Phoenix boomtown! Great place for real estate investors

Phoenix housing boomed with the housing market and then crashed hard with the subprime mortgage crisis. Now things are looking up again in the state. It seems as though when the national markets go up, Phoenix goes higher, and when they go down, Phoenix goes lower..

This makes Phoenix one of, if not, THE best place to invest in real estate. You can buy properties for cheap when the market is rough, then rent them for amazing cash flow and tax breaks, all the while riding it out to realize some significant gains from appreciation.

Phoenix is volatile, but for the cash flow investor, that’s good news!

Click here for to get started investing in Arizona real estate!

Phoenix Market Trends Report through March 2012

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Following the trends of the past 2 years, March saw a significant increase in the number of sales that closed compared to the prior month in Phoenix. Last month saw an increase of 22.1% over February. That followed a 12.6% increase in the prior month. The number remains impressively high in light of the continued shrinking inventory.

For buyers and investors in Phoenix, this means that competition for homes continues to be very high. We are seeing more and more situation where there are double-digit offers on a single home.

This means inventory remaining on the market, and continued competition for value-priced properties. We MUST continue to carefully work TOGETHER to understand the market AND to understand how we can compete with the market demand and other buyers right now.

We have been watching a statistic very carefully here in Phoenix to determine if the increase in average sales prices was just a blip or a trend. From all indications, we can now see a trend, and that we hit the bottom of the market in August. Since then, we have seen a 20.8% increase in the average sales price. March saw an 8.97% increase over the month of February. This is the highest price we have seen in Phoenix since June of 2010! The average sales price increased from $172,603 to $188,088.

It is absolutely critical that we are aware of this shift in the Phoenix real estate market.

New Phoenix home sale listings were up 7%, which is generally normal for March. However, it was still the 4th lowest month in the past 36 for new listings to come on the market.

If you have any questions about real estate investing in Phoenix or Arizona, please send me a quick message.

How Your Taxes Can Help Build Your Wealth

Taxes are most people’s biggest expense. Therefore reducing that amount means more money immediately available to invest. “The tax law is a series of stimulus packages for real estate investors and business owners.“- 

How Your Taxes Can Help Build Your Wealth

Most people view taxes as a drain on their wealth. If it weren’t for their taxes, they would have more money in their pocket, would finally be able to get ahead and could start investing.

I look at taxes very differently. I look at taxes as a way to increase cash flow. The tax law provides tons of opportunity to reduce your taxes. When you reduce your taxes, you increase your cash flow (often immediately) which can be used to increase your wealth.

Reducing your taxes goes hand-in-hand with your wealth strategy. For most people, taxes are their single biggest expense. This means that reducing their taxes results in instantly increasing the amount they have available to invest.

The Government Wants You to Reduce Your Taxes

The tax law is a series of stimulus packages for real estate investors and business owners. This is true in all developed countries.

The government wants to provide jobs and housing. To encourage others to do this for them, the government provides tremendous tax benefits to those who provide jobs (business owners) and those who provide housing (real estate investors).

Your Tax Strategy is Part of Your Wealth Strategy

Once you understand what the government wants you to do in order to reduce your taxes, you can use this information in your wealth strategy to invest in assets that not only fit with your wealth goals but also produce tax savings.

This is a powerful formula and one that can be used over and over and over again because many of the tax benefits for entrepreneurs and real estate investors produce annual tax savings.

Then, as your wealth grows, so do the opportunities for tax savings, which means not only does the cycle continue every year, it grows every year as well so your tax savings are more, your increase in cash flow is more and your wealth increases even more.

Do you see why I am so passionate about taxes? Taxes are a tremendous tool to build your wealth.

Less Politics, More Cash Flow

While I still endorse Ron Paul for the 2012 Presidency, I am going to spend less time this year worrying about politics and more time worrying about my own cash flow! Obama or a Republican, either way I have control over my own destiny, and so do you!

Global Economy 2012 – One World Currency Approaching?

