Stream of Wealth

Pay Yourself First (continued)

2009-06-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

The easiest way is to have this done automatically. Have the bank save the money right off the top for you and don’t even involve yourself. You already know how much you want to save in the year, so if you’re paid monthly, then divide that by 12, and if it’s every 2 weeks then divide that by 26.

Then, either online or by visiting your bank (depending on how they do things) just have them set up a transfer effective the day after payday into your new account(s) - which we’ll get to….

Make sure it’s the day after payday so that the money has arrived (from wherever you get it) but you haven’t had much chance to spend any. Leave it too late in the month, and you may not have enough left. Do it early in the month and you may not even miss it!

Of course this assumes that you’re paid regularly and that it goes to a bank account in your name. If not, you may need to figure out a way round that - but the principle remains the same. About 10% of your regular income is put aside each time you get it.

Where does it go? Well the idea is that you set it aside in the bank where you won’t touch it. You also want to try and ensure that you’re getting some sort of interest paid on the money you save too - so that may mean looking around for different account types or even different banks. If you’re going to have to do this, don’t restrict yourself to the high-street, there are some good online banks as well. ‘ING direct’ comes to mind as one online option (No, I don’t use them, they just advertise well in my area).

So, put 10% of your income into an interest-bearing account and don’t touch it. Easy huh? More on that next time…..

Why pay yourself first?

2009-06-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

So last time we talked about paying yourself first. Did you come up with a list of reasons to save money and become richer? Here are some of mine:

Spend more time with family
To chose to work (instead of having to)
To be able to visit favorite places more often
To be able to give more away (to churches, charities, schools, etc.)
To be free to spend more time learning.

Whatever you listed - and some of your list may be the same as mine, or may be very different - it’s likely that your list centers on the idea of freedom (to do something, be something, or NOT to have to do other things).

Now we have reasons to pay ourselves first, how do we achieve this? If you’re anything like me, most of your paycheck is gone by the time the next one comes along - and often it’s all gone.

Well, actually having the motivation to do so is a good starting point and is what the list is for. Next is the discipline to keep some of your money whenever you get it. That’s what the plan is for - if you’ve followed along so far, you already know:

How much (10% or one tenth of your income)

What for (the reasons listed above)

Next comes the ‘how’ part. How do you know how much is 10% and how do you keep it? Well, that will be the next discussion topic.

Pay Yourself First

2009-06-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
theme - another topic that Kiyosaki feels strongly about is the idea “Pay Yourself First”. He may not have been the first to think of this - and cites The Richest Man in Babylon: Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century as possibly the first book to put this idea in print - but he rightly gives is prominence, as does my current favourite Prosperity Consciousness: How to Tap Your Unlimited Wealth.

The idea is straight forward enough and a quick exercise will prove its worth:

1. Think of all the money you earned last year (what did you declare as ‘income’ on your tax return?)

2. Divide that number by 10

3. Imagine how much better off you would be if you managed to keep this amount for yourself each year.

Sound simple, but how do you do it? (Of course, you might already be doing it, in which case Congratulations! Now please share your secret with others using the comment box below....)

Well, there are probably various methods, but each one involves planning and having purpose. The number you calculated above sounds great, but what would you do with it if you had to spend it today? Not as a down-payment or to pay off part of the mortgage, but if you really had to spend it. Could you? Would you know what to do?

OK, we can all hit the shops and randomly spend money on whatever we see, but that doesn’t inspire us to keep the money in the first place: “I’m going to save it so I can visit the mall and spend it,” isn’t going to inspire you to set aside money each payday.

So what will?

Have a think about that question - what would inspire you to save the money? See if you can come up with a list.

We’ll talk more on this topic next time

The Rich don't work for money

2009-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

On with the review of RDPD - and today’s fun little exercise (which didn’t come from the book - but we’ll get to that).

So already we know the difference between an asset and a liability and which to buy if we want to get rich. Another key message in the book is that the rich don’t work for money. Robert is quite certain about that and goes to some lengths the emphasize the point. He tells the story of how, at a young age, he worked in a store for no wages. At first it upset him, but eventually he figured out a method that would benefit him without relying on a wage.

So, this brings the obvious question - if the rich don’t work for money, what do they work for (assuming they work at all of course). Well, there are all kinds of books and courses that have tried to address that one and in the end, you’ll have to decide yourself (if you want to be one of The Rich, of course. You could always carry on working for survival, but I’m thinking that’s not why you’re reading).

One theme that does come up over and again in my research is that the rich enjoy what they do. It’s not really like work and many of them would carry right on doing it if they weren’t paid. So how do you get a piece of that? How to actually enjoy what you do. Or to put it another way, can you increase your income by having fun?

I think you can! This exercise is based on the audio version of:
Prosperity Consciousness: How to Tap Your Unlimited Wealth

But before we start, I actually want you to do this exercise. Really. Not just think about it, but do it. You want to get rich, right? Well here’s a quick hundred in your local currency right here:

1. You’re going to need coloured squares of paper. Could be construction paper, suger-paper, pot-it notes, index cards, whatever.

