Make Wealth Blog

December 19, 2006

Managing Personal Finance

Filed under: Personal finance — Jean @ 11:34 am

Are you having sleepless nights worrying about your financial situation? Do you shudder when the bills arrive in your mailbox? At first, you may think of ways to cut down on your expenses or increase your earnings. However, soon, you realize you are getting deeper and deeper into the red well of financial debt. If you use your credit cards a lot, it is a heavy burden to pay high interest rates on your purchases. What can you do? Read on.

This is a very simple and effective practice but not many people do it. Why? The reasons are various but an educated guess must be that they are lazy or they do not believe that something so simple can right their off course financial ships. Keeping track of your money is the most basic step to successful financial management. Why do companies spend so much on accountants? Imagine. If there are no records of their revenues and expenses, how can a company run efficiently? In the same manner, think of yourself as a company.

Draw up a simple accounting chart for your expenses and revenues. By charting your money, you will be able to adjust your spending so it does not exceed your income. Just the act of putting it in black and white will cause you to be more responsible for your actions. Do you know why people read the newspapers even when they have watched the same news on the TV? If you read it in words, it becomes a fact. Keep a balance sheet. Do it today.

Do you remember the last time you watched a commercial about a new and exciting hamburger with steaming 100% beef patties and fresh gleaming lettuce and buns that look so perfect fantastically dressed in a new secret sauce and you feel your mouth water? The next time you go to the burger joint, you have forked out your hard earned cash and consumed the advertised hamburger which looked nothing like the one you saw on TV. Still, you felt a pang of momentary satisfaction upon eating the hamburger which costs 20% more than an ordinary hamburger. This is called emotional spending. Many things we buy are bought on emotions.

The folks behind the advertisements are paid good money to sell these products and one of the areas they tap into is the emotions of the consumers. Do you think you can play basketball like Michael Jordan just because you wear Air Jordan or be like him just because you drink Gatorade? These are lies but as long as people keep buying them, the advertising people will be happy to tell another one. As a consumer who is bombarded by at least 10 advertisements a day, be wise and practice self restraint. You are not an animal. Learn how to control your emotions.

Get a grip on your financial situation. Follow these simple ideas and you will find yourself less stressed. As a result, your sleep will be sweeter.

December 12, 2006

Planning Wealth Strategies

Filed under: Strategy — JoshN @ 4:46 pm

Those who are serious about being wealthy resort to all means to find a sure and fast way to climb up the financial ladder. They commit themselves to new money making programs and map out strategies in the hope that their dreams can be realized. However, it takes more than information and plans to get rich. You have to remain faithful to your strategies and maintain the belief that you are going to be rich one day. Before you begin implementing strategies, it is important to understand the positions you should desire in order to make your goals come true. In Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, he introduced a ‘Cashflow Quadrant’ which divides all the money makers in the society into four groups, the employed, the self-employed, the business owners and the investors. If you belong to the first two types of money makers, you work for money but if you are a business owner or investor, money works for you. To get wealthy the quick and sure way, you definitely have to aspire to be the latter two. The entire process towards the realization of wealth consists of 3 stages, which are security, comfort and wealth. You should make separate plans for each of them and determine how and when you will achieve these goals. Your goals have to be realistic and should be based on your best efforts to make them come true. Do not set targets that you know are impossible to reach. After following your strategy for some time, you may come to a point where you feel your progress is stagnant. Do not just sit there and brood. You have to take care of the problem at the instance it arises and not wait till it gets too complicated. Find out the reason for the problem and the exact time it started hindering your progress. If it is due to lack of discipline, you have to overcome it if you are serious about getting rich. Most of the obstacles along your journey to wealth are just psychological discouragement. You can defeat the negative voices in your mind with confidence and self-belief. There is a saying that goes, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall remove mountains?’ Every great achievement in the world began with faith. Don’t just tell yourself, ‘I think I will be rich’. Instead, you should say, ‘I know I will be rich.’ That is the true meaning of self-belief. Next, begin to work on the reality aspects of it. Get your friends to form money-making groups with you and make investments together. Most people lose track of their plans because there is nothing practical to refer their plans to. Discuss with your friends about all your successes and let them know when you are facing difficulties. Inspire each other from time to time, and overcome obstacles as a group. Most importantly, you have to cut out all negative influences and thoughts that may hinder your progress towards your ambition. Always think positive, think big and you will be living your dreams of wealth one day.

December 8, 2006

The Bull and The Bear

Filed under: Risk minimization — Goerge @ 10:13 am

When you talk about the bull or the bear, it is common knowledge that you are referring to the stock exchange. A bull means share prices are rising and a bear means they are falling. The outcome of share prices have tremendous effects on the society, and especially for those who own stocks, the results can be anything from life-saving to absolute devastation.

The stock exchange is a very lucrative way to make money. If you make the right investments, it is possible to make a fortune within a very short time. There are those who just wish to make a few extra dollars to complement their steady incomes, but some investors plunge into the gamble with their lives’ savings and more. For the most serious investors, money is not the only investment they make, the entire worth of their beings depends on the bull or the bear.

Throughout the history of the stock exchange, the drastic fall of stock prices has caused great misery to many people. Every now and then, we hear news of an investor suffering from a nervous breakdown due to unfavorable movements of the market, not to mention those who committed suicide as a result of loss. These people invest everything they own on stocks and their whole livelihood, self-worth and future are all dependent on the fickle fluctuations of market shares. No wonder they have no reason to carry on with life when their stocks take the plunge. The stock market crash which led to the Great Depression is the prime example of the effects of the stock exchange on the society as a whole. It was truly one of the darkest periods in the history of the United States.

That does not mean investing in stocks is not worthwhile, but be warned not to stake everything you have on it. It is a great way to invest because if you know your ropes to it, you can make money very efficiently. However, be truly calculative about how much of your wealth you should apportion to investment and do not go beyond the limit such that it will jeopardize your other forms of wealth, such as your self-worth, your family and livelihood. There is always a part of our wealth that is dedicated to keep our personal happiness in tact and that is the best way to use money. If everything we have is measured by the mere value of dollars and cents, life is not truly worthwhile.

It is important to balance monetary wealth with other forms of wealth. Never compromise priceless human values and the basic things that make up your personal happiness in your quest to make money. The most ideal and meaningful life is one with the right balance between material and personal wealth.

When you invest in stocks, always bear in mind that share prices can rise and fall. Although experts may tell you there are sure things in the market, nothing is quite certain until the results are announced. Be a wise investor, and make sure you always have sufficient reserves to keep a meaningful and happy life going despite bull or bear.

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