As we are diving into 2012 I want to take a minute to talk about a couple of things I see going on in the global economy that I think will have an impact as the world heads in the direction of a one world currency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Myths about Tax Preparation

Use taxes to your advantage as a way to increase your wealth! -Joshua Gamen

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5 Myths About Tax Preparation

I’ve been involved in the tax return preparation process for 30 years. During those years, I’ve come across many myths that people believe about tax preparation.

Today, I’ll share the top 5 myths I hear about tax return preparation and why they are not true.

Myth #1: A Refund is Great News

You’ve probably heard some tax preparation firms brag about how many of their customers receive refunds, or the average size of their customers’ refunds.

Isn’t this great news? I’m not so sure it is.

A refund can seem like great news, especially if it isn’t expected, but it usually indicates a lack of tax planning. With proper planning, that refund can be received a whole lot earlier. While most people don’t want to owe tax when they file their return, they also don’t like to part with their money any earlier than they have to and that is exactly what a refund reflects.

Myth #2: Filing an Extension is Bad

Many taxpayers are hesitant to file extensions for their business or personal tax returns for fear that there are hidden disadvantages to doing so. This is not true. In fact, extending your tax return can be a great tool in your tax strategy.

Extensions are helpful to avoid having to file amended returns. Sometimes the forms or information you receive from others to complete your tax return may be amended. If you receive an amended form and you’ve already filed your return, then you must amend your tax return.

Other times, the information you need from others to complete your tax return may be late. Filing an extension provides you with the time to gather this information and accurately report it on your tax return.

Remember: An extension does not mean you are off the hook when it comes to gathering your tax information timely. It is still important to gather all of your tax information timely so the extension can be prepared with the best information available.

Also, an extension does not extend the due date of any taxes due with the return. Any tax liability due with the return is due on the original due date.

Myth #3: Tax Return Preparation is a Cash Outflow

Tax return preparation fees can vary dramatically. This makes it extremely important to look at the big picture rather than just the cash outflow.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you have a choice of paying $500 for your tax return to be prepared or $2,000. All things being equal, anyone would choose to pay the lesser amount.

But, what if all things are not equal? What if the $500 gets you an adequate, accurate return but the $2,000 would get you a return where you legally pay $5,000 less in tax? Which is the better deal? In one, you are out $500. In the other, you are ahead a net of $3,000.

Before you have your next tax return prepared, review your own tax situation and the advice you are receiving from your tax preparer. Are you getting the return on investment you want? Are you getting the planning ideas you need? Are your taxes going down or do they continue to increase?

Myth #4: Accurate Returns Are All The Same

In all the firms and companies at which I have worked, the basic accuracy of tax return preparation was excellent. I find this also to be the case on returns that I see from clients who are new to ProVision. It’s rare that I find a flagrant error in a return.

But, does that mean that these firms all produce the same quality of tax return? The clear answer in my experience is a resounding “NO!”

Accuracy in a tax return simply means that the information provided by the client was reflected on the tax return. It does not mean that the tax return was prepared in the best way it could have been prepared. In fact, I rarely see a tax return from a new client that was prepared the way we would prepare it at ProVision.

For example, certain deductions can be classified in different ways. While each way is technically accurate, the tax impact of each can vary dramatically.

It’s not safe to assume your tax preparer (or tax software) knows the difference.

Never use a tax preparer who isn’t also your tax advisor. You may otherwise get great advice that is never used and lose out on great tax savings.

Myth #5: The Software Does All The Work

Whether you do your tax return yourself or hire someone to prepare it, most likely there is tax software involved. Many people make the assumption that the tax software does all the work.

While the tax software performs the calculations (usually quite accurately), it’s easy to get into trouble if the input going in is incorrect.

The true work and expertise – and resulting tax savings – is in the knowledge of the tax preparer.

                                                                                                                          

                   Written by: Tom Wheelwright

5 Tips to Keep Your Wealth Strategy on Track

There is so much more to building wealth than making money. A Wealth Strategy is crucial. If you do not have a wealth strategy, use December to educate yourself and build one, think about what your goals are and write down a plan to get there. A wealth plan is not a “get rich quick” plan, so think education first.  -Joshua Gamen

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By: Tom Wheelwright

5 Tips to Keep Your Wealth Strategy on Track

With a new year right around the corner, it’s a good time to think about the activities that have a positive impact on your wealth strategy.

