Why people think they can just show up and hope everything will work out for the best is beyond me. Life is like a "road trip" it requires planning and forethought. After all, how will you know when you have arrived if you don’t have a destination?

One main goal most people have in life is to retire in comfort and security. Why are we creating wealth and riches if not for a purpose like retirement or to make a positive difference in the world around us? Sounds nice but what does that mean and how do I get there? Retirement means different things to different people. For some it means a change of careers…that business you’ve always wanted; to others it means moving to Florida and sitting on the beach with a drink in your hand. Each of us needs to create in our minds that picture of a perfect retirement. The comfort and security part is a more quantifiable number and here’s where we need to start planning.

There are eight basic elements to a happy retirement – barring any major surprises – that most people will want to have in place before the "Big Day."

1. Know when you want to make the change or switch.
2. Know what it is you want to do for the next phase of your life. You may make several in life before you ultimately check out.
3. Know where you want to live in retirement.
4. Know how much money it will take to live comfortably (budget).
5. Have your financial structure in place. (insurance/investments/income).
6. Talk it over with your family… keep everyone informed and on board.
7. Plan for both the "known’s and the unknowns" in life (lawyer).
8. Seek advice…don’t think you know it all and can do it all.

Focus…focus…focus, keep your eyes on the prize.

Don’t be a "Socialist Zombie" like the government wants…be different.

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Who Succeeds?

People who succeed in life always have a higher purpose or goal that isn’t centered around money. Successful people have a dream and a passion for what they do and, it’s this commitment to something bigger than themselves that spurs them on. Building a company, creating a new produce or service, solving a world wide problem or finding a cure is the goal for them.

For many people there is a higher calling or purpose in life that ties in with a belief system. They know they are put here on earth for a purpose and they seek out that purpose.

So is Money Important Then?

It’s almost funny but the creation of wealth comes as a by product for many successful people in

the world today. Like I said, it’s not about the money but the money is important. Money gives us more options, more opportunities, more abilities to make changes in both our lives and the lives of others. I think this is where we need to focus…positively affecting the lives of others.

When many first embark on the path to riches, they are thinking about themselves or their family, not about others. But, if we begin by planning with a higher purpose and goal, we include others. This "share the wealth" philosophy brings others into our horizon, and they help become part of and a driving force to propel the plan forward and on to new heights.

How to Make the Change

I have written before about finding one’s passion and God-given talent in life and to then search out or create a business where you can apply that passion or talent to earn money. If you follow this formula, work no longer feels like work; it comes naturally and easily. You’ll find you have energy and enthusiasm each day as you look forward to doing what you were born to do. This energy will translate into greater productivity and creativity. This in turn will bring you increased riches and wealth.

Your attitude and outlook on life will change; people will be drawn to you and attracted by your positive personality. The function of creating wealth won’t be based on the number of hours you work each week or your salary, but rather what you give back to society… your value to the world around you.

Henry Kaiser, the great 20th century industrialist said it best, "Find a need and fill it." If you follow this formula you will be paid what you are worth not what someone else wants to pay you. Governments need people who will follow orders and don’t think for themselves. Society needs people who are problem solvers and for that you’ll be richly rewarded.

Go out there and create something…Join the Rebellion!!!!

The approach of April 15th each year causes many people to think about taxes and its affect on their wallet; but, after they file their tax return, the concern fades away until next year. It is at this point where the focus shifts and no planning for future tax reduction takes place. Reducing the tax bite can’t happen just on April 15th each year; you must create a "tax avoidance mind set" that last 365 days a year.

I will lay out several ways you can legally reduce or avoid taxes for next year and beyond. Please keep in mind that everything you do, every decision you make affects your future. Allowing the erosion of taxation on your wealth to go unchecked can have a lasting effect on you and your family – but, you can do something about it!

Tax deductions. Your CPA or accountant loves looking for and finding tax deductions and write offs. This is limited to what you have already done and doesn’t involve planning. They look at where and how you spent money and hope to find something to help reduce taxes; it’s not proactive with the exception of an IRA or SEP plan. To help fix the flawed method, we need to be aware of what is and is not a deduction. You must have a mind set and be conscious of how you are using your money every day. Think before you spend. If you are self employed think about making purchases through your business that will allow you to write them off. Look for items and services you use and see if they can be offered to you through your business like cell phones, internet service, gas cards or health insurance.

Tax deferral. The postponing of paying taxes on your money will allow you time to use those dollars to make even more money. Qualified retirement plans like 401(k), 403 (b) and pensions are the most common ways to receive tax deferral on investment earnings. IRAs and annuities can also provide you with opportunities to defer taxes if you don’t have a qualified plan through work or have already hit your limits. In real estate, the 1031 exchange rules for the sale of property should be used when ever possible.

