This book’s title “Wealth Is a Choice: How to Choose Wisely” says it all. Wealth is a choice. No one gets rich without making the decision to do so, whether it is deciding to buy a lottery ticket or pragmatically planning for retirement. The first thing people must do is make conscious decisions that they will have wealth and then set goals to achieve that wealth. Of course, the goals must be realistic, which rules out the lottery. In “Wealth Is a Choice” James Studinger provides valuable advice for setting realistic goals based on his own experiences and his many years of helping his clients increase their wealth.
Throughout “Wealth Is a Choice,” Studinger relates personal experiences-his childhood in Manistique, Michigan, his working for a firm that helped prison employees with managing their money in the Marquette Branch Prison, various firms he has worked for in Michigan, and examples of the clients he has helped to grow their wealth, as well as examples of clients who did not grow wealth and what held them back. He also tells his own story of personally learning how to handle his money so he was not in debt. He began writing “Wealth Is a Choice” because he wanted to leave his sons a money road map should anything happen to him. That idea grew into one of the best books on money management I have ever read.
“Wealth Is a Choice” stands out for many reasons. First of all, a lot I know about money I learned from Suze Orman. Her books and television show are fantastic about money management, but Orman and many others focus primarily on how to get out of debt, and how to save money by spending less. Studinger talks about debt briefly, but he notes that many good books already exist on the subject. His purpose is instead to help us learn how to grow our money, which is what I’ve most wanted to learn. I’m apparently one of the fortunate few in America not in debt who has always been good at saving money. My need has been trying to figure out what to do with the money I save-how to invest it, what to invest it in, how to know whether an investment will be good or bad.
I have read books about mutual funds and stocks and how to determine which ones are likely to grow. Most of it I quickly forget. What was missing from the equation, and Studinger is the only author I know who has made this clear, is that the ultimate goal is to figure out how much you need to retire, and then to track your progress regularly toward that goal.
One point Studinger covers extensively, which cannot be underestimated, is the importance of finding a reliable advisor. He warns us that many advisors try to sell clients products based on how much commission they will receive rather than what is best for the client. He tells us to ask advisors upfront what the benefit is to them, while reminding us just because one investment will pay off for the advisor more than another, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t choose the investment that will help the advisor more, we just also should choose what makes most sense for our investment needs. After all, advisors deserve to make a good living off their work provided they are giving their clients good advice. Studinger tells us to ask three basic questions of advisors before we make an investment: What is the rate of return? What is the risk? What is the cost?
Beyond finding a good advisor, Studinger suggests we find a good software program that allows us to track our investments. I have tried to track my investments by paper statements, making spreadsheets etc., but it is tedious and I never keep up with it. A software program sounds like the way to go. Studinger’s own wealth management firm, JPStudinger Group, provides a wealth management solution tool that is web-based so clients can track their investments. A video of this tool can be viewed at http://www.jpstudinger.com.
The only slight flaw I see in this book are the examples of wealthy clients Studinger uses. The majority of them have significant incomes ranging from $80,000 annually and upward. Most Americans do not have such incomes, so they might find such numbers intimidating. Unfortunately, it is people with such high incomes who will most likely be reading this book. However, the person who makes $30,000 a year will find the advice given just as useful. Don’t let the numbers intimidate you. A person’s current income does not have to determine whether someone has the choice to become wealthy. As Studinger points out, it’s about making good choices with the money you have that will make the difference.
“Wealth Is a Choice” is an easy to understand book. Unlike with many investment books, I never once felt lost or confused. Studinger writes in a straightforward style, and his honest advice leaves me with no doubt that he has the reader’s best interests at heart. He has great cartoons throughout the book to illustrate his discussion, and he uses effective analogies, including football offense and defense and archery anchor points to get his points across. I think male readers will especially be able to relate to his examples and find the advice practical.
Lots of people read about money or tell themselves someday they will get their finances together. This book will inspire people to do so. Many readers, after completing this book, will realize that wealth is a choice and be inspired to make that choice for themselves. I know “Wealth Is a Choice” has encouraged me to review my financial goals and plan better for retirement.
The Federal Tax Code was written by our friends in Government. Most of whom are business owners or Married to one. It is no surprise that owning a business and more specifically a home-based business entitles one to certain tax advantages. Being able to deduct a portion of your mortgage, rent and other monthly expenses comes with the territory.
This luxury does come with some headaches. Possibly the most frustrating time for independent distributors in a Network Marketing company is the dreaded tax season. All of a sudden an entire year of little or no planning and spotty record keeping by these work at home professionals can catch up to them. The result is a mountain of stress, paperwork and accountant bills.
A possible solution is personal finance software such as Quicken or Microsoft Money. Experience will prove these do little to lesson the blow. Although useful for small to medium sized business, these programs were not designed for a home-based-businesses. Many home business owners find they are too complex, difficult to learn and filled with many features that are not needed.
Glenn Huels, along with MLM Success Tips recognized this major problem facing Network Marketing professionals and created a solution for the 39+ million distributors worldwide. The MLM Tax Helper was designed to relieve the tax time stress of being unorganized, unprepared and the total frustration with the software programs available that are just too complicated for what is needed. Having a system that is simple, very easy to use and designed specifically for a MLM business is priceless.