Here are 5 Tips to Keep Your Wealth Strategy on Track:

Tip #1: Avoid Winging It

Winging it means taking action without a strategy to support the action.

For example, buying gold because it seems like a good investment, or buying a rental property because it seems like a good investment.

What makes an investment a good investment is how it works toward the goals in your wealth strategy. Simply making an investment because it seems like a good investment isn’t enough – what will it do in your wealth strategy to achieve your wealth goals?

While it is great to take action, there needs to be a strategy behind the action so the actions lead to the results you want.

Winging it in a wealth strategy can set the wealth strategy behind by years – even decades.

Tip #2: Make Your Wealth a Priority

Letting your wealth strategy slip as a priority is something that can often sneak up on us.

For example, let’s say you have a goal to invest in a rental property and have a plan to look at prospective properties this month.

However, when you get the call to go look at the properties, you’re in the middle of running errands, or too busy with work, or need to finish a project. The list goes on and on. Looking at properties gets put on hold and your wealth strategy quickly falls off track.

There is always something else to do if your wealth strategy is not a priority.

Tip #3: Your Neighbor’s Plan Isn’t Your Plan

I’ve had people share with me many times that they made an investment because their neighbor (friend, co-worker, colleague, etc.) made the same investment.

What works for your neighbor will not necessarily work for you.

Your wealth strategy must be specific to you based on your likes, your dislikes, your family, your goals, your dreams, and your financial situation. To maximize the results of your wealth strategy, it must be customized to you.

Tip #4: Succeed With a Team

I always share that the 3 most expensive words in the English language are “Do-It-Yourself.”

The road to achieving your wealth goals is not always a smooth one. In fact, it is common to hit several bumps along the way.

Those who have a team are less likely to get off track when they hit that first bump, or maybe they make it to the second or third bump before turning around. Navigating with an entire team supporting you makes the process much smoother.

Build a team around you to support you and help you achieve your wealth goals.

Tip #5: Avoid Taking it to the Extreme

Taking it to the extreme means you have no balance in your wealth goals. You are trying to go at a speed that no one can possibly sustain – and that means a lot coming from me because I like things to move fast.

The challenge with going at an unsustainable speed is it all too often leads to crashing and burning, and that can be devastating in a wealth strategy.

Set reasonable goals and make your wealth building part of your everyday life.

                                                                                                                  

Bailout: The name of the game

It is absolutely madness. Yesterday was a huge injection of dollars into the global financial system by central banks. It seems fiat currencies are swirling the drain now.. Look for precious metals to surge again and listen for new talk of a one world currency..It’s only a matter of time. However, as Robert says, “The people who understand that they must increase their financial education, save themselves and not rely on the rich, or the government, survive and thrive in times of crisis”

So increase your financial education which will lead to increase in cash flow. Rely on God and your faith, not the rich or the government, and thrive in these times of oppertunity! – Joshua Gamen

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In my book, Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money, I write that bailouts are the name of the game. This means that the ultra rich will never suffer like the middle class and poor do in financial crisis. The institutions that are deemed “too big to fail” will always be bailed out. This also means that sometimes big institutions prefer financial crisis because they know they will be bailed out, and they also know they can make a lot of money from those bailouts.

This week, a bombshell hit on the lending practices of the Federal Reserve to the largest banks in the world during the peak of the financial crisis. As Bloomberg reports in an article entitled, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B,”

“The amount of money the central bank parceled out was surprising even to Gary H. Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 to 2009, who says he ’wasn’t aware of the magnitude.’ It dwarfed the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.”

Additionally,

“The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue.”

Big gets bigger.

Everyone knew that the name of the game is bailouts for institutions that are too big to fail, and while news agencies have been talking about the gargantuan $7.7 billion in commitments by the Fed to save the economy, the details released this week through the Freedom of Information Act show what we’ve known all along – the rich will say anything to protect their ass-ets and build their balance sheets.