Tax free. The best way to not have taxes affect your wealth is to use a tax free method of growing your money. The Roth IRA is fast becoming the most popular way Americans are protecting their profits. The IRS now allows 401(K) plans to offer the Roth version. Another way to get tax free dollars is to use Municipal Bonds or Bond Funds; their interest is not taxable at the federal level. Cash Value life insurance can offer you access to non-reportable money through their loan provision in the policy.

Tax credits. A "loss credit" dollar is used to reduce a taxable dollar there by reducing your taxable income. You get credit for losses you take on old investments when you use them against profits from other like kind investments. You can also use up to $3000 of investment losses against earned income on your tax return. Any losses not used this year can be carried forward in to the following tax year(s) until they get used up. The government offers another form of tax credits when you invest in certain types of real estate partnerships; these can be used against a dollar you owe in tax. This type of tax credit works out better than just reducing your income to be taxed. Real estate tax credits are limited and are offered to only accredited investors.

These are the most common and less complicated ways of reducing or eliminating federal income tax on your money. Remember it’s not what you make but what you keep that counts. Don’t let the government have more of your hard earned money than necessary; they will only just waste it anyway.

Make a change…Join the Rebellion!!!!

So if owning a business is the fast lane to creating wealth what business should I own? Here are four important elements to help you make the right decision:

Passion—Time and time again, I have stressed that you need to search out your passions in life and create a business that involves this passion. When we are passionate about what we do for a living, we don’t think of it as work. We love the start of each day; we are happy and energized as we go about the task that creates cash flow and profits. We are enthusiastic when we interact with other people; there is a glow about us that is reflected in all we do. The mind and soul are unleashed to supply creativity and insight in our work. This gives us an edge over the competition and spurs growth in our business, opening up new opportunities.

Research—You might be passionate about cooking and want to own a restaurant. Before you run out and plop down your life savings on the first one you find, research the business. If you have never worked in a restaurant before I suggest you get a job working for one. Yes, you heard me correctly: start your research from the inside. The best way to learn about something is by trying it out; get your hands dirty. Don’t just read about it; get experience in the business or industry you have a passion about while on the other guy’s nickel. By using this method of research, you will cut years off your time table to creating wealth. Working from the inside, you will absorb knowledge and gain access to contacts and companies needed for your business venture. See first hand what works and doesn’t work. Formulate your own style of business; then put your brand on it. Pay close attention to the other employees and how they go about their job responsibilities. Be on the look out for improvements you will need to make to insure success.

Capital Requirements—Have you ever heard the phrase "it takes money to make money?" Some businesses will need a little capital to get started and some will demand a lot. Lay out a game plan for the cost of doing business. Your list should include: rent for office space, communication and computer systems, raw materials, equipment to produce or manufacture your product or services, salary for employees, insurance, utilities, and marketing budget. Once you have a rough estimate of the money needed to get started, you next need to find a source or sources for that capital. This may take time and creativity to locate a source of money such as personal savings, line of credit on your home, SBA loans, Government Grants, Venture Capital Groups, and the sale of a current asset you own. Family loans or borrowing from your 401(k) are other possibilities. Banks aren’t lending to small businesses like they did only a few years ago, so you may not get a warm reception there.

Current Economic Conditions—I said it before, "there is never a perfect time to start a business" but, you do need to do some planning. Look around where you live or where you plan to start your venture and see what other related businesses are doing. What is competition like? You may not want to get into certain industries that are economically hard hit unless you are offering something unique. The old saying "if you build a better mouse trap people will beat a path to your door" still rings true today. Find a problem or unsolved need and come up with a better or brand new solution.

Well guess what; keep looking because there is no such thing. Everything in life is a gamble, when you begin to look for only sure things; you take the living out of life. A part of living life is: taking a risk, but in America we are not passionate people it isn’t apart of our culture, if you look at other countries, people are passionate about their food, friendship, family, and love.

Here in American the only thing we get excited about is money and things.

But we are also some of the most unhappy people in the world, look at all of the medication they have for depression. Want to cure your depression; go out and find something to get passionate about. Start living take a risk…don’t be like everybody else.

You don’t need to go ask 10 people what you should do, if you should open a business, or should I move to France. Do as Nike says "Just Do It" Remember your only here once as far as I know there are no second chances.

There is a whole industry of "get rich quick" guru’s waiting for these people to show up and buy the latest book, disc or download.

HOWEVER, if you research millionaires and their "rags to riches" stories, you will find out that they all paid a price to achieve wealth. I think that’s what most people go to great lengths to avoid; paying a price.