You will find this software is customizable for your specific business, allows you to easily enter your income and expenses for all 12 months of the year and then automatically creates for you, an income statement for all 4 quarters and the end of the year, that you can print off and give to your accountant. It also simplifies many important calculations such as the lucrative home office deduction and the mileage deduction. In addition to the software, you also receive an extensive amount of free tax help, tips and resources to help you claim all of the tax deductions you are legally entitled to, many of which most people are not aware of. All of this is compiled into a very simple, easy to use resource guide.
The software will make tax time less stressful and may enlighten the user to deductions not previously known. Improving the bottom line is always important.
The success of email marketing campaigns depends on your email newsletter open rates. You can create great newsletters with the help of newsletter software. Email open rates depend on many factors and some of them are given below:
o Subject lines should be attractive and compelling for the reader to open your email. You should select motivational words with a creative approach in writing subject lines for your emails.
o Name given in “from” line of your email newsletter should be real and recognizable. You can set different email addresses in newsletter software for different segments of your target markets.
Secured Credit Cards Can Be Good
If you are unable to get a normal card because of poor credit, all hope is not lost. A secured credit card is different in that it utilizes funds a consumer has placed in a savings account. The secured card is protected by the savings account. Therefore the consumer is “borrowing” from his or her own account. In this way the consumer can re-establish their credit repayment history thereby exhibiting improved credit worthiness. Some secured cards even come with a conversion feature allowing an upgrade to an unsecured credit card after a successful repayment history of a pre-determined length of time.
Credit cards in general can be exceptionally beneficial to the consumer. Secured cards provide all the same benefits. But additionally a secured card offers the consumer with less than good credit an opportunity to build credit history, which is 35% of a consumers credit score.
You can obtain a list of financial institutions offering secured cards by sending a $4 check or money order to:
Secured Credit Card List BHA Customer Service
524 Branch Drive
Salem, VA 24153
There is also a free list on line from Bankrate.com or you can find a list of financial institutions offering secured credit cards using your favorite search engine by simply searching for the key words “secured credit card”. Be aware that different companies offer different terms, with fees and rates varying widely. Obviously some companies are better than others. Some just want to charge you fees while others provide a fair service. (See below for potential problems with some companies.)
My best recommendation is to check with larger banks and especially credit unions locally and ask if they offer a secured card program. You might also ask them if they report to all 3 credit bureaus and how often they report since one of your main concerns is rebuilding credit. Also check to see if they offer a conversion to an unsecured card and after what period of time.
Secured Cards Can Be Bad
Many years ago I wrote an article saying that credit and credit cards are the agony and ecstasy of life. I have not changed my opinion. Like all credit cards, a secured credit card can make the impossible possible. But it can also drive the unsuspecting consumer into the ground or even worse Bankruptcy Court. Fortunately a secured credit card will not permit you to spend more than your savings amount. However, should you fail to make on-time payments, you may find yourself not only without access to your secured account, but without future use of any secured card from any source.
When selecting a secured card, be on the lookout for excessive administrative and set up fees as well as high interest rates. There should be no application fee nor “insurance costs” unless you feel insurance is necessary. There may be an annual fee but shop around for interest rates and annual fee costs.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers the following warnings. Be aware of: Offers of easy credit. No one can guarantee to get you credit. Before deciding whether to give you credit, legitimate providers examine your credit report.
A call to a “900″ number for a credit card. You pay for calls with a “900″ prefix. You may never receive a card.
Credit cards offered by “credit repair” companies or “credit clinics.” These businesses also may offer to clean up your credit history for a fee. [Most consumer advocates recommend against these clinics.]
Of special note are callers offering secured credit cards as well as offshore secured and unsecured credit cards. There are some very good offshore-unsecured creditors but most marketers of secured or unsecured offshore versions are more than likely scam artists.
Report suspected credit fraud and scams to the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC), a project of the National Consumers League. They are available at 800-876-7060, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST, Monday – Friday. NFIC is a nonprofit organization that operates a consumer hotline to provide services and assistance in filing complaints. NFIC helps the FTC and state officials by entering complaints into a computerized database to help track and identify fraud operators.
Money is a very large and a very broad topic. It encompasses so many area’s that a person can spend day’s on each topic and only be scratching the surface of them. One of the topics that is quite often overlooked, but is so very important, is the topic of managing your money.
People have a tendency to be really focused on increasing their income, or researching investments, or learning about taxes, but when it comes to the managing of their money, they put it on the back burner. The problem is that it is a vital part in the whole money subject.
People have a tendency to get their pay check or however they make their money and they just take what they need for what they want. No one has ever taught them how to handle it. If people learned some basic money management skills, they could be putting their money to what is really important to them instead of what just comes up.
We live in a society that conditions us to spend and to shop. Now, I don’t think that there is anything wrong with spending your money but I have seen too many people go out there and buy something only to later on regret the purchase.
What if people started to learn money management and applied it. Everything that is truly important to them would be covered. Everyone would have money set aside for their retirement. Just imagine, kids that are just getting out of high school and having the choice whether or not they need to get a job. Money management can do that.
People always say that they will start to manage their money when they have some money. What they don’t realize is that they will have money when they start to manage their money.