For instance, in November of 2008, Bank of America’s CEO, Kenneth Lewis said that his bank was “one of the strongest and most stable banks in the world.” On that same day, Bank of America owed $86 billion to the Federal Reserve in emergency loan money.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, told his shareholders in 2010 that he only borrowed from the Fed to encourage others to borrow from the Fed. In reality, the bank borrowed twice its cash holdings from the Fed, and on one day in February 2009, borrowed a colossal $48 billion – one year after the creation of the Fed’s emergency lending program.

All in all, the big six banks comprised of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley accounted for 63 percent of all daily average lending by the Fed to banks and financial institutions, receiving over $160 billion in TARP funds and borrowing around $460 billion from the Fed.

During that time, “Total assets held by the six biggest U.S. banks increased 39 percent to $9.5 trillion on Sept. 30, 2011, from $6.8 trillion on the same day in 2006, according to Fed data.”

Additionally, the Fed helped prop up both Bear Sterns and Wachovia with emergency loans as they were being gobbled up by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo respectively. The Fed transferred $50 billion in secret loans to Wachovia to prevent financial collapse until Wells Fargo could seal the deal, and they sent $30 billion in secret loans to Bear Sterns so that JPMorgan could wrap up that deal—all while providing $29 billion in financing to JPMorgan to fund the deal.

Essentially, the Fed protected the bigger banks and helped them grow even bigger by keeping brain-dead banks on financial life support long enough to graft them into the bodies of bigger financial institutions like a financial Frankenstein.

This was all done in secret, and without the knowledge of the American people and the Congress.

The safety net.

This type of behavior is reckless because it creates a false safety net. The big banks and the ultra rich know they will be bailed out and so they take even greater risks, putting the economy at even greater risk, and playing games with your money.

As Professor Oliver Williamson says, “The banks that were too big got even bigger, and the problems that we had to begin with are magnified in the process. The big banks have incentives to take risks they wouldn’t take if they didn’t have government support. It’s a serious burden on the rest of the economy.”

Of course, this should come as no surprise, as the Fed doesn’t exist to protect the middle class and the poor. Rather, it exists to protect banks and the ultra rich. Something they’ve shown they can do well, efficiently, and without government knowledge or intervention.

Learn the rules of the rich with a financial education

All this is to show what I’ve been saying for many years, you can’t rely on the government to save you, and your definitely can’t rely on the Fed. The government doesn’t even know what’s going on in our financial policy and the Fed hides those details in order to help their friends on Wall Street…after all, the people who run the Fed used to work there, and probably will again someday. You don’t bite the hand that feeds.

If you want to avoid getting wiped out by the next financial crisis, you must understand the rules of the rich and play by those rules. With a new presidential election heating up this year, I’m sure you’ll hear many calls for hope and change on both sides. Many people will believe that their candidate will make a difference and that this will be the time things will change.

The reality is that nothing has changed in decades. The rich take care of the rich and grow richer. The poor and the middle class grow poorer. And the people who understand that they must increase their financial education, save themselves and not rely on the rich, or the government, survive and thrive in times of crisis.

Take charge of your financial future so that you can live large when hard times come.

Written by: Robert Kiyosaki

What happened to our money, to our country?!

By: Joshua Gayman

The reason Occupy Wall Street is happening right now is because there is a huge movement of young people who want to reclaim this country from corporate interests. These protesters feel that our political system has been hijacked by Wall Street and their corporations. Not only that, but they feel that our elected officials now serve the interests of the wealthy upper 1%, instead of “the 99 percent.”

I’m gonna write..Dang it!!! I’m gonna write…

It’s not that I can’t do, but that I can reach more people online than I can on the street. Also, I can capture attention. Why protest when I can speak more clearly through my mac sitting in my bedroom. I don’t oppose the Wall Street crashers. They are frustrated. They feel that the system has hijacked the way of life their parents had and that they planed to continue, and they are right.