2. On each one, on one side only, write out something you do in your life that’s fun. Now this could be family related, could be a game, a recreation, could be something from your job that you enjoy. Whatever. Make it short - one sentence is enough (it’s only for you, not for publication!).

3. Keep going. Challenge yourself to get 25, 50, 100 items listed. You want as many as possible.

4. OK, so now you have hundreds of fun activities, each listed on a single piece of paper.
Turn all the paper face down so you can’t see the activities and shuffle away. Mix them all up.

5. Spread them out, on a desk, floor, bed, wherever; still face down.

6. Now choose two at random. Any two. Turn them over

7. And here’s the real key to this exercise. Challenge yourself to think of a way you can make money combining those two activities. It can be as realistic or as daft as you like. But do it and write it down.

8. Now repeat.

9. Keep going, you want lots of these great ideas. At this early stage, don’t get too hung up about what people will pay for - that’s what your idea assessment (steps 10 & 11) is for.

10. Once you have at least 25 ideas listed out, look at them together. Which one or two seem most probable to you? Which could you actually do? Pick the one you’re most likely to achieve and most willing to follow through on. No real point if you’re too embarrassed or whatever to do this.

11. Is this one idea something people will pay for? Can you keep going until you make a hundred dollars/pounds/euros? If it’s selling something for a $1 profit, can you do it 100 times? Are you willing to?

12. That’s the idea you need.

13. Take that one idea and write out all the small steps needed to achieve. Do you have to buy something to sell? Do you have to create something? You’ll surely need a way to collect the money. Get all the steps laid out. From now (an idea) to sometime in the future when you have your 100 in the bank or in your hand.

14. So there it is. You now have a plan which will give you an extra 100 in cash. AND it’s for doing something fun. Something you might have done anyway, if only you’d thought about it.

So enjoy yourself, have a little fun with it. Invite friends round and have a really crazy time with the ideas if you like.

Let us all know what you do and how it went for you by adding your comments here…..

Rich Dad - Poor Dad

2009-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

So we start with the first book I read with the intention of becoming interested in money. Sure I'd read other books on the topic before, but this was the first one I deliberately looked for and brought.

I'd had a teacher at university who was interested in personal finance and who claimed that work accounted for about 60% of his income at that time and that he intended continuing to structure his life so that he didn't have to rely on a job. Well of course that got me interested, and the first book I found that seemed relevant was:

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

It's a great book and a terrible book all at once. Most of the ideas weren't new and the stories that hold the ideas in to place are sometimes difficult to believe. But the way the ideas are put together and the story that is created in Rich Dad, Poor Dad is enough to keep you interested and get the teaching across.

There are a lot of key teaching points in the book, relating to money, investing, assets, liabilities, etc. and along with a few other ideas they'll be the topic for this week.

One of the key points for me was the difference between assets and liabilities - it was something that had never been explained to me before, either in traditional terms or in the way Robert presents the information. So I had no problem accepting his ideas. I enjoyed the way the information was presented, alongside diagrams which, while really simplistic, emphasised the teaching.

In essence, he defines an asset as something which puts money in your pocket; A liability as something which takes money out of your pocket; and a rich person (or someone becoming richer) as one who knows the difference, and buys assets.

As I say, these things hadn't been explained before and I could clearly see the sense. If you want to get rich - buy or create things which put money in your pocket.

So that's the message for today. Seems obvious, but still seems overlooked by a lot of people.

Next blog - the fun really starts... The Rich don't work for money and the first exercise you can do for yourself.

Here's to your success!

Day 1 - my new money blog

2009-05-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well I've studiously avoided Blogging for a long time now - I'm well aware of how much time computers can take from a person's life, but finally I've decided to make a start.

And why?

Well because I have a topic I think will interest you, and because I want to get your opinions on this topic, and because I want somewhere to keep a record of all this information, along with dates & times of what I did. Put all that together and you get a Blog.

So what is this important, interesting topic?

Wealth!

Or more specifically, I'm going to look at some of the information that's available on this topic.... You know - you've seen the web programs, the books, the commercials that promise instant wealth, or something close to it. And even some that don't promise instant results, but which actually confess that you might have to work at it.

Well, I've read a good few of them, tried one or two things in the past, not really achieved much (and I'm surely not wealthy!) so it's time for a different approach.

I'm going to use this space to document what I read & tell you what I think about it - and ask you to comment on it too. That way we can all share and learn.

I'm going to tell you what ideas I think are good enough for me to try, personally, and I'm going to detail what I do and what happens.

Yes, I'm actually going to try some of this stuff, and let you know the results.

What would be really nice is if you did the same. If we get a lot of people each trying one or two of the 'get rich' ideas that the web is full of, we'll soon know what works. Then you, I and everyone else will know which ideas are worth checking in to and which should just be skipped over.

So, that's the theme we'll be following for the rest of this blog.
Let me know what you think!