This something-for-nothing concept that has been sold to people today sells books, but it doesn’t create wealthy people. In reviewing the lives of the rich over the last 100 years you see: hard work, sacrifice, pain, determination and yes, failure. Well, you say, that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. It’s not. Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear – or what you need to know?

Back to the original thought; how do you become wealthy?

You start like you begin any journey… with the first step. You must possess the burning desire to really, really, really want to create wealth. Next you formulate a Wealth Mindset.

What’s that? You have to look at every dollar you come into contact with and determine the very best use of that dollar in achieving your goal. This requires a change in attitude, and should lead to a change in life style.

Yes, I mean sacrifice and going without. If you are walking around with the "live for today I might be dead tomorrow attitude" you will never create wealth because you will spend every dime you can get your hands on and then some. You will have help spending all your money too. The retail industry will extend you credit cards to allow you to spend more money than you have in your bank account. They don’t care about you balancing your check book or saving for a rainy day, they just want you to buy more.

"Fix it up, wear it out, make do or do without.."

The old pioneer motto: "Fix it up, wear it out, make do or do without" came at a time in our history when people didn’t have a lot of money. But, that didn’t stop them from building small fortunes or creating a nation. You will have to look around at everything you spend money on and ask yourself if this is this absolutely necessary for my survival or can we cut this out a save some money?

You Need More Than Hope

Once again, you have to really, really, really want to create wealth – not just hope it will happen. It will take some time but you will eventually see the rewards of your hard work and sacrifice. Debts will come down, account values will grow, assets will be purchased, businesses will get started and flourish.

It’s like going on a diet, stopping smoking or starting a workout routine; the hardest part is getting started. Stop hoping for a better tomorrow and go out and create one. Join the Rebellion!!!!

There are so many factors that determine the "right time" in making a decision; but ultimately, a decision must be made.

Let’s break it down into steps.

1. The Idea…the desire or dream takes shape and spurs you on to focus doing something different or more than you are doing today. The longing to have something better for yourself and your family. Imagination and the positive thoughts of the future.
2. The Goal…planning to take the idea to completion…laying out the steps to overcome challenges in order to create wealth. The visualization of having or owning an asset or business and how you are going to deal with the changes it will make in your life. Short term goals and long term goals should both play into the decision to move forward with the idea.
3. The Plan…going from the raw idea or desire to a concrete goal in life will take a plan. Formulating your plan into step by step actions and the requirements to make the plan work. Think about the necessary elements to take the idea and make it a reality.
4. The Info…what information is needed to move forward? What specialized knowledge is required in order to make the decision? Will you have to hire a professional to bridge the information gap?
5. The Fear…What is holding you back? The imaginary demon between the ears. Doubt creeps in when you don’t feel you have all the answers. What are the unknowns? What if I make a wrong decision…isn’t that what this is all about? Most people would rather do nothing than risk making a wrong decision and have people call them failures. Don’t be concerned about what other people think. You can’t control them or what they think, but you can control what you do and how you think. Never let others’ misconceptions and doubts prevent you from succeeding in life.
6. The Cost… if you don’t do it what happens? Today? Later in life? The great tragedy in life is not the people who tried and failed but the ones who never tried. The wasted lives. The "what could have been" stories of people with hopes and ideas that never saw the light of day. What is the cost of a great idea or invention that someone was too afraid to try out? The cost to them, their family and even society. People who never follow through on their dreams! Theses "some day it will happen dreams" are just that, mental fantasies. You must put the idea into action to reap the rewards.

For many of us "prayer" is an important part in the decision making process. Often we don’t have faith in ourselves so we must turn it over to God. Devine inspiration has been a key to many a success story in the world today. Get out there and start something! Join the Rebellion!!!!

A lot of problems with creating wealth today come from people wanting to skip steps 1 through 4, and go directly to 5. Let’s review the first 4 steps:

1. "Purpose in Life"…why are you here. Soul searching. The basic starting point for everyone.
2. "Goals in Life"…knowing your purpose will allow you to set goals to achieve your purpose.
3. "Plan for your Life"…once you know your goals you can create a plan to get there.
4. "Budgeting your resources"…how you should be spending your money according to your plan.

I need to address the Budgeting Phase. Since you are not the Federal Government you can’t spend more money than you take in. If you do, you will soon reach a point where you will have to declare bankruptcy. You have lost control. Having access to a line of credit is a good thing but too much of a good thing can and will lead to ruin.

Everyone needs a monthly and annual budget to properly determine how they should spend their hard-earned dollars. Guessing each and every month only results in you wondering what happened to all that money you made. If you find out, like a lot of people do, that you spend more than you take in you’ll have to make changes. Either spend less or make more; it’s just that simple.