The solution is that we need to reclaim our own money. If America acts now, we still have the financial and political power globally to reclaim our position. China will fight us hard, but we really need not compete directly. We don’t have to buy Chinese. If we open back up the factories we can put millions back to work and produce value back into our society. My God, can you imagine what stuff we would have cooking right now if everyone was working hard to better society? We are geniuses. I don’t really know why, but for some reason us Americans kick ass. In all actuality, I don’t think we have anything that any people don’t have. It’s just the timing and in my honest to God opinion, it’s God’s plan for this time.

So how did we really get where we are now? The world has turned upside down in the past 3 years!!

Well..Life happens. The only thing constant in this world aside from God’s love is change. Because of this thing called time, everything constantly evolves.

So what happened?

1700’s – USA is founded. We say F U to Britain because we do not want to use their currency and pay their taxes anymore. We draft a constitution that we will never let another entity print our currency and we will never have an income tax. We kick their butt and start our own country on free market using gold to back our currency. As an interesting sidenote..The South made their own currency during the Civil War, but with no gold backing it inflated to zero value..

We go from Wild West to Industrial Revolution. Life is changing rapidly with new mechanics. Lots of production is created, in fact, it is exponentially created because of leverage and tools.

Let’s face it..The media is about as honest with us as a politician. So when you think about it, how do you really know what you learned in school was even truth? I know I hear you already, “Oh here we go, another conspiracy article..” NO – Listen to this: John D. Rockefeller founded the US Board of Education in 1903. What did  that guy want with the school system? And since he did buy it..Why didn’t he add education on money into the school system? Why do we still have a school system that is hundreds of years old and was created to manufacture military? Now here is my point, we have no idea if the things we read in our history books are true. History is not math, gramar, or science. History is one of the biggest tools used for manipulation and deception.

Moving on…

10 years later, John D Rockefeller, along with other ultra rich men such as JP Morgan, and Paul Warburg, founded a company and called it the Federal Reserve. This company would issue currency to countries. The trade off that they could offer to the Congress was that if they printed the money, they could give it to the government. Scandals in the Congress are nothing new, and the Federal Reserve Act passed.

Time for an income tax!!

The income tax was supposed to be to fund WWI, but we still pay it today, 100 years later…

20’s…HUGE recession, but it was removed from Rockefeller’s history curriculum in our education system that he hijacked.

GREAT DEPRESSION: Debt from WWI is too much to pay. we need more currency. The government confiscates gold and then raises the dollar-associated value to it by over 50%, hijacking over 50% of the real money in circulation and jeopardizing our whole system.

WWII – America wins. Bretton Woods Act is passed, making the United States’ currency known as the Dollar, the Reserve Currency of the World. Oil is now traded in dollars, making it so that other countries must exchange their currency for dollars and then purchase oil. This causes the value of the dollar to increase drastically and therefore makes it easier for the United States to get credit from foreign investors who are eager to invest in the luxurious American economy. After all, their debt is backed by the good faith of their tax payers.. Remember too, the Congress can now go the Federal Reserve whenever they want, increase their “debt ceiling,” and borrow more money.

America rocks like rock stars for 27 years, get involved in some turmoil overseas, increased the debt more. Then Nixon said let’s have a REALLY big money supply, since everyone in the world treats our dollar like gold! He totally cuts the link between the Dollar and gold. Expanding the money supply to infinity.

A few years later, the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act” is passed, making it so that the tax payers are responsibly for their own retirement, and the burden is lifted from corporations. Birth is given to the IRA and 401K. This makes it so that retirement money flows to Wall Street and they can operate the money as a ponzi scheme, with money from new investors paying out the old people as they retire. *Another sidenote:  Social Security(Which was enacted during the great depression), also operates as a ponzi scheme, with the money flowing into the system from young workers’ paychecks and out to the retired older folks. The money retirees paid into the system has been spent.

For nearly 40 years, we lived out of our minds!!! There were recessions and expansions, but the reality is that no matter what, we could always get more money because we had a credit card with no credit limit. The credit card company was the rest of the world buying our debt, and the Federal Reserve company selling it.

