are still not really getting the full efficiency your assets could be delivering for you.
The reason for this statement can be demonstrated in the following example. If you buy a vehicle for your business and pay cash, you have lost the benefit of that cash to earn you money. Most people refer to this as the lost opportunity to earn. So, in essence you have slowed down your quickest route to financial independence.
These are just some of the challenges you should be thinking about if you are truly on the quest to remove the bonds of financial need. There are answers, but you have to explore your options to find them.
If you’ve enjoyed all the exciting information you read hear about, you’ll love everything else you find at financialfreedomr.blogspot.com/2009/06/you-will-never-obtain-financial-freedom.html
Tags: financial freedom
Avoiding The Stress Of Coping With Debt As A Senior
Avoiding The Stress Of Coping With Debt As A Senior
We live in a consumer society where the mentality is that if we cannot afford something, then we should use credit that we have been offered by various loans companies to buy now and pay later. This is all well and good if you can afford to pay later, but a high number of people cannot afford that luxury and get further and further into debt as a result. It is frustrating and stressful for everyone who is in financial debt and it can take only minutes to increase your debt but can take several years to get out of it. Many companies offer their customers credit cards, which makes it much easier for you to get into deeper debt and that ultimately helps the company get more of your money. Senior citizens who have debt to pay, often find it all the more challenging, because they generally do not have the resources to pay it off as people younger in years. They cannot go out and earn more money in order to pay back loans and credit cards. It is just not that simple for them. Nonetheless, there are several things they can do to help with this problem.
First you should realize that debt is something the majority of people in today’s society deal with on a daily basis. Whilst this is not a comforting thought and doesn’t help an individual senior’s plight, it has resulted in the introduction of various services that will offer solutions to the problem of debt in general. You can look into some of the local financial counseling and debt services available in your local area and perhaps find one that will offer you free initial advice or they may work as an account liaison to your lenders. Using this approached should only be considered because it will effect your credit score rating. However, if you are having problems with debt then you are unlikely to want to get into that situation in a hurry again! Still, it is good to keep the future in mind and have the ’just in case’ mentality. No one knows the future and that is why we all must plan as best as we can and leave our options open as to what we could do.
There are many things that an individual senior can try to work his or her way out of debt. However, before even attempting to come up with solutions to any financial problems you may have, you must first make a detailed plan of your financial situation. Your budget plan will need to include all your income and monthly expenses, this will help to get a better picture of the situation and by reviewing the past several months of your financial records, you will have a better understanding of where to begin adjustments. Calculate your average expenditure in relation to your income, and then you are fully equipped to design payment plans for yourself as well as trying to come up with plausible and realistic ways to cut the amount you are spending. After all, that is where the debt came from and that is also where changes should be made to help prevent additional debt.
Another option is to contact the credit companies themselves and ask for your account to be frozen. Most companies will then be quite happy to work with you in putting a payment scheme in place, where you pay a set amount every month until your debt is cleared. After you clear an account, you will need to decide if you want to reopen it or completely close the account. Often you will find, that no matter what decision you make, the credit company will work with you on this matter. Because if they end up having to sell your debt to a collection agency, they will no longer get your monthly payments, but they also loose the interest they would have gained from your account. Before you go to a credit counseling service, you should try to work with your creditors in this way.
Understanding how your debt was created and by using your budget plan to make the necessary changes in spending, is one of the best things you can do. Your main priority is to make sure that your debts are reduced and then kept in check. You need to make the first move in your endeavor for financial freedom from debt and you will feel the weight lifted off your shoulder as soon as you begin!
Tags: coping with debt, debt services, financial counseling, financial freedom, getting debt free, seniors in debt