It’s usually right here where I lose a lot of people; they get mad and say, "that’s easy for you but my situations different." Look, if you are serious about creating wealth then you’re going to have to make some hard and tough decisions. If you don’t bring your spending under control and create some discretionary capital you’ll just end up like everyone else, living paycheck to paycheck until you can retire on Social Security. Game Over!!

Get serious – NO, get Fanatical about your budget. You have got to master yourself or you will never be able to master the ability to create wealth in this country. You have got to have a "Wealth Mindset." Focus each and every day on your goals; work at it until it becomes second nature. Change the way you think!

The next time you ask, "What’s a good investment to make in today’s economic environment." Make sure you did your homework (steps 1 through 4). Know what discretionary money you have to work with. Make sure the asset fits into your plan to achieve your goals in life. Don’t be like Washington and not care about the future…the future will be today before you know it. Join the Rebellion!!!

It is very important you take all the reasonable and legal steps to not have to pay more taxes than you owe. Now some people have taken this to the extreme and have declared taxes to be illegal under the Constitution. I would not go that far because I know the IRS doesn’t have a sense of humor and they will come after you. You know, I do remember an IRS Agent telling a joke once; it goes like this: "do you know that difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion? About 10 to 15 years in federal prison."

So what tools do we have in order to reduce the negative effect that taxes have on our wealth?

Tax Deduction—lots of things fall in to this category and this list changes from year to year. It makes sense to keep up with what is and what isn’t deductable on your tax return. Be aware of the "tax nature" when you spend your money. Know if that purchase or expenditure is deductable or not, and keep the receipt. How you structure your business or employment can determine if the money you spend each day is a write off on your taxes.

Tax Deferral—postponing paying the taxes you owe, in most cases, is beneficial. The only time it doesn’t make sense is when you finally pay that tax in the future and you’re in a higher tax bracket. Retirement plans like annuities, 401(k)s and IRAs only defer the payment – not eliminate the tax. By not paying Uncle Sam today you get to keep those dollars and put them back to work for you. This compounding effect – using profits from tax dollars – causes your money to grow even faster.

Non-reportable Income—it’s the best kind of money to have. Roth IRAs offer us opportunities to create wealth that doesn’t end up taxable. Profit from the sale of your primary residence can be non-reportable if it is less than $250,000 but you only get this once, not on every sale. Most of the time when you sell your home, you roll the proceeds into your next home (1031 exchange). Benefits from life insurance and personally-owned disability insurance are not reportable. You don’t report loans from cash value life insurance policies either.

I have just touched on a few ideas you can use to legally avoid paying more tax than necessary on your money. Consult your tax professional for more information or go on line and do some research.

Remember the fools in Washington think it’s their money they are spending, not ours.

Time for a change! Join the Rebellion!!!

In 2007 we had only 3 closures and in 2008 just 25 bank failures.  Then boom; the bottom falls out.  What’s happening here?  Are the banks being run that poorly?  Are the federal guidelines inadequate?  Did the collapse of the real estate market really catch everyone by surprise?  Or does the government want to take away more of our freedom by seizing an opportunity to gain greater control of the banks and money in this country? 

For hundreds of years, banks had done pretty well taking in deposits and lending out money for a profit.  All of a sudden it seems bankers lost their ability to reason and operate their banks…according to Uncle Sam.

For a society to function – and for its citizens to build wealth – banks must lend money to businesses. Without a source of capital both new and old businesses will die.  People didn’t stop depositing their paychecks into their bank accounts, so what happened to the capital?   The government stepped in and decided to evaluate the health of the nation’s largest banks and then force them to take TARP money –even if the bank didn’t want it – all in the name of the “Public Interest.” Washington used the Indy Mac Bank failure as evidence to make their case.  But, correct me if I’m wrong; wasn’t it Senator  Charles Schumer’s leaking of a confidential document that caused a premature 3 day run on the Indy Mac Bank?   I smell a set up. 

With the new government guidelines and intervention, banks are scared to lend money fearing the Feds will seize them, and then they loose their jobs.  Banks operate best in a Capitalistic system, not in a Socialistic state-run Totalitarian environment.   We need money to flow in order to create wealth.

You have to ask yourself:  Do we want the current administration to take over more control of the banking system?  Let’s see how well the government has been able to manage the other businesses they run: 

Medicare…broke!
Social Security…broke!
Amtrak…broke!
Medicaid…broke!
Post Office…broke!

Yea, I want these guys running my bank.   Write your Senator or Congressman and tell them to fix the problem or find another line of work.           

Join the Rebellion!!