Our economy boomed and we just kept continuing to kick ass. We got fat, lazy, and greedy, but we stayed smart. We powered through at the front of the line with our advances in technology, especially with computers and the internet. We created several huge bubbles with the stock market, precious metals, dot com, and real estate, but we never thought about the larger bubble that was emerging around all of the other bubbles. The credit balance that we had…The biggest bubble of all, debt!

In all reality each bubble helped us. Because off of each bubble, we could sell more debt, increasing our limit. The last one we benefited from was real estate. When we all could buy a house or re-finance one and get a rediculous amount of money for, with nothing down but a signature. How bitchin is that!? You could make $30,000 a year, live in a $300,000 house, drive a $30,000 car and have mad toys. All you had to do was refinance your house when you needed more money to cover your bills.

Then it popped. It popped because people could not afford the minimum debt payments on their mortgage payments anymore. Even with interest only loans and low interest short term adjustable loans, the mimimum monthly debt was just too much. The world quickly realized that the actual real estate was never truly worth what we sold the debt for. Values plummeted, but so did families losing their homes.

The government tried to keep the bubble going(and still is) by lowering interest rates, again and again and again. The Federal Reserve is happy to do so because it preserves the system of debt. If we stop selling our debt, they cannot continue to gain power over us for our indebtedness. Also, with all of the other countries attached to our debt system, known as the dollar, it keeps it easier for them to have a leash on the entire planet.

With mortgage payments stopping, lending stopped. Now, even with super low interest rates, the people are simply not allowed to take on anymore debt, unless they still have some collateral left that they are willing to put up, and most don’t..

With a country that’s whole currency system operating on debt, not getting any more loans, the economy dried up.

2007 – The banks failed because nobody could afford their loans. They sold a product that was risky, and they lost. The collateral from the loans was not sufficient to cover the exposure they had. Congress decided that if the banks failed, lending would stop, people could run to the banks to withdraw their money, and the economy would die, so they took on more debt from the federal reserve, pinning the tax on the US taxpayers back still(but now getting exponentially larger) and marched on with the debt system, even tho it was by all means bankrupt. They gave it to the banks, “to lend to the people.”

The banks didn’t loan shit to the people. The rest of the world gets mad(particularly China), because we are now exponentially increasing our money supply, and thus devaluing our debt to them.

With no buyers left outside of our country to buy our debt, and no assets to pledge them, the company knows as the Federal Reserve decides that they will just buy our debt themselves. This keeps the cash flowing into the United States, and stays off a collapse for the short term. The money supply keeps exponentially increasing, as prices rise on exports to combat the artificial expansion of our money supply.This is what is known as “quantitative easing.”

Meanwhile, people keeping losing their houses, their jobs, their businesses. Everyone keeps waiting for life to go back to normal. But it doesn’t happen…

The stock market goes up and down, but it doesn’t have any effect on anyone. The people that have money seem to keep getting bigger. But everyone you know is broke and jobless. People hear what the banks did with the money that they were given that was supposed to be for lending. They hear about the bonuses to all of the CEO’s that took their house.

Student loans never stop, but everyone is starting to figure out that the debt created by going to school is huge and they aren’t making nearly enough to make it manageable, if they are making anything at all.

Let’s face it…The debt system is broken. We still have some HUGE values that we contribute to the world. I like all of our professional sports, Google, Aaple, Nike, I could name many many more. But, we don’t have anything left to pledge as collateral to keep receiving debt to live on. We already pledged it up….

Present Day:

We go to Wall Street. We protest about the greed and corruption. We don’t go the the corporation the Federal Reserve who created the system, instead we go to the investors on Wall Street who’s job is to keep money flowing into the market to satisfy the system and pay our people’s retirement’s through pensions. Without Wall Street, many retirees would lose their retirement. Retirees like teachers, firemen, and police officers.

We need to take back over our systems. It’s sad to say, our currency is falling to zero like a slowly bleeding cow. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop the bleeding. We try to stop it with band aids such as expanding the money. But expanding the money without expanding the demand for the debt can’t create real value. So the dollar will die.

Value is coming back. Value is king. If you have a trade, great. If you don’t, learn one. What do you love? How can you do that so as to benefit society? If we can get back to creating real value, they’ll keep buying our debt. But we should not let Congress give away our value to the Federal Reserve. We can sell our debt directly if we are going to sell it at all.

What will happen next?

I don’t know.

I suspect that to preserve the system of debt, the central banks will create a globally currency. The world will buy into it because they won’t have a choice. The debt bubble in Europe popped too. Asia is next. The Chinese have been devaluing their currency to try and combat the inflation of the Dollar. The global currency will be digital, as in all actuality the Dollar is now digital itself. I don’t know which part of the world will receive the biggest inflow of the global currency, but I suspect that it will be the gographic location which produces the most value. Competition is inevitable.

No matter what, we aren’t here for a long time, we’re here for a good time…

Peace and love,

1.

From Tom Wheelwright: The Power of Systems in your wealth strategy

I’m constantly asked how to use leverage in different ways in a wealth strategy – and I’m glad people are asking because leverage plays a huge role in every successful wealth strategy.

Leverage is simply doing more with less.

Here are 3 of my favorite forms of leverage.

#1: Systems
I think systems are one of the most important and powerful features of a wealth strategy.

Systems are simply the process or procedures to complete specific tasks. Systems provide the detail of the who, what, when, where and how something will be done.

Think about a franchise. One of the greatest values a franchise offers is its systems. The systems provide all the details about how to market, sell, fulfill and everything else involved in operating that franchise. A franchisee simply has to follow the systems.

Let’s say you invest in rental real estate. You should have systems for:

– Identifying the property to buy
– Purchasing / financing the property
– Renting the property
– Maintaining the property
– Reviewing the performance of the property

Systems don’t have to be complicated. They just need to document what needs to be done in a clear manner. Systems can be as simple as a checklist.

If you are just starting your wealth strategy, you may wonder why you need systems if you are doing everything.

Here’s 2 reasons why you need systems:

Reason #1
Your systems are the place to document the specific details of what needs to be done. They are also the place to document your best practices – your trade secrets. As you learn better ways to do things, document that in your systems.

Your systems enable you to leverage your time by making you more efficient while still getting the results you desire.

Reason #2
Many people start off doing everything themselves, but they usually have a goal to grow their wealth and hire others do the work. If you want to do this successfully, systems are imperative. Systems communicate your specific expectations without you having to be there.

Many people have wealth strategies that never reach their full potential because they are not able to give up control.

With systems, you don’t have to give up control. You’re giving up the specific tasks, but you are still in control. You control the systems.

When your systems are created, used and monitored properly, they will tell you when things are working and when they aren’t working. This allows you to focus your attention where it is most needed – this is a huge form of leverage in a wealth strategy.

#2: Your Wealth Team
Systems definitely take time to create. You don’t have do it all yourself though. This is where your wealth team comes in to play.

One of the best examples of leverage in a wealth strategy, and also one of my favorites, is a wealth team.

A wealth team is a group of advisors, coaches, mentors, employees, vendors and other contacts who assist you in building your wealth.

With a wealth team, you can leverage your time by hiring advisors, coaches, mentors, employees and/or vendors. But the leverage doesn’t stop there. This is just the beginning. You can also leverage your wealth team’s contacts, their resources, their knowledge – the list goes on and on.

Use your wealth team to help you create your systems. Leverage their resources and expertise to add value to your systems.

Once you’ve created your systems, share them with your team members so they can be part of the systems and contribute to the success of your wealth strategy.

#3: Software
Software is a wonderful form of leverage. Software allows us to do more with less every day.

Software can be an integral part of effective systems. When used properly, software can streamline many tasks while providing better information and results.

Software can be the driving force behind the systems. It can notify the who about the what, when, where and how. And, it can provide real time reports about how the systems are working. These reports are what help you stay in control.

How do you know what software to use?
Leverage your team’s knowledge – ask them what software you should be using. And, if you truly want to leverage your software with your systems, have a team member who is committed to integrating the two.

Using Leverage in Your Wealth Strategy
Think about how you use these 3 forms of leverage in your wealth strategy and identify ways that you can leverage them even more.

Focus on your wealth!

Tom Wheelwright
Founder & CEO